The Art and Architecture of Freemasonary

Book Description

Due to the secrecy of Masonic society, the members heavily relied upon symbols and icons to communicate. This groundbreaking study details the secret society's influence on modern American and European aesthetics. In its own way, this book may be one of the most important contributions to an understanding of Western art, and will be invaluable to architects, artists, and anyone interested in the esoteric ideas and iconography of Freemasonry.

Concepts such as death, trial, and descent into the depths are prevalent in Masonic architecture, and have permeated the designs of parks, gardens, and cemeteries for centuries. Architectural history professor James Stevens Curl also looks at the way Masonic ideas have permeated other art forms from literature to the performing arts, where operas like Mozart's The Magic Flute used Masonic elements in everything from the characters' names to the music to the stage designs-the original drawings of which are included here.

The 190 exceptional illustrations are accompanied by detailed, informative captions.

Average customer rating:

Basic

Great Book for Users

If You Can Only Afford One Photography Book, THIS IS THE ONE!!!

A must have

That is what I wanted! All-in-one book for amateurs who want to master photography - both digital and film

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition)
Bryan Peterson
Manufacturer: Amphoto Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Reference | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Equipment | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0817463003

Book Description

For serious amateur photographers who already shoot perfectly focused, accurately exposed images but want to be more creative with a camera, here's the book to consult. More than seventy techniques, both popular and less-familiar approaches, are covered in detail, including advanced exposure, bounced flash and candlelight, infrared, multiple images, soft-focus effects, unusual vantage points, zooming, and other carefully chosen ways to enhance photographs. The A-Z format make sit easy for readers to find a specific technique, and each one is explained in jargon-free language. Top Tips for each technique help readers achieve superb results, even on the first attempt.

Customer Reviews:

Basic.......2007-10-04

Very basic book, mostly for those who are absolute beginners in photography or for point-and-shooters that are upgrading to SLR.

Great Book for Users.......2007-09-27

I purchased this book after reading reviews and having people suggest this literature to me. I have to say that the author makes it very straightforward, concise and comfortable to read. For a amateur photographer, this book is a gem and I highly suggest reading it just to familiarize yourself with the basic conceps of exposure and how you apply it to both digital and film photography.

If You Can Only Afford One Photography Book, THIS IS THE ONE!!!.......2007-09-26

I purchased this book over a year ago and have since bought several more copies to give to my friends that are into photography. It is by far one of the best books out there for teaching ANYONE about correct exposures!! It's a very easy read, I have read it through at least three times, and this guy knows his stuff. There are so many beautiful full page color photos to demonstrate what he is talking about and he gives his settings for all the shots. If you are just starting out in photography, or have been into it for a while, I feel EVERYONE can learn something from this book. After reading this book, obtaining a 'proper exposure' in-camera clicked for me. I gained a thorough understanding of shutter speed, ISO, aperature/f-stop, light, composition, depth of field and many more very important aspects of photography, everything made sense, opened up new creative doors for me. I still don't always achieve the perfect exposure, but I do have complete control over my camera and settings, the whys and how-to-fors. If you can only afford ONE book, this is the one. I rarely do book reviews, but this one deserves it! I submitted some of my own photos above, using various techniques in photography, all learned from this book.

A must have.......2007-09-26

No question, this is an excellent book. I am a intermediate level photographer, it is filled with great tips. Stop reading this and buy the book!

That is what I wanted! All-in-one book for amateurs who want to master photography - both digital and film.......2007-09-21

Well, I never expected to write a review, but I did because this book is what I was looking for. I've been using camera for decades now, but I was mainly point-and-shoot photographer. Yes, everybody liked my pictures but I really did not know how to be consistent in the results. So I got myself a new Nikon D80 and undertook to learn how to take pictures with full control over the process. I browsed through Amazon in search of "become a concious photographer book for dummies" and I ended up buying this book and Ansel Adams's "Camera".
This book has everything you need to move from amateur to prosumer photographer. It expalains what is exposure and light and how you can control it. It gives you hints on metering and some basic special techniques. What is very important is that it gives you plenty of color pictures with short stories on how they were taken and data on exposure parameters so you can check how they impact the final result.
So get this one if you would like to buy one book which would allow you to undersatnd how to take beautiful and creative pictures! I guess that when you finally get it and read it you will be hungry for more information. But then you can get books on specific subjects - here - you have all the basics that you need.

Customer Reviews:

Bendis does it again.......2003-08-01

Total Sell Out is basically just a collection of short strips/stories that Bendis has done over the years. Some are crime fiction (naturally) and others are just hysterical.

When I read "My Blue Heaven," I just about fell out of my chair, and the Shtick section is definitely worth a laugh.

By far, the gem of the book, and the funniest, is the story about Kabukiman. I won't spoil it--but it's so indicative of the state of comic book conventions.

"Better Living Through Chemistry" and "The Kiss Off" are superb pieces of crime fiction that feature Bendis on art. I wish this guy would pick his pencil back up!

All in all, a very entertaining read. At the very least, it's a great book for bathroom reading, if you're into that kind of thing.

A must for Bendis fans........2003-07-01

For people who started reading comics with Marvel's big boom in 2000, the name Brian Michael Bendis concocts images of a pretty damned good superhero writer. While it is true that he has written some killer Ultimate Spider-Man and Daredevil stuff, these fans have him figured out all wrong. Ultimate Spider-Man and Daredevil aren't his -- he's just contributing to them.

This book, however -- Total Sell Out -- is the essence of Bendis. THIS is his stuff. This is where he started out; this is what he's really like. He's cartoonish, fun loving and humorous. He has an imagination that's filled with so many thoughts that he can't commit them to one style. Not to detract from his Marvel stuff, which does contain classic Bendis traits, but this is who Brian Michael Bendis really is. He's the guy who'll see the insecurities of the world and make fun of them, and he's not afraid to make fun of himself, either. Collected here is the innocence of his character. To long-time Bendis fans, this stuff is like discovering gold. It's a great artist's first achievements and it's fun to read. It's something to build upon.

Collected in this book is a series of various pieces of work that Brian made in his early career. The comedy-meter ranges from chuckling to laughing out loudly. Anyone who ever wanted to learn more about Bendis and his roots, this is the place. Anyone who dares call himself a Bendis fan can't be one without having read the stuff in this book, whether is was originally seen in the comics format or in this paperback collection. So put your money where your mouth is and buy this.

Included are Fortune & Glory-type strips, collaborations with other artists like Warren Ellis, original and personal art, parodies, anecdotes, essays and tons of other fanboy glory. Enjoy it.

Average customer rating:
2003 JFCOM-GHRC Symposium a Total 'Sell-Out'.(ndia news): An article from: National Defense
Ed Kules
Manufacturer: National Defense Industrial Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B00082R864
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from National Defense, published by National Defense Industrial Association on June 1, 2003. The length of the article is 466 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: 2003 JFCOM-GHRC Symposium a Total 'Sell-Out'.(ndia news)
Author: Ed Kules
Publication: National Defense (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2003
Publisher: National Defense Industrial Association
Volume: 87 Issue: 595 Page: 50(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Once upon a time there was a sensible straight line who was hopelessly in love with a beautiful dot. But the dot, though perfect in every way, only had eyes for a wild and unkempt squiggle. All of the line's romantic dreams were in vain, until he discovered . . . angles! Now, with newfound self-expression, he can be anything he wants to be--a square, a triangle, a parallelogram. . . . And that's just the beginning! First published in 1963 and made into an Academy Award-winning animated short film, here is a supremely witty love story with a twist that reveals profound truths about relationships--both human and mathematical--sure to tickle lovers of all ages.

Customer Reviews:

Sweetest gift I was ever given.......2007-01-05

I was given this book as a teenager, and never forgot it. I used to ask other people if they knew about it, but few seemed to have ever heard of it. I am an artist, and in spite of the use of 'math' in the title, thought this book was about art.
I missed ALL the math info and puns. (It was interesting reading the reviews of the math and science readers.) I can only tell you that the cleaver drawings tell stories that are universal. They work as well for art and life as they seem to work for math.
I have now given this book to many people. Every one of them has thanked me.
This is my favorite gift to give away for Valentine's day.

Great, believe it or not, for high school kids.......2006-09-17

Norton Juster wove more than puns and visual gags into this short book. Not to take an ounce away from those fantastic double entendres ("drawn and on edge").

There are references to social commentary "they all look the same anyhow," "freedom is not a license for anarchy," "why don't you find a nice line and settle down." There is amazing (for kids) vocabulary: quintessence, vector, potent, paralleliped. If you want to go there, there is also out of date vocabulary "Oh, what a head!" This book is rich.

Most of my high school math classes read "The Dot and the Line" at some point during the year, often as a read-aloud before a holiday. We find the puns, I explain the jokes, we discuss (briefly the social commentary), someone looks up the hard words, and they read a little boy-girl love story. It's the best kind of learning, the kind that happens when they think they are having fun!

Chuck Jones chose wisely.......2006-06-26

I purchased this book as a companion to the same named academy award winning animated short (1966?) by Chuck Jones. It was out of print until now. The short was recently released as a bonus feature on the DVD release of the Glass bottom boat. Bought the DVD, never have even looked at the main movie. It's enjoyable to watch a clever book come to life and be even more unforgetable then the written word.

A Classic story.......2005-10-22

I was given this book in 1980 by a college friend when it was in print in a smaller format. I am so pleased to see it again. If I could only own 100 books, this would be one of them.

How the book amazed me.......2005-06-20

I really do like the book because it shows a lot about math and what you can do with lines.If I could purchase this book I would take them and give them out to people for them to read it.This book is so amazing to me,it make me want to learn more.

The Dot and the Line : A Romance in Lower Mathematics

Average customer rating:

The Dot and the Line : A Romance in Lower Mathematics

Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000B7MQ18

Product Description

Humor in math; story of line and dot falling in love A tongue in cheek fable

Average customer rating:

THE DOT AND THE LINE A ROMANCE IN LOWER MATHEMATICS
Norton Juster
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HZEYFA

Average customer rating:

The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics
Norton Juster
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NP2K1O

The dot and the line : a romance on lower mathematics

Average customer rating:

The dot and the line : a romance on lower mathematics
Norton Juster
Manufacturer: RANDOM HOUSE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VVY8NS

Book Description

A highly readable, informative book about the professional lives of some of the foremost actresses working in theatre and film today.

Average customer rating:
The Sounds of Place: Music and the American Cultural Landscape
Denise Von Glahn
Manufacturer: Northeastern University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
ASIN: 1555535836

Book Description

In this pioneering work, Denise Von Glahn explores how the nation's places have inspired American classical music composers over the centuries. Situating her study within the broader context of literary and visual arts traditions, as well as cultural history, the author examines how the celebration of place in music reflects, defines, and enriches America's ever-changing identity.

Focusing on instrumental works of high-art music, Von Glahn analyzes thoroughly the soundscapes of fourteen diverse composers who have commemorated a broad spectrum of places ranging from the enduring natural wonders of Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon to the urban landscape of New York City. Organized chronologically, the volume looks at such distinctive American musical voices and works as Anthony Philip Heinrich's "The War of the Elements and the Thundering of Niagara," Charles Ives's "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" and "From Hanover Square North, at the End of a Tragic Day, the Voice of the People Again Arose," Aaron Copland's Quiet City and Music for a Great City, Duke Ellington's Harlem, Roy Harris's Cimarron, Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite, Robert Starer's Hudson Valley Suite, and Steve Reich's Vermont Counterpoint and New York Counterpoint.

Von Glahn's meticulously researched examination of these and other musical pieces discusses the composer's purpose and motivation in memorializing a place, how he related personally to that environ, and the compositional techniques employed to evoke the landscape or cityscape. The Sounds of Place reveals how music is as important as literature and art in reflecting the evolving sense of a unique American character over time, and it fills an important gap in the scholarship of cultural geography and music history.

Customer Reviews:

Origins and Background of One of America's Great Board Games.......2000-06-04

"Diplomacy: The Game of International Intrigue" is one of the most impressive board games available today. It has been in commercial circulation since 1961 (currently produced by Hasbro Inc.) and has spawned an amazing sub-culture of local gaming clubs, national and international conventions, and an amazing array of amateur publications ("fanzines") devoted to play by mail - more recently, it has become an on-line and e-mail phenomenon. A simplistic summary might be: Seven players, each taking the part of one of the major European combatants of World War One, engage in military and diplomatic interaction, making and breaking deals, forming and dissolving alliances, ganging up on one another, being ganged upon by others, etc., etc., until one of the seven (or an alliance of two or more) emerges victorious. The focus is not on the military technicalities, but on the diplomatic ones: This isn't a hex-sheet game of army corps and naval units, rather it's a game rooted in communication and psychology. The present reviewer discovered the game in a classified ad in 1961 and has been playing ever since, and it has provided a near-lifetime of immense joy and satisfaction. The author of this book, Allan Calhamer, is the game's inventor. He devised the prototype during his student days at Harvard and refined it through play-testing over a period of many years. Now he has authored a book in which he relates the game to its historical foundations, explaining in wonderful depth where the game mirrors history and where it diverges. He offers a wealth of ideas for successful play, but it is of special interest that the game's inherent flexibility is such that these 'suggestions' are only several of nearly infinite possibilities, guidelines rather than strictures; the game lends itself so well to development of individual styles of play that it would be impossible to offer anything more concrete, and that fact is one of the greatest features of the game! In addition Mr. Calhamer covers in summary form the actual events of the replicated period, and while this is by no means a history text in any sense, it does offer the spark for further exploration for anyone interested in pursuing the matter. Calhamer also draws parallels and divergences with modern diplomatic and military situations, again inspiring further investigation for those so inclined. The book derives from a lecture Calhamer delivered in Japan in 1997, and this fact gives rise to its only serious weakness: Frequently it is clear that the text has not been fully edited into book form, and often comes across as the mere expansion of lecture notes. It needs to be turned more fully into prose. This does not detract in any way from the informational value, but it does make for a number of awkward transitions and seemingly random points scattered into the body of the work. Still, for anyone interested in the game, it is absolutely essential. And for anyone with interest in the history of 20th century diplomacy and international relations, it is a fascinating and wide-ranging overview and an excellent place to begin one's in-depth approach.

Customer Reviews:

Quick & Easy.......2002-11-14

After purchasing one of those "for dummies" type books on Accounting I purchased this book. I have found it to be an easy and quick read, clear, concise, to the point and very helpful. I was looking for something simple and just wanted to cover the basics - this book met my needs perfectly.

Dry.......2002-03-12

Mr. Rachlin and Sweeny make no excuses for writting a dry book. "The field of basic accounting and finance frankly offers little that is new or exciting." Sorry, I just couldn't take this tone. Try the McGraw-Hill 36-Hour book for a more lively presentation of the basics.

Looking for a basic book before tackling this one?.......2001-06-15

Business Basics Bestseller 1: The Easy, Interesting, Open-book Look at the Game of Business Numbers! 2nd Edition

If you are looking for a book to introduce you to the basics of business including the jargon behind the numbers and where all the formulas come from before you plow into a true "finance and accounting text," search for "Business Basics Bestseller 1" and add it to your consideration. If you have never had this stuff 'splained' to you before, you will like it. This is not a suggestion that you substitute it for this text, just that you check it out as well.

Understandable Accounting!!.......2000-09-22

This book about finance and accounting concepts is especially useful to professionals with no formal training in finance, budgeting, investment or accounting. As an urban planner and development advisor, I am often presented with land use proposals which are framed in financial and accounting terms. This book offers a clear and simple approach to these disciplines and has given me the tools to make much more informed decisions in my work. I highly recommend it to others in my trade and to those, like me, who often glaze over finance and accounting terminology.

Accounting with Rachlin and Sweeny.......2000-05-10

I highly recommend the Rachlin and Sweeny book. As a professor of accounting at a major university in Florida, I teach accounting to both accounting and nonaccounting majors. I am particularly impressed by two features of this book. First, it presents the basic concepts of accounting and finance in an easy to read format without compromising technical accuracy. Second, and more importantly, it shows the reader how to use these basic concepts in making business decisions. The result is an interesting (yes,interesting!) and effective presentation. My compliments to the authors!

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