Open

If you're considering homeschooling, but have no idea how it might work on a daily basis, take a look at Homeschool Open House and Patchwork of Days. Even though I had a hard time relating to the families who chose homeschooling because of religious reasons (many of the featured families), I enjoyed their honest accounts of daily life. Both books give a great look into routines, philosophies, success and failures and, in Open House, how homeschooling has fared for them over the years. I especially enjoyed the accounts of non-American familes and Nancy Lande's family.

I'll keep it simple...if you liked Homeschooling:A Patchwork of Days, you will at least like, if not love, Homeschool Open House. Not only does it do a five year follow-up on the original homeschooling families, but it has interviews with many more homeschooling families, from Alaska to Zimbabwe, some with one child, others with seven. I was inspired by some families, while I cringed at some of the unschoolers' choices. I am certainly looking forward to the next five-year follow up!

Having decided to homeschool but needing a pep-talk, I chose this book because I wanted to know about the day-to-day of what homeschool life was like. This book was exactly the thing because it's like being a fly on the wall in 55 homes. The things I took away from it are: (1) homeschooling, however you do it, is as much work as you think it will be so get ready, and (2) there are infinite ways to homeschool so go ahead and craft a lifestyle that is right for your family-- your kids will learn and thrive even if you don't do it exactly like the curriculum specifies. A very inspiring, very useful, very truthful book. Buy it and recommend it to your friends!

When it comes to matters of either theology or philosophy, being in a different camp then John Frame is not fun. Over the last 15 years or so, Frame has published a number of works on various topics that have taken Christian scholarship to a new level of freshness and coherence. This particular book, for the most part, falls into that category.

This contribution to the open theism debate, while not perfect, is a solid attempt to take on open theism on a variety of fronts. Unlike other critiques of open theism, Frame engages in an exegetical critique that is vital. But this book is not a purely exegetical critique, for it also engages open theism's presuppositions in the areas of hermeneutics and emotional imperatives that they bring to bear on the text. As a result, this book is one of the better books around in presenting a full orbed critique of open theism.

The result is a critique that exposes open theism for what it is - a philosophically and epistemically inconsistent worldview supported by dubious biblical exegesis and hermeneutical principles. Frame is outstanding in comparing the stated principles of open theism with the actual exegesis (to the extent that it can be called that) that actually violates their stated principles. He tends to be relentless not only in dismantling the legitimacy of libertarianism which is the lone guiding principle of the open theist program, but is also relentless in exposing the works of open theists as being AWOL when it comes to dealing with numerous biblical texts that militate against their system. It was refreshing to read a competent appraisal of the holes that tend to be gaping in the scholarship of the chief apologists of open theism.

I gave the book 4 stars mainly because while Frame's critique is full orbed and wide reaching, it suffered occasionally in what I felt was its unnecessary brevity. In particular, Frame's last chapter on the various theological ramifications of open theism was far too summary level and came off as an afterthought which was most unfortunate. The same can arguably be said about Frame's treatment of the love of God and how this attribute fits into a responsible attempt at a biblically based theology. Lastly, I would have appreciated a more in-depth critique of the literature that has been produced by open theists. I thought that Frame hit the highlights very well and dismantled many of the most serious errors of the movement as expressed in its writings, but there were many other areas that could have been covered here that weren't.

So overall, a very good contribution to this ongoing debate, but in my view, we are still waiting for a truly definitive treatise that systematically and exhaustively dissects open theism across the board in a responsible fashion. This work by Frame gets at least fairly close, but doesn't quite make it in my view.

John Frame's book, No Other God: A Response to Open Theism, should have been just that. I will briefly clarify some good points to this book, some parts where Frame could have been more careful, and finally, give my over all assessment.

Good points: Frame does a good job addressing the focus in open theism, God is Love. He addresses their emphasis of this, and how the open theists have disregarded what else Scripture has to say. As as result, the open theists have accepted a method of intepreting Scripture along with doctrines that Frame finds wholly unacceptable. I was pleased to see that Frame says it is also their pre-scriptural and philosophical commitment to libertarian agency that has lead to a number of their flaws. Without libertarian agency, there would be no motivation to move into open theism.

I was also pleased to see Frame take a staunchly Reformed approach to the issue, where as others have maintained the more "evangelical" approach (e.g. Bruce Ware or Norman Geisler, both who are worth reading too). Frame's points about God being sovereign, and in control of all things, does have some devastating results for open theism. Furthermore, his emphasis on God being the determiner of all things hurts the open theist.

One issue that I was not expecting to see addressed was God and time (this is currently the hot issue in the philosophical journals). As opposed to most of the philosophers today, Frame says that God is atemporal and omnitemporal. This is prima facie contradictory and untenable, but Frame spells it out clearly that would make people on both sides applause and boo.

Another nice part to this book is Frame's clearness and interaction with Scripture in comparison to people such as John Sanders, Gregory Boyd, Rice, and Pinnock. I finished this book quickly because I was able to read it over without looking at one paragraph for thirty minutes, trying to understand the author. So, this book is accessible for people in say, high school and up.

Now the bad points. Frame lumps all of his arguments together against libertarian agency. He hardly discusses libertarianism in depth like he could. For example, are most open theists agent-causal libertarians, or causal indeterminist libertarians? He does not address this. Secondly, his arguments are classified as being against libertarianism, not open theism. This is problematic because many of his arguments could be handled by some libertarians (e.g. William Lane Craig and Thomas Flint who are Molinists; or Norman Geisler who takes the Thomistic view). On the other hand, Frame does provide arguments that are problematic for them too. But Frame, who has his M.A. in philosophy and worked on a Ph.D. in philosophy for some time, should have been much more careful than he was.

Another bad point was that he only really delt with temporalist theologians and philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff on the God and time issue. Why not address William Padgett? Or William Lane Craig? Each holding different views (see God and Time: 4 Views). They are libertarians as well. Frame just did not address the majority of the material that he could have. Furthermore, he could have addressed William Hasker (an open theist philosopher) who has published a book on God and time.

So, over all, Frame has some good arguments and addresses clearly (most of the time successfully) the arguments of open theism. If we take his book in terms of his case against libertarian agency to do solely with open theism, what the book is about, then Frame would find my criticisms much more charitable; if not, Frame was not a careful philosopher/theologian. Still, I think Frame devastates the open theist position and that makes his book worth reading.

John Frame's response to Open Theism is a scholarly endeavor that exposes the Open view to the litmus of Scripture and Classical Theism. Frame deals with the Open view candidly while maintaining dignity and keeping the discussion focused on the doctrine at stake, God's sovereignty. The Open view carries a compelling argument if one is willing to scripturally and historically mis-define the teaching on the sovereignty of God and John Frame is to be thanked for putting out such a marvelous defense against an idea that is dangerous because it's very sources lie within the framework of evangelicalism.

Read The Complexity Advantage by Susanne Kelly and Mary Ann Allison it's a better book. Or better still check out the reviews before you buy.

I am a believer that organizational systems share much with biological systems. This idea struck me on the head the first time I visited the Galapagos. That trip made it clear that adaptation can occur very quickly and that more than one form of adaptation can occur in different directions at the same time, based on the environments that exist. I am also reminded of research that I recently read suggesting that we cannot accept or remember new ideas if we have not had previous experience with them. That is why it becomes so critical to prepare for change, to ask questions from many different perspectives to create ambiguity, and to present many different environments or alternate futures to create unpredictability. OPEN BOUNDARIES is a great book to read after THE LIVING COMPANY which describes how scenario planning was developed and why Shell was the only company prepared to do well during the Arab oil embargo. Complexity thinking really succeeds when you find a win-win solution - you will come out ahead no matter what happens. Another book you should look at that uses eight steps (revolving, not linear) to develop the best possible ideal practices for key activities assuming unpredictability of many things is THE 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTION. With these three, you are well on your way to removing the stalls blocking OPEN BOUNDARIES to become THE LIVING COMPANY and to reach THE 2,000 PERCENT SOLUTIONS for future success

This book clarified views which I knew were correct, but lacked structure. Their view of business, as a biological system where innovation and progress occurs through the spontaneous interactions of individuals and groups, is a tremendous asset to anyone who values dynamic processes and thinking.

Johnson does a good job of taking concepts that could potentially be very confusing, and lays them out in an easy to read format. He does a great job of relating chemical and electrical activities in the brain with events in everyone's everyday life.

Mind Wide Open is a great book if you're new to the field of psychology or simply aren't too familiar with the actual chemical workings of the brain. The detail in the main text isn't all that deep but the end notes make up for much of the "overlooked" information. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars because while it was informative and quite revealing I think that Johnson slightly oversimplified the issues at hand. If you come into this book with anything much above a beginners understanding of brain biochemistry you won't walk away with any new ideas.

I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a beginners guide to theories of how the brain functions.

The author got curious about how his brain (and human brains in general) worked. He decided to find out. His experiences alongwith background information form the contents of this book.

He divides his narrative according to different neurological aspects of everyday life: mindreading(social interactional cues); handling and emotional aspects of fear; observation and attention handling; humor; mood and stress management; and finally his experiences under a fMRI scanner.

There are some pretty nice observations correlating bioochemical activity to qualia and behavior but this book is not a detailed observation and analyses of cognitive activity. Readers familiar with popular neuroscience won't find much new material here. The prose is lucid and the book can be fun for newcomers to neuroscience.

In one word.......Brilliant! If you're interested in why we do the things we do, author Steven Johnson covers it. He does an excellent job researching his findings, even putting himself through a scan of his own brain. I recant my one word review to TWO: Brilliant and Superb!!! Thank you Steven!

--Dr. Michael L. Johnson, author of "What Do You Do When the Medications Don't Work--A Non-Drug Treatment of Dizziness, Migraine Headaches, Fibromyalgia, and Other Chronic Conditions"

What a pleasant book! When getting ready for our trip, we asked friends who had been there what to expect. They quickly recommended this book, and my wife and I (and our fellow two travellers) quickly came to see why. While it failed to include great maps and color pictures (our only fault with it), it did a fantastic job of telling the 'stories behind the scenes' -- we all had different travel guides open, but all of the fun stuff always came from this one. So, either they made all of those fun facts up, or they really know their stuff, and spent a lot of time speaking with locals to get up to speed (i'm guessing #2 is the truth!)

Finally, we loved the personality communicated by the author(s). Is delivered in a slightly sarcastic/humourous tone -- right up our alley!

Again -- you'll love this book -- a great investment for any traveller.

Great details, good insight, clear organization! Authors Peck & Sachet understand what travelers need to know to make the most of their trip through Turkey.

I'm looking to travel, so I've been looking for books to guide my way. To tell you the truth, most of them put me to sleep and turned me off to where I wanted to go to begin with. This guide was different. It was very insightful and informative regarding where I should go and what I should do without restricting my "travellers creativity". I'm taking it with me to Turkey. That should tell you enough.

I am a 31 year old former college golfer. I am a history buff of all sports but I really didn't know my golf history as well as i should. This book really helped me. The book details Palmer, Player, Trevino, Nicklaus, Watson and a host of others. You also learn the detailed history of the British Open or as they call it "The Open" The detail of how the British cadies talk is alone worthy as a reason to read this. If you are a golf fan this is a 5 star book if you are not a golf fan I would not recommend it. Although I wouldn't want to dress like they did in the 1970's ; this book made you wish that you did grow up then.

Even the most casual sports fan will love this book. Like Laura Hillenbrand did in Sea Biscuit, Corcoran breathes life into an epic moment in sports history, the duel between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson in the 1977 British Open. The writing makes you feel like you're right there during the twists and turns of the tournament, getting to peek inside the heads of the athletes during the most pressure-filled moments. And the story is terrific... two golfers at the top of their game, battling a course that none of their competitors could handle. This book was really top-notch.

The storytelling and the quality of writing in this book are excellent. You won't want it to end.

Globaphobia is a great little text on the benefits of free trade. If only some of those protesting about the evils of capitalism actually took the time to educate themselves. They might then see that everyone benefits from free trade; developing countries have more jobs and developed countries higher real wages; consumers everywhere get greater choice.

There will always be losers - as the book makes clear. But that's a fact of life whichever economic creed you follow. There are significantly fewer losers in Asia now that forty years of economic liberalisation have raised income levels from paddy field to first world standards. This book explains why - in crisp simple terms.

Globaphobia is an important book for anyone trying to get a handle on the free trade arguments. The book is well written and addressed to a lay audience. One should be careful about some of the assumptions in the book, especially if one has no background in economics. I was required to get the book as a supplementary reading for an International Trade Theory course. I found it to be very helpful in getting a big picture understanding of current International Trade Theory. Buy the book; it is worth the relatively inexpensive price!

The ease of reading is exceptional. If you are worried about your limited understanding in economics and especially international trade, this is the book for you. In addition to the book being written and edited to be understood by nearly any modestly educated person it is further advantaged by authors that clearly understand the subject in great depth. As is so often the case the extremely well informed can write with such clarity for the lay reader.

As nearly all economists understand net trade flows always equal net investment flows. Shockingly large numbers of media and congressmen do not understand this utterly simple formula. In a nut shell, with all the foreign money pouring into the USA treasuries market, stock market and direct business investments over the last several decades, it follows that the USA would run trade deficits equal to the net investment inflow over the same period. If you do not understand this or you want an ultra easy review of these simple facts, this book was made for you. In a grand gesture of national service these authors wrote the book that was needed for general understanding of what positive and negative points globalization means to the USA. It is not designed for academic kudos.

If every modestly educated voter would read this book, the future of the USA and the world would be significantly brightened. While this is a pipe dream, at least read this book before you say one more word about globalization otherwise you may embarrass your self in the presence of informed people. If you are informed on economics please forgive my heavy handedness. It is not meant for you. This is a critical issue for underdeveloped nations and the mature nations, there is so much to be gained by informed voters on this subject.

This book is carefully grounded in the proven principals of economics. While a reviewer or two gives an impression to the contrary, decades of reading in economics provides me the confidence to assure you that this book is profoundly well grounded. At each point where scholars may differ the authors and editors have carefully laid out its discussion. This is not a book written with a liberal or conservative bent. Modern economics encompasses a significant degree of science and mathematical logic. To view this book as otherwise, is to be illogical or unwilling to accept the most basic proven equations. Again you will not find an easier more meaningful book to read on economics.

The USA economy for a variety of reasons has sharply declining need for workers without a high school education and places a continuing rising premium on post college education. Increasingly, those that can graduate from the elite institutions lead nearly a charmed life in the USA. Immigrants that are able to enter the USA with limited education are having increasing difficulty as the decades roll by. It is not clear that globalization is a meaningful factor in placing the such great educational needs on the American worker. This book helps frame the questions that might be asked about the rising importance of education in the USA. The book being about globalization does not dwell on this issue, but it does strongly suggest that the potential understanding of this issue of the exponentially rising need for superior knowledge is much broader than the globalization trend.

The most provocative theme in the latter chapters of the book is the impact of globalization on those American workers that are poorly educated. The adverse impacts on this group comes from rapid technology changes, defective educational system, ineffective governmental assistance and to a very small degree open trade. The authors documentation about how little negative impact foreign trade has on a very limited number of workers is shocking. A source of another worthy book would be to provide a more exhaustive review of this aspect. The authors conclude that the popular obsession on this point should treated with a reorganized aggressive worker assistance program. Almost any reasonable assistance program would be a modest cost relative to the diverse and powerful benefits that all the rest of Americans get from open trade according to the authors.

The authors are very negative on the effectiveness of government sponsored retraining. The book is highly critical of the governments ability to define injured parties in open trade without it being a political football. The authors suggest an assistance program that is indiscriminate as to the cause of worker misfortune and focuses on programs that show imperial evidence of effectiveness. The focal point is intermediate assistance for any lower income workers need to find new employment. While the left and the right quarrel about where to draw the line, the authors contend that so few people are in need relative to the benefits of open trade that just focusing on a well designed assistance program would make all the difference in giving support and comfort to the aggrieved relative to the huge benefits of open trade.

A professor teaching my Open Channel Flow class stated that this book is widely regarded as "The Bible" of open channel hydraulics. After reviewing a library copy, I was so impressed with it that I bought one for myself. The text is written in a clear, concise language that is sorely lacking in other texts. His chapter on energy and momentum principles is especially good. Sure, it's an old text (1959) but 98% of this book is still relevant. There's a reason it still in print; engineers love it and continue to buy it!

Incidentally, I found the review of this book by Hubert Chanson to be at best, disingenuous. He rates the book with only one star (every other reviewer gave it 5 stars) while at the same time recommending a "better" text that he fails to mention he authored and is out of print! There's one in every crowd.

This is the foundational text of modern open-channel hydraulics. All engineers should have a copy. The only negative review on this page (or that I have ever heard) is by an author (Hubert Chanson) of books which compete with this one.

This is superb text, a standard for over 40 years and for justcause. The explanations are clear and easy to understand--providingexplanation of theory, for example momentum versus energy and confusion between the two.

There's a wonderful introduction to a variety of research and development styles, along with analyses of how they affect the company and its place in the industry. It also has a great discussion of why publicly traded companies that have made certain innovation-style choices are compelled to act they way they do, simply in order to maintain shareholder value.

Unfortunately, the suggestions are marginalized by what seems to be a complete omittance of today's patent laws and their effects on workers (i.e. most legal departments do NOT allow their technology workers to search or look at patents). There's also a whole proposal around rewarding for finding patents and finder's fees that just seems a bit preposterous, at least in the software field. I've never heard of a software patent that detailed something that was non-obvious; merely of ones that patented things that hadn't yet been patented. In any case, I'm no expert in that area, but without an analysis of IP laws and the usefulness of the licensing of patents, I'm hard-pressed to call this anything but a sort of reality-disconnected idealism.

Its not a very great book, apart from a few case studies there is no concrete model around which the book has been written such as Michael Cusumano's Platform leadership( a somewhat related are)

Simply very good book exploring the new paradigm in the changing technological world.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Third Eye Open. Susan Reintjes uses fun stories, practical language and offers sound advice for anyone wanting change in their life. I can't wait to share this book with friends.

Third Eye Open: Unmasking Your True Awareness has opened the door for me in a lot of ways. I discovered things about myself that I never knew before. I've been searching for some kind of enlightenment in my life and understanding, as well as, not being too complex for me to understand. A friend let me borrow this book, and I am so grateful. Ms. Reintjes has an incrediable way of teaching and explaining gifts that I have always felt I had but didn't know the first thing on how to unleash them. Thank you for writing this Ms. Reintjes and thank you Mary for introducing me to this book. I highly recommend this book. Sincerely, Rebekkah Roberts

I started reading THIRD EYE OPEN and could not put it down until I finished it; a rarity for me. I had the pleasure of meeting Susan in the early 1980s. God has blessed her with such a spiritual and healing gift to help others. I thank her for all her personal and divine guidance and teachings that have altered my life in ways I can't begin to explain. I am thrilled that she is now sharing her "gifts" with the world through her writings. THIRD EYE OPEN is a powerful testament to her knowledge that helps each of us discover "without limits" all possibilities that are there for us, as well as, exudes the mysticism and optimistic nature she possesses that glows like a shooting star! You will certainly benefit from Susan's own life experiences. This book will, without doubt, guide you in the quest to replace melancholy with courage, doubt with certainty, despair with hope, evil with good, complaints with duty, skepticism with faith, sophism with cool calm, and pride with modesty. Ef-haristo Susan! ~phonetically speaking~ :)