FO Books

This is actually the first book I've thrown away. The characters were shallow, the plot was silly, just no substance. They were ready to jump each other right when they met! I just didn't get it, thought it was really a soft porn story, way too much sex!

Sloan Fairchild has spent her life feeling second-rate. Her parents are so involved in each other and their careers as Egyptologists that they barely acknowledge Sloan's existence expect as a glorified assistant. Her fiancé made no secret of the fact that he found her staid and boring, and left her behind without a glance when he found someone better. Alicia is a good friend to her, but Sloan has always felt she paled into insignificance compared to the beautiful and vivacious woman. Recently, Sloan has made changes to her boring life, chucking her job to turn the San Francisco Victorian she inherited into a B&B. It's hard work and Sloan is barely eking by, but she's enjoying her new life nonetheless.

Even more dramatic changes are in store for Sloan when she agrees to take in Alicia's fiancé for a month while he finishes work on his latest novel. Carter Madison was best friends with Alicia's late husband, and he has decided to take responsibility for Alicia and her two young sons. He is thrown into turmoil upon his first meeting with Sloan, and feels a spark he's never felt with any woman, including Alicia--and it's a feeling Sloan reluctantly shares. While they cannot deny their attraction for each other, they both know that their relationship has no future. Carter has made a commitment to Alicia and the boys and can't destroy their lives in order to be with Sloan.

I had a number of problems with this story, including the following:
--There was a lot of cheating and betrayal of trust going on here.
--That said, Carter's act of self-sacrifice just seemed a bit much for me. I'm just not sure why Carter felt the need to step into his dead friend's shoes. Alicia was not hurting financially, so the whole setup seemed overly contrived to me. (But, once everyone made that commitment, they should have stuck to it.)
--I'm not sure I even liked any of the main characters. Sloan's constant self-effacement was annoying, Carter's moods were offputting, and Alicia was flighty and inconstant.

BREAKFAST IN BED was initially published in 1983 and, while it isn't an utterly terrible book, it hasn't held up well under the test of time. Its biggest sin is that it is ultimately boring. There are so many better books out there--including some by this author--that I'm not sure that it's worth the investment of readers' time and money except for fans of Sandra Brown interested in getting a taste of her early work.

(Note: Alicia's story can be found in SEND NO FLOWERS.)

Sloan Fairchild has spent her entire life feeling worthless. It happens with her family and anyone else she loves. She decided to put herself into her B&B. She was content until Carter Madison came into her life. He was trying to finish his novel, and needed some peace and quiet to complete it. They both felt the attraction, but he was her friend Alicia's fiancé. As they both try to fight their feelings, they fight a losing battle.

This is one of the first Sandra Brown books I read, and find myself pulling it out to reread it again and again. It is a classic story.

Breakfast in Bed is a quick afternoon read with some fun twist. This is a story about Sloan Fairchild an owner of a new B&B and Carter Madison a famous author who is spending a month in her B&B. The twist is the Carter and Sloan are attracted to each other but Carter is engaged to her Sloan's best friend. The heart of the book is that they both want to do the honorable thing. This wasn't my favorite book but the author did a great job with the sweet story. I would also suggest books by Kate Angell, Deirdre Martin and Kimberly Raye.

I really was not impressed by this one. I am a huge Brown fan, but what was she thinking?

The main heroine was boring and a little wierd if you ask me. The whole story was really annoying to me.

In "the History of Sexuality", Foucault tried to use Nietzsche's genealogical approach that views concepts as changing constantly to fit the needs and provocations over time. Nietzsche used the genealogical approach gracefully in Beyond Good and Evil, and though I'm not completely convinced his ideas are correct; the gracefulness of his argument, and his personal experience with the chaotic political and moral nature of the European society he reacted to, form a compelling argument for his genealogical theory.
Foucault mocked Nietzsche's approach but prematurely formulated his "repressive hypothesis" of thinking by which concepts result from the inexorable avalanche of history, and that sexuality has been repressed throughout our political history, therefore the only way to political liberation is sexual liberation.

A side note: Foucault's "The History of Sexuality" is one of the basic justifications for the queer theory that proclaims the intersection between politics, sexuality, and gender. The whole normals vs. abnormal arguments are pointless and vague, as no one can tell what is normal or abnormal in the world. The arguments presented make no sense to me, are too relativist and do not rely on any scientific reason. It is a world devoid of absolutes where we must assume that anything and everything is permissible. This queer thinking recalls my college years, when I was irritated by new societies such as "The Society of Women Engineers" and the "The Society of Black Engineers". Next we will have" The Society of Queer Engineers" and "The Society of Tall Engineers'. What happened to treating humans as humans, who share life regardless of their gender, color or physical appearance? How can we ask for equality between genders when we defeat the whole purpose by being feminists or some other separate group?

Back to "The History of Sexuality", Foucault reviews history to find out why our sexuality became the key to unlocking the truth about us, and arrives at the relationship sex has with power and knowledge. Foucault traces the emergence of sexuality to the seventeenth century, when the Christian emphasis on sins of the flesh led to an increasing awareness of sexuality in family relations. His road to the genesis of human sexuality ends with the bourgeois of the nineteenth century, who effectively invented what we think of as "sexuality," and used it as a way of protecting and separating themselves from the other groups. Foucault acknowledges that sex is not our essence, but rather it is a social construct that makes it easier to control humans. Here Foucault didn't provide any definite prove to his theory. It even sounds more convincing that the opposite is the truth: Sex and all its biological drives are an essential part of our nature and, therefore, it makes us more susceptible to control.

The point Foucault tried to make in many lengthy ways is that how we understand certain concepts has a lot to do with what other concepts we link them to, and in this thought construct, sexuality is not a concept as much as means of linking concepts to each other. Foucault strong, initial argument that our sexual desires or behaviors themselves do not express profound truths about us, rather it is the discourse we have built up around those desires and behaviors that suggest the profound truth. These discourses are not fixed and changeable with time and needs. The growing importance of sexuality in our society reflects the fact that we have found more and more concepts that we can connect through sexuality, and in this way the "deployment of sexuality" is the way that we use sexuality to join different concepts. The history of sexuality is a history of class dominance, where sexuality is a social construct that can be used to link power and knowledge to sex in a variety of different ways.

Finally, Foucault arrives at the conclusion that human life (and its aspects including sexuality) throughout history came to fall under the control of politics, where "bio power" or the new power over life controls life through the discipline of the body and through the regulation of population. It's beyond me how Foucault arrived at this conclusion while discussing how wars got fiercer than ever, how the death penalty became a safeguard not an act of destruction, and how power seems now to control life and population.
I suspect that Foucault, through his arguments, wanted to weaken the concept of sexuality. By simply calling it a social construction, he will weaken the political powers themselves. I also suspect by the way that Foucault identified the four centers that have power and knowledge related to sex(hysterization of women's bodies, pedagogization of children's sex, socialization of procreative behavior, and psychiatrization of perverse pleasure) that he was trying to differentiate by what is socially considered a normal behavior and what is not. This is again a losing argument since it's purely a personal way of looking at things.

As a big fan of Nietzsche (his method of debate not his actual ideas), I don't think that Foucault even came close to Nietzsche's genealogical approach. Foucault took a very exciting topic and managed to destroy his argument with a lengthy complicated delivery, the biggest problem with some philosophers is that they are trying so hard to be original that they overlook the obvious or they wrap it up in such a complex knot you can't possibly untie it. .

Foucault with his concrete arguments freed sexuality from human established constraints. He set sex free from moral bondage. In our times where people have a fear to speak openly about sex issues especially regarding AIDS, one will find the author's treatise the most relevant concerning "sexual problems", the fear to speak openly about sex.
I also recommend my favorite book about Sex and the Perfect Lover: Tao, Tantra, and the Kama Sutrathis topic

Great introduction in the area of sexuality. Can be an asset to refrencing in academic work. In my opinion not really a book you could 'take to bed' as difficult to read.

Michel Foucault has based his entire corpus of history on the premise that society has been waging a battle between those at the center of society who wield power and those who live at the periphery and lack it. In THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY, VOL I, he does not present a history of sexuality so much as yet another opportunity to delineate another marginalized subgroup, those who wish to succumb to their inner sexual desires but feel refrained by society. Ironically enough, Foucault notes that until the Victorian Age, prudery more often reigned over licentiousness throughout history. It was not until the 19th century, that society began to allow greater freedom for those who wished to explore their own sexuality. There is an inner irony here that is not present explicitly in the book. Foucault himself was a total sexual hedonist who frequented San Francisco's bathhouses where he may have caught the AIDS virus that killed him in 1984. Further, he openly expressed his belief that adults should feel perfectly free to have sex with children. He alludes to this in the book as he writes of a simple minded country youth who shares a "milk curdling" experience with a prepubescent girl.

Foucault saw the 19th century as a true explosion of discourses on sexuality, the totality of which was to demolish the then emphasis on keeping sex and the topic of sex behind closed doors. The struggle for power shifted from a repressive state controlling the environment in which sex might reasonably be expected to thrive to one in which those who had been previously bereft of the right to deal openly with sex to now having an overabundance of that very right. THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY then is a minor variation on Foucault's obsession with accusing the center of massed power of first identifying, then declaring aberrant, then ultimately marginalizing those on the fringes. Oddly enough, this book is one of Foucault's more coherent explorations of those on the fringe.

Foucault has been criticized for being too wordy, and to a large extent I agree. He deals with complex topics and histories and tries to mesh philosophy with sexuality with politics with morality, etc. It can be very confusing. But Foucault nontheless presents many unique ideas. He wants you to radically reconsider your definitions of morality and sexuality. The book focuses on the hijacking of, and incessant focus on, the bourgeois-created notion of sexuality.

Sexuality, Foucault argues, is a recently constructed term (17th century-present). It is a term which today conjures up certain notions (which the author deconstructs), and this has been accomplished via the "ethics" of the (European) Christian ruling class. Simply put: it is morality foisted upon the masses. That is his thesis. Strange, radical, unique, philosophical, wordy, but regardless, an interesting read. If you can get through it, it will make you think.

I generally like most Lowell books, but this one fell a little short for me. Starts out very promising, but after she sets up Rand's back story, for me it fell apart. I found most of the characters somewhat irritating or uninteresting. This one isn't a keeper for me.

I bought this book about 2months ago and have only read about 50 pages, maybe when I'm stuck with nothing to read I'll pick it up again.

I generally enjoy Lowell's books but this one was formulaic and lacked punch. The heroine and hero, Kayla and Rand, are all but stock characters, and their relationship is totally uninspiring. Luckily then for a great villain, Bertone, and his beauty queen wife, whose horrific crimes, committed on an international scale, fill this novel with much needed suspense.
If only, Kayla and Rand were up to the challenge...

In the latest of her 60-plus novels, Elizabeth Lowell tells a tale inspired by facts [relatively] `ripped from the headlines' - brutal wars far from home shores, money laundering, the smuggling of blood diamonds, the inter- and trans-national illegal arms trade, among other things. Kayla Shaw, a private banker in Arizona, is unwittingly forced to become involved in money laundering on a huge scale when her client's husband blackmails her into complicity. The philosophy from which the title derives comes from a statement by Kayla: "Even sin was innocent once. The rest is timing and opportunity."

Rand McCree is a painter who becomes a reluctant participant in events that ended in the murder of his identical twin brother. That loss has motivated him, five years later, to find and track down the killer, an evil man who is Kayla's nemesis as well, and their shared hatred for the man and all he represents propels the plot. Circumstances have them both in the employ of St. Kilda Consulting, a "necessary organization in today's world of transnational crime, failed and failing states, feral cities, and the just plan savage places in between. All the places where duly appointed and lawful governments are just short of useless and corrupt governments thrive." Another player is John Neto, described as "a black man speaking Scots Gaelic--who was also a former British intelligence officer--was presently chief of intelligence of a small African country that was besieged by transnational criminals from Russia, Brazil, Europe, and the UAE. And this man was being interviewed for American TV in a room in British Columbia, Canada, about a murderous Siberian gunrunner presently living the high life of a socialite in Phoenix, Arizona."

I had some problems with this book, not the least of which was that I found the protagonists rather two-dimensional. I also felt the adjective "feral" was much over-used. As well, the reader is aware of Rand's anguish at his brother's death almost from page one, and I didn't feel it was necessary to be reminded of it on what seemed like every page, e.g., "his twin's loss was still an open wound on his soul." But almost in spite of myself I was pulled into the intricate tale, the timeliness of which makes it one most readers should find enjoyable.

I will have to say I liked this more than The Wrong Hostage. I really just found Grace's character terribly annoying. However she and Joe are now married and in this book she is much more likable. Their son Lane appears off and on in it also and he is just a cool kid. That said this book kept my interest though Kayla's character was a little far fetched at times. I haven't read a lot of EL books but the ones I have the heroine suddenly becomes this alpha person taking on the bad guys and hello even taking the head villan out. Okay maybe that's EL's formula. Once in awhile that's okay but I find it a bit unbeliveable every time. I liked most of the characters, even the bad guys and when I say I liked them, it's meant that they lived up to their character protrayal. We can't list this with great literature but just for a few hours read it does what it's supposed to do; entertain. It's not the kind of book I will read again but it was an okay read and will probably read the next St Kilda book to see if our characters we've become acquainted with show up in it. I will say that EL must have a very qualified research department to come up with the correct banking procedures and even the information she would need to write about arms trade.

I am an electrical engineer with 20 years of experience. I have encountered physics in one form or another since 1984 as an undergraduate. As a practicing engineer (and I have taught review courses for the FE and PE exams in electrical engineering), I wanted to learn more about electricity and magnetism and I felt it was better to look at introductory texts instead of using an engineering electromagnetics book (as e-mag books assume some competence that I do not have yet).

I used Halliday and Resnick in college and now also own Young's University Physics. Of the 3 I own, I refer back to Knight's book for concepts.

My take on this book is that it is very conceptually strong.From the student's perspective this is very good if you are willing to put in the work.Knight puts plenty of little problems in the book to keep you on the straight and narrow BEFORE you dive into homework. This will mean that you need to probably read each chapter AT LEAST 2X before you can feel comfortable with the problems. You will also HAVE to do a great deal of ground work in basic problem solving drills BEFORE you can attempt the homework. All of these materials are available as supplements to his text. You can also use a Schaum's Outline or other book of worked problems should you need to do so.

All of this sounds like a lot of work and to be truthful, it is considering the daunting workload of an undergraduate engineering student. This text provides the best conceptual frame work that allows you to develop good habits because the author gives you a strategy to help you work through problems.

In essence, the book drives home the idea that if you learn the concepts, the problems will be easier to solve. If you're looking to read the book and do "plug and chug" type of study, this book will NOT work for you. I also note that most college level exams have very MINIMAL numbers of problems that are simply placing numbers in equations to find a single unknown variable. Most professors will place several basic concepts inside 1 problem since they cannot write questions on every single equation you may need for a test since exams may be confined to the space of 1 hour for a regular exam and 3-4 hours for a final or mid-term.This statement applies not only for a physics but for most engineering courses you take.

As an example, Knight's coverage of Electricity and Magnetism is excellent. He uses examples that relate to concepts in classical mechanics to give you a feel for the material. While some people may complain that he takes a lot of words to explain a little, his emphasis is exactly right for a person who needs their hand held (as I do). Personally, I do not like the author cop-out that a certain concept is "intuitive" and then the author leaves the reader without the frame work to see how an equation may work.

I should also note that "real world" problems do not fall into some neat equation. Many times, you will have to sort through multiple pieces of information and sometimes it is not even easy to recognize what problem you are solving at first.

In conclusion: This text provides you a good starting point for learning concepts. This is one of the few text books that stays true to its promise to the student. However, you have to be willing to put in the work.

I've been teaching Physics at the HS level for 8 years and I am thrilled to have a calculus based physics book that can be easily read and understood!! Excellent mix of examples, progress checks, summaries and problems problems problems! We done!!

I'd of been way lost without the solution manual...

Here's the one I used (http://rapidshare.com/files/107501898/Physics_Answers.zip)

I'm currently a physics major, and I've read many books, including the non-calculus based physics books.

In my opinion, this is the best book I've read concerning physics I and II material. Everything is explained more clearly than other physics books (in fact, this book is actually more easier to read than some of those non-calculus based physics books!).

Granted, many of the homework problems will be really challenging, but that's what is expected in a physics class. It's not a plug-and-chug course like many mathematics courses. Many problems deal with real life situations, so a lot of thought will have to go to solving the problems. Also, be prepared to study. Although the concepts are as clearly explained as possible (without the book being many thousands of pages long), you'll have to do your part and read, reread, and do many of the problems yourself till you truly get what you're reading. Believe me, a little sweat here and there studying this massive book will go a long way.

I guess if I can give one gripe about the book, it's that when you get to physics II, the material doesn't match with the material in a physics II lab course, so you'll be constantly reading ahead, which can be a little annoying considering the amount of information in the book. Then again, this depends on the school you go to. Oh yeah, and another gripe... it's freakin' heavy!

Also, use the website that's contained in the book (www.aw-bc.com/knight). It really does help you out if you're not really sure of the concepts explained in the book. Heck, even if you think you know a concept, try this site out anyway... you might be surprised by what you don't know!

All in all, a great book. If you find this book really hard to use, believe me... there are many others out there that are worse.

Good luck with your physics course!

This book is poorly written and very unclear. Although Physics is FAR from a "plug-n-chug" science, key concepts in the book need further explanations in order to properly apply these principles to end of chapter problems. I recommend a book like "University Physics."

This novel was a disappointment after reading "Birdsong". The love affair between Anne and Charles lacks feeling, but the incentive to finish the book was to find out Anne's mystery. A total feeling of let-down arrived at the end of this book. There were glimpses into the background of various characters, but none were explored enough to satisfy. One gets the feeling this book was written in a hurry without thought to detail.

From her arrival at her new job at the Hotel du Lion d'Or young and beautiful Anne remains reclusive and mysterious to those around her. When questioned about her past or her family she provides vague answers and possesses a gift of changing the subject. According to hints scattered throughout the narrative it is apparent that Anne has a secret to hide. While waitressing Anne becomes acquainted with a small group of local men, including Charles Hartmann who is stuck in an emotionally devoid marriage and plagued by his past of fighting during the Great War. As their friendship deepens and blossoms into a love affair Anne feels that her own past has to be revealed and dealt with before their relationship can continue.

THE GIRL AT THE LION D'OR is another example of Sebastian Faulks's principle setting of France greatly disturbed by the affects of war. As the result of being set during the 1930's this novel includes the political backdrop of the threat of another German invasion on the heels of the staggering human loss of the Great War the reader receives a clear vision of just how vulnerable France was during this era and the affects on its inhabitants.

Unfortunately I found the love affair between Anne and Charles to be rather mundane and uninspiring; the only incentive that kept me reading was to find out what was Anne's mystery. To be completely honest, without this ploy I would have abandoned reading far before the ending as there just wasn't much to keep me interested. I generally felt let down.

This was the third Faulks book for me to read. It beautifully describes rural France. It is slow moving yet interesting since I know what is to later become of Hartman from reading Charlotte Grey. The theme is much like Madame Bovary and Anna Karennina in which a trusting girl is led astray by a bored man's fancy. This seems to be a common European theme. I had so much empathy for Anne, which proves that Faulks is great with characterization. -very psychological yet not too deep

This story opens with a prologue about three newspaper stories. Two of the stories deal with the demise of two political figures. The third story, very brief, almost lost on the page, deals with an unknown female intruder in the grounds of the prime minister's residence. The newspaper makes the French of the day believe the girl is unimportant, but if Faulks' readers are alert, they will see him peel back the layers to show us how important her insignificance is to France. We are introduced to Anne Louvet, a twenty-something girl with a secrect. She has answered an ad to be a waitress at the Hotel du Lion d'or, and when she meets the various characters of the novel, we are equisitely and subtlely introduced to the themes that caused the fall of France. Each character represents something that is amiss in pre-World War II France. In Anne, we come to know the beauty and vulnerability of France; In Hartmann, her married lover, Jewish and wealthy, we see the noblese who makes excuses for deflowering her. In the beginning, he convinces himself that he provides for her because he feels sorry for her, but that is the only way he, as a member of the gentry, can justify to himself that his actions are of a higher calling rather than that of a typical, wayward husband. But Hartmann is not alone. Each of the members of the upper classes, in this novel, are ruthless, wolves-in-sheep's clothing, who can manipulate the weak and convince themselves that they were the victim. At work here, also, is the precursor to the Jewish Final Solution in France. Pay close attention to the characters who interact with Hartmann. The other characters of this novel represent various classes and ways of looking at the world. See if you can identify their role in the shaping of France prior to World War II. Read this novel for it's beautiful, lyrical style, but don't cheat yourself by thinking that is all it is. Faulks is a master of the written word who understands the class system in Europe; it is a subtle yet powerful character in and of itself.

While this book is not as good as Faulks Birdsong or Charlotte Grey. It does round out the trilogy nicely and provide insight to how Birdsong and Charlotte Grey are connected.

"The Man Who Sold the Moon " is a collection of six Heinlein "Future history" stories. I first read these stories in the early 1950's. Talk about putting red meat in front of a carnivore! I loved these stories. While they still are excellent, I know that Heinlein did even better later in his career.

"Life Line" is about a device that can foretell any persons death date. Kafka could not have done better.

"Let There Be Light" describes the development of a unique power source. It appears to be a nuclear power source that is in advance of our current nuclear power sources in 2008. I have read this story many times and the power source appears, to me, to be neither nuclear fission nor nuclear fusion but, rather, a sort of total nuclear destruction with the near 100% release of all the energy in the mass of the nucleus. If this thing ever had come into existence, it would be far more scary than present day nuclear devices.

"The Roads Must Roll" is a story based on solar power and a sliding road technology. The story asks the question, "Who will control electrical power and transportation?"

"Blowups Happen" deals with job stresses when the stakes are incredibly high. When reading this, please remember that we still do not understand all the possible disaster possibilities of future nuclear fusion plants.

"The Man Who Sold the Moon" is the longest story. D. D. Harriman wants to travel to the moon. He raises the money to ensure the first trip to the moon and to ensure that he will retain control of the moon. While we have, actually, gotten to the moon, we still do not have commercial travel there. So, will any part of this story come true? Stay tuned. Private financing and people figuring out how to make a profit out of moon travel may yet take this enterprise out of public control.

"Requiem" tells the story of D. D. Harriman, grown old and frail, still trying to get himself to the moon. It is a very human story.

Read the book! I still enjoy it.

"The Man who Sold the Moon" gathers together some of Robert Heinlein's earliest works, including his very first published science fiction story, "Lifeline". As you might expect, this means that we get material more rough than his great masterpieces. Back in the 1930's, he still hadn't learned to polish his prose and put a real spark into his characters. Nonetheless, the seeds of future greatness were there, and this collection gives us a fascinating look at how on of SF's greats started out.

The main story in this volume covers the first moonshot. Given that it was written a full generation before the Apollo program, it was remarkably prescient with regard to many things including the technology. Making it into space and back would require not just the right gadgets but also political support and financial backing. Only a few pages are actually about flying. Most of it is about the industrialist D. D. Harriman, who has to fight to wring money from his fellow multi-millionaires. Characterwise, Harriman is not so convincing. He comes across as an unpleasant monomaniac, as do many of the scientists in this volume. In terms of thought, however, the story shows a great deal of honest analysis.

The other stories in this book follow the same pattern. They are readable but don't show much of Heinlein's special zing. Certainly nothing here compares with great tales like "Goldfish Bowl" in The Menace From Earth. All of them are well worth reading, however. Besides learning about Heinlein, it's also fascinating to see ourselves in retrospect.

Another short Heinlein collection, with a longer novella in the middle, the title story. I prefer the last half of this book though, compared to the more well known couple of stories.

A more than the usual brief intro is also included.

Man Who Sold the Moon : Let There Be Light - Robert A. Heinlein
Man Who Sold the Moon : The Roads Must Roll - Robert A. Heinlein
Man Who Sold the Moon : The Man Who Sold the Moon [SS] - Robert A. Heinlein
Man Who Sold the Moon : Requiem - Robert A. Heinlein
Man Who Sold the Moon : Life-Line - Robert A. Heinlein
Man Who Sold the Moon : Blowups Happen - Robert A. Heinlein


Firefly longlasting tech story.

3 out of 5


A master engineer and others work to stop industrial action from stopping massively engineered mass transit.

3 out of 5


I'm going, damn it.

3 out of 5


Any ship will do if you can get me there.

3.5 out of 5



"I can tell you when the Black Camel will kneel at your door."

3.5 out of 5


Rocket scientist atomic observational pressure.

3.5 out of 5




3.5 out of 5

The Man Who Sold the Moon is a series of short stories by the great sci-fi master R.A.H. The short stories in this book were written early in Heinlein's career and cover the later half of the 20th century and how he predicted the future based on the occurrences of World War 2. The primary story is based on a character who's goal in life is to first visit the moon (being the first human) and then setting up a colony on the moon. Harriman (the character) uses is past business successes and his business savvy to convince his friends, his company, and complete nations of children to help back his venture, which is of the goal to fulfill a childhood fantasy instead of make money. The rest of the stories tell of the engineers who make that path possible via their inventions and work and it sets up a beautiful backdrop. The painful part of reading this was Heinlein's attention to detail around concerning everything but the inventions and many of his shady business practices and national politics seem to be more far-fetched than the inventions themselves. But in the end, I did enjoy it, but for all I would recommend that one sticks with Stranger in a Strange Land and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress as they are much better stories.

This collection of Future History stories was published originally in 1950. There are six works of short fiction here, which were published between August of 1938 and September of 1940, with the exception of the title story, which was first published in this collection. This book was recognized by fans in the Astounding/Analog All-Time Polls in 1952, 1956, and 1966 where it was ranked 4th, 6th, and 14th respectively. There are some minor differences between this edition and the original edition. The stories in the original edition were in chronological order with respect to Heinlein's Future History, but for some reason they were put in a different order in this edition. The original edition also had an introduction from John W. Campbell, Jr., which is not included here.

The stories here are all very good if not great:

"'Let There Be Light'" is about a scientist who creates a cheap and efficient method of converting the Sun's rays into energy. When the establishment tries to take control of his invention, he finds a way to fight back. It was first published in "Super Science Stories" under the pseudonym Lyle Monroe in May of 1940.

In "The Roads Must Roll", moving roads have been created to efficiently transport people without the need of dangerous automobiles. A conspiracy of unsatisfied workers shut down one of the roads in an attempt to gain power, and lead a social revolution among the road technicians. This was first published in "Astounding", in June of 1940. It tied for 28th on the Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll of Short Fiction in 1971.

"The Man Who Sold The Moon" is one of Heinlein's D. D. Harriman stories. In this novella, D. D. Harriman is trying to gain ownership of the Moon. He plans and schemes with his business partners in an effort to generate the revenue needed to make travel to the Moon a reality. He wants to make sure the Moon is not controlled by any nation, to fulfill his dream of man moving to the stars, and his boyhood dream of traveling to the Moon. This story tied for 35th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll of Short Fiction. It was 5th on the 1999 Locus All-Time Poll for Novella's, and won the Retro Hugo for Best Novella for the year 1950 that was awarded in 2001.

"Requiem", though written before "The Man Who Sold The Moon", takes place after it. In this story D. D. Harriman is desperately trying to get to the Moon before he dies. He does not meet the health requirements for space travel, but he does have his money, and a tremendous resolve. This story was first published in "Astounding" in January of 1940. It tied for 17th on the Locus All-Time Poll for Short Stories in 1999, and won the Prometheus Hall Of Fame award in 2003.

"Life-Line" is the story of a scientist who is scorned by the scientific community for his claims that he can determine when people will die. When his work starts to affect insurance companies, he is sued. For his defense, he forecasts the deaths of the same scientists who rejected him at the start. All that is left is to wait to see if he is correct. This story was first published in "Astounding" in August of 1939. It tied for 14th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll for Short Fiction written before 1940.

"Blowups Happen" is a story about the dangers of nuclear power, and the psychological affect it has on those who work in the plant who are depended on to keep it from blowing up and killing millions of people. This story was first published in "Astounding" in September of 1940.

I think this book is great. It has lots of pictures and graphs help you understand the content.

This book is not very informative. I would recomend Zumdohl 6e or something else.

I have bought this book many times for my students ... this is a very good book on this topic for Grade 12 students. It covers the topics very well. It is well illustrated ... easy to follow ... concepts are simply explained, properly covering the depth knowledge required for that level.

One the best textbooks on the market for this subject.

I'm amazed at the diversity of reviews for this textbook. Usually, I can spot an exceptinal science textbook and usually the reviews are petty much in agreement but this one is an exception. Oh well - we all have our own opinions, and that's a good thing.

I'm currently into studying Biochemistry and Physics. I bought this book after seeing a pdf version that was part of a "Great Science Textbooks..." collection. As I started browsing the file I found myself being captivated by just about any section I skipped into. That is, I was learning and re-learning some of the fundamentals which I thought I already knew (and probably should've, but didn't), and it was like an "AHAH!" experience when the light would go on. This was great fun! I enjoyed that so much I immediately ordered the book. I began referring back to it to help me with my Biochem studies (via Lehninger and a couple other texts). The last chapter of this textbook is on Biochemistry and actually does a better job at introducing many of the key aspects of that subject than my Biochemistry textbooks. I still find myself frequently consulting this textbook and its resources for a large variety of issues that would otherwise remain subtle points of confusion or mystery. So, I have to give it 5 stars and a hearty recommenation.

This text is OK and some of the examples and problems are well done. It jumps a bit in subject matter, but that's only compared to the order the subject matter was presented in the class I took. It does seem to contain all the topics that were relevent to Chemistry 1 and the index was spot on in finding the info I needed about a particular term or concept.

I am currently teaching myself Biochemistry, but I was coming across alot of rough spots in that text. My undergraduate degree was in psychology, so I don't have an extensive biology or chemistry background. I picked up McMurry's text to help supplement some of the concepts I wasn't understanding in the biochemistry text and was surprised at how well he explains the material. From reading his text I feel that I am developing a strong background in organic chemistry to eventually understand biochemistry. Also, I'm finding alot of interest in organic chemistry on it's own because of how McMurry presents the information.

If you're looking for an organic chemistry text that presents the information in a manner that allows for heightened understanding than pick up this book.

I have taught undergraduate organic chemistry for almost 10 years and have used this book (not by choice) for most of them. This book is incredibly easy to read and that is why many students like it. But the price that the instructor pays for that is in it's lack of depth. This book is NOT rigorous enough for the average science major/pre-professional student. In fact, I have used one semester, nursing level texts that were more rigorous than this book (Harold Hart's Organic Chemistry: A Short Course comes to mind). If you want a comprehensive and rigorous 2-semester organic text, I would recommend Loudon's Organic Chemistry far ahead of this nice and pretty but shallow text.

This textbook was good - I just hate organic chemistry! I would advise you to buy this book if you need it - just don't go past CHM138 at the University of Toronto, because CHM247 is a pain in the ass.

Like many have mentioned, the book is good for beginners and intro classes. The problems and material are relatively "simple." If that is all you require, "easy," not very indepth and just the simple basics, the book does it's job.

Definitely. It's a great book for first-year organic, I think, regardless of what major you're in, because McMurry seeks to present the foundations of organic knowledge. While it's not as complex as some other books, I think it certainly allows the reader to get a good grasp on what's going on. The fact that it tends to be a light read is a good one -- especially on those nights before the exam when you have to skim through several chapters before morning arrives. :)

So yes. The book itself is very well-presented, with well-diagrammed reactions, colors, and figures that help supplement the text. The textual portions themselves can be a little on the weak side, meaning you actually have to listen to your professor in class. However, if you want a more rigorous and advanced approach to organic chemistry... look up Jerry March.

I was very happy to receive this book in such good condition and in such a timely manner. I recommend purchasing from this seller.

Book was like new. Great condition. I was very pleased with the timely manner of delivery. The condition was just as the seller described.

Everything's an Argument was shipped in good condition as described. Unfortunately, I had need the Everything's an Argument with Readings. So just as a suggestion...please make sure the correct book is ordered....I did order the correct book and the amount of the wrong book purchased, was refunded to me. Thank you.

This book starts with the standards of rhetoric laid down by Aristotle over two milennia ago. It explains the kinds, purposes, and conventions of classical argument in a vernacular English that contemporary teachers will be able to expound upon, and students will be able to comprehend. In essence, it brings Aristotle up to date without losing the unity that makes him worth studying to this day.

Unfortunately, only a small number of the chapters contain any examples of how this works in actual usage. To be really useful, this book needs readings. There is a larger edition with actual examples of rhetoric in use, but I naively thought my students would be happier with a slimmer, less expensive volume. Shame on me. I found myself running around all hell to breakfast, trying to find articles and essays that would exemplify the rules and notions of rhetoric for my students, hoping what I found (often on the fly) would actually be useful.

I like the layout and arrangement of this book. As far as it's useful, it's also informative and enlightening. But the more expanded version ought to be more useful to freshman composition students. Next semester, I will have my students buy the more expensive "with readings" edition, which will make my life easier, and theirs too, since they won't have to keep track of all my hasty photocopies.

This is quite possibly the worst book I've ever read in my life. Pointless repetition page after page. This book justifies why some people unfortunately despise reading. In this case, it was like pulling teeth to read this trash. We all KNOW what this book tries to tell us. However, Lunsford feels the need to take a sentence, and expand it into 300000 more saying the exact same thing. Please do not buy this.

I highly recommend this book for Children's Literature. Extremely well organized by genres and well written. I found it very interesting and informative, but, I love childrens' literature. My only criticism of the book is regardingthe copyright of 1995. As a result, there have been many great children's books printed since 1995 that were not covered in this book. Nevertheless, I found this book to be a source of great information and one that I will continue to use.

This was required reading for my class. I like the web site that goes with the book. It has sample tests.

I have to agree with another review, this is a boring book; however, there is a lot of information in the book that may help you develop book lists for your classroom. Lots of resources cited and listed. The only reason I purchased this book was because of course requirements. I'll keep it on hand for future reference.

It is hard to imagine a book that could take the wonder of children's literature and more thoroughly destroy it. The cover illustration makes you feel momentarily safe. Then the texts begins and hope is slowly and mercilessly trodden into the dust. Take this for example:

"Another approach to the study of art is recommended by Stephen F. Eisenman and Thomas Crow, who use art criticism that focuses on the relationship between art and ideology, the economic and social conditions expressed in the art (a Marxist approach to criticism)."

Now pause briefly and consider this is a book about *children's* literature. Let us continue to some questions that should be used in this analysis:

"What role does class play in the work of both the artist and the viewer?

In what way might the artwork serve as propaganda?

What is the dominant ideology that the artist challenged?"

I'm now preparing to write a whithering review of the oppression inherent in the "Cat and the Hat".

All of this wouldn't be so bad if books were actually presented. Instead we get lots of small type with a reference to a random children's title in every other paragraph and the impression that children's literature is either dominated by the enlightened academic class or club wielding classist Neanderthals. You know, the kind that make you read books like "Through the Eyes of a Child".

DO NOT USE THIS IN YOUR CLASS. You will be torturing your students in a manner not allowed by the constitution. Hopefully, that at least, will carry some weight.

If you plan to teach a children's literature course, then this book possesses nearly all of the information, history, and important milestones that you need...if you can get by the stilted language.

It reads well for someone like me who studies/collects children's literature as a personal hobby; however, for the average reader? Get ready for a painful struggle.

I would suggest using it in conjunction with two other books: Jacob & Tunnell's more classroom-focused CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, BRIEFLY and Rebecca Luken's more historcal/applicable balanced CRITICAL HANDBOOK OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE.