Factor

Basic book about measures and a few more. Usefull for some technical information if you are designing furniture for the children and to know what sizes are suitable for every age. Also has a usefull list of resources.
You will find it somewhat usefull, but don't expect too much of it.

Great when thinking about the safety of your child in a new space. Provides standards for child's environments

This book is a must have resource for architects, landscape architects, and interior designers. The book covers appropriate sizes, heights, and clearances for all ages of children and all types of environments. Anyone designing a school, hospital, or even a playground will benefit greatly by adding this book to his or her library. The information is brought to you in such a cleverly thorough manner that you can tell it is written from the heart, by a mom herself.

This book reports on studies the authors conducted in Indiana between 1986 and 1994. It examines what may make a high schooler predisposed to attend college, how students search for college opportunities, and what choices they ultimately make upon graduation from high school. Finally, it reviews what the study's participants actually did do in the four years following high school.

In addition to outlining findings from these surveys, Going to College also reports in greater depth on interviews with eight students. While relatively interesting, the interviews are not the most beneficial part of the book. Even the surveys, the book acknowledges, may be somewhat limited in their value. For instance, some results may not be useful to people in other parts of the country. The study is set in Indiana, where the average parental income and educational levels are in the bottom half of the fifty states.

Nonetheless, Going to College contains a number of interesting conclusions and statements. For example, the study discovered that seven of ten sophomores who said they planned to attend a college of some sort did actually matriculate in college after high school. However, only 35% of the students surveyed ended up attending one of the colleges they were considering in the tenth grade year.

Going to College also tries to determine what characteristics may "predict" whether or not a high schooler will end up attending college. The role of parents seems to be a key predictor. The authors found that toward the beginning of the college selection process--during the early high school years--the encouragement of parents is most likely to determine whether or not a student has college aspirations. Sixty-four percent of students who received strong encouragement from their parents attended a four-year college (p. 102). The parents' level of educational attainment also makes a difference. As that level increases, children are more likely to go to college. Seventy-five percent of students whose parents had a college degree actually enrolled in college (p. 104).

The second strongest indicator of college aspirations is the students' high school grade point average. Ninety-one percent of A students plan to attend a four-year college and 65% of B students do, but only 28% of C students expect to go to college (p. 106).

Going to College represents the type of research that most college and university enrollment managers would love to conduct: A longitudinal study that traces students' and parents' attitudes, influences and goals through the high school years and beyond. Unfortunately, the results of this particular study are somewhat limited.

I'm not in an education area, I'm an engineer though. I bought this book to see research in educational or social science on impat of high school students choosing their higher education. After reading "preface", I was stunned for the research had been conducted for "9" years! This book is very important for any parents. The college may be for your children at 17-18, but this book will tell you how important you are to support them; not only when they go to College but much before (e.g., sixth grade). I'm glad I read this book before I have my own child. What more surprising me is the book organization. This book was well written and organized. The structure is easy to follow. For each case study, the conclusion was drawn. Their research factors/questions were well defined. I wasn't surprised to see the outcome of their research. What annoy me is the keeping-talking of statistics tool. While it's important, the writing and research are more important. It's quite disappointed me.

Don Hossler is probably the most prolific writer on admissions and enrollment management in the last two decades, and, in my opinion, the best. This book, written with two co-authors, though, disappoints a little bit.

If you're looking for a basic overview on how students select colleges, try Hossler's other work or that of others on the structure of college choice. Avoid the mass-market "choosing a college" books that are targeted to over-anxious students and parents.

The core of the book describes a longitudinal study the authors did on Indiana high school students. While the stats and ancedotes do a fine job helping the reader to understand the process *these students* were going through, it's difficult to read and not think "how would this apply to other students? Does it at all?"

There is a worthy summary of the current theory and models of student college choice in the closing chapters. My advice, if you read this book, is to start with the generalized information in the back and then read the rest of the book from page one.

This book would probably make a good textbook for a college course on international financial affairs, but for someone like myself who just wanted to know what the gold standard was, this book is like pulling teeth. Mr. Eichengreen's "Golden Fetters" just goes into too much detail. By page nine of the introduction I wished I hadn't bought the book, by page 30 I was ready to donate it to the local library. If you live and breathe the stock market or international finance, this book may be for you. I'll just wait for a good documentary on the subject on television.

Barry Eichengreen's classic tale of financial hubris and mismanagement is almost ten years old. But it's still riveting. It's a broad-sweep introduction for generalists and financial buffs alike. And it's very well written too.

The book begins by describing the inner workings of the gold standard and how it evolved from its inception in the 1800s. This part may be a bit dry for generalists, but once underway all the terms become quite easy to understand. It's worth persevering since WW1changed the way the world worked. In particular, the after effects of the war made staying on gold much more difficult for countries experiencing persistent balance of payments deficits.

After that, Eichengreen goes on a tour of the interwar years and aims to show why the collapse of the gold standard and the plunge into depression had nothing to do with the US stock market and everything to do with rivalries and mismanagment on an international scale. The US crash was a symptom of an international crisis, not the cause.

All the classic powderkegs are there. The UK's mindless attempt to rejoin the gold standard at the overvalued, pre-war rate. Vindictive French domestic politics and the hyperinflations in continental Europe. Vindictive French attempts to humiliate the Germans over reparations. Bank runs in Germany and Austria. French and American attempts to bend the rules of the Gold Standard for their own national interests. Wild swings in capital flows from Europe to the US and back again. And the cataclysmic days of 1931 when the whole system collapsed under the weight of banking crises and currency contagion - in ways very similar to Asia in 1997.

After the crash, we get down to the Great Depression and who fared the best. This part is much shorter since it isn't as complicated. Basically, those countries that devalued quickly and went the free market route fared much better than those that didn't. Sweden was a star performer. The US can be found towards the back of the class. Dear old Blighty gets full marks for going solo, although more recent evidence shows this had more to do with throwing in the towel than playing with new ideas.

Strangely there's little mention of Japan. Nippon took a beating in the late 1920s while the yen remained fixed to gold. Once sterling devalued, the Japanese followed suit. The recovery was swift and full blooded. But the central bank forgot to stop the printing press once growth returned and ended up fighting hyperinflation in the late 1930s. So Eichengreen's line that giving up was the great panacea isn't quite as true as he'd have you believe.

All told, Golden Fetters is great. While it lacks facts and figures on banking problems and doesn't really provide convincing evidence on contagion, it works really well as a diary of contrasting fortunes in Europe and the US after the guns fell silent in 1918. If you like history then this is for you.

Eichengreen does it again. His easy-reading prose takes the reader through the monetary meanders of the post-WWI scenario, alternating historical narrative with clear, in-depth looks into economic theory and economic thought. The book features a comprehensive analysis of the intricacies of the interwar gold standard. The international conferences, the German hyperinflation, the roller-coaster of the Franc between 1924 and 1926 and the monetary determinants of the Great Depression are studied with extreme accuracy. This magnificient account will not disappoint either the academic reader or the learned non-specialist.

I read the book and found it full of testimony from people that used his product that said it worked great. The shots work well but are expensive. For the average person this product is not cheap. I tried the product for two months doing exactly what the instructions said and saw absolutely no change. I'm happy for all those lucky people in the book but think others should know it is not for everyone and you can forget the moneyback guarantee I tried for months and just gave up.

I thought colloidal minerals were good until I read this book. It sure woke me up. I now know how dangerous they can be. The other choices were well explained and now I am happily taking crystalloid minerals and feeling great. It is the one book needed since there was so much hype on colloidal and no one told the true story. The book doesn't bash colloidals,just explains the truth and gives you alternatives.

This book answered my questions as to the difference between expensive growth hormone injections and the reasonable secretagogues that effect similar results. I have used the recommended supplements with terrific results. The book got me on the right track.

Lets see, the Atom bomb doesn't work unless it is sitting still? How then would you explain Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Well if your the author of this book, You can belive that a US army weather plane just happens to be flying over Hiroshima when a Major earthquake strikes the city (One of only about 5 major Jappenese cities that had not already been bombed to oblivion). So the Army Burns, and spreads radation over the City and then sets off a huge flash bulb to convince the people of Japan the bomb works. (Hollywood does the rest) Then thee days later another earthquake Just happens to hit one of the few Japanese cities, Nagasaki, not yet destoyed, and we do the same thing all over again convincing the Japanese to surrender. Now I enjoy a good conspiracy theory as much or more than most, however, this book would be laughable if it were not such an insult to those who were in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when they were bombed.

"The Jesus Factor" is a by-the-numbers conspiracy theory novel. It asks whether nuclear weapons technology may actually be a mirage. To this end, it presents a series of explanations in its story for why this is so. The believability of its scenario depends on how much science the reader knows - the more knowledgable you are, the less likely that you will buy into the explanations of "Jesus Factor." The plot exists to drive these ideas forward, which it does effectively enough for its purposes. Overall, this book is neither among the best nor the worst of its subgenre. If you like books about political/scientific speculation and have money to spend, then buy this book. If not, then "Jesus Factor" will probably be a waste of your time.

"The Jesus Factor" is a superbly written, utterly engrossing, and amazingly believable tale of how the atom bomb, our prized protectorate against enemies who would engage in the use of chemical or biological warfare, may not be as functional as we have always been taught. A must-read for conspiracy buffs -- THIS NOVEL IS ABSOLUTELY PLAUSIBLE. And I'm NOT a conspiracy buff. If you don't finish it in one sitting, you don't like books.

Herzog has some valuable ideas in The B.S factor. His best writing is when he becomes passionate about becoming a "skeptic." But otherwise the book looks hastily written. Many ideas are unsupported. Many conclusions are unstated, leaving the reader to wonder, "what is his point?"

How could anyone not love a book about clarity of speech and thought -- or the lack thereof?

I didn't know Arthur Herzog when I first picked up "The B.S. Factor." I still don't know much about him or his other work. Yet, if I had the means, I'd put a copy of this invaluable book in every library, every waiting room, every reading rack, and every hotel room in America. His is the crusade I've been waging for a quarter of a century.

Herzog cuts to the bone in dissecting a myriad varieties of obfuscation, verbal misdirection, and just plain muddy talk. He concludes his incisive, hilarious taxonomy of verbal fakery with a brilliant essay on living in a healthy state of skepticism. One gets the sense that nothing fluffed or hyped could ever get past him.

Mr. Herzog and I differ on certain political matters, and here is where I find the book's only fault: On occasion, instead of concentrating on his primary mission, which is the exposure of imprecision, flim-flam and deliberate attempts to confuse that litter our verbal environment, he allows his politics to take center stage. Still, he doesn't let it happen often, thank God.

If you are concerned about the deterioration of language, truth, and meaning, but aren't sure yet how deep the rot goes, this is a must-read book. If you're already near to verbal paralysis from the seeming impossibility of getting the people around you to talk straight, Herzog is your spiritual kin, as he is mine. Either way, you'll come away from "The B.S. Factor" enlightened and refreshed.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace, Francis W. Porretto

Synopsis from Amazon.co.uk -- This volume represents a major critique of the way Malthusian thinking has influenced capitalist development policy in the modern period, as well as in the past. It highlights the strategic role of Malthusian ideas in the defence of capitalist political economy when confronted by struggles for equality and human progress.

Ross' analysis of Cold War uses of Malthusian dogma is succinct and brings a fresh and consistent analysis to, "the increasing subordination of demographic thinking to the Cold War." Ross examines the uses of the United States' Cold War policy directives which represented the underdeveloped world's demographic state (literally) as a "population bomb" needing to be defused by technicians from the North before its detonation shattered the global economic order. Further, Ross contextualizes Hardin's just-so-story of the Tragedy of the Commons as a Cold War parable passed on as empirical fact, a parable that teaches us that only private property, and an unequal distribution of resources can lead to social harmony.

The Malthus Factor is packed with detailed examples of how wide-ranging Malthus' impact on society has been, from discussions of the connections between the Green Revolution's fertilizer requirements and linkages between munitions industries and fertilizer industries, to links between the rise of the American Eugenics movement and the historical demise of American midwifery, to the roles of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations in funding the Eugenics movement. Even readers who disagrees with Ross' theoretical approach to Malthus will learn something of value from his analysis. I expect that this book will soon become required reading for any graduate student studying for exams covering both demographic theory and political economy.

I found the science rather unconvincing, but perhaps I was very skeptical given that the author is also a fundraiser for a U.S. organization that promotes sterilization of people who are, or have ever been, addicted to drugs, which would have prevented the birth of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Jaqueline Kennedy, Dave Eggers (Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius), Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes), Bill Cosby, John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath), etc. Any "science" that comes to a conclusion these genetic defectives would have been better off never born due to their alcoholic parent smells like that fish I left in the trash last week.

Everyone who values science and civilisation should read this book .
I'm sure it would have sold millions if wiley had published it as planed.
Civilisation itself is in danger when books like this do not get
to the public.

This book was withdrawn by the publisher, Wiley (UK & USA), which wanted to dissociate itself from 'racism.'

(1) The g Factor was reviewed in Nature (2 May 1996, p.33) by N. J. Mackintosh, Professor of Psychology, University of Cambridge, as a "radical libertarian" contribution to debates on education providing "spirited attacks on....Stephen Jay Gould and Steven Rose [and] the massed battalions of the politically correct...." Mackintosh said "[Brand] develops a strong argument for individual freedom of choice in education." The book said that children are not largely the creatures (let alone the victims) of their environments, except in so far as adults deny them serious choice; and that parents, after receiving advice about IQ, should be able to help children choose how fast they progress through school {cf. 'fast track learning', advocated by Mr Tony Blair in February, 1996}. Mackintosh condemned Wiley's "singularly cack-handed attempt at censorship" which, he said, raised doubts about the firm's "good sense, competence and integrity."

(2) An Edinburgh Psychology Honours student wrote a Brief Summary / review of The g Factor for Student [Edinburgh University's student newspaper]. An extract: "Brand thinks that once we are all comfortable and realistic about the notion of intelligence we can accept systems of education geared to our intelligence levels. He goes beyond the ideas of streaming and suggests that, given the choice, children would naturally select classes pitched at their own IQ levels: "Clever children would no longer be let down by a state educational system providing a cross between a child-minding service and a reformatory.""

(3) New Scientist wrote in an editorial (May 1996): "It is....a great pity that the book will not now be speedily published, for it is probably the best argued treatise from the general intelligence camp. For the many that will disagree violently with every step of its argument, this is the book to stimulate a true scientific debate."

(4) A substantial summary and review was published by economics professor Ed Miller (University of New Orleans) in the Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies, 1996. Miller finds it surprising that such a 'mainstream' book which advocates more scholastic choice for parents and children (in line with children's abilities) should have caused such controversy.

...

I have been a J.L.C. reader for a very long time I have read everything that I could find from Jack Chalker.I was really disappointed in this book to put it simply it was boring I read the entire book and I kept expecting it to get better but it never did sorry jack this one is a flop.

What starts out like a comic strip Moreauville slowly draws the reader into a whirlpool dystopia--science gone mad. What happens when man develops intellectual, symbiotic relationships with genetically smart supercomputers? Chalker paints a computer, Ariel, who can design stem cells to either transform men into unique chimera animals or give them the forever sought after fountain of youth. The book leads the reader through some heavy plodding as the protagonists are pitted against some beasts from hades. The hoped for ending will not disappoint, however, if ever there was ever a contrived, spit in your eye, happy ending this is it.

PS: Congrats to Chalker for breaking sexual taboos in sci-fi by including the exploits of a bragging Italian Stallion and a Big Breasted Babe. Hopefully his crystal ball is smogged regarding the future thrills a church wedding can provide.

The Moreau factor is a beautifully written book with solid scientific footing. It contains most of the typical Chalkeresque elements his fans will crave, but it also cracks the door on what will in the future surely prove to be the most wondrous and horrifying power the world has yet seen: genetic science. Although very fanciful, the issues Chalker presents are real, and the strides current science is making and the ethical questions they raise are addressed in the book. The book proceeds at a comfortable pace and contains a pleasant balance of mystery and action. Unfortunately, the ending is a trifle abrupt for my tastes, but nonetheless the book is worth reading if for no other reason than to consider the future ramifications of genetic science.

Mr. McLean is no doubt an expert in golf -- I have no doubt about that. I have seen serveral of his videos and have gained from them. This book, however, could have been helped immensly by a strong editorial hand. Mr. McLean waffles on and on about fragmentary parts of the swing, interspersing it pointless stories and dropped names. Only one point comes through clearly: the power in a swing is generated by the differential between the hip and shoulder turn. I am sure that if I re-read the book more points would come to light, but it is far too tiresome.

This book could certainly used a better edit. If this is the first golf book that you are trying to purchase go with another author. Mr. McLean, while a great teacher, does not write well enough to convey information to the beginner. If you have read several books on the swing then you can understand the information he conveys. Otherwise, you will be lost in the nomenclature.

I have read several books on golf and the golf swing and this is the best describing the long game. If you want to know how to generate power in the swing, this is the book. Most golf instruction books, videos and television shows describe the golf swing as unusual, unnatural and not anything like other sports. Jim McLean shows how the golf swing is very similar to other sports and imitates common athletic moves. After I read this book I was able to put Jim's concept of the X-Factor to immediate use.