Architectural Working Drawings: Residential and Commercial Buildings

Book Description

Extensively illustrated, it presents a detailed examination of typical construction methods and the preparation of architectural working drawings for residential and commercial buildings. Covers drafting materials, tools, techniques, electrical plumbing and plans, heating/air conditioning systems and technical sketching. Contains an in-depth discussion of computer graphics hardware and software as well as basic operating procedures for computer design. Chapters include technical vocabulary, study questions and laboratory problems.

Customer Reviews:

Helps the student progress from understanding what materials to use to making actual drawings.......2007-05-25

My sixteen year old daughter is seriously interested in becoming an architect and this book is a great resource for her. William Spence has provided an excellent text for people to learn about architectural drawing in all its beginning aspects.

The 24 chapters and 19 appendices fall into three broad sections. The first 9 chapters teach the student about the tools and materials used by architects to make their drawings, technical sketching, various drafting techniques, the basics of computer graphics workstations (this material is dated, but still good as an introduction), using the computer for architectural design and drafting (again, dated material but the process is still sound), architectural drafting standards, reproduction of drawings, the preliminary design process, and contract documents.

The second section encompasses chapter 11-24 and teach the student about drawing foundations & footings, floor - wall & roof construction (separate chapters for light construction and commercial buildings), the title sheet and site plan, floor plans, foundation plans, architectural sections, architectural details, elevations, roof plans & framing plans, schedules, electrical plans, heating & air-conditioning systems, plumbing plans, and pictorial drawing.

The third section are the 19 appendices that provide abbreviations, selected metric conversion factors, and many different kinds of symbols used in drawings as well as ratings, load information, and various tables as well as a glossary.

The chapters present the material effectively and helpfully. They teach the student knew terms, sometimes provide a glossary, the questions act as a chapter review, and the laboratory projects present the student with drawing challenges that help build skills and confidence necessary to move to the next chapter.

I can't draw a straight line with a ruler, and yet the material here makes me want to learn to draw this stuff. So, it must be motivating!

Presentation techniques........2003-01-27

I want to review how to present the architectural works during presentation.

Book Description

New York City animator Kevin Nelson likes to drink cheap booze, have sex and wander the seedy streets of the East Village. He also likes power. It's the latter that eventually brings him down... Crashing out in the Alphabets opens with a glimpse of life in New York through Kevin's increasingly sick eyes. He meets Lucy Brown, a crack whore; their bond is booze, drugs and vicious sex. When she dies of a cocaine overdose, Kevin is crushed. Lucy's death sends Kevin into a tailspin. He walks the streets with her ashes in a plastic baggie, he tries to fish in the filthy East River, he does a stint in the drunk tank. Through it all, though, he manages to keep his standards high at Cartoon City, the animation company where he works. But slowly he tires of his bosses and their control. He wants to rule the show at Cartoon City, he wants to make his own short film, and he wants nothing to stand in his way. Booze-addled, he begins killing his way to the top. His first boss t! akes a bullet in the head during an afternoon jog. The replacement is done in by horse tranquilizers in her coffee. Kevin is reaching his goals, but his mind is fraying. And just when he needs what's left of his sanity to pull off his murderous jag, two new characters enter his life: Sarah, a red-headed beauty he thinks is his salvation, and Bill, a co-worker with reasons to bring Kevin down. With both in tow and a 40 oz. of malt liquor in hand, Kevin careens toward his destruction...

Customer Reviews:

AuthorZone.Com Book Review.......2003-09-02

Kevin works for Dick Rogers. The relationship could be better. Every relationship in Kevin's life could be better. Between his work at Loon Animation, rushing to catch the train at Grand Central and drinking more than anyone should drink Kevin's life is difficult at best. Kevin's latest honey Lucy is a (drug addict), he is only mildly bothered. They stumbled over one another in an alley, what more could be expected? Then she is found on the street, beaten to death, and he is alone again. The worrisome thing for Kevin is that death becomes a regular happening for those associated with the comic animation firm. Kevin isn't real sure just what he should do. The police stumble all over their feet before they finally begin to have a pretty good idea who the culprit might be.

Writer Diamond's Crashing Out The Alphabets is a hard hitting, fast paced tear through the wreckage we humans often leave in our wake. Diamond's characters are not always very pretty or likeable, but they sure are believable. Both the dialogue between the various players, and their behavior toward one another is painful to take at times. Kevin's disintegration as a person is awful to watch even as he enjoys success in his work.

Diamond has crafted an intriguing work filled with well fleshed out characters, human dilemma and near insurmountable difficulty. The volume is not meant to be a lighthearted romp for a lazy afternoon. This is a hit `em hard, hit `em often, leave them gasping read from opening page right on to the last paragraph.

Crashing Out The Alphabets is not a book for the faint of heart, or those easily affronted. The language is raw, gritty and well suited to the character's depicted and situations portrayed in the work. Some obscenity, some graphic sex...

Wild and Untamed.......2001-08-17

This book is a wild and untamed ride in the spirit of Neal Cassady. The exploits of "Kevin" are outrageous, raw and savage. It is both incomprehensible yet some how believable that such a beast can exist in our metropolises. Fans of the Beat Era will consume this book readily. thanks for submitting to spilledink.com for review!

Wild and Untamed.......2001-08-17

This book is a wild and untamed ride in the spirit of Neal Cassady. The exploits of "Kevin" are outrageous, raw and savage. It is both incomprehensible yet some how believable that such a beast can exist in our metropolises. Fans of the Beat Era will consume this book readily. Thank you for submitting it for review by spilledink.com!

And you thought your life sucked..........2001-07-19

I don't actually read many books...so it takes something different for me to really be entertained by one. And this book is definitely on that track. Garrett's writing style is very dynamic and spontaneous; it mimics the demented train of thought that the main character, Kevin, exhibits in this story. Garrett is playing with a lot of themes here and at the same time, you get the feeling that you're just reading about some drunk guy's messed up life. Which is partially why I enjoyed this book; it never gets bogged down in the "been there, done that" cliche themes and morals, while at the same time having enough depth for the novel to have reasoning behind it. You get an eerily realistic sense of what it's like to live in that neighborhood (if you haven't already); the kind of "no-rules" jungle that Kevin tries to make a living in. Aside from the fact that almost all the women in this book are VERY PROMISCUOUS AND VERY HORNY (can be somewhat of a fantasy exposition, but hey some of the funniest stuff was the dirty talk), this book is very gritty and very real. And there are some really funny parts, mostly thanks to Garrett's inventive and strangely poetic metaphors. Bottom line is, I can see many readers dismissing this book as childish, perverse, crude, selfish...heck, even downright evil. But hey, we all have these qualities, no matter how hard we try to hide them!

An easy and entertaining read. 4 stars.

Raw look into a broken lower east side life.......2001-07-10

Kevin is headed straight to hell with his anti-social antics in this cut up novel of cheap women and cheaper alcohol. Garrett writes no holed barred and I wanted to hide on the subway reading it afraid someone looking over my shoulder would turn me in. This would be a great audio book for a beautiful ride into the country with your grandparents, if you want them to kill themselves.

Book Description

The increasing number of returns of products and the items used for their distribution has become an important topic for many companies all over the world due to increasing competition and environmental legislation. Closed-Loop Supply Chains (CLSC) may offer companies a unique opportunity to improve their profits on the one hand and to serve societal responsibility on the other hand. The management of CLSC differs in a number of ways from managing supply chains in general. The book gives insight in these differences and how these differences may be dealt with in practice, by offering a concrete framework, introducing the different aspects related to CLSC (technical, organisational, planning and control, information, environmental and business economic) and their mutual relations, in a systematic logical way as well as cases clustered according to the inputs for a CLSC, like commercial returns, end-of-life returns, where for each case attention is paid to all the above mentioned aspects. The framework and especially the cases from successful companies offer the reader an invaluable help to build up and improve CLSC.

Book Description

The health of African American men has long been overlooked in American society. This book uniquely speaks to black men and their families about health issues that range from general wellness to specific illnesses. Stressing the importance of a preventative diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes, this book identifies which signs and symptoms are indicative of something more serious.

Customer Reviews:

My son.......2007-05-15

I purchased this book for my 14 year old son. Not many books out there target the young African American male, but this books is a great start. I think all young and old, men and women need to have a book such as this for future references.

BLACK MEN CAN BEAT THE STATISTICS & LIVE LONGER LIVES.......2001-09-06

THE BLACK MAN'S GUIDE TO GOOD HEALTH offers knowledge for good health and a longer life span for African American men. This book is for you, if you love life and have dreams and know that you'll need to keep your good health in order to fulfill them. With the insights that this book provides it is possible to learn how to keep your health, even to live longer. A MUST READ for all African-American men and those who love them!

Pretty good book.......2001-07-29

I borrowed this book from the library first. After reading through it , I have decided to purchase it for my father. This book offers some great hints. I like it. I really like how it specifically addresses issues that are of concern to African-American men and their families. It offers suggestions to change your diet and nutrition info. I would like to see some more medical information, but that's just me. For the average person that wants some beginning ideas on how to avoid and treat health problems that plague the Black Community, this book is it.

Getting It Together: The Black Man's Guide to Good Grooming and Fashion

Average customer rating:

Getting It Together: The Black Man's Guide to Good Grooming and Fashion
Mike Fields , and A. Peter Bailey
Manufacturer: Dodd Mead
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Beauty & Fashion | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0396081770

Book Description

On 2 August 1808 a British army of 14,000 men began landing north of Lisbon under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington. They were coming to assist the Portuguese, Britain's oldest ally, to liberate their country from its French occupiers. Within a month Wellesley was to win two victories over the French at the battles of Roliça and Vimeiro. General Andoche Junot, the French commander, was forced to surrender and evacuate Portugal. René Chartrand examines the first of Wellesley's string of victories in the Peninsular War.

Customer Reviews:

Adequate Account.......2004-03-05

This Osprey title provides an adequate account of the battle of Vimero in 1808. This was Wellsley's first major victory in the Peninsular, and as such is worth studying in some detail as it provides a blue-print for his future victories. I have often found the Osprey titles to be short on text, but high in price, although they do provide a nice synopsis of each subject they handle. I would agree in general with the reviwer above that Wellsely was not facing first-rate French troops or generals at this battle. Although pro-French advocates could say the same thing about Maida in 1806, Egypt 1801, and elsewhere in order to find excuses for French defeats against the British. Over the years there has grown a devoted following of Wellington in the Peninsular, due to books like Michael Glover's and Jac Weller's famous narratives. English readers of the period have developed a strong pro-British bias concerning the Peninsular War. This has been reinforced owing to a scarcity of reliable works in either Spanish or French. It is therefore good that the author spends some time outlining the initial Portugese aspects of the 1808 campaign.

The author does a nice job describing the opening battles of obidos and Rolica, often over-looked in any detail by general histories of the campagn. Here the Osprey OOBs and nice maps convey the action well and pointed out some deatils that I was not aware of concerning these actions.

Unfortunately for Vimero itself, the main topic of the book, the narrative falls somewhat short. The description of the battle itself is all too brief. Even the maps, while colorful are not as tactical as they should be. For such a small scale action one would think that very detailed maps for all the battalions involved would have been possible. The narrative simply describes the French assaults and their repulse with little detail. Some mention is made of the flanking movement and that the two French brigades were deployed in linear or mixed order formations, but nothing more is mentioned. More detail on this would have clarifed the old line vs column debate.

Despite the fact that the French may have been second-rate troops, they still believed in their superiority, and Junot was counting on this when he threw them at Wellsley's position at Vimero. I think all the hero worship over the years concerning the French marshalete has made them a bit into straw men. When Bonny was not around and faced with competent adversaries they often did not do as well. Certainly Junot was no Massena or Soult, but they really didn't fight that much differently in the tactical sense. Wellington was unique in that he was both a supurb strategist and tactician. Most of the French Marshals were decent to good strategists, but weak tactcially, except perhaps for Davout. Even Napolean never concerned himself that much with tactical matters after his campaigns in Italy. Wellington could do both.

The elements of the battle involved at Vimero would come back to haunt the French over and over again in the Peninsular. Poor recon of the British positions, hasty attacks in battalion or brigade columns, and no combined arms. Junot had a division of cavalry that was hardly used, despite the difficult terrian, and his 23 guns saw no action from what I can tell. Junot expected the vaulted French infantry to do it all. The author shows that the British repulsed the French columns with one or two massive vollies, followed by a determined advance with the bayonet. Quite different from the methodical platoon vollies we have often heard about from Oman and Weller. More on this would have been interesting.

While brief in content, this volume presents a nice, fairly detailed picture of the battle. The aftermath events leading up to the Coruna campaign are nicely shown. Overall a decent production, despite the high price for an 80 page book. The maps and OOBs are good for wargamers and students wanting a more detailed appreciation of these battles.

Doesn't Quite Connect the Dots.......2001-10-15

As usual Rene Chartrand has put a good effort into his latest effort, on the campaign that began Arthur Wellesley's (AKA the Duke of Wellington) amazing career in the Iberian Peninsula. There is nothing particularly novel are striking in this account, but it provides an excellent summary of the campaign that began the British intervention in Spain and Portugal.

The book is set up a bit differently than other Osprey Campaign series titles because about one-third of the text is used to provide background on the campaign, beginning with the French invasion of Portugal in 1807 and the outbreak of popular rebellions in both Spain and Portugal. As usual, there are sections detailing the opposing commanders, armies and plans. One chapter covers the Battle of Rolica, another the Battle of Vimeiro and a third covers the Sintra Convention. Orders of battle are provided for the 1807 invasion, Rolica and Vimeiro. There are five 2-D maps showing the 1807 invasion, the rebellion in June-July 1808, the punitive expedition to Teixeira in June 1808, the British landing in August 1808 and a strategic map of the peninsula in the fall of 1808. There are three 3-D maps: the Battle of Rolica and two of Vimeiro. In addition, there are three battle scenes depicting British infantry attacking at Rolica, the charge of French grenadiers at Vimeiro and the British cavalry counterattack at Vimeiro. The maps of the Battle of Vimeiro are not small scale enough, which makes it difficult to comprehend the actual details of the French attack and British defense; a small-scale 2-D map should have been used to display opposing battalion dispositions.

Although Chartrand does a good job laying out the details of the French defeat, he fails to connect the dots. First, the French commander, Junot, seemed to violate as many principles of war as possible. Mass was not achieved because Junot failed to weight his main effort; he split his army into nearly equal halves and initially attacked 4,700 British troops in 6 battalions with only 4,200 French troops in 4 battalions. Surprise was lost through poor security, which allowed Wellesley to redeploy his troops, resulting in a French attack at no more than 1:1 odds. Junot's flanking maneuver was also detected and defeated. Over-confidence on the French side led to poor pre-battle reconnaissance and Junot was unaware of the British strength and dispositions. Compounding these failures, Junot failed to exploit his superiority in artillery and cavalry, while Wellesley made the most of his few guns and mounted troops. The only principle of war that the British violated was unity of command, which deprived them of pursuit but not victory. The French lost the battle because they violated the fundamentals of mass, surprise and security, not because columns can't beat lines. This "column versus line" argument has been exaggerated into a cult for too many years and ignores the principles of war. If Junot's columns had been properly massed at a point that Wellesley had not expected, the French would have broken the British lines. Chartrand is silent on these issues.

Why did Junot's army violate so many principles of war? The answer lies in inexperience, over-confidence and amateurish behavior. It is not brought out in this text, but most of the French units had seen little action before Portugal. Both the French 1/86 and 2/86 battalions had been sent on the disastrous expedition to Santo Domingo in 1802 and saw no action in the 1805-1807 campaigns in Europe. The 3/82nd had been raised from detachments in the West Indies and had only just returned to Europe after years of colonial duty. Of the units involved in the French main attack at Vimeiro, only the 3/32nd had served with la Grande Armée in 1805-1807. Much the same held true for the brigade and battalion-level officers, whom Chartrand does not discuss much. Brigadiers Thomiere and Charlot, who led the main attack, had both served in Italy in 1796-7 but had not commanded troops in the 1805-7 campaigns. Brigadiers Brenier and Solignac, who led the flank attack, also had Italian experience but little else. Junot's Army of Portugal was an ad hoc collection of inexperienced troops and limited-service officers. Of course, Napoleon had intended this force as an army of occupation in a remote corner of Europe, not as a first-line combat force. Thus, Wellesley's first taste of command was against an outnumbered and decidedly second-string French army. Yet if Wellesley had been attacked by troops under Marshal Davout or Lannes from the Grande Armee, the results would probably have been vastly different. The British army itself was still pretty inexperienced at continental maneuver war in 1808 and Napoleon made the mistake of continually sending inadequate, second-rate armies to deal with the British, which only gave the British valuable combat experience as they defeated one French army after another. Thus, Wellesley's great reputation built in the Peninsula was due at least as much to Napoleon's strategic short-sightedness as British tactical skill.

Average customer rating:
Vimeiro 1808: Wellesley's First Victory in the Peninsular (Praeger Illustrated Military History)
Rene Chartrand
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORFYSW

Customer Reviews:

Should be read by every student of the humanities........1997-06-25

In an age of diminished expectations, this book remains a source of hope. A strong argument is made that politicians do not infact define an era, nor are they the fount of understanding.

Book Description

A short but detailed guide to understanding the fascinating and complex lives of hummingbirds and transforming virtually any yard or garden into a hummingbird haven. Chapters cover the basic biology and behavior of these living jewels as well as how to create healthy hummingbird habitat in the home landscape, select regionally-appropriate plants for the nectar garden, select and maintain feeders, and identify 23 species of hummingbirds found in the United States and Canada. A list of books, videos, magazines, organizations, and web sites gives readers a starting point for further study.

Customer Reviews:

great information, terrific photographs.......2004-08-24

This small but information-packed guide is the best I've found for detailed, practical advice about viewing and caring for these little flying jewels. The photographs are breathtaking and the text is well-written and filled with wonderful advice and tips about feeders, habitat, gardens, identification and further resources.

Terrific.

Best little hummingbird book available.......2001-06-10

Although this gem of a book certainly covers attracting and feeding hummingbirds, including extensive advice on selecting flowers appropriate for each region of the continent, its modest size and simple title don't hint at the true gift within: an ecologist's insight into the natural history of one of our most highly-specialized and most fascinating bird families. The first 14 pages of text and photos are a concise, well-balanced examination of how hummingbirds fit into their environment, written for neither children nor scientists, but for the inquisitive layman. You won't find this content in any other book I've seen.

The second part is about plants, and again compresses a wealth of useful information into a succinct but rich overview of what flowers hummingbirds like, and why. More than a plant list, this section will help you understand how to plan a garden that works.

There are also sections on feeders, habitat, and species identification. Each is invested with an equally-impressive amount of insight, although as the author advises you'll want a good field guide for serious ID questions (and Sheri is writing one now). Finally, there's a nice listing of organizations and both printed and online resources for further study.

I have a collection of hummingbird books, assembled to help me build and maintain hummingbirds.net. This one is one of the three I wouldn't be without.

Average customer rating:
Hummingbirds of North America: Attracting, Feeding, and Photographing
Dan True
Manufacturer: Univ of New Mexico Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Ornithology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America (Peterson Field Guides)

Hummingbirds of North America: The Photographic Guide

ASIN: 0826313981

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