Strategy

I read a couple of books on game theory. This is one of the better books... but it also has one small advantage... it's small. I carry it almost everywhere and read its short chapters (another advantage) without getting too tired. It's also quite difficult to get tired reading the book as the author keeps his explanations fairly simple, lively, and to the point.

A good spread of topics and examples too!

I found this book accessible when I first read it in 9th grade, and I still find it fascinating today as a soon-to-be grad student in math.

I planned to do a talk on the subject of the mathematics of a particular game, called Snood, and I had to learn Game Theory quickly to do so. This book explains things well, and the exercises, while easy enough to do in my head, still cement everything very well so that I can honestly say that I have a solid understanding of the subject even though I just picked up a single book.

Very good.

I just ordered the last existing copy of this book (really, its now out of print) and when it arrived I was not disappointed. All I can add to the above reviews of this book is that it was written first to instruct and second to make money rather than the other way around. Much effort was put into preparing the 700 increasingly difficult puzzles, with solutions below the diagrams. Written by the co-author of the famous and still in print Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, Mr. Ault deals primarily with endgame positions, with some middle game positions which mainly require a strategic continuation. The publisher of this book, Thinkers's Press, releases very few books but all are of a special home-made quality, not rushed out products like most major book publishers who are under a deadline to distribute their products as fast and to as wide an audience as possible. The author is a US master who teaches college in New York.

This is a terrific book by a relatively little-known author. Ault is an experienced tournament chess player, and a recognized authority in psychology and training methods. His book should be better known, since it is one of the best approaches I have ever read (and I've read quite a few) to the complex and abstract subject of positional chess thinking. He has developed a very logical and systematic approach, building from simple concepts (basic mates, basic endgames) to more difficult ones (knight outposts, knights vs bishops, controlling key squares, etc). He wrote another, earlier chess book (The Chess Tutor: Elements of Combinations) addressing the basic tactical themes of chess (pins, skewers, forks, etc). This is another gem of a book. He also co-authored the classis book Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, and developed the chess training method pioneered by that book. If you're looking to improve your understanding of positional chess, then The Genesis of Power Chess will be well worth your time. I'm working my way through it for the third time - each time I read it, my game gets a little better.

I cannot believe that this is not a wildly popular book! Somonerecommended it to me on the newsgroup, and I cannot get over how greatthis teacher is! He is lifting me gently, challenging me, and bringing me along! I feel like this is private lessons! Everything he does is logical and makes sense! This ought to be right up there with "Reassess Your Chess" with Silman, and Yasser's books also! Are there MORE by this author?

Among the relatively few books available that focus on getting science grants, "Getting Science Grants" is unquestionably the very best of the bunch. Blackburn has the perfect mix of credentials (college professor, research scientist, grants officer) to craft this concise treatment of the whole enchilada, from concept development through proposal writing, revision, submission (and resubmission), and grant administration. Giving frank, qualified advice in friendly prose, the author succeeds in creating more than just a "how-to manual" for scientific proposal writing. In roughly a hundred pages, this book shares insight on the science research funding process that would only be acquired by a decade or more of study in the school of hard knocks. As one whose career success is significantly influenced by external funding success, I couldn't recommend Blackburn's book more strongly.

Getting Science Grants provides readers with a complete introduction to the grant writing/submitting process.

It is important to move beyond the perspective of being the salesperson of your research. You need to know the perspective from the other side of the granting process and what will impress your program manager in your proposal.

Thomas Blackburn is an experienced grant writer and as well as having significant experience on the other side as an assitant program administrator. Here he provides researchers with the skinny on finding funding agencies, writing excellent abstracts and proposals, preparing budgets and moving beyond very good to excellent and super proposals.

Buy it, read it and share it with your colleagues!

I found "Getting Science Grants" to be a thoroughly readable, no-nonsense little book that demystifies the grant making process. Blackburn's experience both as a researcher and as one charged with the responsibility of reviewing grant applications shows through. His book provides a step-by-step approach that, if followed, should lead to a higher probability of success and avoid wasted time and frustration occasioned by poorly prepared and submitted applications. Those just entering the sometimes perilous fight for funding will find this book indispensable, and even old hands will find it provides handy reminders of all of the points we think we know by heart, but sometimes forget to apply. This little book is a "must read" for anyone whose professional life depends on getting funding for his or her research. You simply can't afford to ignore it.

Bernie Siegel and Yosaif August have based their book on three main principles:

1. You have the right to heal, no matter what your life experience has been.

2. You can create a healing team.

3. You can learn to become the master of your life's time.

This book is divided into three main sections:

Part I: A Patient's Survival Guide - This section explains how you can form a healing team, protect yourself in a variety of ways (including making sure the people caring for you wash their hands) and speaking up about anything you feel might be a mistake. Chapter 3 explains what you need to know to prepare for a hospital stay. I liked the list of healing objects you can take into the hospital to make you feel less stressed. This could range from a favorite quilt to favorite music, photos, healthy snacks and your laptop computer. This section addresses issues like having a private room or sharing a room, dealing with aromas and intrusions.

Part II: Healing Strategies for Family, Friends, and Caregivers - This is a section for those who are looking after someone who is healing.

Part III: Healing Ways - An interesting section on bedside yoga, breathing exercises, stretching and massage. Instructions are given for helping the healing process with the healing power of touch.

There is an extensive resource section with ideas like "bedscapes" that can be put up on a wall to help patients feel less closed into a room.

Bernie Siegel and Yosaif August have created a beautiful gift for patients and caregivers. I also hope doctors and nurses will read this book so they can observe care from the patient's perspective.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

I finished this book right before going in for surgery and the timing couldn't have been better. The book is described as a "practical" guidebook which is right on the mark because after reading it I felt far better prepared at making sure I got the kind of care I needed and far better at expressing those needs
Simply put, it fills a gap that has long been missing in the medical world: helping patients strengthen their rightful place in directing an important part of their own recovery. Get it for anyone you love who is about to go into the hospital - especially yourself!

As a hospital chaplain, I find this is just the right approach for patients and their families and friends.

This book helps to heal the body and enliven and mobilize the spirit. It is an uplifitng guide to surviving and thriving.
I especially appreciate all the ways it offers to make hospital visits truly healing - for patient and visitor and how to create a "healing team" with medical professionals and family and friends. It offers real tools to help folks find and strengthen their own inner resources . And it's fun to read!!!

I found this book to be a tremendous blessing. The many varied scenarios presented will surely have a touch point on every reader's life. Also, this diversity makes this the kind of resource that will be of timeless value as the book is revisited in future readings and life passages.

One of the most striking features of this resource is how well the scriptural references are applied in each scenario illustrated. This approach brings life and true meaning to biblical references in a simple and easy to understand manner that results in powerful life impacting revelation. As a result this book is a tremendous tool for the un-churched as well. By clearly identifying how God's Love, Grace and Mercy satisfy every need the reader is drawn closer to God, His blessing and His eternal salvation.

This book is a tremendous blessing. The many varied scenarios presented will surely have a touch point on every reader's life. Also, this diversity makes this the kind of resource that will be of timeless value as the book is revisited in future readings and life passages.

One of the most striking features of this resource is how well the scriptural references are applied in each scenario illustrated. This approach brings life and true meaning to biblical references in a simple and easy to understand manner that results in powerful life impacting revelation. As a result this book is a tremendous tool for the un-churched as well. By clearly identifying how God's Love, Grace and Mercy satisfy every need the reader is drawn closer to God, His blessing and His eternal salvation.

As my kids grow up and begin making their own decisions, it's hard to know how much advice to give. This book is a great way to gently offer good, solid counsel about life to young adults without preaching. The stories about real people captivated me and helped me understand the principles Dr. Linaman and Ms. Sowers conveyed. I appreciated the blend of biblical truth, sensible counseling information and "uncommon" sense. I'm giving it to my grown kids with one piece of advice - read it!

Lee has written a wonderful book that takes on all the myths about dietary and lifestyle health that have been support for years by economic interests at the detrement of our society. I have used this book as a reference since it came out and a resource to those who might challange with so many erroneous dietary cliches (e.g. "drink milk to have stronger bones"). If every adult read this book and digested it, what an enlightened, healthy society we would become...if only. Great job Lee!!

When I have a question about health, diet or food. This is the book I always turn to first. I've read and re-read this book many times and it's one of my most used references.

Lee covers dietary components like proteins, fats, carbohydrates, additives, dairy, seafood and vitamins. He also summarizes some of the different diets around the world and correlates them with different levels of disease and sickness--in the process finding those diets which are the most healthful. Lee then provides recipes and cooking strategies to integrate the best foods into your own diet.

Weight control, exercise, biological age, seniors, heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes and more are examined and Lee quotes research and the plain facts concerning each. The ladder half of the book is devoted to the food and drug industry and their interactions with government organizations like the FDA, RDA, USDA and APA. He writes allot about chemicals, pesticides and toxins found in most foods and their is a chapter concerning Organic vs. Conventional growing.

Throughout the book you will find very amusing and often absurd quotes by industry leaders touting the benefits of their toxic foods. These snippets of corporate propaganda and government idiocy are often rendered disturbing when they punctuate the actual truths which Lee sites.

It's a real shame the vast majority of American's are mindless of the harm they are doing to their bodies with their diet. A book like this is a great education and wakeup call to most anyone. My thanks to the author for sharing his knowledge.

Also, if you've read this book and liked it check out "Milk : The Deadly Poison" by Robert Cohen, Jane Heimlich. Kinda poetic title, huh. :)

If you believe that your health is the single most important asset you own then the book "Long Life Now: Startegies for Staying Alive" by Doctor Hitchcox is for you. Well written, well laid out - designed to be read "Long Life Now" is the most comprehensive round-up of profound and accurate information compiled to inform and educate us on what is going on with our culture when it comes to health. This book is a must have in all libraries. This book is a major reference book for all concerned individuals and activists.

Doctor Hitchcox has throughly researched and verified his facts and is to be commended for the time he took and the throughness of his work. He has written a highly insightful and at times terrifying account of the current cultural practices and values in this country around health and environmental issues.

This is a book worth the time to read - don't plan to read it all at once. You will need time to digest what he says. If you can only read one section in the book read his discussion on diet and its relationship to long life. This discussion alone is well worth the read. Read this book if you value your life and quality of life

This book is an extremely readable overview of strategic planning in healthcare today. The chapters build on each other very well, and leave the reader with an excellent picture of the whys and hows of development of strategic vision relative to the position and capabilities of the organization. The section on strategic intent is particularly useful. The tables and figures are useful, clear, and easy to understand. Each chapter ends with "Lessons Learned", a useful summary and reminder of the chapter contents. I recommend this book as both a primer and refresher for those interested in healthcare stategic planning.

It is clear when reading Health Care Strategy for Uncertain Times that the authors have significant experience in strategy development in the healthcare arena. The book clearly outlines a process for strategy development and points out common pitfalls along the way (e.g. mistaking data for information, focusing on experience rather than skills when choosing members of the strategy development team, etc.). Furthermore, the book describes useful tools for addressing uncertainty (i.e. decision-analysis, scenario planning and game theory) and provides a framework for determining when a specific tool will prove useful.

Perhaps what makes the book most valuable, however, is what it does not include. There are no claims of sure-fire solutions that are, unfortunately, so common in contemporary strategy literature. The authors correctly realize that cookie-cutter solutions offer no long term benefit to the reader (and most likely no short term benefit either). Rather the authors have created a guide to building a strategy development process that, once developed, will be applicable to any situation.

This book proposed a variety of tools that are incredibly helpful in moving a management team (and leadership team) along in thinking about the strategies that the organization is undertaking. It is also helpful in looking at the tacit strategies undertaken by not making decisive moves. The material proposes a broad range of ways to engage the strategic framework, given the market driven changes that befall the healthcare providers. Marion Jennings, Susie Krentz and the JRK team are impressive thought leaders that generously share their 'lessons learned' in this very useful book.

Claasen writes well.The narrative has pace and purpuse.The author offers not just an insight into the role of the Luftwaffe, but succeeds in placing this theme into a broader historical perspective.The analysis of the strategic level decision making, both within Germany and Britain, complements his depth of observations at the operational level.Good maps are always an essential ingredient for this in depth work and these are included.I will look forward to his next offering.

This was my first foray into military history and I really liked it. I guess I expected to be bored by endless details of this type of weapon or that, and which soldiers were moved where, but I wasn't bored at all. It helped that Claasen put the whole thing into a strategic context. I could easily see why the northern theatre was so important (especially for its iron ore, but also as a base for air and shipping operations against Britain). While he doesn't labor the detail (thankfully) Claasen relates some great stories of the important clashes. They illustrate the argument he is making. He also focuses on the role of air power, which makes it interesting. The appalling weather conditions made this a difficult theatre for airpower, but the effort there included a number of firsts. For example, it saw the first ever paratroop drop and it provided the first evidence that the balance of air and sea had shifted forever towards the air. In the middle of this is Hitler, as Claasen calls him the "great meddler". Intriguingly, both Churchill and Hitler were obsessed with Norway at varying stages, though Hitler's interest was slow in building, it burned brightly in the end (and in some strange ways). All this was fine in the early stages of the war when the blitzkrieg was so devastating. But later, sustaining a war on a number of fronts, it was all too much for Hitler to keep control of effectively, though that didn't stop him from trying. There are other colorful characters as well, some on the ground (or in the air) in Norway, others like Goering back in Germany. Goering is blamed for Germany's fatal lack of a long-range strategic bomber and maritime aircraft. He is also criticized for his luftwaffe parochialism. He jealously guarded anything that flew from the clutches of the navy, to the detriment of both. This chronic inter-service rivalry and the lack of aircraft seriously hampered the operations and even the usefulness of Norway. It never delivered on its potential, largely because the Germans lacked the necessary aircraft. So the invasion was a complete success (thanks also to the "disjointed and shambolic" response from the allies) but from early on "Norway failed to live up to its billing".

But that doesn't stop this from being a fascinating story, and Claasen does a great job of handling it. He breaks up the essential elements of the tale, selecting what he needs without cluttering up the plot. He often writes with a colorful turn of phrase, and you get the feeling he has an eye for humor and irony in all of this. And there is brilliant material to work with. The geography of Scandinavia, with all its extremes, provides a colorful background. The fate of arctic convoys or vulnerable footholds adds to the excitement. I found this a fantastic book. It's a great read. I recommend it to layperson and expert alike.

I'm pleased to see the University of Kansas Press continues to lead the field in terms of solid, analtyical military history. This book, by Adam Clausen, is every bit as good as David Glantz, Joel Hayward and James Corum's, also published by Kansas.

I learned quite a lot of new things about the Norwegian campaign from this lovely looking, well produced and very readable book.

It also has a set of photographs that I had never before seen.

BUY THE BOOK. ITS OUTSTANDING.

finaly a book that is dealing with the hormonal diseases on every hormones (for woman, and for man as well), and tells you how to heal it in the nutrition-way,plus suplements.this book is also a book that explaining to you how hormones realy work, why, and what is the nutrition, and nutrients are involved in balancing them, and what is the conection among the complex hormones with the orthomolecular-nutrition therapy,-concerning natural hormone therapy(not replacement).as a therapist i must admit that only after i learned this book, my understanding on the complex hormones cooperation, and how to treat it the right way, became more accurate and more fast resoults with my patients. this book is also for a non proffetional as well as for the proffetional.

Anyone can benefit greatly from this book Powerful knowledge is presented in great form.

I have been studying Human Nutrition for over 14 years and have found no other who understands the intricacies and sheer importance of proper hormonal balance through good nutition. Proper hormonal balance is the single most important aspect to living a healthy mental and physical life. All represented with solid scientific research, Dr. Colgan explains in an easy to read format the simple Do's and Dont's for making your health the best it can be. So don't lose anymore time. Take charge of your health now and experience for yourself the unbelievable feeling from having a hormonally healthy body and mind.

This is a great game as far as village building. The economics are very realistic (unlike AOE, Warcraft, Starcraft, etc.), the graphics are good (although I don't think that's very important), but the combat is pretty bad. First of all, feeding the troops is a pain. Especially when there's a group with different hunger levels, and you have to break up the group to feed them at different times. This takes up a lot of time and is very annoying. The combat makes no sense - In many of the levels, the enemies just sit there and die... The strategy involved with combat isn't bad, but it's much more difficult to get single units of small groups of units to attack a specific group of units or unit. In most RTS games, you can just click on the unit(s) and right click on another, but not in this. Although, it is really fun to set up a big attack. Now, back to the village. The peasants are incredibly stupid. There are only two things to complain about in the villages - the peasants not building buildings that they are told to build and the time it takes to build roads (which need to connect every single building - you can't start another village far off without building a long road). Basically, the way the villages work is absolutely stupendous, but a few changes need to be made (roads and peasants' AI). If the way the villages work was combined with the combat of, say, Starcraft or AOE, the result would be the best RTS ever.

Well, I first found this game about 2 years ago, and it's such a fun and yet aggravating game to play. Be forewarned, do NOT attempt to play this game unless you have several hours of free time available, preferably multiple blocks of several hours of free time. The game is so completely absorbing that six hours can disappear without you ever realizing it. You play several scenarios, each one adding in new units and new buildings, so you can slowly develop your use of these items. Unfortunately, the opposition seems to have access to all of these items right from the start, so sometimes things feel a little lopsided. But if you're clever and pay attention, you can prevail.

My only complaint is that everything depends on your serfs doing what they're supposed to do, and they seem to have the collective IQ of a box of rocks. I don't know how many hours I've spent literally screaming at my computer (like they can hear me... duh!) because something is going wrong because the serfs are off doing something completely stupid instead of what I want them to be doing.

Altogether an incredible game, and I hope that eventually there will be a sequel.

This is one of the best games I've played. Besides the fact that it is very realistic when it comes to food production and building it is very funny just to see the small workers do thier job. Compared to Warcraft and Starcraft this is outstanding in this sector. When it comes to battle there are some thing that could be changed. The strategic is great, pikemen shuold only attack knights and so on, but feeding the troops not the better part of this game. If youre planning a big attack, which is very fun to plan, with 100 - 150 soldiers, it is hard, not to say impossible, to get food to the troops before the attack and run the village at the same time. But I can live with it. I have completed all the 20 missions twice, so it is possible to do attacks in spite of this. The key is just to fill your barrack with recruits and weapons and then train all the soldiers in a matter of minutes. Then you might not have to feed them at all before the attack. Now, back to the subjekt; This is a really good game and I'm looking for Knights and Merchants II. (If there already is such game please mail me and tell me where to find it)!!!