effect

In 1892, Henry Salt published the book Animals' Rights. While it was not totally ignored, it took nearly another century for the modern "Animal Rights" movement to begin, after the appearance of Peter Singer's Animal Liberation in 1975.

When reading An Unnatural Order it will be difficult to not get the impression that Jim Mason is a visionary, on par with Henry Salt. We are privileged to have Mason as a contemporary. Years from now people could easily look back on him as the spark that helped reverse the course of destruction humans were on at the end of the 20th Century. Unfortunately, as with the ideas in it-and like Salt's work-An Unnatural Order has been largely ignored. Like a great movie that no one has seen, the fault for this must lay with lack of promotion. This review is appearing several years after the book's publication. This is unfortunate. An Unnatural Order is an important book.

"This book is written in hope and celebration. My hope is that we have the strength to rid ourselves of the destructive strands in Western culture," Mason begins. These destructive strands manifest themselves in the "Nature Question." Grossly simplified, the Nature Question is the intellectual belief that somewhere in our evolutionary past our ancestors broke their bonds with the living earth and put Homo sapiens above all other life on the planet, resulting in our species having no sense of kinship with other life nor any sense of belonging. The earth is beneath us; we are alienated from nature.

Mason continues "It is now time to bring this question into popular discussion, and I hope this book is a start." The roots of our alienation are deep-and deeply explored. Thirty pages are devoted to identifying dominionism. A picture of the world before agriculture-the seed of dominionism-is painted. Using current research and extensive references, a vivid portrait results that is as believable as any anthropologist's.

An all-things-are-connected web is spun, touching animal-human history and relationships; the crossover to agriculture; misogyny and misothery (the author's invention for "an attitude of hatred and contempt for animals and nature"); racism, colonialism, and dominionism. The breadth of his discussion is extensive and not every reader will agree with all of Mason's personal viewpoints. It irrelevant. In the long run one will feel certain that the book hits the mark of verity.

The final chapter brings it all together and offers Mason's broad outline for what needs to be done to turn dominionism around. He shows how the awareness of our social and environmental problems is widely known, citing the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, quoting political leaders and scholars, and referencing a who's who list of environmental writers, who he concludes all have the same message: "Humanity needs fundamental changes in its relationship with nature."

Supplying the missing piece, Mason states: "All having laid down such strong rhetoric, however, the movers and shakers, with rare exceptions, stop dead in their tracks when they approach the Animal Question. The Animal Question is regarded as illegitimate, silly, peripheral." To address the Animal Question reduces ones credibility. Driving home the point, Mason ponders how Christopher Stone's landmark 1972 article "Should Trees Have Standing?" would have been received had he written "Should Chimpanzees Have Standing?" He concludes that the Animal Question "is the very heart" of the Nature Question. The two cannot be separated. In order to make any progress toward healing our dominionist worldview, this gap must be bridged.

In the last few years some headway seems to have been made in this area. For too long the wedge that existed between "animal" and "environmental" groups has done all harm and no good. Since An Unnatural Order's publicatiom, there has been a call for unity as well as a more serious acceptance of the "Animal Question." Peter Singer's 1993 book and continued efforts with The Great Ape Project; the publication of When Elephants Weep by Jeffrey Masson and Susan McCarthy; and E magazine, which, beginning with its September/October 1995 issue, published a three-part series "to promote a dialogue between these two disparate communities," are just a few. Hopefully this is the start of serious progress.

In 1993, Jim Mason's An Unnatural Order appeared. While not totally ignored, there may never be a "modern dominionism" movement. If the message in his book is even remotely accurate, our culture cannot wait 80 years for some as-yet-unborn author to rediscover An Unnatural Order's message.

Joseph Connelly

Why are we the most violent and destructive species on this planet? In "An Unnatural Order", Jim Mason tells us. He opens with a clarification of the philosophy of 'dominionism' as expounded in most religions, and declares it as the principle at the root of human violence and warfare. He presents the case that there was a time when humans got along rather well with each other and the rest of nature. It was the time of the forager, mistakenly called the time of the hunter/gatherer by those looking through the filter of western philosophy and religion. For many thousands of years, Homo sapiens did not do much meat-eating or hunting, until widespread, organized hunting appears some 20,000 years ago. When foragers became hunters, and hunters became herdsmen, their view of nature changed from one of provider to one of enemy, and the notion of human supremacy was born. The non human animals, once seen as ancestors, neighbors, teachers and kin, began to be thought of as inferior, dangerous and evil, or simply commodities. With the advent of agriculture, and especially animal agriculture, ideas about a hierarchy of being, ownership of property, patriarchy, domination and exploitation begin to take over human culture. The idea of a male god, with man just below, and women, 'primitive' people and the other animals, below men, became the mindset of the "northern tribes." It was eventually sanctified by western religions and remains the dominant worldview today. Mason takes us on a journey through human history, unfettered by human ego, thoroughly explaining our dissociation from nature and animals, and the resulting losses, both pyschologically and spiritually. He probes deep, and finds the origins of warfare, racism, sexism, religionism and colonialism. He challenges the idea that agriculture was a great human achievement, arguing that it gave us repeating cycles of increased production and growth only at the expense of the environment and the animals that we enslaved. The result has not been success for all humans, but actually an increase in human starvation and suffering, caused by the human population explosion and the misuse of resources. Enslavement of non humans and then humans, followed by the introduction of organized warfare, are the results of the hunter / herder mentality that replaced the original cooperative, egalitarian nature of human culture. Mason, does not simply chronicle our mistakes, he seeks out causes, and offers solutions. He does not blame farmers for the disasters of agriculture, nor does he call for an end to religion. Instead he calls for a new approach to farming, and the return to the family farm, by the re-introduction of sustainable, humane farming methods. Likewise, he calls for a re-discovery of the suppressed voices of progressive theologians who have spoken out against dominionism for centuries. He asks us to re-evaluate our ideas of human supremacy and accept our proper role as a part of nature, not something above it. His approach is unique among most writers -- the preservationists, environmentalists or even the deep ecologists -- as he dares to ask "the animal question." When will we admit to the psychological lives of the other animals, and take this into consideration in our dealings with them? Do they exist just for us? Or are they part of our family, deserving every bit as much consideration as those of "our own kind."

Joe Gaziano from Chicago, Illinois , November 24, 1998 An excellent book that explains human/animal relations Unnatural Order establishes Jim Mason as one of the important intellectuals of the Animal Rights Movement. Mason provides a thoughtful and readable analysis of the relationship of people to animals throughout history. In this book Mason demonstrates how the changes in animal/people relationships have, over time, dramatically altered human existence. In much of the early history of humanity people lived in harmony with animals. Nature was viewed as containing fellow creatures with many of the same characteristics as people. Animals were revered and respeced. The move to an agricultural society where increasing numbers of animals became food resulted in a shift of consciousness. The culture became one in which humans were seen as dominant over and superior to animals. Humans increasingly separated themselves from nature and the animals, often denying their own animal nature. The result is a human culture divorced from nature and suffering from all the ill effects that such a society produces. Mason's book should be read by every vegetarian and animal rights advocate. It is sure to be a classic in the field.

I began working in pharmacy in the late 1960's. I helped dispense drugs at a retail drugstore in my home town and I did the same in the largest hospital in Chicago. I kept it up at another hospital and then started "doing" it on my own when I opened my retail store in 1983. I read the manufacturers' package inserts and I followed the prescriptions as they were ordered - and I noticed that many people had problems with the "recommended" dose. Sometimes they got used to the dose and sometimes it had to be changed. In any event, the recommended dose was not always accurate accurate - it was often dangerously WRONG.

I don't know what I thought about all the problems with prescription drugs. I guess I just presumed the patients were overly sensitive, or just unlucky. I didn't often think too much about it - until I became aware of Dr. Jay Cohen and his "Case Against the Drug Companies." His shocking book is called "OVER DOSE" and it describes in good detail the dangers of relying on the manufacturers' package inserts to prescribe drugs.

This is an "eye opener" book and it angers me. How is it that we have this overriding desire to place the bottom line above decent care for health? There are some great things happening in medicine - all around the world. But I think that all the good can be quickly undone by hanging on to a misguided philosophy that insists that profits trump everything else. Its time for a change and Dr. Cohen is part of the changing process. I promise to do my part for change. One thing is to expose potential problems (like Dr. Cohen has done) and another is to encourage people to think about the issues (that's my goal). Please get a copy of this book. Read it and then think about what it really means. When we reach a critical mass changes will happen. You can bank on it! (pun intended)

Finally, someone has put into print an accurate and factual picture of what the drug manufacturing industry does to place profits way ahead of patient benefit and safety. Anyone who takes prescription medications should read this book. Maybe it gets a little too technical in spots for people not in the health professions, but there is plenty of excellent information and suggestions to make this a very valuable reference for consumer-oriented patients.
I am a doctoral-level clinical pharmacist, and I found myself in agreement with most all of what Dr. Cohen has written and recommended in this book. This should be required reading for every practicing physician, medical student, pharmacist, and nurse in the country. Medical schools should add this to their curriculum for all of our doctors-to-be to read before they take their pharmacology course and start their clinical training.

A valuable theme disclosing inadequate testing by the drug companies and woeful evaluations by the FDA of prescription drugs. The main thesis is well-taken: lower doses of many drugs could minimize side-effects, including death. Actually does not go far enough in exposing all the major drug classes that do not increase lifespan at all!
Also available from Amazon: Prescription for Disaster by Thomas Moore and The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs by Ross Pelton and James LaValle.

Thank you, Stefanie and Sherene, for holding my hand through the roughest time of my life. You've written the book every woman has been waiting for.

This incredible book, Surviving Saturn's Return, is one the best Astrology books ever written. (With all due respect to Sidney Omarr). Sherene and Stefanie have hit on one of the biggest secrets in Astrology and uncovered it in the most sincere way- This book should get 100 stars- not just 5.
Stefanie and Sherene write in a way that speaks to you - not at you. Truthful and direct, but not harsh, and with a large dose of hope for the future. And as they explain to you who Mr. SAturn is and take you on his roller-coaster journey through each sign, they travel WITH you -almost like they are there in person, speaking directly to you. Their refreshing theory on Saturn and his Return ANSWERS SO MANY questions that many other books on Astrology leave out. You begin to understand why you may be going through continous crisis and start to put pieces of your life puzzle together.
"Surviving Saturns Return" is FOR and applies to ALL women who have had a continous crisis or obstacles thoughout their life -not just women who are turning thirty or near the big 3-0.
Sherene and Stefanie have truly charted and uncovered previously little known and little explored territory with their detailed analysis of Saturn and his Return.
In addition, their website WWW.Saturnsreturn.net is a complementary support tool that stands well on it's own. A GREAT website to go to and explore.
But get the book AND visit the website to get the full blown effect.

Oh I really needed this book a few years ago! The authors are straight talkers-who explain (with a good dose of humor) why your life seems to suddenly go out of whack, and more importantly how to deal with it. I keep going back to the book--not only for the straighforward helpful advice, but I love the humor, the examples that they use..well everything. I heartily reccomend this book. Wonderful--even if you get a bit confused about astrology like I do.

WHEN SMOKE RAN LIKE WATER Devra Davis, Basic Books, New York, 2002

Who was your very best professor ever? Of all the perhaps hundreds of professors you had in undergraduate and graduate school, who stands out in your memory as the finest exemplar of the teacher/mentor/scholar? [After you have selected your finest professor, stop reading this review and if this person is still alive, write a short note to him or her. Just say that you are checking in, and describe a few things about your career and accomplishments. Indicate by some story or memorable quote that you remember the professor, and send along your best wishes. Then come back to reading this review]
I so often hear that student evaluations of professors are imperfect because the value of a professor changes with time. There are those who believe that the mean guys you hated, the guys who forced you to work hard, will turn out to be your most respected and loved professors in the end. I have always personally disagreed with this assumption. My best (and worst) teachers when I was in school remain my best (and worst) 40 years later. So it did my heart good to realize that there is experimental evidence to back up my observation.
One study found that there is no significant change in teacher ratings with time. Students asked 10 and 20 years after graduation to name their best instructors named the same instructors whom they rated highly while they were students. The tough instructors who had poor teaching skills regardless of how difficult their courses were were still rated poorly. In another study, when alumni were asked to describe their former professors, they told stories that illustrated the positive effect the teachers had on their lives. One alumnus, finishing his favorite story about his former professor, ended reflectively -- "I miss him" he said - thirty years after graduation. ( J. Educational Psychology 42(129-143), and Change, 28(6)).
The same thing applies to books. I remember hating some of my texts (Gaylord and Gaylord still holds first place as the worst textbook ever) and loving others. And the ones I love I still have. (Gaylord and Gaylord was ceremonially burned when I finished my last steel design course.) Occasionally I pick up one of my favorites, riffle through the pages, and remember how the text helped me understand the subject.
I think this book by Devra Davis is going to be one of those books to which I periodically return, both to enjoy her writing as well as to glean material for lectures. Davis is an environmental scientist and epidemiologist, and has had a distinguished career in and out of governmental service. She been personally involved in many of the significant cases of public protection from environmental pollutants such as the elimination of lead from gasoline. But her most important attribute is that she was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, and spent her childhood in the shadows of the steel mills that lined the Monongahela River. She speaks in the first person about the fateful days in 1948 when an inversion layer capped the valley and the three plants continued to operate at full production. She has great pictures of the Friday night football game when the pollution was so thick the ball disappeared into the haze, and when it was not possible to see across the field. Some of her acquaintances were among the 27 people who died during this disaster which catalyzed the United States into controlling air pollution. And yet, when she was a little girl, nobody talked about the episode. Only when she went to college did she find out that the Donora Episode had occurred. Smoke was jobs and life to these first generation Americans, and they were not about to do anything that would force the steel plants to close, including talk about the week when smoke ran like water.
Using the Donora episode as a jumping off point, Davis talks about other environmental problems, including growing concerns with breast cancer and male sterility. In my opinion, the best part of the book is at the end when she talks about some defiant figures in the quest for a clean environment -- those unsung people who for years stood up to great pressures to do the right thing. All in all, this is a masterful book. I know I will visit it often, and that years from now I will think of it as highly as I do now, just after reading it. Good books, and good professors, tend to be that way.
Devra Davis is now a visiting professor at the Carnegie-Mellon University's Heinz School in Pittsburgh.
P. Aarne Vesilind
Bucknell University

If you care about your health or that of your family, then reading this true story is a must.
It deals with a real community and the impact of a polluted environment on those who lived in it.
The book also deals with the larger theme of public health and what we are doing to the environment.
I highly recommend this book for you or for anyone who cares about making our towns, cities and country a better (and healthier) place to live.

The headline in today's paper reads, "EPA drops clean-air action against plants." It goes on to say that after weakening the Clean Air Act for future power plant expansions, the Bush administration has now dropped enforcement actions already in progress against dozens of coal powered plants suspected of illegally pumping thousands of tons of pollution into the air. The headline makes it clear why we need more people like Devra Davis and more books like When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and the Battle Against Pollution.

Davis, who holds a masters degree in public health, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, an adviser to the World Health Organization, and an original researcher into the impacts of air pollution on health worldwide. When Smoke Ran Like Water is her personal take on how letting businesses dump toxins into the air people breathe and the water they drink has resulted in illness-racked lives and hundreds of thousands of deaths throughout history. The story gets personal when she describes the clot of industrial pollution that settled over her hometown of Donora, Pennsylvania on October 26, 1948, sickening half the town and killing eighteen people outright. Like the deadly smogs that killed 12,000 people in London in 1952, the Donora deaths were swept under the carpet by officials; keeping the factories running was deemed far more important than a few "extra" deaths.

The really shocking point Davis makes, however, is that such dramatic events represent just a tiny fraction of the illness, disability, and premature death caused by the long-term impact of chronic air pollution. Although the physician-philosopher Maimonaides warned of the health effects of breathing polluted air 800 years ago, it was not until the 1970s that epidemiologists convincingly proved that even low levels of pollution cause measurable increases in illness and premature deaths. By now they can pin it down to a deadly equation-whenever air pollution increases by so many millionths of a gram per cubic meter of air, there will be so many premature deaths. The numbers are staggering-Davis reports that air pollution has caused one million early deaths in the United States since 1980, and in China causes an estimated one million early deaths each year. Equally alarming are the increasing presence of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in air and water, with documented impacts on human reproduction and development.

Davis also details how major corporations have fought-and, as the headlines show, continue to fight--to be allowed to pollute. They have blocked legitimate research, funded biased research, and used every tactic including intimidating researchers to keep the public from understanding the impact of pollution. They've smeared even the most careful and reputable research, published in leading, peer-reviewed scientific journals, as "junk science," and continue to lobby, with mounting success, for the right to continue to pump thousands of tons of chemicals into the atmosphere.

Davis, of course, provides far more scientific and historical details, and tells many fascinating stories, as she traces the battle over the air we breathe up to the present. The book is vividly written and involved me both intellectually and emotionally from the first page to the last. If you care about the health of children, older people, and future generations, or simply want to know what's really going on in the wars between those who want to pollute our environment and those who want to protect it, When Smoke Ran Like Water is a great place to start.

Robert Adler, Ph.D...

This should be required reading for any physician caring for the breastfeeding mother or the breastfed baby. With all of the mythology surrounding breastfeeding and the wide range of advice given to nursing mothers, it is essential that practitioners give accurate, informed advice. Reading this book will allow health care professionals to do so.

As a gynecologist based in Spain, I found this book extremely helpful while counseling my patients about breastfeeding, and while breastfeeding myself. I think most obstetrical textbooks do not cover enough the aspect of breastfeeding, and numerous questions remain to be answered, some as simple as: both breasts or one breast?. These simple questions, however, are an important source of stress to new mothers. Apart from that, the more "medical" aspects of the book are also exceptional. A must for all medical professionals involved in pregnancy, birth and infant care.

I am a IBCLC and work in a NICU with very small premature &/or sick newborns. As a nurse I very frequently use Dr Lawrence's book when there is a conflict with a doctor over the care of our breastfeeding babies. Dr Lawrence's book is compleatly research based and written with authority --- no touchy/feely all professional. It is a great book to use to study for the lactation exam !!! Get the newest copy date you can find -- doctors respect new information.

If you thought DES was a thing of the past - guess again. DES is alive and well. All you have to do is look into the faces staring up from the pages of this book and listen to the personal stories of the people exposed to this drug to know you are in the presence of a powerful force. No, I'm not referring to DES, although its impact is profound. I am referring to the miraculous ability of the human spirit to survive and transcend experiences most can only imagine. I know. I'm one of the survivors.

While you will not find my story contained within the pages of this book, I am there. I am a DES daughter, a cancer survivor. I am also a psychotherapist specializing in health psychology. Through my work, I hear a lot of stories, but few compare to those associated with the widespread medical mistake of DES.

Despite the scope of the problems created by this drug, those of us who live with the aftermath are in danger of being forgotten, or at least overlooked. Upon seeing a new physician recently, he said, "I was told in medical school that we wouldn't be seeing any more people exposed to DES." I informed him that I certainly hoped he wouldn't see any new cases of DES exposure, but there were plenty of us still walking around to tell the tale of DES and of our experiences with it. This book does precisely that - tell the tale.

Many thanks to Margaret Lee Braun and Nancy Stuart for a well-written and graphically poignant book. It is tasteful, respectful, and a much needed reminder that we are still here.

HI folks - thought those of you who have not read "DES Stories" would enjoy these little excerpts re how I felt and others felt when they read it, and a bit of why Margaret wrote it. Please tell me what YOU think:

My response:
Reading this brought back to mind my experience reading your book. The first friend who gave it to me, a male, left it on my doorstep on November 6th last year, my 39th birthday, as a surprise little gift.

I remember being hugely excited as I unwrapped its package and I remember thinking that it was 21 years before on that same date when I found out I had cancer for the first time, on my 18th birthday.
(A nurse from the clinic at Balboa Hospital had come by and left her card with my roommate, reminding her that I must see the doctor again and why - she had left 2 previous messages the week before that I did not return, because it was my first day on the job at the Bank where I was then on that date, a full-fledged employee, instead of an intern. And I had not called back because I was busy preparing for that day and thought it was about more volunteer work, anyway.)

Anyway, what a gift. The first thing I usually do when I get home is run to the bathroom... I remember reading practically the entire book right there on the porcelain goddess.
(I had part of my bladder resected when the cancer spread the 1st go-round. It's fine now - all that delicious balloon stretching that I adored so much (yea, right!) had done a good job...I still drink a LOT of fluids.)

I know one woman who had cervical, vaginal and ovarian cancer and along with the clear cell adenocarcinoma they found choriocarcinoma when she had ovarian cancer. She had her cervix, uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, lymph nodes and spleen completely removed. She has had 1/3rd of her bladder removed and reconstructed, 19 inches of her intestine and part of her omentum removed and my vagina reconstructed two times. She had 7 surgeries, external and internal radiation therapy and 4 separate mutli-round sessions of chemotherapy - all encompassing eight years of her life (18yrs old-almost 21 and 30yrs-37).
Today, she still has two tumors in her lumbar vertebrae - one the diameter of a quarter and the other a dime.
BUT - she is healthier than most anyone she knows! (Can you guess who "She" is?)

I remember the tears rolling down my face and rejoicing at the same time, that now the world would know it's true, it's still true and it still will be true and true anew for many yet to come, unfortunately. But now, it was in writing and not just in medical journals or my own doctor's handwriting. There were documented "others" and I was not alone. I, and my DES sisters were validated. And, if any MD dared mention to me that it was a long time ago and nothing of consequence today, I would have something in hand to proudly show him or her before I quietly walked out of their office forever.

The feeling of AWE that sticks with me today continues to amaze me. I brought it to a family picnic around Thanksgiving time last year to give to my mother who was visiting from out of town, and my oldest brother picked it up and read the whole thing right there. My mother picked it up and began reading it very shortly thereafter and even asked me questions! My boyfriend read the entire book the night I gave it to him to read.

What continues to strike me is how this book appears to magnetize the reader, pulls them in and keeps them there all the way through. I've never come across that before or seen someone else experience that either.

Why is that? I believe it's because the book is so subtle. From the colors on the cover to the pictures on the pages, the message within speaks loudly, yet softly of a quiet strength, of endurance. The details are not of morbid skeleton bones found in a closet or of gross deformities or fantastic miracles. Depicting man, woman, child - they successfully link all humankind. Which, combined in this wonderful book, induce the quiet force, revealing the present triumphs of real-life people. "DES Stories" chronicles each individual's rising to the purpose, of finding the answers with mastery of oneself and of circumstance.

It is a peaceful, very special honor to have something in common with these very brave human beings. They are prevailers. We are prevailers! For we are NOT victims, which is what the word 'survivor' connotes to me. We have overcome and become stronger and yes, better.
Love, Suzette

A beautiful book for anyone you know touched by DES-women, men, family, friends, lawyers, and physicians. DES exposed people deserve acknowledgement and information about the drug they were exposed to before they were born. DES Stories does this while also bearing witness to the massive disruption of people's lives, which chemical exposure and drug breakthrough can cause. Get this book to feel empowered. It helps speak the truth.

this story is very amazing.i think this story is difference from another story.as the characters are 101 Dalmatians,the story is around them and another animals will help pengo to find his children.it has very meaningful .it teach us to help people when they have problems.it is a good chance for us toknow more about animals' world.the content is creative and wonderful.it is because the story is around animals' world and the backgound was very clear that a woman want to use the skin of Dalmatians' to make a fur.it is very wonderful

The book I read aloud to my 7 year old daughter is the 1956, 1957 Copyright with a yellow hardback cover with drawings of dogs on it. The illustrators are Janet and Anne Grahame-Johnstone.

This book is fun and exciting and is more enjoyable than the Disney cartoon version. You will be surprised by the Dalmation Perdita in this book. She is not what you expect. Also, you will not find out where the "101th Dalmation" comes from until the last two chapters unless you are very, very perceptive. I kept coming up with 100 total Dalmations until the very end.

This book is a must read for everyone; but, you will probably have to borrow it from your local library. This book needs to be rereleased.

We bought this audio book hoping to wean our young children (who enjoyed both movie versions of this book very much) off of movies and get them more interested in "real stories."

I have to tell you that this story far exceeded my expectations. Not only was it a fun story that my children enjoyed immensely, but one with subtleties, humor and bits of truth sprinkled throughout that had me listening and laughing right alongside them.

There are a lot of dog stories out there and I admit to being a dog-lover (well at least of big dogs), but this is a lot more than just a dog story. Certainly there's a great deal of humor, adventure and ... Dalmatians... but underneath all that you get many tidbits of truth that are applicable to life itself.

Martin Jarvis does a fabulous job in narrating this unabridged classic. Highly recommended!

Kaplan and Cooper have put together an outstanding guidebook for managers to follow in order to reap the most significant benefits from activity based costing and other cost management techniques. The great merit of this book is that it does not preach to the reader the latest management fad, but rather goes through a thorough analysis of budgeting processes, highlighting benefits and drawbacks of each. They do not claim ABC is the best approach, and even praise some simpler methods that are more adequate for certain companies. Instead, they point to the circumstances in which ABC can provide outstanding results to companies.

The book structured first with an analysis of the most often used systems of managerial cost accounting. It highlights the shortcomings of these, proceeding then to present certain productivity improvements that could contribute to performance. These are mostly related to the quality movements (TQM, 6 Sigma, etc), which are presented in a very understandable way. These are complements to the existing usual cost management systems. These improvements can be made even without implementing ABC systems.

Then the authors proceed to describe activity based costing and its benefits in terms of choosing customers, suppliers, and product breadth. They present many examples that would be very relevant to any practitioner, in industry or service. There is a specific section focusing on services, which makes the appropriate adaptations to the systems for the peculiarities of it.

Overall, an outstanding work, to help anyone involved in cost management, whether they are interested in activity based costing or more traditional standard costing methods.

I have read this book cover to cover and have re-read chapters. Kaplan ensures that you grasp the fundamental concepts by keeping things simple. He illustrates the concepts with easy to understand examples. I gained very little knowledge from the first 3 ABM books I read, but after reading "Cost and Effect," I felt that I had a good enough grasp of the fundamentals to actually implement a costing system.

After reading several academic papers concerning activity based costing I still wasn't convinced about the usefullness of the methodology. After reading Cost & Effect I revised my opinion on Cost Management. This book gives all the answers to effective Cost Management. It takes you from the ABC Age to the Activity Based Management Age and clearly helps you to understand what costs are alle about. Once you really understand the topics of this book you will be able to face and manage costs in whatever business you are in. Read it!

The book is huge and heavy. Every single page has at least several great color photographs and it is a big book. You will love to read about ILM's ventures into the digital realm. It is very technology orientated, but not too much and does talk about the film making process and ILM in general. This is well worth looking at especially for fans of ILM or those who want to see what goes on behind the scenes or for those looking for a career in this direction. This is a good place for inspiration.

Although it does not cover the more recent movies you will still get the picture here. It starts by talking about go-motion and then moves onto the first ever digital sequence and how much people slaved over it before going into detail with the evolution of that process and of the special edition of Star Wars and Speilberg's "J. Park".

The book looks fantastic. Keep it for your grandkids. I am sure they will love you for it. This is the kind of book that you will turn to time and time again just to see "how they did that".

For 25 years Industrial Light and Magic has woven magic into countless films, either subtle images through 'invisible' effects such as matte paintings or through eye-popping visuals that stand out vividly against the film backdrop. ILM has made it's mark on history, for not only have they been and still are the premiere effects house in Hollywood, they have innovated and invented more technology than any other studio, additionally they have won awards for the processing and compositing technology they have created. ILM had to be the best at special effects, because their flagship title - STAR WARS - demanded the best, because that's what Lucas wanted.

'Into the Digital Realm' isn't so much an abandonment of ILM of the traditional methods of special effects, rather a point of departure for the new technology and all of things that led up to it. Indeed, ILM's work on 'The Hunt For Red October' submarine work involved flying the submerged vessels from wires in a smoky room - effects do not get any more traditional than that. Released in 96, the book doesn't mention that Phantom Menace or even that the film is in production. It does have some revised images from the Star Wars special edition. As with the previous tome, this one is packed with hundreds of color photos, plus the same beautiful gate fold images.

If the center piece for the previous book was Star Wars, Digital Realms' focus is obviously Jurassic Park, because it was the first film to use CG on so large a scale, even more than Terminator 2, which ILM also did. Jurassic Park was also the test bed and showcase piece that convinced Lucas that computers had finally matured enough to bring what he had in mind to the screen for the new Star Wars films. More is the pity, because I came to loathe most of the aliens in the Phantom Menace. Digital Realm clearly explains in easy to understand terms how effects - both new and old - are accomplished, be it something as simple as making it appear as if buildings are actually much taller than they or having a velociraptor walk _behind_ a plant situated in the foreground. I have both of these wonderful books, and I strongly recommend them to anyone who is curious about ILM's history and the process of how effects are made.

An extraordinary book about an extraordinary company. You will know all you want to know about special effects wizardry. The book is well published, even watching its pictures is joyful.

I think everyone remembers hearing about little Nicholas, only seven
years old, killed by highway robbers in Italy. His family donated his
organs and started a rash of others doing to in Europe and throughout
the world. This is his story as told by his father. The wonderful
effect of that act made me want to give the book a better review. The
father's attitude made me want to give it a worse one, so it's right
in the middle. Maybe I would feel differently had I not read this
book directly following John Walsh's book. Walsh seemed like an
ordinary man doing his best to cope with extraordinary circumstances.
Green seems like a man who's enjoying all of the attention. His
writing style isn't great either. He flitters around topics in a
disjointed manner and goes about his mind's own ethical ramblings far
to often.

There is a verse in the bible which reads "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil by doing good." Reg and Maggie Green have embraced this creed wholeheartedly. When their beautiful son was senselessly murdered in late 1994, instead of sinking into the depths of grief, they proved how well he had taught them about the power of love during his brief time on earth by using his example to save millions of lives around the world. If such a tragic thing were to happen to me, I hope that my actions would be identical to theirs. I thank Reg and Maggie for sharing little Nicholas with the world and I am sure he would be very proud of them (as we all are). Through their unselfish and life affirming actions, they have proven yet again that the power of good will never be overcome by the power of evil.

As a liver transplant recepient almost four years ago, I had heard of the Nicholas effect. Shortly before reading this book, I discovered through a letter from my donor family that my donor had been inspired to sign his donor card based on Nicholas Green. This book is a stunning and true story of a boy's life, a family's grief and the heroic decision to make a difference to many others whom they did not know. Nicholas Green is still making a difference today becuase his story continues to ripple outward as when a pebble is dropped into a pond. I URGE you to read this book for yourself and prepared to be touched.