A Portfolio of Fence & Gate Ideas (Portfolio Ofideas)

Book Description

-Showcases today's fence and gate styles.

Customer Reviews:

Adequate if you don't expect too much.......1999-12-23

This book did provide a "portfolio" of photos of fences and gates as advertised, however, it repeats many of the photos in various sections of the book. If you are grasping for ideas and need a reasonable number of photos for inspiration, this book may be adequate. If you are looking for a wealth of photos, it may not be the book for you.

Awful! Not worth the money.......1999-03-08

This book was completely useless in helping plan my fence/deck. It's just a collection of photos from various industry associations and manufacturers; OK, as far as that goes, but there are very few photos - generally one per page (84 pages); that means, few ideas! To top that, the same photos appear repeatedly throughout the book - one photo shows up 4 times!! The text is sparse and very general. This is certainly not much of a portfolio - going to the library & flipping through the deck/garden magazines will serve you better. There are a whole raft of "Portolio" books put out by the same publisher - I will not buy anything else by them!

Great book for fence ideas........1998-08-24

I was looking for a book that would give me some unique, as well as traditional, fence design ideas. This book was exactly what I wanted. It contains lots of color pictures and helps you decide the purpose of your fence so you can better decide on it's design.

Book Description

The dramatic tale of Wititj, the Olive Python, and the two sisters of the Wagilag clan forms the basis of one of the most important Aboriginal ceremonial cycles and painting traditions. These mythical events herald the arrival of the first monsoon season as well as providing the basis for ritual activity and religious knowledge. For the first time the art history of this ancient story has been put together through extensive consultation with Aboriginal elders. A tradition in bark painting has been traced over four decades and six generations, revealing the distinctive ways in which individual artists continually reinvent their cultural heritage. Essays, a transcribed narrative, and contributions by senior Aboriginal artists and traditional owners of the Wagilag stories give a valuable insight into the paintings. The works of art themselves are beautifully captured in full color, and artists' biographies, a glossary, and a bibliography complete the volume.

Book Description

With the aid of many well-known images by famous photographers this book examines the beginnings of photojournalism, the power of Depression-era photography, and trace the origins and high points of nature, war, and commercial photography.

Horizon: Mechamorphosis
Average customer rating:

A good Transformers-style RPG, but NOT a self-contained RPG.

Horizon: Mechamorphosis
Various , and Fantasy Flight Games
Manufacturer: Fantasy Flight Games
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Star Wars Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, Saga Edition

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Babylon 5 - The Lost Tales

ASIN: 1589941845

Book Description

FFG presents the fifth book in the Horizon line: Mechamorphosis, a world of devastatingly powerful robotic warriors that hide among us as cars, jets, and everyday objects. Some are terrorist aggressors, enacting evil schemes to dominate human kind. Others are self-declared defenders of the human race, fighting their mechanical foes and avoiding the military forces of the fearful and desperate people they are trying to protect. Their battles rage from hidden desert bases to active volcanoes, from the depths of the sea to the frontiers of space. In Mechamorphosis, the warrior doesn't pilot the robot; the warrior is the robot.

Customer Reviews:

A good Transformers-style RPG, but NOT a self-contained RPG........2004-09-05

The book's probably the closest thing we'll ever get to a Transformers role-playing game, but it unfortunately requires the D&D rulebooks to play the game. This is kind of disappointing since the back of the book claims that it's a "complete, self-contained" RPG. Requiring additional rulebooks is hardly complete or self-contained. It's great as a campaign setting, but it's not a stand-alone game. There are also some unfortunate editing errors, in the layout, grammar, and rules presented in the book.

That being said, it's a pretty good book for only $15 and it includes rules to play just about any kind of Transformer ranging from a G1 character to Headmasters and even to Beast Wars. If you've ever had any interest playing a Transformers RPG and are familiar with the d20 system, this book is entirely worth picking up.

Customer Reviews:

JOURNEY TOWARDS ACCEPTANCE.......2001-08-21

This third installment of the "Noah Chronicles," as told strictly from his author father's diary entries is a story etched in sorrow. Noah, born 7/1/66 exhibits behavior that can best be described as severely autistic; he functions well below age level and has been labelled brain damaged in addition to autistic.

The first book in the trilogy, "A Child Called Noah" is a chronicle of hope transformed into despair over the lack of progress and rapid deterioration in Noah. This book covers the years 1966-1971 and one shares the anguish of this family who cannot reach this boy. Karl, Noah's older brother (b. 11/64) serves as a "normal foil," for Noah; from the author's own descriptions, Karl stands in stark contrast to his unchanging, noncommunicative, multiply challenged brother.

In the second installment, "A Place For Noah," the author vents his rage at Noah's condition, at the professionals with whom they have come in contact with and at Noah himself. He is irate over Noah's lack of progress and the unsatisfactory programs where Noah was then enrolled. His anger is palpable; one feels the rage he poignantly expresses. He lashes out at Noah; on 6/4/73 he says that by that time the following year, Noah will definitely be placed in an institution because it will be the best thing for him, Josh and that he "has to get rid of him." In his 5/19/76 entry, he angrily raps Noah's knuckles when the boy tries to take his toast; he kicks him from behind when Noah is not looking. His anger flows throughout this book. He stops "chasing doctors" for Noah; he fights valiantly for both sons to have good, appropriate educational programs. His battles have borne some fruit; by 1976 his wife Foumi runs an after school program for developmentally delayed children in their area. This book covers the years 1971 - 1976/7.

In "Client," which opens in January of 1977 and closes in 1980, the author finally says that he is able to accept Noah. Noah is briefly institutionalized. Irate over the poor care Noah is receiving, the Greenfelds withdraw him and their search for a satisfactory program begins anew. By the early 1980s, the Greenfelds purchase a second house where Noah resides with a battery of caretakers. For some years this arrangement appeared to be helpful. Karl runs into his share of problems, including brushes with the law in 1979. He resented the chronicles, telling the author that he cherished his privacy. It is for Karl's sake the book ends in 1980, with a very sketchy update of the intervening years 1980 - 1986.

What makes the "Noah" trilogy so poignant is that it is told entirely from a parent's hard wrought experience; Josh Greenfeld was actively involved in all phases of parenting Karl and Noah during a time when very few men did, e.g. custodial/infant care.

Noah, from all accounts did not show significant progress in any social, cognitive or affective sphere; by 1990 he was institutionalized in a state hospital in Orange County. Multiply challenged and unable to communicate in a meaningful way, Noah remains lost in an institutional limbo.

A Natural Conclusion for Noah; His Family Goes On.......1998-05-12

This is the third installment of the true story of Noah Greenfeld, a severely brain-damaged (his family now rejects the term "autistic") and behavior-disordered individual. Told entirely in extracts from Noah's father's diary, the story is honest and compelling. This is the natural conclusion to the saga of the unchanging Noah, discussing his fate and his affect on the world that could not affect him.

I have not read the second volume, A Place for Noah, but I clearly remember reading the first, A Child Called Noah. Child is mostly about Josh's hopes for Noah, the struggle for a cure or a treatment or even an answer. In Client, Josh seems to have found the answer: Noah is as he always will be, and there is no hope of improvement.

Stagnation sounds like a rather dull basis for a book, and if Client was only about Noah, it would indeed be uninteresting. But the focus has shifted over the years, and if the book fails a portrait of a child, it succeeds as the story of a family. Josh is primarily chronicling the struggles of his family - his normal son's teenage years, his marital difficulties, his problems with heart disease. The honesty will resonate with anyone who has ever lived in a family, with a disabled child or without.

Anyone who hopes for a tale of miracle cures and family perfection will be disappointed; there are no miracles in this book, no ideal worlds. But A Client Called Noah offers some unanswerable questions to ponder, and a tale about one family that could apply to any family.

A Client Called Noah: A Family Journey Continued
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A Client Called Noah: A Family Journey Continued
Josh Greenfeld
Manufacturer: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JWN2IG

A Client Called Noah : a Family Journey Continued
Average customer rating:
A Client Called Noah : a Family Journey Continued
Josh Greenfeld
Manufacturer: Henry Holt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JC6K8K

A Client Called Noah: A Family Journey Continued
Average customer rating:
A Client Called Noah: A Family Journey Continued
Grennfeld
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OK37DS

Average customer rating:
A Client Called Noah: A Family Journey Continued
Josh Greenfield
Manufacturer: Harcourt Brrace Jovanovich
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KP1EKU

Book Description

The warfare of the French-Indian War was diverse, ranging from savage warfare in the forests and plains of the North American frontier to city sieges and open battles. The British Army struggled with the terrain and the tactics of the opposing American Indians. As the war progressed, the British Army learned from their allies, initiated reforms and eventually triumphed over the French and Canadians. The implications of this conflict reached across the world, contributing to the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in Europe and on the Indian subcontinent. This highly illustrated book charts the campaigns of the war, detailing the different troops raised and involved, the evolving tactics, the fortresses and battles.

Customer Reviews:

Very Well Done.......2007-02-27

Great military history of the F&I War, with awesome color repoductions of portraits, maps, etc. Chapters on Rangers and French forces well-done.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR RUTH SHEPPARD.......2007-01-13

VERY COLORFUL PICTURES BUT I FOUND THE BOOK BORING.THE PAGE 8 REFERENCE TO BRADDOCKS VICTORY IS CONFUSING.HE WAS KILLED IN HIS ONLY BATTLE IN THE WAR.

original color plates are missing.......2006-11-24

Was quite disappointed to find that, unlike some other Osprey combined titles - like "Soldiers of the Revolutionary War" or "The German Army in World War II" - THIS BOOK DOES NOT INCLUDE THE ORIGINAL COLOR PLATES OF ORIGINAL SIZE. All are reduced in size, some are b/w, and most are simply missing. In my opinion Osprey color uniform-related plates and accompanying text make the advantage of these series (MAA, Elite etc), on the other hand I doubt that any of their title may serve as a historical reference to any serious reader (perhaps teenager) due to the material oversimplification. So, if you are looking for color plates - better save your money

Good Introduction To The French and Indian War!.......2006-07-04

This book, I would say is wonderful for the person who is just getting into French and Indian War history. While the book does not go into huge debth it still provides all of the important basics. The illustrations are wonderfully done. Solid explanation of the diffirent kinds of units and groups which faught in the war are given, along with wonderful drawings. So again, I would say that if you are new to this area of historical study, pick the book up. If you have already studied this time buy it anyway, its a great read.

Book Description

Marie-Antoinette is one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in all of French history. Married to the heir to the French throne at age fourteen, Marie-Antoinette was at the center of public attention during the final tumultuous years of the Old Regime and the French Revolution. For a variety of reasons explored in this volume - all of which revolved around her gender - Marie-Antoinette came to represent the monarchy as it came under increasing attack. As both a woman and queen, she became a privileged site of the political contestation and criticism that characterized the end of the eighteenth century in France.
Rather than retell the story of her life, the contributors to this volume reveal how crucial political and cultural contests were enacted "on the body of the queen" and on the complex identity of Marie-Antoinette. They explore the difficulties of Marie-Antoinette's position as a woman, a foreigner, and a queen in the final decades of the eighteenth century and help us to understand the waves of pornography and accusations of lesbianism, incest, and treason launched against her. Taken together, these essays suggest that it is precisely because Marie-Antoinette represented the contradictions in the social, political and gender systems of her era that, through her, we can both learn about the French past and shed new light on questions of gender, sexuality, and female power that continue to trouble us today.

Customer Reviews:

This isn't a biography.......2007-07-29

I'm not sure what Goodman was trying to do here, but it didn't work. I mean, if you're interested in Marie Antoinette as a SYMBOl of women-in-high-places brought down, then this is the book for YOU....But right now I'm wanting to know about her life. Because I can't call this book a biography, an analysis of Marie Antoinette, or a review of the revolution and how it effected her, I can't recommend it. The purpose of the book is a mystery to me, except to place Antoinette in the context of women since the beginning of time. YAWN. Yet, I read it and I find myself rereading parts of it again and again. I think I have to commend it because there is thought behind the writing. The writer does give a bit of insight into Antoinette's daughter, who is the reason I began reading everything I could get my hands on about the queen...Thing is, if you want to read about women who have been scape-goated throughout the years, turn to female writers of the 1960s and early 1970s. In their hands, this book would've burned.

Amazon.com

God, Albert Einstein famously observed, does not play dice with the universe. Much of quantum physics, a field of study that Einstein helped initiate and that has extended his theories into the oddest of corners, is so materialistic that it can find little room for speculation about the role of chance in the universe--and, indeed, for a supreme being at all.

Shimon Malin, a professor of physics at Colgate University, notes that we are in the midst of a paradigm shift in our thinking about the universe and our place in it. With its "principle of objectivation" and its positing of a mysterious "collapse of quantum states" and multiple realities, among other theses, the new physics suggests that "nature is an organism whose functioning cannot be reduced to a set of mechanisms." The resultant uncertainty has undermined traditional views of religion and human purpose, and philosophy has only begun to account for it. But, Malin suggests, that uncertainty need not lead to meaninglessness or nihilism. If we consider the universe to be alive and intelligent, and if we nurture "conscious attention" to it, then we become witnesses to and participants in its order and completion, even if we do not completely understand it.

Confused? It's easy to be confounded, for lines of thought in modern science and philosophy alike can be difficult to follow. Malin writes lucidly about the new physics, the quest for an overarching "theory of everything," and the search for meaning in an apparently inanimate creation. If his discussions sometimes get a little tangled, well, that's the nature of the subject itself. Whatever the case, there is much to ponder in his well-written book, and much to learn. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

In Nature Loves to Hide, physicist Shimon Malin takes readers on a fascinating tour of quantum theory--one that turns to Western philosophical thought to clarify this strange yet inescapable description of the nature of reality. Malin translates quantum mechanics into plain English, explaining its origins and workings against the backdrop of the famous debate between Niels Bohr and the skeptical Albert Einstein. Then he moves on to build a philosophical framework that can account for the quantum nature of reality. He draws out the linkage between the concepts of Neoplatonism and the more recent process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. Writing with broad humanistic insight and deep knowledge of science, and using delightful conversation with fictional astronauts Peter and Julie to explain more difficult concepts, Shimon Malin offers a profound new understanding of the nature of reality--one that shows a deep continuity with aspects of our Western philosophical tradition going back 2,500 years, and that feels more deeply satisfying, and truer, than the clockwork universe of Newton.

Customer Reviews:

Seek and go hide.......2004-02-29

Quantum physicists are shifty-eyed blokes,with a tendency to talk from the side of the mouth. Studying their public communications I often get the impression they aren't telling us the full story, or else are simply talking rot. They must be hiding something, or else forced to fit a round peg into a square hole, or perhaps their subject is in hiding and they are struck dumb but continue with grammatical sentences. This charmer of a exposition of QM exposes this pyschology and brings out the unsaid 'scandals' of the subject with its trek through the possibilities of Whiteheadean philosophy used to resolve quantum paradox. Many might slam their shutters shut at that, but the treatment shows such restraint and grasp of the issues as to seem effortless. There are many ways to botch such a thesis, with Plotinus brought into the picture, but the account survives and thrives. After a clear exposition of the basic Bohr-Einstein-Bell difficulties, it embarks on a quite exotic tour of the Platonic aspects of the subject clearly present in the musings of Heisenberg,but filtered out of the current harebrained treatments. The problem, by the author's testimony, is the removal of the subject of cognizance from the domain of explanation, the principle of objectification. Next we look at Whitehead's notion that concrete facts are experiences rather than objects. Then this is used to reexamine the 'collapse of quantum states' and we are in the realm of the idea of the potential becoming actual. Now it's clear, a case of the phenomenal and noumenal. Current physics is in transition to a new paradigm, and this one is an aberration. He ends with a quote from Einstein to Heisenberg about his allegiance to Mach, "Possibly I did use this kind of reasoning, but it is nonsense all the same". And so evidently with QM, on its way. I will credit my suspicions from now on. You see the problem, how speak about this in the current environment? Better to go into hiding, or speak through the side of the mouth.

An experience: "object" meets "idea".......2003-07-14

The book provides a key that unlocks a doorway between science's world of objects and philosophy's world of ideas. The scientist might be disappointed that the book is not scientific enough and too philosophical. The philosopher might be disappointed that the book is too scientific and not philosophical enough. This book however is about neither science nor philosophy but a dialog that connects and relates the two worlds.

Stories and imagined dialogue between friends are used to assist the reader in absorbing the significance of scientific discoveries and philosophical ideas. Each chapter is self-contained in terms of its intent, summary, conclusion and implication. The hallmark of this book is the way in which it brings out the essence of both worlds, simplifies it to a point of understanding and mutual enrichment.

Written in the style of a mystery that is unravelled with each step and then leaving the reader to write his/her own ending. Every paragraph provides solutions and insights but then asks new questions that keep the curious reader glued to the book. The reader is challenged to ascends from the world of science into the world of philosophy. To enable this challenge the author provides a rich foundation by elucidating the discoveries of scientist like Einstein, Bohr and Heisenberg as well as the ideas of western philosophers like Whitehead, Plato etc. The author does not claim to be enlightened with all the answers but rather invite the reader to explore the possibility of a new paradigm.

The new paradigm destroys a mechanical objectified universe where man is an insignificant spec of dust in a big universe and introduces a dynamic vibrating universe of interconnectivity. In this paradigm, nature is "alive" and man has a particular universal role to play. A paradigm is proposed where experience is the fundamental building block of the universe. This book is recommended to the layman that wishes to enrich and challenge his own worldview with the best of scientific thinking and philosophical contemplation.

Nature Loves to Hide: Quantum Physics and Reality, ..........2002-09-21

This book is a magnificent gem of thoughtfulness and connectivity. The clarity of the author's presentation has been of enormous help to me in my investigations into the nature of reality.
The author, a first rate Quantum Theorist and Cosmologist, presents the thinking of the great scientists of the 20th century, such as Niels Bohr, Erwin Schroedinger, Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, P.A.M. Dirac, and others in a clear and concise way accessible to all thinking individuals. His expositions and ideas deal with the central challenges of human investigations into the nature of reality as questioned by these great scientists. He wonderfully describes the famous Bohr-Einstein debates, the principle of objectivation stated by Schroedinger, the thinking of Dirac and Heisenberg. Dr. Malin elucidates Bell's theorem and its implications by the use of himself, Peter, and Julie all characters in this book who actually help to clarify many of the fine points.
Dr. Malin states that Quantum Mechanics provides a vital hint as to the nature of reality in its description of quantum collapse. In one of several examples Dr. Malin indicates that the release of an electron from one end of a cathode ray tube and its arrival at the other end - the screen - is a complex process in quantum physics. It is inaccurate to be speak of the electron's trajectory, since the electron is really an infinite field of potential wave functions in the intervening space, each with respective probabilities of appearing at a point on the screen. Of all these potential wave functions only one will become actual - the quantum collapse or the appearance of the electron at a definte spot on the screen. What or who chooses which actuality occurs is the question Dr. Malin asked Dirac. Dirac answered: "Nature chooses." Here begins Dr. Malin's deeper search into the presence of intelligence behind the visible world. Dr. Malin cites Plato's Timaeus, the fourth century Platonic philosopher Plotinus's Enneads, and the modern philosopher A. N. Whitehead's writings as sources for his view of reality. His reasoning is compelling.

I find myself reading and rereading this book and recommend it for those who sense that there is more to the world we see and sense.

Wanted Dead or Alive.......2002-08-20

Wanted Dead or Alive.

It has taken me many months to read Professor Malin's book, `Nature Loves to Hide.'. As an interested layman I am fascinated by the whole question of the `Unified Field Theory' that is the Holy Grail of modern physics. Will this happen in my lifetime? What will it mean to our worldview?

There are some very fundamental principles and difficult concepts presented in this wonderful book. What is reality? Can anything propagate faster than light? Is the universe alive? What role do we humans play?

The very concept of Quantum Mechanics is baffling. Electrons, one of those elemental particles that are the stuff of which we are made---do not exist! They are fields of possibilities, predictable by wave equations but nevertheless are only real when observed, when the quantum state collapses.

This book asks one to 'contemplate' some pretty heady concepts... somethings do travel faster than light, real objects do not exist, at least not in the way that we normally think, experience is part of the equation of existence, the universe is alive and not just dead cold matter.

Our age has been called the age of materialism, Hegel wrote at the turn of the last century that the ultimate conclusion of materialism is war, the mass production of goods for their own destruction. Science as the `new religion' has not changed human nature. We have not `advanced' as planetary beings and learned from our mistakes.

Professor Malin quotes Einstein, `The theory determines the observation.'

If modern scientific theory is based on a materialistic principle that denudes science of humans (objectivation), is it any wonder that we produce inhuman results; war, famine, greed etc. This is not the conclusion of the author but the conclusion that comes to me as a result of reading this book.

The above is a personal reflection that came unexpectedly as I was writing this review of a book that I have thoroughly enjoyed. Whether as a quantum state collapsing or ` a throb of experience' I will now have to go and `contemplate' and if Professor Malin is correct I will be fulfilling a fundamental role as a participant in this evolving universe.

One last thought, with or without the new paradigm presented in this book, that the universe is in fact a living being, it is the burning question of our day that we all want to know the fundamental nature of the universe. A variant on the old western posters. The Nature of the Universe. Wanted Dead or Alive.

A Bit Hookey Pookey.......2002-05-31

One review for this book says: "Confused? It's easy to be confounded, for lines of thought in modern science and philosophy alike can be difficult to follow." This reminds me of Lao Tsu's famous writing in the Tao Te Ching: "When a wise man hears the words of the Tao he immediately embraces it; when the fool hears of it he scoffs and laughs at it. It wouldn't be the Tao then if he didn't." So if you are confused, then, I suppose it is because that its underlined by great truth and not because, say, there might just be a bit of nonsense to the writing?

What Malin writes is the common quantum mysticism that has made such people like Deepak Chopra and his cohorts so undeservingly famous and rich. There is no real evidence to suggest what Malin claims: that we are at a next great paradigm shift in physics, which suggests the universe is akin to an organism.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Antioch Review, published by Antioch Review, Inc. on January 1, 2002. The length of the article is 459 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: Nature Loves to Hide: Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality, a Western Perspective. (Books).(Brief Article)
Author: Lia Purpura
Publication: The Antioch Review (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2002
Publisher: Antioch Review, Inc.
Volume: 60 Issue: 1 Page: 165(1)

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Nature Loves to Hide: Quantum Physics and Reality, a Western Perspective

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Nature Loves to Hide: Quantum Physics and Reality, a Western Perspective
Shimon Malin
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKISUA

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