Future Books

I ordered this book in July, 2007. This's an amazing book! Today, I got an email from the author asking if I got the book. I think they not only did a great work on this book, but also concern everyone who are interested in this book! That's so nice! So, don't hesitate to order this book! You will get more then what you thought!Mobile Persuasion: 20 Perspectives of the Future of Behavior Change

I am a soon to be a graduate psychology student by the University of Tromsø. I am doing some research this summer and then I bought the "Mobile Persuasion: 20 Perspectives on the Future of Behavior Change" from the folks by the Persuasive Technology Lab by Stanford University.

The book gave me a very good introduction and an overview of this research field in a clearly and understandable manner. As a a reader you get to know what happens in the field of mobile persuasion right now, what is under development and the psychological principles behind mobile persuasion.

I will recommend this great book to all professionals and students working with technology and behavior change.

We love the do-everything gadget that is always with us. The mobile phone will be the most effective instrument of persuasion in the coming decade, says co-author and Stanford professor B.J. Fogg. My handset can play the roles of concierge, coach and court jester. Linkage to the Web 2.0 world is a precursor to its ability to augment my social reality.

The book consists of 20 perspectives offered by speakers at 2007 Mobile Persuasion, a conference hosted by Fogg's Persuasive Technology Lab. The chapters may not all describe applications and techniques that strike the reader as "persuasive" or even that useful, but consider that it is just the early crop. I was convinced that, equipped with ever-improving services, the ubiquitous gadget will most definitely be an instrument of change.

Early Movers

* Using Technology to Promote Sexual Health - Delivering critical sexuality information to teens on-demand by text message.
* MyFoodPhone: The Start of a Mobile Health Revolution - A photographic diet logger and coach.
* Persuasive Games on Mobile Devices - Multiplayer games that change thinking.
* Simply Persuasive: Using Mobile Technology to Boost Physical Activity - Cheaper than a personal trainer.
* Managing Chronic Disease through Mobile Persuasion - Virtual assistant for diabetes patients

Under Development

* Augmented Reality: Using Mobile Visualization to Persuade - Plant identification provides an example.
* Transforming the Mobile Phone into a Personal Performance Coach - Tracking conversations to improve effectiveness at the office.
* Personal Health Assistant in the Palm of Your Hand - How to combine virtual and live assistance for a compelling service.
* Mobile Persuasion for Everyday Behavior Change - Sensor technology allows tracking personal activity and environmental conditions.

Design Insights

* Designing Engaging Mobile Experiences - Strategies for overcoming the UI limitations of the mobile device.
* The Four Pillars of a Successful Mobile Marketing Vision - Consumer preference, marketing as service, personalization and relationships.
* Pervasive Persuasive Play: Rhetorical Game Design for the Ubicomp World - Serious games aim at inspiring educating and training their players.
* Mobile Persuasion and the Power of Meaning - MySpace, for example, is successful because of the meaning it has in user's lives.
* Mobile Persuasion Design Principles - How mobile is different from the desktop.

The Bigger Picture

* The Need for Simplicity - Simply put, KISS.
* The Jetson Kids Reboot HealthCare - More opportunities in health.
* Ethical Dangers of Mobile Persuasion - Things to think about in a society with billions of surveillance cameras.
* Redefining Persuasion for a Mobile World - Co-author Dean Eckles offers a different view of persuasion based on the augmentation the mobile provides its owner.

In the last chapter, "Increasing Persuasion Through Mobility", Fogg notes that effective persuaders always control the time and place for their message. With the mobile always at my side and aware of my location, I'm optimally receptive to right message, reminder or suggestion, delivered at the right time and right place. With enough software, it can predict what I might need and how to help me. It's almost like we're married.

Adhering to the principles of mobile persuasion will make a service successful.

* Kairos. Offering suggestion at just the right time and place.
* Mobile Loyalty. A successful service will fill the needs of the device owner first before providing value to the provider.
* Mobile Marriage. Positive, frequent interactions for a long time.
* Information Quality. Current and accurate.
* Social Facilitation. Allowing observation of owner's performance by others increases effectiveness of persuasion.
* Social Comparison. Everyone likes being on the leader board.
* Competition. Cooperation and Recognition. All strong motivators.

This book gives insight into the swiftly growing world of persuasive technology in the form of the mobile phone. Throughout the book, you are taken through the perspectives of 19 different experts on the topic, whose specialties range from persuasive games to managing a chronic disease to the ethical dangers of mobile persuasion. The book is incredibly easy to read and has a surprising 20th chapter that inspires the reader to look at his/her own experiences.

With the ubiquity of mobile phones, the huge influence mobile persuasion can have on the world is unquestionable. Have you ever gotten a text message or a call on your cell phone asking you to add extra preferences to your plan, try a new product, or pay your bill? Then a form of mobile persuasion has already touched your life. Pick up this book and stay on the cutting edge of what will prove to be a huge part of everyone's lives in the near future. This book and Stanford University's Persuasive technology Lab will make it easy, and you won't regret it.

Stanford's Captology group has done something amazing with this book. (First - a little disclosure - I'm Eric Holmen from SmartReply, the author of the Mobile Marketing chapter of this book.) This book takes academic and industrial thought leaders, and compresses their real-world experiences, marketplace results, and tested views into about 2,000 words for each of 19 chapters, with a surprise 20th chapter. Rarely will you find a book with such breadth of content that is focused on such a misleading simple device as the mobile phone. This is a snapshot into the future.

Covering topics as diverse as augmented reality, mobile marketing, health, and social living improvements and the persuasive methods and effects therein - the reader will find a view into the future in his or her area of interest, and undoubtedly be exposed to a world of new concepts.

From a contributors perspective, the Stanford Captology folks were able to take this very fresh research and turn it into a book in about two months time - unheard of from a publishing standpoint. This means that the reader will find content that is happening today, not aged or suffering from the typical 18 month long publishing delays.

I was assigned this book for a Jewish History class at my university, and so far I'm really enjoying it. We read one of the autobiographies each week, and I feel that Cohen has done an excellent job of bringing together stories from different backgrounds and different experiences, and even has a married couple each tell their stories in their own autobiographies.

I'll be honest; I was expecting it to be boring - but am very pleasantly surprised to find that it's not!

"My Future Is In America" contains excellent primary source material for the student of Jewish immigration to this country and immigration history in general. The individual essays are captivating and very readable, providing a wealth of information about the immigrant experience, not only after arrival in America, but also about life in Europe pre-immigration. This book should be considered as reading in American Studies curricula.

I just finished reading this book. This is not only for Jewish people but other religions as well. It's a part of our history and I found it very enjoyable and informative. A must read.

The older brother of Minnie Goldstein, who wrote the first of the autobiographies that appear in the book, is my great-grandfather and what seems to have been passed down through the generations is a somewhat sanitised version of the truth ... I really had no idea about their dreadful poverty, or the fact that a contributing factor to Hershl Malinberg's emigration from Warsaw to the U.S. was being cheated in business by his own mother-in-law. Of course, the story has particular resonance for her own kith and kin, but it contains so much vivid detail, and is told so well, that I would recommend it to anyone.

As a first generation American, I always wanted to know how and why my parents came to America... they passed away before imparting this information.... this book fills in all the gaps, in a humorous and interesting way. I could not put this book down, and reread it... Totally enjoyable!!!! 5 stars

Monica Sjoo investigation of the New Age movement and its dangerous literal interpretations of "light energy versus dark energy" combined with the negation of women's spirituality and pagan worship. Is a ground breaking, cross cultural tour-de-force that brings close to home the perils of trusting to simplistic New Age gurus who want to pedal old patriarchal ideologies in a new plastic covering. Her research into the appropriation of Native American and Aboriginal cultures as well as the rejection of Celtic pagan deities by New Age practitioners are extremely timely. Ms Sjoo who was born in Sweden does not cut corners when it comes to explaining in graphic detail how her own son nearly died and suffered needless psychological and physical pain due to New Age medical practices. Its a harrowing account of how placing ones trust in unlicensed medical and psychiatric techniques can bring a person to the brink of suicide.

Throughout it all Ms Sjoo maintains a wiry sense of humor and a scholastic integrity that proves her impartiality even whilst she warns of the perils of New Age abusers. This book is essential for anyone who is considering a religion that is removed from the Judeo-Christian patriarchy which currently dominates and manipulate women's sexuality and spirituality. She offers an alternative to the New Age false gurus by opening the readers eyes to ancestral pagan beliefs that were more ecologically sound and ultimately spiritually rewarding for their practitioners.

Buy it there will be no regrets

This is probably the most important book to have been written on the New Age so far. For those of us who have harboured sneaking suspicions that New Age gurus are missing the point, with their emphasis on the "light" and their fear of both literal and metaphorical darkness and the New Age movement's refusal to accept or patronising and grudging acceptance of women and their potential, this book is a goddessend! I wept with relief on finding it. Monica Sjoo's criticism comes from a sophisticated, experiential understanding of politics, society and spirituality, and the necessity of making links between these three aspects of our lives. Sjoo's research into the ancient Goddess-worshipping civilisations, the modern New Age movement and feminist and grassroots politics is extensive, but does not alienate the reader. Rather, her booklists inspire others to read further. Whether you are a woman who is marginalised for her beliefs or a New Ager looking for a real analysis of the movement, the future and how we must change the way we think, New Age and Armageddon is essential reading. Clare Cochrane.

I have very much enjoyed the work of Monica Sjoo and this work impresses me with its erudition, breadth, and sincerity. I first read her writing in a house at 47 Princess Victoria Street in Bristol England while drinking endless British tea underneath the overwhelmingly feminist visions of her large paintings on masonite. I have been attempting to reach Monica since I first read of her work on the Internet, and could any mutual friends refer her to this email, and my permanent email at ariellegabriel@hotmail.com. Thanks...

Monica has been an excellent researcher of feminist issues, and a honourable and generous friend of mine many years ago in Bristol England where I lived with her and her family at 47 Princess Victoria Street England..I have been searching for her on the Internet for many many months and wrote to the feminist celebration in California trying to locate her... She knew me by my first name Roslyn ....please if you know where she is ask her to write me at my hotmail....ariellegabriel@hotmail.com.....I also knew her son Toivo from Bristol and hi to him as well..Please tell Monica about this email and go a good deed, it is the 2nd day of September 2000...

A must read for women who are not afraid to go outside the box. Monica had her fingers on the pulse of ancient women's cultures and traditions. I will miss her scholarship. This book must be taken serious and those who have had the privilege to view Al Gore's new movie will see how his views supports this authors view. Don't stop here. Women unite!

As I began to read, I had a sense of deja vu - and no wonder, it was published in the UK as The Driving Force in 1989. I lent my copy to some miserable bastard who never returned it and it's now out of print, so I'm delighted to have re-acquired it, albeit inadvertantly; I recommend it highly. Don't be put off by any philosphical excess here, theories of our origin don't matter nearly as much as the biochemistry set out in this book which can literally restore your health if you have a Western degenerative disease. Crawford and Marsh elucidate an emerging paradigm.

This book was co-authored by David Marsh.Please ring 0044 171 460 2027 for details of other publications by D.Marsh. As co-author I wish to point out that the heterodox content of our major thesis as set out in this book has lead to severe academic ostracization of Michael Crawfurd in the intellectually impoverished and narrow milieu of biochemical nutritionists. Assuming that you, the potential reader, are not constrained by narrow academic rivalries may I invite you to enlarge your conception of the processes that have shaped our development and that of all the species with which we share this planet.

This wonderful book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in evolution or high level nutrition. You will soon see clearly that evolution is not fully understood. The case is made that evolution is constrained by nutritional requirements as much as a car is by the highway (my analogy not theirs). The myth of the boundless potential of evolution is destroyed forever, and sobering limits are imposed.

Don't blame Darwin- they make it clear that he saw the "highway as well as the car", but we have deified his theory and overlooked the limitations that he actually wrote about. One feels somewhat chastened after 30 years or so of blind worship to find that evolution is not the magic amulet taught in school, but merely a powerful tool with quite mundane limitations. These limitations must be understood if one wishes to have any scientific credibility. Sadly only a minority of scientists understand these limitations, and this little book makes the opinions of many seem peurile.

The philosophical and thought provoking discussion is most stimulating- the many interesting facts and anecdotes making it most most worthwhile reading. Like a kitten, my eyes have been opened. Thank you Crawford and Marsh

While Crawford and March do a good job of presenting documented information, the data appears to confirm creation rather than evolution. Certainly nutrition can affect the size of man's brain, body and mental capacity. But had anthropologists written this book they would have falsely concluded that modern man is a different species. Mankind can progress or regress depending upon nutritional factors. Mankind appears to be in regression at the present time. Population expansion may force famines and disease, lest we forget the earth's human population has gone from 1.5 to 6.0 billion in just a couple of centuries. Good reading for the serious reader.

I know quite a bit about nutrition and the problem with our modern diet, so I was mostly interested in their theories on how nutrition has shaped evolution.

The authors present some truly astounding theories on the evolution of humankind, and argue their case well. The book is a bit slow in the beginning, but once they start talking about the evolution of life from the algae onward, hand on to your hats!

No one has been a more eloquent spokesperson for a return to the Moon than lunar scientist Paul Spudis, currently on the staff of the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University. This book is both a breathless survey of the history of lunar exploration, using both robotic spacecraft and the astronauts of Apollo, as well as an eloquent statement of rationales for renewed involvement with the Moon.

In his first part Spudis concentrates on describing the Moon and what humans know about it. As a geologist he focuses on the landforms of the Moon, systematically working through discussions of the regolith, volcanism, tectonic actions, impacts and the creation of the lunar face. In this context he discusses in some detail the origins of the Moon, a subject of perennial debate in scientific circles. While still contested, Spudis notes that detailed information from the Apollo exploration of the Moon pointed toward an impact theory--which suggests that the Earth collided with a very large object (as big as Mars or more)--and that the Moon formed from the ejected material. This "big whack" theory explained well what was learned about the geology and selenogony of the Moon during the Apollo program. While there are still details to be worked out, the impact theory is now widely accepted. In the end, Spudis believes that only further research will be able to resolve this question.

The heart of "The Once and Future Moon," however, is Spudis's erudite and impassioned plea for a return to the Moon after more than a generation, the manner in which it might be accomplished, and the scientific activities that might take place there. He offers many reasons for undertaking a renewed lunar exploration program. The rationales include everything from scientific exploration of the Moon, essentially completing the task begun by earlier efforts, as well as developing the resources of the Moon for human use, and engaging in other lunar activities such as astronomy from its surface.

This is a very fine book. Now a decade old, it is time for a new edition of the work, discussing the debate over the possibilities of ice on the lunar poles, and NASA's plans for returning to our nearest neighbor in the solar system. I hope Spudis will undertake this revision in the near term. Until then, I highly recommend this work as an outstanding explanation of the Moon and its place in the human existence.

An excellent introduction to the moon, the geology, the detective/sceintific work in finding the dates for events on the moon. The suprises turned up by appolo (like the uneven gravity field that put appollo 11 off course on landing and almost destroyed it). And the moons great potential for teaching us about the solar system and our own planet.

This is the best introduction to the moon that I've encountered. Dr. Spudis clearly addresses the varies areas of lunar exploration--both past and future--and the findings of these visits. While addressing the issues of lunar geology (basin formation, cratering, volcanism, and regolith formation), he keeps the language non-technical and even enjoyable to read. While other introductions fail (in my mind) by being too brief, this volume 'does it all'. I have been very pleased with this book and highly recommend it as the only quality introductory text on the moon

The Once and Future Moon by Paul D. Spudis combines clear, straightforward writing with solid science to give us a comprehensive picture of the geological and human history of the moon, as well as well-reasoned speculation about what the Moon might hold for future human exploration and colonization. This book has become an essential reference for me in my writing of a science fiction novel about a Moon colony. The latest ideas about what human explorers and colonists can expect to accomplish in astronomy and lunar science and what lunar resources they can exploit for survival and profit are all clearly presented. The book also presents the best arguments I have heard for the continued human exploration of space, and why NASA's current bureaucracy isn't up to the job

Dr Paul Spudis is one of the preeminent lunar geologists today and in his book he makes an eloquent argument for the importance of continuing manned exploration of the moon which ended with the return of Apollo 17 in December 1972.

The book is divided into two parts. The first gives a description of the bulk characteristics of the moon. He then goes into a fairly detailed description of what exploration of the moon has revealed in terms of lunar geology. The geological part of the book is written on the level of the "educated layman" so some might find it difficult by a glossary is provided that helps considerably. Spudis is not afraid to challenge the "commonly accepted wisdom". For example, he expresses a healthy skepticism about parts of the now largely accepted "big whack theory" that says a Mars-sized primordial object impacted the fledgling earth in a glancing blow that ejected a large amount of material into space which went into orbit around the earth and later coalesced inot the Moon and also greatly speeded up the earth's rotation about its axis. Spudis says the theory is so broad that it is used to explain away inconvenient data of which he provides examples.

The last part of the book consists of ideas on how the Moon could be explored and colonized in the future on an economically viable basis. For example the lunar regolith (soil) consists of a lot of oxygen which could be extracted. Similarly, the Clementine and Lunar Prospector spacecraft have possibly found water in the permanently shaded regions of craters near the lunar north and south poles which could be exploited in order to "live off the land".

Finally, Spudis makes an eloquent plea for the continuation of manned exploration of space pointing out that it is not enough to use robot spacecraft, but only man himself, on the spot, can really understand and analyze what is being seen firsthand, as well as having the ability to overcome unforeseen problems and malfunctions. Since the Moon is much closer to the Earth than Mars is and is much cheaper and easier to reach, the Moon is the logical choice as the next destination for continued exploration of the Solar System.

I loved this book. It was easy to navigate and the descriptions of the cards were much more fun than you would expect. Not just dry, dictionary stuff but lively and entertaining. This girl can write. I don't know for certain that any cards can tell the future but this book sure had some good thoughts about men and relationships and finding love. Pick it up, pop the cork and have a good hoot and holler. You might see things differently!

I've had the pleasure of using LeeAnn Richards' new book on a number of occasions. The Oracle of Love has proven to be a wonderful tool for myself and my girlfriends. It's incredibly easy to use. Richards offers several card spreads to choose from, so we've been able to tailor the book to our needs. Specific cards are siimple to find because of the easy-reference format used by the book. The advice given by the cards (via Richards' interpretation) has been amazingly insightful. In addition, the stories she tells both amuse and warm the heart. I would recommend this book to anyone who's looking to find out more about themselves and/or the person they're currently interested in. It's a real find.

Having long utilized sources such as Tarot Cards and I Ching coins to help navigate the often difficult decisions in life, I was very glad to see someone had finally written this book. Richards writes with a light, insightful tone which is informative and captivating. This is a book you can refer to again and again as questions about your love life inevitably arise. Aside from being a great read, this is a reference book for love. Read this book and find out if love is "in the cards" for you.

When I wrote the blurb for the cover, it was from experience. Lee Ann Richards has hit
on something terrifically fun and made it easy to understand for the
layperson.

Actually, The Oracle of Love came as a joyful surprise. I brought it on the train with my friend Paula for the ride to Paris. Luckily, we had two facing
seats and a table in the middle. So we did readings - for 4 hours! - all the
way to Paris. We enjoyed it. A lot. Of course we realized at the end that we
had forgotten to mark the cards and so interpreted them all upright... but
never mind... we were amused... then on the way back Paula had marked the cards
and all of our readings came out dark and murky. Either way, we laughed because the descriptions of the different kinds of relationships (a different one for every card!) are so true.

The art of gaining insight into personalities, sitiuations and future predicaments through the use of playing cards is as old as civilization itself, but Leeann Richards new book The Oracle of Love brings a whole new aspect to this highly entertaining subject.
Witty, informative, easy to read, these pages are laced with deep perceptions of men and women, their vulnerabilities, their ambitions, and what makes them tick. We learn to probe beneath the surface of human nature. As well as being an excellent instructional guide, this book is funny. Leeann Richard's quotes and examples are so good, you know EXACTLY what she is describing in terms of feelings and reactions.
A wonderful read, a valuable tool, this book is worht its weight in gold.

Utterly absorbing!! Someone actually DISCARDED this book!! I was the lucky person who found it on the discards pile.

Written from the point of view of a "You Were There" journalist, the author keeps the subject matter and the tone of writing IN the 18th century and draws the reader in.

I was utterly amazed at the way the in-fighting, bickering, arguing and rhetoric that tended to demolish all efforts to reach a reasonable meeting of the minds in constructing the Constitution finally came together to (almost) everyone's satisfaction.Jeffrey St John's style of writing is de-personalized in the BEST sense-- the actions come through loud and clear as though the reader was actually watching a live broadcast of events.

The book kept me on the edge of my seat in some places.

WELL DONE!!!!

The 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution resulted in a series of columns by J St. John. These 1787 meetings were secret, no official records were kept. But the notes of James Madison and others survived to reconstruct daily events. The original intent of this meeting was to revise the Articles of Confederation (Appendix 1), but a new Constitution resulted (Appendix 2). There is no index.

Many of the basics were the subject of debate and controversy. Some called the result a "miracle" (p.x), but it shows the power of a committee whose members work to the same ends. This book attempts to portray the meetings as an evolving news story, as it was happening. Most Americans do not understand the Constitution, because it is poorly taught in schools from unclear text books (p.xiv). Deliberate obfuscation? These 230 pages are a remedy. This book will give a short introduction into the daily operations of this historically important event.

The Constitution has endured for over 200 years because it is a framework (p.131), not a detailed plan that can't be adapted to changing situations. The Constitution has endured as long as it is in the interest of "We the People" to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity. The hidden agenda of the convention was to create a strong national government that had veto power over all state laws (5-20-1787). The most important reason was the question of domestic and foreign commerce. Rivalries between the bankers and merchants of the North against the planters of the South prevented Congress from regulating trade (5-23-1787). Both forces would unite against farmers and the common people, and the danger of too much democracy (5-29-1787). The Convention wanted to avoid the failures of the Articles of Confederation. The Confederacy owed [money amount]in debt and needed to find a way to pay off their debts (p.139).

The unlimited powers of the Royal Governors made the delegates fearful of a single executive. The consequences of consolidating power was fatal to ancient republics (6-2-1787). Experience rather than abstract arguments shaped the Convention (6-4-1787). Neither the executive nor the legislature should have absolute power. The big problem was to create a national government that would provide balance between the large and the small states. States would be equally represented in the Senate, the lower House would be directly elected by the people, based on proportion to population. This was the key to creating a new national government (p.110). The Southern states were more numerous and wealthy than the Northern states; their method of computing political representatives won (7-12-1787). The Convention unanimously rejected "wealth" as the basis for representation; they should not fear the growth of population (7-13-1787). The new government would be a compound of national and federal government (7-17-1787). A Supreme Court was established, with lower courts (7-18-1787). A single powerful executive would be elected by the people to control the legislature (7-19-1787). The importance of impeachment was discussed and adopted (7-20-1787). The executive was given a veto (7-21-1787). The Constitution would be ratified by the people, not State Legislatures (7-23-1787). The office of President did not exist under the Confederation (p.133).

Each year in September is a little known holiday known as Constitution Day - timed to be around the close of the Constitutional Convention in September 1787, this day is honoured at the college where I teach by speakers in a special forum, and the gift of pocket versions of the Constitution for all interested students.

However, the Constitution is heavily in the news, more than we often realise. When the election of 2000 was contested, the Constitution became primarily important; it is always in the background of Presidential elections, but this time it came to the forefront. In the current situation between Chief Justices (a relatively rare occurrence in American history), once again the Constitution is big news. We the people are interested, and we the people should be interested. However, we the people often have little concept of how this formative and foundational document came into being. Jeffrey St. John provides an answer to this situation, in very engaging and accessible style.

This is a journal, a day-by-day account, done in a sort of combination of journalistic and court-reporting styles. Of course, we have no direct journal of this sort, as the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention were strictly secret (not the kind of thing that would play out well in our media-saturated world - CSPAN and CNN among others would certainly expect to be there!). Indeed, those who went to the Constitutional Convention in May 1787 were charged with a reformation of the Articles of Confederation, not the drafting of a new Constitution. History had a surprise in store.

This is not the only area of interest. St. John's documentation shows the different influences into the formation of the Constitution - while it is common to look to classical times and contemporary European governments for influences and inspiration, in fact the most memorable words of the Constitution come from the constitution of the Iroquois League, drawn up in 1520, which began with the words 'We the people, in order to form a union...'.

The various federal structures, the separation of state and federal powers and responsibilities, the debates over how representation is carried out (and who gets represented; the issue of slavery was contentious from the start, and one can clearly see the seeds of the Civil War being planted even at the Constitutional Convention) - these are all portrayed with clarity and candour.

The Constitution was not a document that was intended to be from the outset, nor was it passed unanimously (indeed, not all states were represented at all times of the Convention, not all delegates appointed attended, and one state never participated at all). Some of the founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, made references to divine intervention being key in the process; Franklin at the end made the warning about the government being a Republic, 'if you can keep it' - no doubt recalling the fall of other great republics in the history of the world.

This is a fun and exciting book to read, a real page turner. It was published in 1987 as part of the bicentennial celebrations of the Constitution; former Chief Justice Warren Burger provides a foreword for this text.

This is a great and inspiring story, one that should be of concern to Americans of all types and walks of life. We are all 'we the people'.

I'm a nerd. 95% of my books are computer-related. This book will gave me an appreciation of what an extraordinary event the convention was. Several times it shows how it could have so easily fallen apart or gone off in a different direction (and Lord knows what kind of land this would be if it had). This book and another great book called 'Voices of 1776' will give you an awesome sense of how lucky we are to be what we are today. I cannot recommend this book more highly. (BTW, did you know that the only two signers of the Declaration of Independence who went on to become presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, died within two hours of each other on July 4, 1826 - 50 years to the day the Declaration was signed?)

Fantastic series! Read all three.

Duane Elgin's book "Promise Ahead" holds out hope for humanity in these dark times, as the Bush administration continues its obstinate pursuit of global domination and exploitation. Though Elgin is fully aware of the possibility of an "evolutionary crash", he also sees the deepening crisis as leading toward an opportunity for an "evolutionary bounce". The result would be similar to the "planetary society" envisioned by John Stewart in "Evolution's Arrow".

Elgin sees humanity as presently in its "adolescent" stage, with the crisis of the next generation becoming an ordeal of "initiation". To Elgin "our evolutionary challenge is to consciously retain the lessons of each era while moving on to the next". The next era, if we avoid the crash, will be marked by a "compassionate consciousness" for the "Earth and all its inhabitants".

The threat of crash or collapse comes from ecological factors like resource depletion, over population, pollution, and loss of biodiversity, but also from social inequality and injustice. Elgin was well aware of Peak Oil before most people paid any attention. He also cites Jared Diamond's study of the collapse of civilization on Easter Island.

This is balanced by the hope illustrated by successful experiments in sustainability like the village of Gaviotas in eastern Columbia. He sees the media as enabling the creation of a "common purpose for humanity". He has personally conducted "electronic town meetings" and proposes the distribution of "Earthvisions" to counter consumerism.

Duane Elgin sees humanity becoming a "self-organizing planetary family" as it emerges from its coming trials by fire. Yet, if the book has a weakness, it is its lack of a realistic of vision of how all this might come about. For example, what specific institutional changes should we pursue and what strategies should we adopt for this pursuit? For some of us, new institutions and practices of democratic global governance are an obvious place to start, however visionary this may seem in the current political climate.

Deliberative democracy, to be effective, needs knowledge of viable means, as well as of desirable ends. Elgin's crusade for "voluntary simplicity" has helped promote a new morality, which I and many others are now attempting to practice. However it has not offered an alternative global politico-economic system to the current one based on over exploitation of resources for the over consumption of the world's affluent few. I suspect, in fact, that it won't be until "voluntary simplicity" becomes "necessary simplicity" for the affluent world that this alternative system will begin to take form. If Elgin were to team up with some progressive economists for his next book, we might be better prepared.

As the title hints, this is a book filled with guarded optimism that humanity can wake-up to the devastation it's causing on Earth and that wake-up will cause a "bounce" in it's perception of reality moving towards a "paradigm shift" from the old paradigm of environmental parasitism and destruction, to a new sustainable , loving relationship with Earth and all it's myriad life forms and life-support cycles.

This is a close parallel to E. O. Wilson's thoughts outlined in his engaging book, "The Future of Life", where humanity is passing through the "bottleneck" of converging circumstances- a long history of environmental destruction, out-of-control population numbers which are depleting the Earth's resources faster than can be regenerated. In both books, education and adherence to vastly more sustainable lifestyles will be the determining factor as to whether we make it past the 21st century and into the future or we will not heed the call to reform and end up going the way of the dinosaurs.

"We have met the enemy and he is us"- Pogo. Now that we know, will we change our destructive ways?

We have arrived at what Elgin calls "Hitting the Evolutionary Wall" (beginning of chapter 2, p.15) and "Are We Are On A Collision Course With Nature?", so it was fitting that this chapter begins with two good quotes:

"What is difficult is to imagine how to get out of the situation we're in right now in a time frame that is in line with the rate of deterioration that we're seeing."- Paul Hawken ["Natural Capitalism"]. And:

"If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed." Indeed!
Ancient Chinese Proverb.

Chapter 3 begins with the mechanisms for change needed for our survival and that is: "A New Perceptual Paradigm: We Live In A Living Universe", we are interconnected to all life and need to realize that we do not live in a human-only world. Our life-styles immediately effect all other life and we need to adopt a much smaller "footprint" to insure the health and safety of all life. Realizing the dynamics and requirements of life for a healthy, rewarding existence vs. "living as just not dying" can be absorbed from meditating on a quote from Teilhard de Chardin: "The whole of life lies in the verb seeing" (p. 43). We might then ad to that: "...and feeling and doing."

Elgin posits that "Voluntary Simplicity" or again, reducing one's footprint and impact on the environment is the most immediate and helpful thing we can do to help lessen the load we place on Nature. Do we really need to be lead around by advertisers constantly telling us that we need this or that to be happy? Or can we learn to get by just fine by acquiring only what is necessary for a comfortable living? On that thought it helps to keep in mind, "The price of anything is the amount of life that you have to pay for it."- Henry David Thoreau (p 71).

"Promise Ahead" is a beautiful collage of thoughts and parallels to Theodore Roszak's "The Voice of the Earth", Thomas Berry's "The Dream of the Earth" and "The Great Work", et al.

Duane Elgin has put together a substantial amount of data on life-style changes needed to help humanity "bounce" past the current "juggernaut" or "bottleneck" we are facing to insure a reasonable transition to an integrative existence with all life for a brighter future. His books include, "Awakening Earth" and "Voluntary Simplicity", et al. His website is an info central for more information on sustainable living and education [...].

Humanity is at an important point in history. Duane Elgin, author of the 1993 classic, VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY, observes in his new book that the human species is in its reckless, rebellious, "teenage years" (p. 1), more concerned with appearance, instant gratification, and "us versus them" thinking and behavior (p. 2), than searching for a deeper meaning and purpose in life (p. 5). Elgin examines several "adversity trends" that could result in an "evolutionary crash:" global warming (pp. 18-23); population growth (pp. 23-26); mass extinction (pp. 26-28); depletion of natural resources (pp. 28-32) and world poverty (pp. 32-37). "Instead of supporting a flourishing and robust biosphere," he writes, "humans are busy cutting down forests, overfishing the oceans, paving over the land, and pouring toxins into the water, soil, and air. The net result is decimation of the community of plant and animal life on the Earth. The health of the planet is in jeopardy as industrial activity is causing the mass extinction of animal and plant species" (pp. 26-27). Twenty-percent of the world's population holds 82.7 percent of the world's total income, Elgin notes, while "grinding poverty and the absence of opportunity are the way of life for the majority of human beings today" (p. 33). According to Elgin, now is the time for "growing up."

To turn an "environmental crash" into a "spectacular bounce," Elgin encourages us to "live lightly in a living universe" (p. 67). "If life is nested within life, then it is only fitting that we treat everything that exists as alive and worthy of respect. Our sense of meaningful connection expands to the entire community of life, including past, present, and future generations. Every action in a living universe is felt to have ethical consequences as it reverberates throughout the ecosystem of the living cosmos. The focus of life shifts from a desire for high-consumption lifestyles (intended to provide both material pleasures and protection from an indifferent universe) toward sustainable and simple ways of living (intended to connect us with a purposeful universe of which we are an integral part)" (pp. 67-68). In contrast to "the dark side" of the American Dream, Elgin advocates a life of voluntary simplicity, in which a rich inner life takes precedence over getting rich. The "hallmark" of voluntary simplicity is that "life is too deep and consumerism is too shallow to provide soulful satisfaction" (p. 73). For Elgin, a promising future is also contingent upon our ability to communicate (p. 95) with "mature and soulful compassion" (p. 113).

This is not a pessimistic book of revelation. Despite its sobering statistics, Elgin's thought-provoking book is filled with promising possibilities for the unknown future of planet Earth. However, given the serious "adversity trends" plaguing our planet, it is challenging for me to share Elgin's optimism, and many of his simple and idealistic solutions are not entirely convincing. Still, Elgin's book is a "Promise" worth keeping, together with Thomas Berry's, THE GREAT WORK (2000). Keep both books close at hand through these troubling times for our planet.

G. Merritt

This is a well-written book which provides deep hope, in a realistic way, for the future of human society. Good insight into the historical development of human culture and the evolution of personal consciousness. Really puts its finger on the main developmental challenge as the personal and cultural transition from adolescence to adulthood. Read this together with another excellent book on the potential of adulthood for the planet: A Conscious Life: Cultivating The Seven Qualities of Authentic Adulthood, by Fran and Louis Cox.

What an aptly named book! In a brief 200 pages, the author delves deeply into key issues facing humanity at an important juncture in human history. The book describes where humankind is along our evolutionary path, the global environmental and social problems confronting us, and the opportunities before us for charting a better future. Be forewarned -- if you read this book, you might just find yourself overwhelmingly compelled to make changes in your life that will ripple out to others. It has the ability to transform the way you view people and the world around you. It is a must read for anyone concerned about where humanity is headed, and wants to roll up their sleeves and make a difference. Enjoy!

"Race to the Swift" is a sweeping review of military strategy, organization and logistics that has suffered little for being 15 years old. Yes, the NATO references are dated, but they in no way impact a core thesis that is even today ahead of its time. That said, this not an easy book to read; in spite of Simpkin's rather engaging, almost conversational writing style, the material is technical and dense. Moreover, given the comprehensiveness of the work, the reader will sometimes find himself or herself losing focus. However, if you are a student of military theory, and comfortable with the field, this is a book well worth the time it takes to read.

As one might imagine, "Race to the Swift" is a call for speed and stealth in military action. It's not just about technology, however; Simpkin goes to great lengths to examine political/home-front issues, logistics, and military hierarchy. Ultimately, though, these all serve as supporting evidence for his core argument: that the current heavy mechanized divisions of today are too slow in light of the incredible increase in available firepower on the modern battlefield. As an alternative, he calls for armored, stealthy, heliborne cavalry. Traveling in something akin to airborne tanks, capable of deploying on conventional tracks when necessary, these new formations would deploy off of submersible helicopter carriers. Obviously, this thinking is more revolutionary than evolutionary, some of it even smacks of science fiction, but the core validity of his argument, that an exponential increase in speed is called for, is undeniable.

Of particular note for the times we live in are the final few chapters, especially the last one. In them he examines what it means to "wage war" in the age of non-state actors. His arguments on the use of Special Forces backed by the appropriate application of conventional forces seems to have been borrowed wholesale by the planners of our operations in Afghanistan. Also very interesting is Simpkin's exploration of the legal language necessary to maintain the integrity of our western values in our post September 11th world.

In the end this is a work of immense value. As I said earlier, though, the reader has to be committed to taking something out of it. When you are, when you look past the Central European staging for the writing, you will find a work that is rich in both theory and practical application. The way in which it relates to our current situation is almost uncanny, and the guideposts it offers for the future are immensely valuable. I suspect that in the years to come we will hear many of Simpkin's ideas being revisited. The nation in general, and our leaders in particular would do well to pay them heed sooner rather than later.

This is one of the essential "middle ground" books in my lecture of core readings about strategy and force structure (see my list).

Brigadier Simpkin was one of the first, and is still among the best, to focus on the role that both C4I (command, control, communications, and intelligence) as well as rotary wing capabilities (including vertical short take off and landing) would play in placing eyes on target, boots on the ground, and in strategic, operational, and tactical mobility.

He notes that secret C4I is largely counterproductive.

He also focuses on the dramatic implications for force structure as well as intelligence of "out of area" (OoA) operations becoming the norm. The United States and the rest of the world are, for example, completely unprepared for no-notice asymmetric and tribal warfare in Africa, where the United Nations is trying to deal with five complex emergencies as this is written (Burundi, Congo, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sudan).

If you can get a copy used, go for it. Worth republishing.

Brigadier Simpkin in this work takes us to the cutting edge of battle asking for 3-D maneuver-capable "airmechanized" forces. These are forces that would have a combination flying aircraft and armored tank. This is still way ahead of its time as we are still struggling to get fixed and rotary-wing aircraft together with light tracked Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) as the new book Air-Mech-Strike:3-Dimensional Phalanx by Dave Grange's group quotes Simpkin heavily. Simpkin is right though, we could create a LIGHT armored personnel carrier with rubber "band tracks" that could fold its rotors after flight if the same turbine engine that powered flight was geared to charge electric batteries/motors for silent stealthy operation--it would be a superb scout/recon machine that wouldn't have to burn fuel constantly to remain in a hover like today's scout helicopters, but could set down on the ground and revert to a less energing demanding ground vehicle operation. The entire Air/Land Fighting Vehicle would be made out of non-metallics and be radar-invisible. We could do this if we had the WILL in America to do great things, we certainly have the know-how (TECHNOLOGY) ; we only have to look at nature to see many types of flying insects that are dual ground/air movement capable. If we were to read Simpkin's book and allow ourselves to be re-inspired perhaps we could once again lead the way with conceptual greatness again in America.

THE RACE BELONGS TO THE SWIFT, BRIGADIER SIMPKIN!

First published in 1985, Brigadier Simpkin's book has a forward from General Donn Starry and another from MajGen Perry Smith, USAF (Ret.) and one of our best strategic thinkers. It is the best book I have found to date with which to begin any discussion about the future of warfare. This was the book that inspired my conceptualization of the four warrior classes and also deepened my understanding of the relationships between mobility, accuracy, intelligence, tempo, mass, politics, and cost.

Not for your average Joe, but Simpkin's thesis should not be lost on anyone: swiftness. Since first published, the world has witnessed numerous conflicts which either could have been avoided, concluded earlier, or fought more decisively if effective forces could have been deployed much faster. It is incredibly pertinent in the emerging era of the asymetrical approach, where threats emerging faster and in a wide variety of terrain. (We can't expect future adversaries to give us months to build up massive mechanized forces in ideal terrain like Hussien did!) Simpkin points out very practical limitations to our current heavy forces -- like getting a 70 tonne tank over a third-world bridge or down a narrow twisting road. As the US Army begins retooling for the 21st century, Simpkin's work is incredibly relevant. Not the easiest book to follow, but worth the effort.

Karl Popper had one of the broadest ranges of any 20th Century philosopher. He wrote in Epistemology, Philosophy and History of Science, Logic, and Democratic Theory. In each area he wrote trenchantly and with great excellence and imagination. He was the greatest of 20th century philosophers. Why I feel this way can begin to be understood by reading Mark A. Notturno's "Science and the Open Society." Notturno's work is the most valuable gateway to Popper's yet. It is one of those very few books that serve as the core of one's library, that one returns to again and again.

All of the Chapters in "Science and the Open Society" are striking and contain worthwhile insights. As a whole they allow one to think about the corpus of Popper's work and the major themes he developed over the course of 60 years. In fact, Popper himself wrote no single work that would allow us to do that. Notturno, in providing that perspective here, gives us a bird's eye view that we must work much harder to get from Popper's work. If you seek an understanding of Popper, start with Notturno and then read Popper for yourself, with the context you need to actively grasp what Popper presents.

All of the book is valuable, but there are a few Chapters that stand out from my own perspective as a Knowledge Management practitioner. These are Chapter 10 on the choice between Popper and Kuhn, Chapter 7 on the meaning of world 3, Chapter 5, a brilliant account of the breakdown of foundationalism and justificationism and of how Popper's critical rationalism escapes from the problems inherent in these views and provides a basis for solving the problems of induction and demarcation, and Chapter 3 on the significance of critical rationalism for education in open societies. Here is a more detailed review of Chapters 10 and 7.

Chapter 10, "The Choice Between Popper and Kuhn: Truth, Criticism, and the Legacy of Logical Positivism," takes up again the task of proper reconstruction of the nature of science following the breakdown of logical positivism. Notturno shows that Popper and Kuhn took two contrasting roads in journeying from this crossroads of 20th century philosophy. He traces how Kuhn and the many who followed him took the road to relativism, institutionalism, and "political" science, while denying the possibility of external rational critques of governing paradigms. Popper, on the other hand, took the road to thoroughgoing fallibilistic truth-seeking, a path which rejected foundationalism and justificationism, and offered a view of scientific objectivity attained through shared criticism of alternative knowledge claims conjectured as solutions to problems. As Notturno puts it (P. 230): "The issue at base is whether science should be an open or a closed society." Notturno shows that its is Kuhn's choice that leads to the closed society, and Popper's that supports the idea that (P. 248) ". . . our scientific institutions should exist for the sake of the individual - for the sake of our freedom of thought and our right to express it - and not the other way around."

Chapter 7 is a careful account of Popper's controversial notion that there are at least three "worlds" or realms of ontological significance: (1) the material world of tables, atoms, buildings, lamps, etc., (2) the mental world of thoughts, beliefs, emotions, etc. and (3) the "world" of words and language, art, mathematics, music, and other human, non-material, but sharable and autonomous creations. Popper criticized monism, the doctrine that only the physical world exists, and dualism, the idea that there is only mind, matter, and the interaction between them, in favor of a broader interactionism among three realms. This idea has been among the most difficult of notions for people to accept.

To many (including Feyerabend and Lakatos who ridiculed it), it smacks of Platonism, even though Popper clearly distinguished his own world 3 ideas from platonic forms. But Popper's world 3 notions are critical to his ideas about the pursuit of truth, criticism and trial and error as the method of science and problem-solving, the growth of knowledge, and evolutionary epistemology. Popper's world 3 is also critical to knowledge management, because without it we can't sensibly talk about managing the interaction between subjective mental knowledge (world 2) and objective linguistic knowledge (world 3), and, one can argue, it is managing this interaction to enhance the growth of relevant knowledge that is knowledge management's greatest challenge and major preoccupation.

Of all the commentary I have seen on world 3 Chapter 7 is the best at simply stating what Popper meant by it, why the notion is important to critical rationalism and the growth of knowledge, why people have denied its importance, why world 3 is consistent with a thoroughgoing fallibilism, why world 3 is a denial of empiricist epistemology, why the notion of world 3 is not invalidated by the greatly over-rated "Ockham's Razor," why world 3 doesn't violate the principle of causality, and finally why world 3 is important in spite of the view of the Wittgensteinians that solutions to philosophical problems which world 3 is an instance of, are meaningless because such problems are themselves meaningless. And in the process of doing this commentary, Notturno presents and analyzes for us a wonderful story of an encounter between Popper and Wittgenstein (mediated by Bertrand Russell) at Cambridge on October 26, 1946, which in microcosm, illustrates the conflict between reason and authority, and the open society and the closed society. It was an encounter in which the master of the cold stare, the mystique of genius, and the pithy aphorism, found himself so frustrated by the master of critque and dialogue that he left the field of open debate in anger and disgust.

There are many excellent critiques of contemporary discourse, but few disclose the problem in its broader range. Of those that do, fewer still identify principles by which we could extricate ourselves. Popper would seem an unlikely starting point. In the opinion of many, Popper had his day along with the authoritarianism he opposed. Indeed, the main impetus for revival of Popper's open society concept has been George Soros's effort to help polities in the former Soviet block rid themselves of the vestiges of communism. What worries Soros is that former Soviet citizens will retain a utopian thought structure and simply plug in different parts, notably markets and democracy. Visiting Americans don't always help. Russians who receive lectures from Americans complain of condescension, but it is often worse than that -- the lecturers don't understand the underpinnings of the institutions they recommend. The lecturer may assume that markets and democracy will, by themselves and of necessity, create a non-authoritarian social field. They don't. It is one of Notturno's aims to explain this disturbing possibility that many Western elites fail to grasp.

The author has applied remarkable energy to running open society seminars through the post-Soviet world. Some of the chapters of the book are based on these seminars, and the talks are honed through frequent delivery before groups that are receptive yet skeptical. It would be a terrible mistake to assume that the presence of this audience means that the book is not relevant to the American experience. Notturno understands that Popper's intention was to promote openness in all modern societies, not just Communist ones, and he has admirably brought Popper's program up to date. He efficiently critiques the primacy given to consensus in science. He also addresses dangers outside the scientific institution proper by taking on tolerance, relativism, therapy, and bureaucracy.

In several cases his starting point is biographical, and he offers some revealing letters and contemporary accounts that most of us will not be familiar with. These materials give his philosophical arguments freshness and motivation not often found in academic works. Wittgenstein, Carnap, Freud, Bohr, Kuhn, and several other heroes are indicted for various offenses against open science. Popper isn't spared either, though he certainly comes out ahead on crucial matters.

The best feature of the book is that the reader has a sense of where to begin and what to do. I found myself wanting to stand up, ask a question, and engage somebody in authentic discussion. You are propelled forward toward problems, in your own voice, not backward toward anything that Popper might have said. I can image that this would be a very useful book in almost any public affairs course that reflects on ground rules for debate and investigation. Better yet, the book can help adult learners free themselves from the stifling rhetoric of ideologists.

I was curious and asked Notturno where his program is headed. I was pleased to find that he has plans for workshops, international academic contacts, dissertation support, and other collaborations that offer practical results, or at least a fuller sense of what rational discussion entails. I recommend that you get in touch with him, especially if you have ideas on how to institutionalize these activities. ......................

Disputing disputation. I accept what Notturno extracts from Popper as good logic, but I wonder whether something more needs to be said about the social side of argument. Popper was relentless in finding the contradictions in others. Students who tried to fend him off using self-protective rhetoric often felt ridiculed when his persistent questions eventually forced them to admit their errors. But it is probably the case that students who adhered to good logic were also humiliated. The assumption behind such intellectual conflict is that contradictions are not voluntarily displayed. More generally, one defends tidy statements that brook no problem. Is that the kind of statement we must have at the ready before speaking to each other, and is that process ideal?

I wonder about such things, and suffer for it. Last week, I drafted a report and offered examples of how software could be used. I mentioned an operation that would be useful to execute in the software, but cautioned that the operation might be too difficult to implement. I figured that it would be useful to retain the idea as a possibility rather than to discard it. The project manager, adhering to conventional practice, did not want this or any problem mentioned in our report, and the idea was discarded. The motivation, I suppose, is to give the client nothing that can be questioned, nothing incomplete. Is that good?

The same sort of thing happens when writing definitions. The definition and examples stay well within what is safe to say, and no guidance is offered that would help decide hard cases, which is exactly when definitions are needed.

We challenge each other to find weaknesses that we are reluctant to disclose and may actually be hiding. It is a cat and mouse game, not a mutual exploration with a common object. To explore together would require a kind of trust between partners that doesn't often exist. One approach to building that trust is to create a space for imaginative thought in which a different set of rules is enforced.

DeBono has argued well for a separate imaginative effort prior the critical effort, symbolized as green hat versus black hat thinking. But consider how things actually play out in an organization that sequesters thinking in this way. 3M requires that people work on secret projects for a significant percentage of their time, and they are expected to bring a project forward when it is ready to be criticized. Whenever anything is brought before an "outsider", the presumption is that it is offered as something to be attacked. There is no possibility of wider collaboration beyond a secret cell of partners.

To put it bluntly, I'm wondering whether loose thinking should be an element of openness. The idea is not to avoid critical thinking, but to neither elevate nor extend it to the point that it suppresses options, rewards timidity, and encourages unproductive conflict. [1] In both science and business, new approaches that eventually prove to be better usually perform poorly at the beginning. An idea gains a following on an intuitive, theoretical, or emotional basis before it reaches final form. [2] Without these non-rational appeals, which are very similar to the "communal" appeals that Notturno counts as a danger, the innovation pipeline could dry up. [3] Notturno says that false theories are a dime a dozen, which is true, but new theories are in the same stack.

An open attitude, I feel, is something different