Astronomical Calendar 2005 (Astronomical Calendar)

Book Description

The alien, cratered landscape of our nearest celestial neighbor, the Moon. The twirling spiral arms of a remote galaxy glittering from the combined light of 50 billion stars. The rolling multi-hued cloud bands of Jupiter. These impressive wonders of the universe have been captured by the cameras of talented amateur astronomers and the Hubble Space Telescope and are presented here in brilliant high-resolution color. This 12-image collection was compiled by stargazing authority Terence Dickinson, author of NightWatch, who brings a wealth of practical experience to the calendar's daily diary of predicted celestial events, ranging from meteor showers to eclipses.

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impractical

The Mathematics Calendar 2005
Theoni Pappas
Manufacturer: Tetra Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Calendar

Math Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Math-A-Day: A Book of Days for Your Mathematical Year

ASIN: 1884550312

Book Description

Featuring games, stories, brainteasers, and fascinating graphics, this popular calendar stimulates curiosity, opens up the imagination, and provides entertainment for every day of the year. The box for each date contains a problem whose solution is the date itself - the challenge lies in figuring out how to arrive there, and possibly discovering more than one method. In addition, every month offers a treasure trove of information: how random numbers shape the landscape, Zeno's zany paradoxes, the Möbius strip, prime twins, mathematical connections between codes, new technologies, the workings of lighthouses, and much more.

Customer Reviews:

impractical.......2005-08-30

This calendar is full of great information and fun facts, but it is practically useless. Every day is filled with some clever math problem, but there is no room to write notes or appointments. This would be a fine math book with date displays, but it should not be marketed as a calendar.

Book Description

"Technology infrastructure has become the foundation for the 'engine of economic growth' for countries around the world. This study on science and technology policy should be a wake-up call for the United States, where we have taken technological superiority for granted for much too long." -- Mary Good, Former Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology

Shortly after taking office in 1993, President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore called for a shift in American technology policy toward an expansion of public investments in partnerships with private industry, backed up by scientific research in universities and national laboratories. These plans became the center of an ideological struggle between those who believe that the market alone is sufficient to keep American industry innovative and those who are convinced that government must offer industry expanded research support to meet global competition.

The authors of this volume were invited by the Clinton administration to take a hard, nonpartisan look at how successful the new policies have been and to propose ways to make their programs more effective and more likely to attract bipartisan support. The first summary report of the team's recommendations, released in April 1997, was called the "hottest technology policy property on Capitol Hill."

This book, an expansion of that report, offers a new set of technology policy principles. These principles provide guidelines for stimulating technical innovation, shaping public/private partnerships, and establishing criteria for federal investments in research. The authors use the principles to evaluate many federal research programs and to make recommendations for change. This volume will set the terms of the debate over the national research and innovation policy for years to come.

Contributors: R. Darryl Banks, Michael Borrus, Lewis M. Branscomb, Harvey Brooks, Duncan M. Brown, Christopher M. Coburn, Linda R. Cohen, Frank Field, Richard Florida, Jane E. Fountain, David H. Guston, David M. Hart, George R. Heaton, Jr., Christopher T. Hill, John P. Holdren, Adam B. Jaffe, Brian Kahin, James H. Keller, James Neely, Lucien P. Randazzese, Daniel Roos, Philip Shapira, Jay Stowsky, Scott J. Wallsten.

Customer Reviews:

Policy-Oriented Prescriptions.......2005-10-19

Unlike the other three books I recommend below, this book assumes an honest process and strives to recommend the best possible approach to government policy toward science. It was put together during the Clinton years, and its prescriptions have been largely ignored by both the public and the current (Bush) Administration. Of the four, it is the most practical and least controversial.

It does not, however, provide a complete picture. Three other books are helpful:

Science, Money, and Politics by Daniel Greenberg is by far the best, the standard in the field, the book to buy if you buy only one. The overall picture is ugly: corruption in politics, corruption in the universities, corruption in the corporations, and the public pays in both excessive costs and lost opportunities for advancement.

The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney is the book that is the most compelling on the perversions of the extremist Republicans (I am a moderate Republican). Read this first or last, depending on your disposition.

Finaly, Frontiers of Illusion: Science, Technology, and the Politics of Progress by Daniel Sarewitz, is an excellent counterpart to Greenberg as well as the other two books If science is corrupt on the one hand, it is also over-sold on the other, a point that Sarewitz addresses very methodically.

I take three bottom lines from these four books together:

1) We are spending too much on military science & research.

2) Neither Congress nor the Executive have a serious strategy for prioritizing problems, finding private sector partners, and providing seed money for innovative solutions.

3) Both Congress and the Executive, as well as the public and the media, are incredibly ignorant about what science can and cannot do, and where all the money is going to generally poor effect.

4) This is all so important that Science, like Intelligence, needs its own Supreme Court. I am persuaded we need a new form of hybid public agency that is fully independent of the Executive, receiving a percentage of the total disposable budget (say 3%) and hence not subject to Congression pressures.

Inspired by one of the other reviews, I would second the view that all these books are US-centric, and that we are missing a huge opportunity for multinational consortiums that might dramatically diversity and accelerate scientific progress, within agreed-upon ethical and cultural parameters, if separated from the ideology of government and the corruption of the private sector.

For S&T policymakers.......2001-01-31

I do strongly recommend this book for S&T poliymakers and all people working on Strategic Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation.

Although focused on the American experience, the authors present us with a nice-to-read guide for policy action and decision-making on scientific and technological issues.

I call for a special attention to the text of JaneE. Fountain about Social Capital - in today's society the main issue for innovation. Specially in countries like Brazil we do have to enhance actions and activities that improve and enable the creation of a great social capital in order to accelerate innovation processes in the country.

It is a book that you must have in your work desk !

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Investing in Innovation: Creating a Research and Innovation Policy That Works
Lewis M. (EDT) / Keller, James H. (EDT) Branscomb
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQZJEW

Book Description

Investment provides an examination of the key macroeconomic theories which underpin fixed asset investment. It would make ideal reading for an intermediate level macroeconomics course or a module on fixed asset investment taking an applied macroeconomic perspective.

Investitionsinduzierter technischer Fortschritt: Berechnung u. Analyse fur d. verarbeitende Industrie d. Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Schriftenreihe des IFO-Instituts fur Wirtschaftsforschung ; Nr. 88)

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Investitionsinduzierter technischer Fortschritt: Berechnung u. Analyse fur d. verarbeitende Industrie d. Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Schriftenreihe des IFO-Instituts fur Wirtschaftsforschung ; Nr. 88)
Karl Heinrich Oppenlander
Manufacturer: Duncker und Humblot
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Perfect Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

German | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Nonfiction | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

All German Books | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 3428036948

Kapitalstock, Staatsverschuldung und rationale Erwartungen: Dynamische Analyse makrookonomischer Anpassungsprozesse (Veroffentlichungen des HWWA-Institut fur Wirtschaftsforschung-Hamburg)

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Kapitalstock, Staatsverschuldung und rationale Erwartungen: Dynamische Analyse makrookonomischer Anpassungsprozesse (Veroffentlichungen des HWWA-Institut fur Wirtschaftsforschung-Hamburg)
Franco Reither
Manufacturer: Verlag Weltarchiv
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Perfect Paperback

German | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Nonfiction | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

All German Books | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 3878953402

Book Description

First published in 1935, this subversive tome purports to be a classic etiquette guide to good behavior for young women. Yet hidden beneath its civilized tone is a classic satire that provides a dubious blueprint for becoming the "right" sort of girl. From razor-sharp lessons in female one-up-manship ("I'm sure this would fit you. It's vast on me") to absurd dating instructions ("If a particular friend has not telephoned you for over a week, this can mean one thing only. He is afraid of being a nuisance. Common courtesy insists that you ring him up and reassure him.") this tome's "advice," coupled with charming period photographs, is as timely and amusing as ever.

Customer Reviews:

Any Truly Sophisticated Girl Knows to Take This Book Lightheartedly.......2005-08-04

Call me a snob, but if you take this book too seriously, you're not classy enough to be reading it.

Rude in 1935, Still Rude in 2005.......2005-04-04

I have a large collection of etiquette books from the 30's, 40's and 50's, so I thought this one would be a good addition. Well, I was wrong. It's "okay"- but certainly isn't "nice," nor does it offer any "good" behavior. Maybe it's me, but I found the whole sarcastic thing to be rude, not witty, not clever, and not very funny. What's called "razor-sharp lessons in female one-up-manship" sounds more like plain old mean. I suppose that's what they're calling "classic satire," though I'd much prefer to get my classic satire in the form of Moliere or Heller or Orwell-- or even Monty Python.

That said, this 1935 book is touted as being "as timely and amusing as ever" -- maybe so... the more things change, the more things stay the same. Mean is nothing new, and not always fun or funny.

Book Description

Carlos Santana took the music world by storm back in 1969 with his thrilling performance at the Woodstock festival. He was the first guitarist to skillfully blend fiery rock riffs with Latin, blues and sensuous Afro-Cuban rhythms to create a unique and unforgettable sound. His vision to create innovative melodies has earned him a magnitude of critical praise and acclaim over his illustrious career. But, the road to success has been a rocky, uphill climb.The middle child of seven children, Carlos Santana was born on July 20, 1947 in a tiny Mexican village where the homes were comprised of brick and mud, and there was no running water or lights. But, what his parents couldn't give in material wealth, they heaped upon their children in love. It was after the family moved to Tijuana that twelve year old Carlos developed his talent for the guitar and his reputation as a formidable musician spread. In 1968 Columbia Records signed on the Santana Blues Band and they began in earnest to work on an album that would include such popular Latin and soul favorites as "Black Magic Woman," "Evil Ways," and "Oye Como Va". On August 15, 1969, the Santana band was given the opportunity to play Woodstock before the release of their first album and this performance would forever be etched in fans' minds as a key moment in rock history. The Santana Blues Bands went from obscurity to instant recognition. Shortly thereafter, rumblings of discontent were echoed within the group with the volatile mixture of drug abuse, personality clashes, and the frustrations over the musical direction the band, ultimately leading to the demise of the group.Following the breakup, Carlos Santana delved deeper into the meditative arts and spirituality. The succession of albums that followed were greeted with critical acclaim, but moderate success. In the late 90's, Santana begin working on a new album under the creative direction of Clive Davis, head of Arista Records. In a brilliant union of collaborating with younger artists as Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Rob Thomas, the album, Supernatural was a commercial smash. It sold over thirteen million copies, and appealed to both the baby boomers and the teenage crowd. Carlos Santana became the star of the 2000 Grammys, and Supernatural won several awards including, Best Rock Album of the Year, Song of the Year for "Smooth", and Album of the Year. With a career that spans three decades, Carlos Santana has proven that talent, determination, and passion are the keys to longevity in a business that is obsessed with youth and beauty. Against the odds, he has defied the rule of convention and made an incredible comeback. His story is timeless, inspirational, and he has undoubtedly proven himself to be the king of the guitar.

Download Description

This in-depth biography on the innovative Latin blues-rock guitarist, Carlos Santana will follow his illustrious career from the late 1960's to the present.

Customer Reviews:

Enthusiastically Wrong.......2007-02-01

The pros are that the book is easy to read and the author writes with enthusiasm. The main issue I had with the book is that the author gets some of the dates of events in Carlos Santana's life wrong. Most people would not mind such inaccuracies, but I do. The lack of research and interest in getting it right lacks professionalism and distorts history. I would instead recommend checking out Leng or Slavicek if you want more meat or just the facts about Carlos Santana.

waste of time.......2005-10-26

I never recieved this book. After spending time trying to order the book it was not available. The only reason I became interested in it was because of a promotion amazon ran when I was trying to order another book. Please don't waste my time in the future.

Lacking in substance.......2001-03-07

Well if you read the first reviewer and the editors opinion than you pretty much have the essence of the book. I finished this book in two sessios of a few hours one Sunday. Was it the speed reading course I NEVER took? It is simple reading, maybe for simple minds like mine that just want to know more about a man whose story I grew up with. The problem is there are few revelations, a few tid bits but nothing of any substance. So why read it? I dunno, curiosity? You keep turning the pages anticipating something real "juicy", some insight, some rock stories but it just isn't there. It is more like a trip down memory lane on the autobahn, you start and before you know it you're there, done. It seems the author wrote this book by speculating on his research. Sure the life of Carlos is chronicled but much too superficially. The problems with the original Santana members is discussed but most who grew up with Santana are aware of this history. Also reference to drug use is discussed, Carlos's appetite for the mind bending trips on LSD, Mescaline and Peyote, his cocaine days etc. etc. but it is shallow. The groupies and wild times are mentioned then gone. Of some interest is Carlos's brush with his musical idols, Miles Davis, Jimi(if you need to know the last name you shouldn't be reading this) and Alice Coltrane(again if you don't know the wife of who you're in the wrong place). The reader imagines Jimi's swagger and Carlos's fascination when they first meet and for what it's worth the supposed conversation in which Jimi wanted to join Carlos's band. The first part of the book deals with the early days, the second half with EACH and EVERY lp released and the various transformations Santana went through from local musician south of the border to Frisco(I know this irks dwellers of "The City") and the Fillmore , from young hippie to (ooooooommmmmmmmmmmm) Devadip, from househusband born-again to his conversations with his angel Metatron that told him "he would soon be hooked to the frequency of the radio" and ultimately with "Supernatural." There has always been a spiritual side to Santana and the book discusses this as well as his personal demons that he exorcized through therapy. The long strange trip of Santana is chronicled with way too much emphasis to the commercial failure of many lp's. The problem is for many of us this was some of his best work, we were there all along. The private side of Santana, the spiritual side was what many of us were going through and we could relate, life is not always a party. Would I recommend this book? Why not, an average reader could read it instead of the LA or NY Times Sunday edition. I suspect the author wanted to make a quick buck in the new found interest in Santana, tid bits for a new generation. For those of us that were around and whose lives parralled his there is not much here that we didn't already know. I think the writng is geared to young(school years)people so that those from a new generation who have discovered Santana can learn something about his long and at times trying musical career. Does it do justice to his life? Not really, this is not a definitive biography. If you do read this, put on a couple of CD's of Santana but just make sure not more than five as you'll finish the book first.

Carlos: The perfect subject for this kind of book.......2000-11-19

True Santana fans will question whether or not Carlos ever fell to begin with. However, BACK ON TOP is an appropriate title for those who measure success by commercial standards. Who can question that SUPERNATURAL, and the multiple Grammy awards it brought, was indeed a return to the top for this incredible artist.

Mr. Shapiro's election to follow a chronological sequence in the writing of this book is helpful to the reader. After all, the professional and personal roller-coaster that is Carlos' life can best be felt if the story that unfolds follows the very way in which it all happened. Shapiro did this well.

Things to like about the book include a fairly well chronicled capture of the early years. How the original Santana Blues Band came to be is quite a story. Even those who know the story will find the references to such legends as Bill Graham, Paul Butterfield, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Tito Puente, Willie Bobo, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and the Grateful Dead effective in connecting Carlos to legends of Rock, Blues and Jazz. Who else do you know that has this kind of depth to his music pedigree? Such is the attraction to Carlos Santana.

Shapiro also did a decent job in explaining the on again, off again relationship Carlos had with his original band. Reasons for its breakup - and occasional reunions - were conveyed in an easy to follow manner.

Don't look for Shapiro's writing style to represent literary excellence. It's simple and contains a fair number of grammatical mistakes. Further, it's pretty clear the author is/was never a true Santana fan. The book could possibly have been written entirely from research and archives. One can't be certain if Shapiro ever interviewed Carlos. My guess is that Shapiro tossed the book together following a cookie-cutter pattern used in his other similar books on rock stars. For example, he incorrectly assigns the song "She's Not There" to the Festival LP. It was of course part of the Moonflower double album set. The discography at the end is a handy guide, but even it is incomplete. (Shapiro referenced albums and collaborations in the text that never made it to his Discography!)

Lastly, Shapiro weighs in on Carlos' mid-70's trek toward jazz, fusion, melodic/religious tones while playing under the name Devadip. The author states: "Sorry Carlos, I didn't dig the short hair and the white duds." True Santana fans will take exception to this narrow-minded view toward an era of Santana music that classic Santana fans will long revere as his best music.

Book Description

The Subject and Other Subjects theorizes the differences among ethical, aesthetic, and political conceptions of identity. When a person is called beautiful, why does it strike us as an objectification? Is a person whom we consider to be an exemplary person still a person, and not an example? Can one person conceive what it means to have the perspective of a community? This study treats these thorny issues in the context of recent debates in cultural studies, feminism, literary criticism, narrative theory, and moral philosophy concerning the nature and directions of multiculturalism, post-modernity, and sexual politics.

Tobin Siebers raises a series of questions that "cross the wires" among ethical, aesthetic, and political definitions of the self, at once exposing our basic assumptions about these definitions and beginning the work of reconceiving them. The Subject and Other Subjects will broaden our ideas about the strange interplay between subjects and objects (and other subjects!) that characterizes modern identity, and so provoke lively debate among anthropologists, art historians, literary theorists, philosophers, and others concerned with how the question of the subject becomes entangled with ethics, aesthetics, and politics. As Siebers argues, the subject is in fact a tangled network of subjectivities, a matrix of identities inconceivable outside of symbols and stories.

Tobin Siebers is Professor of English at the University of Michigan, and author of Cold War Criticism and the Politics of Skepticism; Morals and Stories; The Ethics of Criticism; The Romantic Fantastic; and The Mirror of Medusa.

Average customer rating:

Great starting point!

Not too interesting for the experienced

Designed my world

Goto ... designfirstfor3d.com....to see more!

Can't Rate it yet, I have Questions!

Design First for 3D Artists
Geoffrey Kater
Manufacturer: Wordware Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Web Graphics | Web Design | Web Development | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Animation | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels

Digital Photography for 3D Imaging and Animation

Thinking Animation: Bridging the Gap Between 2D and CG

Animation from Pencils to Pixels: Classical Techniques for the Digital Animator

Polygonal Modeling: Basic and Advanced Techniques (Worldwide Game and Graphics Library)

ASIN: 1556220855

Book Description

The most overlooked component in 3D animation is design. This is a cross-platform book that shows how to apply the techniques of pre-visualization through sketching, color, and photo reference to enhance your 3D.

Customer Reviews:

Great starting point!.......2007-06-08

Not for advanced users, this book explains very thoroughly how and where to begin in the 3D modeling world, with a pencil and paper.
It begins with drawing basic shapes on paper.
A great book to overcome probably the mos difficult part on 3D modeling: "Where do I begin?".

Not too interesting for the experienced.......2007-03-09

The book has a very simple and clear way to describe what 3D design is about. It takes a simple project and teaches how to design it from scratch using basic design elements and explains how to develop it to a 3D animation film touching on cinematography and aesthetics(though very subtle and superficial).

It is a great source for beginners and people who are not familiar with design and 3D terminology and elements. However even somewhat little experienced designers involved in 3D or graphic design would see that they already know most of the stuff told in the book. It is like "3D & Design for Dummies".

Designed my world.......2006-11-10

This book changes everything. It has changed the way I look at creation, period.
The best investment I've made toward my career. Design it first, then build it.
Now i'm reaching for the pencil or Intuos first. Buy this book if you want to be a better artist or if you want to challenge yourself.

Goto ... designfirstfor3d.com....to see more!.......2006-01-06

Thanks to those that have rated the book. As the author I've created a website that has an author bio, preview of some chapters and more. Goto designfirstfor3d.com to see more.
-Thanks

Can't Rate it yet, I have Questions!.......2006-01-05

Where can we read a bio of the Author? Also, couldn't we review a couple of the pages of the book online so we can make a more informed decision about buying a copy? Thanks!!

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