Customer Reviews:
Best Chinese Book of 2006.......2007-01-12
Beautiful written characters combined with excelent text and funny image.
Good for both students and teachers !
Exquisite Chinese Characters.......2005-10-12
Each and every Chinese character has a form of its own, representing a particular meaning and/or sound. This book is a good introduction to Chinese characters. An exquisite Chinese character, like thousand words, tells its own story and evolution. Through understanding these key characters, sometimes called radicals, one can discover the beauty of Chinese culture as well as civilization. (...)
One of a kind...but definitely not Japanese.......2004-11-04
I have been inspired by this book to pursue the study of Chinese characters to a deeper level. On the other hand, the more I read and compare it to other resources on the same subject, the more critical I become.
This book has inspired me to a deeper study of Chinese radicals (for a better understanding of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean). The result - I've found it makes a great stepping stone, and can be used for comparative analysis of the surprising variety of information available to English speakers mostly through the internet, or through native language dictionaries for those with access, but it should NOT be relied upon as a single source for learning, teaching, or research. It is reasonably educational and artistic, but not authoritative.
Even though I love this book and go back to it occasionally, there is one huge glaring error, to the point of unethical advertising, starting on the cover of the book. The title misleadingly contains the word "Japanese." Although Chinese characters are an important part of the Japanese language, it contains NOTHING about Japanese. You would have to be aware of Japanese independently of this book in order to make the connection that is made ONLY in the title. It is an English language book explaining aspects of Chinese, with the use of simplified characters created by the Peoples Republic of China as examples - although the simplified PRC characters bear some resemblance to the traditional characters that are mostly used in Japan, they are not the same, therefore making this book less useful for dedicated students of Japanese.
Anyway, despite this beef with the title and the fact that it should not be used a sole source for academic pursuit, it has many more merits than demerits. Since it is one of the very few books dedicated to this specific subject as well, the uniqueness adds a little to its value.
An interesting study.......2004-05-29
I like this book, and so I'm giving it 4 stars, but that is not to say that the criticisms of it are without merit.
Firstly, this book has absolutely nothing to do with learning the Chinese language. You will not be able to read Chinese from buying this book, and it will be impossible to study the language, since there is no systemitized presentation of the language. What this book instead does is presents an interesting geneology of some fairly common, culturaly relevant, or visualy interesting characters. For people who already know some Chinese, or for people who are interested in evolutions of writting systems or graphic design, this is not a bad book.
There are some strange inconsistencies, but I have a theory that explains them. First, the book inconsitently presents some characters in simplified form, while others are in traditional form. Second, criticisms of the caligraphy are fair. They have heart, but it is not really outstanding, and certainly not something to be emulated.
From these two problems, I concluded that the book was not a product of the Chinese mainland, Xiang Gang (Hong Kong), or Taiwan, since such inconsitencies would have been corrected. If you do some checking, that's because it isn't. As you probably could have guessed by the author's name, it's an Italian book. The Italian author worked with a Japanese illustrator to compile the book.
Japanese Kanji are Chinese characters adopted into the Japanese language, but they have been isolated from Chinese for centuries. As a result, some of the more complex characters have been simplified. Simplification of Chinese characters started long before Mao made them standard in the PRC. Infact, they are generaly based on cursive and calligraphic short-hands developed by people who had to write a lot, or who were not educated enough to constantly be in need of writting formal characters.
Many characters have been simplified from their original forms even in the so called "Traditional" character set (Fanti Zi) such as the numbers, and the Tai in Taiwan. The original, complex numbers used in formal Chinese can still be found on currency, mostly to confound counterfiters. Some characters, such as Li, meaning 'inside,' or Zhen, meaning 'real' can be found written one way, but typed in a less simplified way.
Simplification in pre-Mao Chinese was common, but not standardized. When Mao standardized all the characters for the PRC, he took all of the commonly simplified characters, as well as simplifying some other, more complex characters with whole new sets of visual symbolism, some time to enhance the 'phonetic' part of the character, so that it is easier to guess the sound of the word. The characters 'ren' and 'shi,' together meaning 'to come to know' are great examples of this.
Japanese characters are written without these contemporary simplifications since they were linguisticly isolated from Chinese by the 20th century, but reflect many common older simplifications. An prime example of this is the character 'ya' used in 'yazhou' for Asia, or otherwise just meaning second. It is rather dificult to write aestheticaly in Traditional Characters, but in Simplified Characters (Jianti Zi) it is much much easier, if not as beautifull. On the other hand, the correspondent Japanese Kanji is written in the old hand-written style.
Needless to say, the Japanese also have different aesthetic standards from the Chinese. The use of Japanese is not at all uncommon in earlier European Sinology. Ezera Pound, for instance, in translating the works of Li Bai (Also called Li Po, or Li Bo, as it was pronounced during the Tang Dynasty) actualy translated an Italian manuscript which itself was translated from a Japanese copy of the Chinese Poet's famous writtings. This circuitious route would explain some of the, er, to put it kindly, eccentricities of Pound's translations, and it explains some of the inconsistencies in this book.
There are many things this book is not: it is not an introduction to Chinese. It is not an instructional book on how to paint calligraphy. It is not a comprehensive academic study of the Chinese system of writting.
As long as you accept it for what it is, though, and don't mistake it for something it's not, this is a pleasant book. The characters are more or less acurately explained, and they are organized according to important cultural themes. Thus, it is a nice primer on the subject of the esoteric meanings and evolutions of Chinese characters for the casual (not academic) student. There are better books I've read on the subject, but they are all in Chinese.
A fairly good introduction to the Chinese writing system........2002-12-26
This is a fairly good introduction to the Chinese writing system providing insight into its origins and current use. While the calligraphic representations of the modern forms of the characters may be somewhat off, much of the background information is fine. The romanisation system is the officially recognised pinyin romanisation scheme developed by Russian and Chinese linguists during the 1930s and updated in the 1950s; it is generally employed in the transliteration of Standard Chinese into Latin letters. There is no need to worry over what 'dialect' the transliterations belong to because the vast majority of any given publication concerning China and the Chinese language will be in Standard Chinese, the national normative based on Northern Chinese. There are seven to eight Chinese languages with a myriad of dialects each, and it would be illogical to favour the others over the national standard. With regards to the evolution of characters, the sources from which the author bases the evolution is explained in the background information towards the front. I would recommend this as a wonderful coffeetable book, art book, and general introduction to the Chinese writing system, but not as an ultimate foundation in learning the Chinese script. If one is seriously interested in learning good handwriting, I recommend Johan Bjorksten's «Learn to write Chinese characters» from the Yale Language Series. It's inexpensive and perhaps even more useful than the volume on sale here. Both books use pinyin romanised Standard Chinese -- and usually with the tones noted, too! Most books, unfortunately, tend to leave them out. Bjorksten's work should be used as a supplement to a full on course in Standard Chinese (biaozhun hanyu... or, as many may say, putonghua); however, it can stand alone for those who are simply curious about the writing system itself and would like an appliable introduction.
Average customer rating:
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Australias Iron Lace
Brian Turner
Manufacturer: Allen Unwin Australia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0868614815 |
Average customer rating:
- It's Chobits meets The Corpse Bride
- The complete story of Avigon
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Avignon: Gods and Demons
Che Gilson
Manufacturer: Image Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Graphic Novels
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Image Comics
| Publishers
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1582402302 |
Book Description
She was created to be a servant and a slave, but self-awareness has caused her to question the shackles of servitude to her cruel and demanding master. Does an android have rights? Does sentience equate to life? Can a thinking being be someone elses property, to be bought and sold on a whim?
Customer Reviews:
It's Chobits meets The Corpse Bride.......2006-03-07
Possibly, you might remember a one-shot prestige format one-shot comic from a while ago titled Avigon. It was a strange but wonderful sci-fi gothic fairytale. Now, its back in an all new extended graphic novel called Avigon: Gods & Demons.
Taking place in an alternate reality, mechanical creatures known as Clockworks are used for human amusement. One of the best makers of these is Pulsifer. One of her latest creations is the humanoid one Avigon. Although she sometimes makes creations which appear to be crossovers with animals like a sphinx, Pulsifer usually adds a hint of emotions and sometimes free will to her clockworks. She usually creates for the elite rich, and even her country's young empress.
Avigon though longs to be free on her own. She runs away from Pulsifer's castle, and heads for a nearby town. She meets a young student there who mistakes her for a human. But when Avigon asks him what he thinks of clockworks being truly alive, she becomes
disappointed, and runs away again. She ends up in a small town at the end of the tracks where a novice mechanic finds her and totally wound down. He forges a new key for her and revives her. This leads to an altercation between the two when he tries to force himself on her, and inadvertantly activates her self-defense program.
Avigon then runs back home, only to find that she's been sold by Pulsifer to the Empress herself. After a while though, Pulsifer's new creation Daemon challenges her to the right to be the Empress' personal clockwork. After loosing, Avigon is then given back to Pulsifer. Once back in her castle, Avigon then realizes she was truly happy to be there to begin with.
This comic is what Chobits would be like if it we done by Tim Burton. A fine moody piece that is an instant classic taking you to a new world of what it means to be human, and how someone can see themselves as being truly alive.
The complete story of Avigon.......2005-08-16
Five years ago, I picked up a graphic novel titled _Avigon_ at my local bookstore, simply because the cover intrigued me. What was behind that cover turned out to be one of my favorite stories ever, about a robot girl who runs away from her master to the outside world, and the painful lesson she learns there. I thought the story was near-perfect, though the book had some spelling issues and one page printed out of order.
Now the author and illustrator, Che Gilson and Jimmie Robinson, respectively, have given us the complete story of Avigon. The original novella is included, so you don't need to go find it to be up to date.
The story is pretty much the same, but expanded. Avigon, a beautiful clockwork, runs away. The outside world treats her cruelly, though she also discovers much beauty and falls in love. I'm not sure if I understand the end completely, but it is an ending, not a cliffhanger. When all is said and done, while I like having the complete story, I feel that the first version had a more dream-like quality, and a lovely, sad ending.
Che Gilson's writing style is perfect for this story. And the art is lovely, all in black and white and greyscale, with simple, dramatic lines. It is a bit like manga, a bit like Tim Burton. I only wish that the book had been printed on glossy paper, like its predecessor. I find the matte paper looks less professional, but that's just my opinion.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes fairy tales, manga, and science fiction with a heart.
Book Description
A collection of everything trivia fans might want to know about a true : movie classic. Readers will learn what brand of typewriter Margaret Mitchell used to type the original book, the parallels between Scarlett's life and the author's, and the ins and outs of casting. Trivia quizzes and a bibliography are included.
Customer Reviews:
Gone with the Wind.......2006-03-16
I think that Gone with the Wind is a really good book. Everyone should read this book mainly because it is really passionate and exciting at the same time. I love this book because it is really unpredictable. One of my favorite parts is when Scarlet and Melenie and the others make it all the way back to Tara. A part that made me really sad is when Scarlet finds out that her mother is dead. I think that everyone should read this book because it is a really passionate and unpredictable book. That is why I think that everyone should read it.
Gone with the Wind.......2006-03-16
I think that Gone with the Wind is a really good book. Everyone should read this book mainly because it is really passionate and exciting at the same time. I love this book because it is really unpredictable. One of my favorite parts is when Scarlet and Melenie and the others make it all the way back to Tara. A part that made me really sad is when Scarlet finds out that her mother is dead. I think that everyone should read this book because it is a really passionate and unpredictable book. That is why I think that everyone should read it.
There is just sooo much!.......2004-11-16
I recieved this book about a month ago and read it in one day. I just couldn't put it down. I LOVE behind the scenes stuff they (now) show on DVD and this book was an added bonus!
One thing I didn't realise when I bought it was the book was published in 1989. (Error on my part, not the books fault, of course, lol) This doesn't really change anything... except for when it talks about the book Scarlett, which was in the process of being written at the time.
After reading this book it did give me a newfound respect for the book "Scarlett" (which, it is a good work...on it's OWN, but no comparison to "Gone with the Wind" and I still believe the author was not true to the character of Scarlett.)
But after reading this book, I am no longer as "resentful" (for lack of a better word) towards that novel. I think the Mitchell estate did the right thing.
There were also so many interesting things...I had NO idea it took all that work and that they had THAT much trouble in making the movie.
All in all...A very good and interesting book well worth reading for any GWTW fan, be they a "Windy" or not.
THE BEST I HAVE EVER READ!!!!!!.......2002-12-30
This book is bursting with romance. I fell in love with every character. I would recomend this book to everybody!!!
Lots of Interesting Tidbits.......2002-06-15
I thought that I knew lots of GWTW trivia until I read this. I failed miserably at the quizzes. In other words, even if you're a Windy, you probably will learn something from this book.
One of the best sections addresses what the GWTW actors did with their careers, including the minor characters. One of the Tarleton twins, for instance, went on to play Superman.
Information on the costuming gave me a new respect for the efforts at authenticy. Unfortunately, this book leaves the reader with the impression that GWTW costumes are historically accurate. As someone who has researched 1860s clothing for living history, that's an unfortunate misconception. Other sources (not this book) explain that Technicolor considerations trumped accuracy.
Nonetheless, I learned lots of new tidbits about the movie and the book, making it well worth the price.
Customer Reviews:
A Little Less Than Perfect.......2006-05-19
Some composers of the baroque period are missing. Ex.: Christian Petzold.
An indispensable desktop reference!.......1999-10-18
This reference book fills a niche for the secondary music teacher, private tutor, and church music director searching for a scholarly, yet concise definition of musical terms and brief biographical sketches of musicians.
Book Description
A big, new, original puzzle collection featuring the hot new puzzle craze, already running daily on the crossword pages of USA Today, The New York Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Detroit Free Press, and many more to come.
"Crossword lovers, move over!"—USA Today. "Fiendishly addictive."—Time. Everyone can enjoy them. You don't need to be a math whiz to solve them. You need only a pencil to play.
What are they? Logic puzzles that just happen to use numbers. All you do is fill in a grid so that every row, column, and 3 x 3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9…and there's only one solution to each puzzle!
The Big Book of Su Doku #1 features 200 brand new puzzles, arranged in increasing order of difficulty, from the easiest "Mini Su Doku" puzzles up to the new 12 x 12 "Super Su Doku." It also contains tips and basic rules to get you started.
Customer Reviews:
Hooked!!!.......2007-07-12
I got all three volumes. They are great. It starts you out slow and gets you to the harder stuff. I loved all three. If your not sure how it is done these books walk you through it. I got myself a set and a friend who thought she wouldn't be able to learn. Now she's hooked. They're great.
Perfect for Beginners.......2006-06-01
This book is very good for beginners. It begins with small puzzles. My [...] son enjoys completing the 4x4 and 6x6 puzzles. The puzzles become larger and more complicated as the book continues. Don't be intimidated by the 16x16 puzzles...they are much easier than they look.
Don't let this be your first book of Sudoku.......2006-01-22
The explanatory section at the start is not adequate for a beginning solver of Sudoku. More beginning examples were needed.
More beginning 4 by 4 and 6 by 6 puzzles are needed, for the beginning solver.
The spine of this book cracked within 2 days of usage; this book was cheaply made.
The paper is cheap; numbers from puzzles on the next page can be seen through the paper; very distracting for a solver.
The tricky puzzles (level 3) are arguably just as hard as the challenging puzzles (level 5) ; the computer program and/or Mr. Huckvale did a poor job of ranking these puzzles.
This book, in short, seems like a borderline hack-job, designed to cash in on the Sudoku craze.
Lots of easy puzzles (probably best for someone new to Sudoku).......2005-12-02
I was hoping this book would go in depth on sudoku logic, but it does not; however, there is a short section on how to play, with the thought of getting beginners going.
The puzzles in this book are very easy in my opinion. I don't think there is much of a difference between the "Easy" puzzles and the "challenging" puzzles, most can be solved in about 5 minutes or less. The only puzzles that usually take longer than 5 minutes are the "Super" sudokus, which are just as easy, sometimes easier, but much longer (mainly because the whole grid is 16x16 (with 4x4 subsets)).
Overall, the book is probably quite good for a beginner, but if you are an expert and looking for a good challenge, I would not recommend this book.
Excellent selection.........2005-11-09
This is a great book for both beginners and experts since it overs a wide variety of puzzles.. There are hundreds and they get increasingly harder.. The book is a nice size so easy to bring along. I often stick it along and take it to work everyday as it's the perfect thing to do on a long train ride.
Average customer rating:
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Television: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies: Five-Volume Set (Critical Concepts)
Toby Miller
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General Broadcasting
| Radio
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Television
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Media Studies
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Research
| Education
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Communication
| Words & Language
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0415255023 |
Book Description
This collection demonstrates the significance of television as a field of study in disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. It brings together the most important published writings on television in theoretical, historical, empirical, and political terms, and provides quick access to the essential scholarship in the field.
The thematically organized volumes include:
* The History of Television * Methods * Audiences * Issues * Public Television * Private Television * And more.
Book Description
This book is a celebration… of those moments of proud accomplishment that deserve to be recognized and applauded. It's the perfect way to congratulate someone who has arrived at the summit of achievement: the fulfillment of a dream.
This book is a tribute... to inspiration, which launches every dream; faith, which keeps a dream alive; perseverance, which motivates hard work and continual effort; and excellence, which is the ultimate reward of achieving any goal.
This book is a guide... to the meaning of success. It defines the qualities that all winners have in common, while reaffirming that success can truly be measured only on an individual level.
This book is a wish... for continued success and an encouragement to reach for those new dreams and future goals that are just now beginning to appear on life's horizon. It's a wonderful way to say...
BE PROUD OF ALL YOU'VE ACHIEVED
Average customer rating:
- I'VE READ BETTER.
- Personal and Catching
- Personal and Catching
- Pretty Good, and gave an interesting perspective on the War
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12, 20 And 5: A Doctor's Year in Vietnam
John A. Parrish
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Vietnam
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0553260294
Release Date: 1989-11-01 |
Customer Reviews:
I'VE READ BETTER........2005-03-02
Typical. Every MD who went to Vietnam is a legend in their own minds, and this is more of the same. It's interesting (one star), well-written (second star), and the author knows his subject (third star). What I dont like is the typical conceit and M.A.S.H. variety of officer bravado. Don't be fooled, every last one of them was a perfumed prince.
Personal and Catching.......2002-10-27
I myself am not a big fan of war novels. HOWEVER, this book was amazing! It was written so personally that it was incredibly touching without being soppy. Written from the point of view of a medic sent into Vietnam, you see the conflict from a non-combatant's side instead of the soldier's side. The intense description of some of the scenes he saw may turn the stomachs of the more queasy among us, but they simply enhance the atmosphere around his situation. Although the day-to-day occurances could have become boring, Parrish picks out the things that you need to know, and discards the rest. Without focusing on places, or specific times or layouts of camps, instead he talks about the people, the events, the things personal to him - even talking about a touching conversation he has with his young daughter on the telephone. This book gives you a well-rounded view of the war in Vietnam without being too political in it's perceptions. It also isn't a veteran's list of the fallen - instead it is a touching account of one man's time in a hostile country and his fight to keep others - and himself - alive. Definately worth the read.
(Yes, this is the same review as I've written on another book - however, they are actually one and the same, and I thought this copy deserved it as well.
Personal and Catching.......2002-10-27
I myself am not a big fan of war novels. HOWEVER, this book was amazing! It was written so personally that it was incredibly touching without being soppy. Written from the point of view of a medic sent into Vietnam, you see the conflict from a non-combatant's side instead of the soldier's side. The intense description of some of the scenes he saw may turn the stomachs of the more queasy among us, but they simply enhance the atmosphere around his situation. Although the day-to-day occurances could have become boring, Parrish picks out the things that you need to know, and discards the rest. Without focusing on places, or specific times or layouts of camps, instead he talks about the people, the events, the things personal to him - even talking about a touching conversation he has with his young daughter on the telephone. This book gives you a well-rounded view of the war in Vietnam without being too political in it's perceptions. It also isn't a veteran's list of the fallen - instead it is a touching account of one man's time in a hostile country and his fight to keep others - and himself - alive. Definately worth the read.
Pretty Good, and gave an interesting perspective on the War.......2000-06-20
I haven't read many books on Vietnam, I prefer fiction, but I picked this book up at a booksale and read it out of curiosity. The writer, who had not yet I believed graduated from medical school, was sent to Vietnam and served as a doctor at a first aid camp. The author does an excellent job of depicting the horror of Vietnam and also the stress that he goes through. His description of a furlough filled with adventure is one of the most vivid sections of the book and the one that still stands out in my mind. If you can track it down I'd reccomend reading it.
Customer Reviews:
Passed..........2007-03-28
Used this to pass the ARRL General exam a month after getting my Technician license. After a friend of mine showed me a lot of the stuff I'd only read about in the Technician book...made the information in the General book much easier to understand.
After only a week & 1/2...passed the exam with only missing 5 questions. Not the score I wanted...but a pass is a pass.
Unlike the Gordon West books which just lists the questions & answers to allow you to pass the exam...these set of books do that...but also explain the reason why. The answers are nice...but I want to know the reason why. The ARRL books give you this information & much more.
Arrl General Class License Manual .......2007-03-24
Sets the standard for General class license study guides in amateur radio.
ArrlL Manual.......2007-02-21
I was well pleased to receive this book, I was notified that this book had been placed on back order, and was given a due date when the book so to be shipped. I received the book before the due date, thanks to all a job well done.
Thanks to All
Stop your search for a great resource in ham radio testing.......2007-02-17
I am nearly through the manual, and find it challenging but doable. I do not have a background in electrical engineering or radio, but am preparing for the General License Exam. The text is informative, provides many good examples, diagrams, authentic forms, and uses follow up questions to check understanding. After going through the chapters, I feel more prepared to test for basic electricity, radio theory, practical circuits, and antennas. If you put in your time to study and use this book, you should feel secure in earning your Element 3 license. The price is reasonable and the publisher is the absolute best source for the book's content. I just purchased another book titled, Ham Radio for Dummies. This too is available on amazon.com. So, go ahead, click "Place my order" on the tab above. Hope to hear you on the air. KC2JCZ.
Works.......2007-02-16
After some basic studying to complement some EE classes I passed missing only 3 questions. Good study aid.
Customer Reviews:
This Is an Old Edition.......2006-11-10
Be aware that this is an old edition (the current is the 5th edition) and thus no longer refers to the correct question pool for licensing.
Descriptive.......2004-05-26
The ARRL has done a good job on this book, it teaches you everything that you need to know to pass the general class exam, though you do need to have a passion for ham radio otherwise the book gets extremely boring.
Great Book.......2002-12-07
The ARRL has been writing license manuals for years, this is the only way to go. I got my Extra Class just after I passed the General test and still refer to all of the books for information.
General Class made easy.......2000-07-14
ARRL, as always, has put together a book that makes studying for upgrades easy. The General Class License Manual contains everything you need to pass your General Class written exam, and station suggestions to help you get on the air using your new HF privies.
Customer Reviews:
Upgrades R Us.......2007-03-15
This is a wonderful Manual for anyone ready to upgrade from General to Extra. After upgrading to my General I felt guilty because I had passed the test, but pretty much had memorized the questions in the pool and could not put any of it to use. With this manual I am able to understand the theory and principles behind the questions and I will be a much better operator because of it.
Great Study Aid.......2007-02-16
With the large amount of information to be covered this book gives the information you need to pass the test and information that will be helpful. I passed the test on the first try after studying for only 1 and a half weeks (I would recommend studying longer though.)
Time to Upgrade.......2007-01-26
I do most of my book purchasing and other things through Amazon. I've been a Ham Radio operator for ten years and had the urge to upgrade so I can operate on the HF bands. Amazon helped me out with an easy and quickly shipped Extra Class manual. I'm very thankful.
It Helped me!.......2006-10-01
I haven't taken a upgrade exam since 1984 so I was a bit intimidated with the prospect of another FCC Exam. I researched the Web for information about where to find the most complete study guides for the Extra exam. I actually found the Question Pool on the Web, but I didn't just want to "Memorize the Test" as some have done in the past. I wanted the reasons for the answers and to refresh my now Older mind. The ARRL Study Guide was Very Thorough and yet to the point. The sections were broken up nicely so you can study each section and take a break. The question pool is in the back of the book and the answers reference the page in the study guide where its reasoning comes from. Perfect for me! It was an Excellent Review of some material and a Great Teacher of the New material that I had to learn in order to upgrade to the highest class in amateur radio. I Passed, Thanks to the ARRL Extra Class Study Guide.
Kevin KA1KOJ
Simple: Read the book and pass the test.......2006-07-05
Now that there's no longer a 20 wpm code requirement for Extra, there's very little reason why almost any ham with some good basic math skills can't upgrade, given a book this good. All it takes is reading the book and flipping to the questions to check your understanding of the material as you finish each section. I found it took me about a week to do that and I passed with just one mistake (which kills me because if I'd taken more time, I should have gotten that one, too!)
I found the book quite logical, well-written and very methodical at explaining the material. I only spotted two minor errors: A garbled explanation of DeMorgan's Theorem as "logic polarity" on page 7-5, and the schematics of three oscillators on page 7-42, each with two connections to Vcc but none to ground.
The whole point of the book is to help you pass a multiple choice exam where all the questions are taken from a fixed pool and everyone knows what they are. But the book nicely avoids the trap of simply helping you memorize the answers and focuses instead on explaining the concepts so that when you read a test question, you're capable of doing whatever calculations are required and you know why one specific answer is the best. The only places where I felt the author might have offered a little more discussion were in presenting the formulas for second and third-order intercept points on page 4-22 (it took me several hours to figure out where these came from!) and in the section on phased vertical antennas (page 9-20), where you're given 15 charts to memorize but little explanation of how you might intuitively figure out what shape to expect as an alternative to the rote memorization.
I recommend this book. Go get your Extra!
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful Reference, but outdated.......2007-10-03
I have been a "Ham" for 45 years and have a wonderful compilation of reference manuals. The ARRL has always come out, year after year, with updated material. This handbook is a fabulous reference tool. Just that, a reference tool. When I have a situation arise, I first check this book, and then others only if necessary.
My only disappointment is that I did not realize that the 2008 edition was about to be released, so effectivly I purchased an "old book". I take all fault for this though. Being an ARRL member I should have checked their website prior to my purchase. Oh well, c'est la vie. This book is still great!!
Average customer rating:
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Arrl General Class License Manual for the Radio Amateur, 1991 (The ARRL license manuals series)
Manufacturer: Amer Radio Relay League
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0872592383 |
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Avian Immunology
Toivaneh
Manufacturer: CRC Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0849367670 |
Books:
- Complete Paint-By-Number Set
- Costumes, Textiles & Jewellery of India
- Creativity: Theory, History, Practice
- Dan Flavin: A Retrospective
- Darkwerks: The Art of Brom
- Deconstruction and the Visual Arts: Art, Media, Architecture
- Design Basics, Multimedia Edition (with ArtExperience CD-ROM)
- Design Secrets: Packaging: 50 Real-Life Projects Uncovered (Design Secrets)
- Dirty Pictures: Tom of Finland, Masculinity, and Homosexuality
- Disney: The Ultimate Visual Guide
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