exchange

The Columbian Exchange, written by Alfred Crosby, is an in depth look at the biological and cultural consequences of Columbus's discovery of the New World. The Columbian Exchange focuses on the negative aspects of European exploration and exploitation of the Americas. Alfred Crosby focuses on the dependence on different foods, the changes in lifestyles, and the effects that the European flora and fauna had on the new world, and how it changed the Americas forever. His main point in this book was that the most important changes wrought by the European expansion into the new world were biological in nature, not social, political, or cultural.

To clearly understand Crosby's point of view, we must understand him and his writing style. His background in history and health give some credence to his opinions and research. The book states that Crosby is a Research Associate at the University of California Medical Center, History of Health Sciences. He mostly uses empirical evidence and statistics to base his claims, but sometimes resorts to his own opinions and guesswork. He also uses tables and maps to help the reader picture history the way that he sees it. He relies heavily on other contemporary sources such as Del Castillo and Agiler to base many of his claims, but cites the exact references to these outside sources.

Though Crosby does a good job of making this book interesting and available to people who are not historians or biologists, he could have done some things differently to make the book more approachable to the average person. He has a tendency to deviate from the subject matter, and does not always provide enough evidence for his claims.

In some cases, these tangents allow us to better understand the point he is trying to make, but mostly it makes trudging through the endless examples and repetitiveness a chore. For instance, his many examples of how the European animals spread throughout the New World seemed very dry and repetitive. Crosby just kept expounding upon certain pieces of evidence, even after he had made his point. I think that in the hands of another author, this book could have been ninety pages with little loss of content.

He also seemed to be stretching for evidence and was using a lot of guesswork in chapter five when he was trying to relate the new food types with the sudden growth in population. Sure, it sounds good in theory, but he needs more clear-cut evidence to support his claims to convince the reader of the truth of his statements.

In chapter four, Crosby claims that syphilis in Europe came from the new world, without the proof to back up his claims. There are a few other theories as to where syphilis came from, but without evidence backing up his claim, how are we to know which one is correct, if any? He tries to support his theory with a table of the diseases present throughout time, but it is not enough to convince the reader that his is the correct theory, or that the other's aren't.

Another thing that got to me about the book is that he claims that The Columbian Exchange has had a worldwide effect. The book may present some of the changes that were wrought of the European expansion into the Americas, but it was far from worldwide in it effects. In fact, the "far reaching" biological consequences consisted of a small part of the New World, mainly Central America, the West Indies, Southern North America, and Northern South America.

To his credit, he stays focused on what the book was about: The biological aspects of the European expansion into the New World. He didn't deviate much into the culture, social, or economic impact that the discovery of the New World had on both worlds. His focus on how the Spanish would not have had such success in the New World if it were not for the diseases that they brought with them, and the various elements of surprise that the Spaniards had over the natives.

To sum up, I would have to say that this book is good in getting its point across, but for all other purposes, it was mediocre. He did a good job of supporting the claims he made with evidence, though in some places this made it tough to read. Some of the aspects of the connection between the biology and history of the region were a little deep, and that would drive away the average reader. I would recommend it to those looking for an educational look at the causes of the changes in the New World, but for the average for-fun reader, I would say stay away from it.

Alfred W. Crosby, in his 1972 book The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492, represents a relatively recent trend among historians who are beginning to take a closer look at the first contacts between European and American peoples and the long-term cultural effects of that encounter in both Native American and Old World European societies. For generations the traditional historical perspective has argued that American history began with Columbus. There has been only slight relevance given to probable Viking landfall by Lief Ericson on North America and even less credence to earlier Celtic voyages by Brenden.
This idea--that native cultures in the Americas prior to 1492 have no significance until touched by a European presence--is being called into question today by Crosby and others like him, who look at the aftermath of Columbus and the "age of exploration" with a multidisciplinary approach by bringing together the combined research of anthropologists, archeologists and historians.

Crosby begins his work with a look at the evolution of life in the Western hemisphere and some of its very basic differences to that with which the Europeans were familiar. He also addresses issues that faced sixteenth century Europeans in their attempt to integrate the Americas into their Christian and Aristotelian worldview, pointing out that: "The uniqueness of the New World called into question the whole Christian cosmogony." The task of categorizing the resources of the New World led to further questions for the Europeans: how to find a place, in their established hierarchies of man and nature, that would both satisfy the missionary zeal of the Church and the mercenary zeal of the Courts of Eurpoe. These same questions and issues, and the consequences of some of the more Eurocentric answers, have in one way or another impacted both European and American societies for the last five hundred years.

One of the most impressive things about Crosby's book is his multi-scholastic approach to his subject. He draws on an immense list of sources for his material; sources not only historical, but scientific and philosophic as well. Not only does he catalog the variety of plant and animal life that the Old World transplanted to the new and vice versa, but he draws historical implications from the exchanges as well. Perhaps the most interesting exchange that Crosby delineates is the consequence of the introduction of Old World pathogens--like smallpox, measles, diptheria, pneumonia, typhus and various other epidemics--among the non-resistant peoples native to the Americas. He deals at length with the reasons for the epidemic spread of these diseases and their devastating effects on Native populations.

He also very clearly covers both sides of the controversy, the Unitarian and the Columbian theories, surrounding the transmittal of syphilis from New World to Old, and goes on to describe the consequent effects of that disease on Europe from the sixteenth century onward. Most commendable here is Crosby's attitude, wherein he presents all his research clearly and without obvious bias, allowing his readers to draw their own conclusions from the wealth of material he has put forth. He concludes the chapter on syphilis with a number of fascinating accounts of the bacterium as it struck Europe in the following centuries, of the various treatments and "cures" and of the social impact of such a virulent venereal disease.

If Crosby can be criticized at all it might be said that he is writing primarily for other scholars. His references and vocabulary--both impressive--might be intimidating to the average reader. His topic, however, and this alternate perspective on the "discovery" of America and the impact of its "conquest" are issues of which even non-historians should be aware. In that respect Crosby must be congratulated for being a leader in bringing together multiple disciplines in socio-historiography.

This would be an excellent book for the hardcore historian or the equally enthusiastic biologist, because it builds a neat and entertaining bridge between the two. Historically, Crosby does an excellent job in expounding upon the consequences of Europeon contact with the New World and accomplishes something quite unique. Most authors bog down in the details, but Crosby brings out the big picture, and neatly places the cause and effects of biological exchange between the once separated "worlds." This book changed the way I look at discovery and its consequences. This study examines the far reaching effects from syphillis to potatoes and makes for an eye-opening and distinctly different read.

The only reason I give this 4 instead of 5 stars is I wanted more!

Practical text describing pattern, timing and ratios using the Fibonacci methodology. Book gives 6 theorems for trading. Solves methodology guess work by requiring confirmation by 2 or more different tools. Novel confirmation of patterns by time goal analysis with ratios which is a new wrinkle. Unfortunately, tries to sell his website thru the book. If you have access to financial data, then you can use the old pen and compass method to draw Fisher's ellipses and spirals. The program provided by with the text contains this, so I can forgive the sales talk. Examples provided to illustrate concepts and fill in details NOT discussed. (Interestingly, I did a time goal analysis on a stock in my portfolio and the geometric structure correctly forecasted a recent turning point in my stock. If I had believed this, I still think it is coincidence, I could have made the price of the book by taking the appropriate financial measures.) Great for potential swing traders.

The intent of Fischer's work here is to make the Elliott Wave Principle useful for objectively setting price and date targets. As he points out, there is too much subjectivity in wave counting to make Elliott Wave a useful predictive method, but the application of Fibbonaci expansion ratios makes possible an objective trading strategy.

One valuable element is his method for calculating Fibbonacci price confluence zones by multiplying the amplitude of wave 1 by a factor of 1.618, then multiplying the total amplitude from the beginning of wave 1 to the end of wave 3 by a factor of 0.618, giving a target zone for the end of wave 5.

Another interesting concept is the application of Fibbonacci expansion numbers to date ranges, for example by multiplying the days difference between two swing points by 1.618 to find the possible next swing date.

Fischer includes specific trading strategies in order to minimize risk and increase the chaces of trading success. This is not a "get rich in the market" how-to book, but it offers useful tools for a careful and disciplined trader to make money consistently in the securities markets.

Finally, he offers the tantalizing prospect of using the Fibbonaci spiral to combine both price and time expansion targets, and includes in an appendix the instructions for programming a computer to do this.

Altogether, a worthwhile text deserving of careful study.

Combines Elliot Wave Theory with precise Fibonacci set of entry and exit rules. Anyone wanting to learn either and immediately be able to apply it to their trading method, should pick this one up.

I guess I was able to benefit from this book by default . . . I am intrigued by the topic. Goldstein provided satisfactory information to give the reader a conceptual understanding about how one would use offshore investments to protect assets, acheive greater privacy and avoid taxes, howerver, this was only provided in the last 4-chapters of the book. I am still trying to figure out which group of elementary school children he wrote the first 3-chapters for. The redundancy of the first half of the book, and its inability to better conceal what can only be described was a simplistic pep-rally to motivate the mentally challenged reader to go offsohre was boarderline insulting--more condescending than listening to Al Gore pay lip service to the middle class. If you have no conceptual understaning whatsoever of offshore investing, this is something you may want to pick up. As for myself, I am going to thank Mr. Goldstein for the introduction and the opportunity of spending $30 and move on to a more comprehensive and more specific work on the subject.

THIS BOOK GIVES YOU SIMPLE WAYS TO PRETECT YOU MONEY. PRETECT YOURSELF FORM LAWSUTES AND THE GOVERMENT. REQUIRED READING IF YOU WONT TO BULD WEALTH.

Not only has Dr. Goldstein provided a good overview of offshore depository alternatives in this book, but he has also sounded an effective siren of concern for everyone in our litigous society to take the necessary steps in ensuring every after-tax penny they have rightfully earned is protected from frivolous legal claims. Read it and consider the advice contained within!

I wanted to like this book, and held out high hopes through the first several chapters. It's real flaw is in its lack of substance. Perhaps the editors or Ms. Davis feared losing readers in overly technical explanations of complex trades, but I believe there is a middle ground which was not even approached. I was also dismayed with the chapter on women in the business--not a single profile of a woman attempting to balance a high powered career with family. As a group, the individuals (men and women) come across as smug, self-satisfied and self-centered (the section where she writes about their charitable work is as fawning as it is laughable). But what this book really needed was more meat--more about programmed trading, the chartists, the value traders, derivatives, day traders, etc.

Ms. Davis might not stretch to say traders are saviors but she almost deifies them with her genuinely affectionate portrayals here. She's intent on redeeming the profession (as if it needs redeeming--it doesn't), which she imagines the Average Joe scorns and vilifies. I bet the Average Joe pays little attention to hyperactive market makers, compared to the time spent fretting over his or her own investments. Still, Ms. Davis assures us that for every rogue trader like Nick Leeson (who brought down the British Bank, Barings) or Mike Milken (wait, Mike is NOT a crook, she corrects, notwithstanding the criminal charges), there are scads of other, brilliant, hardworking people--possessed of traits you and I could only wish to have--who lubricate the capital markets and provide the fuel for growth. In other words, she's a proselytizing apologist: by compensating she overstates. If you're not in the financial business, you might find this breezy book an acceptable companion at martini time, if you're someone who will gaze in amazement at the hue of a cocktail olive. She's oddly cozy and deferential with her subjects, like a mistress. More like it, the traders are friends whom she has no desire to offend, or perhaps she plans to approach them for future employment. The trouble is, the topic cries out for a critical eye. For those who take investments seriously the text is a great failure, totally lacking in specifics, or even anecdotes that might illuminate. Imagine a cook book that attempts to describe the taste of the recipes without listing any ingredients and you'll understand the problem with "A Million A Minute." Ms. Davis, your readers can take more. A truly entertaining book (and with more meat) is Michael Lewis' "Liar's Poker" and "Pit Bull" by Martin Schwartz. Mr. Schwartz, especially, is a man who has traded for years, who can share his secrets (successes and failures) and who can live to tell about it!

My biggest complaint with most books like this is that they are boring to read because they go on and on with long explanations that lose the point somewhere along the way.I loved this book and was pleasantly surprised. There was no time to get bored. The author moved easily from topic to topic. Her observations were not run of the mill, but were sharp and fascinating.The characters came to life.The book's approach is more like an economic look at the world of trading and its implications rather than a recipe book for how to trade. But as the author said, you can't learn to trade from a 'how to trade book' anyway.If you could, people wouldn't get paid so much to do it.I'd recommend this book very highly.

Mr.Schwager is intensely passionate about the markets. This comes through in his thorough analysis of the markets. He has no problem dissecting the fundamental and technical aspects of the market as easily as Michelangelo would paint the Sistine Chapel. His style is heavily influenced by statistics and high level mathematics. His entire voice is centered around the belief that the market can be predicted through analysis of the numbers. Unfortunately, for most people that is not the case. It also seems not to be the case for Mr.Schwager as well, since he admits in his book that he is not a good trader.

That being said, his book is a great reference tool that gets the average trader to stretch himself mentally and look at the markets in a different way. This book ... can be invaluable for the trader that is simply looking for a new perspective besides simply "flags", "candlesticks", and "elliot waves".

Schwager's textbooks while not specifically about spreads are comprehensive and complete about futures. This book has a small section about trading commodity futures spreads.

This book could be renamed as "The Mathematics of Trading". The traget readers are traders who use lots of Mathematics and Statistics.

The experience of Schwager helped me a lot. He said he was good in analysis but not trading. Many people, including me, thought Mathematics, Statistics and Economics were essential for good trading. So they went to college, studied hard, got a degree and hope they could make money in the market. This simply never happen! Otherwise everyone should got a PhD before trading. You still need to develop a method or system. But what is vital is to control your ego. Admit mistakes quickly. This was the most interesting and useful conclusion that I got from Schwager.

I was so disappointed when I received this book. The title is so misleading. These recipes are NOT a healthy way to eat. Too much processed and can foods are used here. (hot dogs, processed cheese, Yuck) Where did this author get the idea that these recipes are a healthy way for children or anyone for that matter to eat?? Goodness, no wonder why America is so overweight. There is a star rating on reviews, it truly doesn't even deserve the one star.

I love this book for every reason A Reader from Virginia doesen't!!! I wanted a book that was "real world" for my family. We don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen and I don't have a large selection to choose from at my small-town grocery store. I want to teach my kids to eat healhier and I'm attending weekly weight loss meetings. This book fits all our needs and then some!!! Someone at class mentioned that JoAnna Lund's books fit in perfect when counting points, so I purchased this book and have been cooking and eating happily ever since. My kids especially love Josh's Potato Ham Bake and Grandma's Special Spaghetti. I've been so pleased with this book that I've purchsed several more of her cookbooks. I'm glad that someone finally created a book for those of us who want to eat healthier but who don't want to spend tons of time in the kitchen and loads of money at the store.

Let me start by saying that I'm a writer who has helped JoAnna on many of her cookbooks--but since I don't share in her royalties, I think it's fair for me to comment on how using her recipes has changed my life. I love the fact that JoAnna creates dishes that are quick to prepare and still taste really good. This is common sense cuisine--comfort food that is healthy enough for dieters, diabetics, heart patients, and just about anyone else! If you're a busy parent with kids to feed, or an overworked single who'd love to fill your fridge with tasty leftovers--this, and JoAnna's other books, will delight you. Yes, she uses healthy convenience foods--don't most of us? But she's tested and found the best-tasting ones. (For instance, she uses reduced-fat shredded cheese in her recipes, not fat-free, because fat-free doesn't melt or taste right.) My favorite dishes from this book include Grande Meatloaf with Potato Stuffing and Chicken Pot Pie Chowder, but you're sure to find your own must-haves. And yes, I've lost more than 65 pounds eating well with JoAnna. Here's something to think about: a year from now, you'll wish you had started today!

I bought this book expecting to learn the ins and outs of creating applications using Outlook's object model and CDO. Instead, I'm left holding a reference book that teaches very little.

I'm trying to build an interface in Visual Basic that mimics Outlook's folder interface. I can build the tree structure (lots of sample code for that on the web and in the docs), but handling events is another matter. For instance, I need to know whenever a folder is created or moved in Outlook, so I can modify my display as well. I also need to know when an item is moved from one folder to another. This book simply lists the events of the Folder object (just as does the docs), but doesn't explain how to use them at all, let alone in a real-world situation (for instance, can I monitor the top level of the folders or would I have to create an object withevents for every folder? -impractical if not impossible-). Also, I need to get the actual email address of the sender of a mail item. You can easily retrieve the display name, but there is no obvious way to retrieve the actual sending address. Again, this book just documents the properties and methods and gives you the same basic code you'd find in the docs (such as establishing a connection).

Don't expect this book to teach you great things about Outlook's object model or CDO. You may find other topics of value (as always, your mileage may vary), but for me, this book serves only as a desktop reference, and accomplishes nothing other than alleviating the need for referencing the on-line help.

Very dissappointing.

It is not very often that I get wildly excited about computer books, but, well, this one did it! Piemonte and Jamison have compiled a list of tips and techniqes that really help. For example: the book paid for itself immediately by helping me overcome calling a word document directly from Outlook (try to find a readable white paper on that one!).

The only reason that I gave it four out of five stars is that some of examples are buggy (I went out to the web site and downloaded the code...which did work and all was well). The code snippets are plentiful and complete. I have a multitude of Outlook and Exchange books and have done several projects to date using both Outlook 98/Outlook 2000 and Exchange Server 5.x. This is now seriously dog eared. If you are doing are going to be doing Outlook programming of any sort get a copy for your library, it is more than worth the purchase price.

If you're subject to program applications in collaboration with the Exchange 5.5 platform, and are a bit familiar with VBScript and Outlook, this book is a must. Simply because it provides loads of useful examples which will get you started at once.

This book does not dwell into the each technology around Exchange 5.5 and Outlook 2000, but instead it gives you an overview AND lots of examples of how you can make the most of your Outlook 2000 clients and Exchange 5.5 servers.

It tells you briefly about the Outlook 2000 object model, COM add-ins, CDO 1.21, Exchange agents and other relevant topics used in conjunction with the Exchange-server technology.

I have read a lot of these books, but this is simply the best in its area. The examples are not taken from any help-files, but - it seems - from real world applications (you can see that in the way they differ from the help-files).

Has some factual and historical information, but now dated. Borrow it from the library.........

If you manage to stay awake then you too can learn about securities processing from start to finish. This is a great book about how the sell-side brokerage firm works, although much of the information here is outdated; electronic systems have streamlined the process and made it more efficient. Still, this book has a great wealth of information in it. This book impressed me in its clarity and at the same time, its magical ability to be so boring.

Consider yourself warned: this book is really, really boring. Astonishingly so. I do this stuff for a living, and it still put me to sleep.

The reason it is so dull, however, is that it explains securities processing with great clarity and precision, without any mistakes or digressions. It is slightly outdated, so if the advances of the last seven years are very important to you (they won't be, to most people--the back office doesn't change as quickly as one would think), get Michael Reddy's book "Securities Operations" instead.

I agree with some of the other reviewers. Joanna Lund's books do not contain healthy recipes, they are full of processed foods. The fat content may be low, but what about the sodium, sugar, and carbohydrate count. There are many other excellent crockpot cookbooks out there, that use real food.

After my husband had a heart attack four months ago, it became my job to redirect our family eating habits. Because I knew I had to have good tasting food for this to succeed, I began the hunt for new recipes. During the "education" phase of my husband's cardiac rehab program, we were introduced to the cookbooks of Joanna Lund. I noticed the ingredients were ones I already had in my kitchen. The finished products were facsimilies of things we already liked. I bought the book - tried a few things and when I saw my husband look for seconds - I KNEW this was one of the best buys I had made in four months! Each menu is broken down by calories, fat grams, proteins etc as well as diabetic substitutes. Strongly recommend.

I tried several recipes in this book before I decided to add a rating. I'm impressed. Some of the recipes call for longer cooking times than they really need, but the cook can adjust that to his/her taste. I bought several for family members for Christmas.

Klein's retelling of the story of the stock market crash of 1929 is just too little and much too late. Other books, notably Only Yesterday by F.L. Allen for anecdotal material and The Great Crash of 1929 by J. K. Galbraith for analysis, go over the same material and do a better job. Klein's book does have some strong points: wonderful vignettes of some of the people, big and small, who were caught up in the crash; a good analysis of why Herbert Hoover, "the great engineer," couldn't engineer his way out of this one; some interesting anecdotal material I haven't seen anywher else. But all of that could have been done in less than half the space. Nice try, but no cigar.

Maury Klein, in his book Rainbow's End: The crash of 1929, has given us a blend of a newer style of historiography with the traditional sense of examining historical events. He has given us a look at the Stock Market Crash of 1929 through the eyes of the people that participated, rather than looking at it strictly from an economic or political historical viewpoint.

Klein starts his book with a description of American society in the 1920's and explains to us why the society of excess and speculation led to the crash moreso than a failing of the general American economy. By dotting the landscape with characters, some familiar and some unfamiliar, Klein gives us a good portrayal of the times.

There is, unfortunately, only a short section of the book that actually deals with the events of the crash itself. This section focuses the days between Black Thursday and Bloody Tuesday, which culminated in a horrific period of losses in the market.

Klein does a good job of staying on task during the sections of the book in explaining the economic factors and the behind-the-scenes actions that took place during these few hectic days. He does not, however, explain the immediate social ramifications (such as the fact that people who lost everything gave up on life) as well as might be expected; he gives this facet of the crash only peripheral coverage.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a socio-economic history of America during this 1920's. It does a very good job of covering this topic. However, if one is looking for details just on the crash itself and those few terrible days on Wall Street, that reader would be well served to find another book to read.

"No era ever vanished so suddenly, so completely, as the
twenties." -- -- David Dempsey, _New York Times_, Feb 15, 1970

This is a quick run-through of the Crash, with a little pop-sociology about America in the Twenties. It's eerie, reading quotes from bankers, politicians, and brokers from the months before the Crash, about how the market had become so modernized and shockproof that panics were now impossible. Sounds familiar...

New York Times financial columnist Alexander Noyes is a primary source in this book. It is fascinating, watching these titanic events being filtered daily through this not-stupid man's pen. We've heard more than 70 years of second-guessing about the Crash by now, so it is interesting seeing how it was taken point-blank by analysts at the time.

In Maury Klein's account, the Crash is nobody's fault. Like Stanislaw Lec once said, every snowflake in an avanlanche pleads not guilty. Big brokers ostentatiously placed big orders, hoping to spur rallies. Consortia of financiers struggled to maintain public confidence in the market. President Herbert Hoover-who as a humanitarian first and failed President second was Jimmy Carter in reverse-tried to get Big Business together in a game plan to retrieve the situation. But in a free market, there is no one pulling levers and hauling cables controlling things. There was no one to stop the free market from going into freefall.

Throughout the book are amusing little vignettes, like the man who sat smiling in his broker's office throughout Black Monday. His termagant wife wouldn't be able to nag him about the neighbors doing better in the market than him anymore...