Dean Cornwell: Dean of Illustrators

Book Description

Regarded as the “Dean of American Illustrators,” Dean Cornwell was the instructor and idol of a generation of illustrators and his work was admired in households across the country. His work appeared in such popular magazines as Redbook, The Saturday Evening Post, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and many more. Exquisite visual form and color spring to life from the illustrations of stories, historical events, and commercial products. His work reflected the interests, concerns, and dreams that characterized each of five decades. His immense technical skill enabled him to paint in different styles and adapt to the needs of his varied assignments. The reader will encounter hours of aesthetic and historical richness from this well-balanced collection.

Customer Reviews:

Remarkable Illustrator~.......2007-03-20

This book shows his drawing and painting skill in detail manner. You'll see many examples of his drawings, experimenting with different compositions, color sketches final illustration. Excellent book for illustration students, artists or painters.

A Legacy Reclaimed.......2003-02-02

Dean Cornwell's legendary stature among American illustrators is rightfully restored by the reissue of this excellent 1978 retrospective. Cornwell, revered by his peers and his generation, had fallen into an entirely undeserved obscurity in recent years, but the work here emphatically places him in the front ranks of his profession. Looking through these pages, it's hard not to feel that the commercial artists of Cornwell's time easily surpassed the fine artists. Certainly, it's hard to imagine how someone who could draw and paint this way would be received today.

This attractive book is a thorough and comprehensive collection of color work, studies, and sketches, all with commentary and excellent reproduction.

Introduces a major American talent to a whole new generation.......2001-04-29

Dean Cornwell was the instructor and an icon for a generation of American illustrators and muralists. Capturing and expresses the evolving aesthetic and social values of American culture from 1914 until his death in 1960, his work was exceptionally popular with both the general public and the art critics of his time. With both black-and-white as well as color examples of his work, Dean Cornwell: Dean Of Illustrators has long been out of print and unavailable to American art history studies. This superbly reproduced and presented Collectors Press edition is a very welcome contribution to personal and academic artbook collections and will well serve to introduce a major American talent to a whole new generation of students and aspiring artists and illustrators.

Great & Not So Great.......2000-11-03

Cornwell was one of the 20th Century's masters of illustration and the new edition of this legendary book attests to that fact. A master of color, composition, and anatomy he was a narrative artist in the best sense. "Dean of Illustrators" is full of wonderful paintings covering a broad range of themes. The problem is that this *is* an exact reprint of the first edition and nearly 3/4 of Cornwell's paintings in this book are printed in black and white. It would have been a service to the readers if the publisher had spent a little time replacing b&w images with those readily available in color....

Ecstasy & A Little Agony.......2000-10-30

Dean Cornwell was, indeed, a master of American illustration and anyone who shuddered at the $800 pricetag the first edition has been sporting over the years will find the new edition of this long-out-of-print classic welcome. Cornwell was a gifted painter and knew how to tell a story with a single canvas: his art is as engaging today as it was in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. But the downside to this new edition is that it *is* an exact reprint of the first: that means 3/4 of the book's color paintings are printed in black and white. Cornwell was such a master of color that it seems a crime that the publisher didn't take the time to go back and replace at least some of the readily available works and present them as the artist painted them, especially at a hefty $75 cover price. This is the only Cornwell book available and as such is an important part of any art library: however, it is *not* what a $75 Dean Cornwell book *should* be and buyers should be aware that the majority of "Dean Cornwell: Dean of Illustrators" is printed in black and white.

Dean Cornwell, painter as illustrator: Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia, November 5, 1978-January 5, 1979

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Dean Cornwell, painter as illustrator: Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia, November 5, 1978-January 5, 1979
Dean Cornwell
Manufacturer: The Museum]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0006DY0CA

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The Enchanted Hill
Peter B. Kyne
Manufacturer: Cosmopolitan Book Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IZEG9S

Book Description

The greatest adventure epic since Beowulf continues in this full-color series.

Hal Foster's Prince Valiant, about a noble knight in the days of King Arthur, began in newspapers in 1937 and continues to this day. Foster (1892-1982) introduced illustrative techniques—and the sensibilities and standards of such greats as Howard Pyle—to the comics page. Realistic depictions and sophisticated compositions had been curiously absent before him. Fantagraphics' deluxe, full-color library editions of Prince Valiant each feature close to a year's worth of full-page Sunday strips, with this volume collecting strips from 1972-1973, written and roughed-out by Foster and finished by Foster's prodigious assistant, John Cullen Murphy, who took over much of the strip in 1971 and continues with it today.

Book Description

In 101 Damnations, todays leading humor writers gather their brilliant and witty thoughts about those maddening things that simply drive us batty. Hate SUVs? What about people who end every sentence with and all that good stuff? And whats with that Amish friendship bread? Combining justthe right mix of brevity and levity, the book includes anecdotes, rants, lists, rulings, or word-to-the-wise-ass remarks on the various pet peeves, annoyances, disheartening facts, real-life dramas, etc., that are both personal and universal.Contributors include:Henry AlfordPatricia Marx Kurt AndersenMerrill Markoe Roy Blount Jr.Amy Krouse Rosenthal Andy BorowitzBob Smith Christopher BuckleyCalvin Trillin Randy Cohen and many more. Sandra Tsing Loh

Customer Reviews:

Not very interesting for the most part.......2005-06-26

I bought this book based on a recommendation of a classmate. This book does have some, keyword, some, hilarious personal Hells but, those are few and far between.

YOUR gripes and grousings...but elevated by humor.......2003-01-15

In the hands of humorists, all those things that really get under your skin suddenly take on a new life--an amusing one, that doesn't sound like whining! I found most of my personal pet peeves: the cashier that puts the receipt in your palm, then the bills, and then the change, so that there's no way you can put any of that in your pocket or purse before the groceries or the change spills. The dreary terror of little league baseball. Children's choirs. Leaf blowers. You name it, it's here. ... Is this an important book? Well, it's important to laugh at these little things so the really big things you can't do anything about don't get the best of you! It's 101 examples of smart thinking about our dumbest things.

Tailgaters, Telemarketers, Limp Handshakes, & More!.......2002-09-15

Alexander Pope once wrote, "Wit is that which has oft been thought, but never so well expressed." The present volume, 101 DAMNATIONS, well illustrates Pope's observation.

The "damnations" in this quirky compendikum refer to pet peeves, people, and things that irritate and annoy. Although we could make our own list of such vexations, chances are we would not have the wit to express them so humorously.

For example, Louise Rafkin writes: "Women's handshakes . . . Some are limp as old celery, others flaccid as dead fish." And Merrill Markoe says about cell-phone etiquette: "These people seem to think they cannot really go anywhere unaccompanied by a phone. And along with this obsessive-compulsive need for continuous phoning, any respect for the privacy of others has melted away like the snows of yesteryear."

Tailgaters. Telemarketers. Operating manuals written in arcane, esoteric language. People who play rap music at jet-plane decibel lebels. "Reality TV" programs. The list goes on and on.

Here are excerpts from three of the best:

David Ives: "last year a record 16,238 people had near-death experiences in this country--some 200 of them without financial gain and some 50 without appearing on afternoon talk shows. . . . Many people know Kubler-Ross's five steps to death: anger, denial, blame, grief, and acceptance. Thanatologists now recognize the five steps of near-death: surprise, delight, shlock, mild boredom, and a book contract."

David Martin: "For years, I assumed that the frustration visited on me by bureaucrats was just the inevitable result of dealing with large, inefficient organizations. But now I suspect that there's a secret school somewhere that rains these cruel creatures. A school with a catalog like this: Welcome to the Bureaucrats' Institute, and congratulations on choosing a career as an obfuscation and complication specialist. Start out learning the basics, from paper shuffling to the telephone runaround. Then move on to the specialty skills you'll need to add red tape to any organization."

Michael Gerber and Jonathan Schwarz, from Thirty Things I HATE about Hell: "1. It's really cliquey. 2. You get this weird vibe from Satan if you joke about him being in that SOUTH PARK movie. 3. The biting black flies out by the Lake of Everlasting Fire. 5. No ESPN. C'mon! That's part of basic cable! 6. The snotty e-mails you get from your friends in heaven. . . . 25. Hitler. You're not funny, so stop trying."

There are at least a dozen selections that will have you laughing out loud. As you read this book, keep in mind the wisdom of George Bernard Shaw: "When anything is funny, search it for a hidden truth."

And, as the writer of the Book of Proverbs puts it, "A cheerful heart is like a good medicine." Tickle your funny bone, wipe that frown off your face, and indulge yourself with laughter with 101 DAMANATIONS.

Michael J. Fosen is the author, illustrator, or editor of some fifty books for both adults and children, including the biennial humor series, MIRTH OF A NATION.

If you hate it, it's in here.......2002-09-04

With an all-star lineup of funny folk, you'd expect something hilarious, and that's often what you get with 101 Damnations. Grouped into 9 circles of hell, everyone from Calvin Trillin to writers for the Letterman Show take off on golf, Tuscany, customer service, going bald -- you hate it, they cover it.
The essays are all very short - some hardly worthy of "essay" status - and most are thought provoking, and will definitely get a rise out of you. Some of the pieces, however, are truly hilarious, such as Kevin Shay's take on people who mime being on the phone by using their thumb and pinky, Camuso and Seely's movie trailers, and Andrew Marlatt's "My Left Hair," which describes the true feelings of the haired vs. the un-haired.

Overall, you will absolutely not be dissapointed with this book, and at times you will laugh out loud. Ideal for any bathroom reading library.

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101 DAMNATIONS: The Humorists' Tour of Personal Hells
Michael J., ed (Like-new) Rosen
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTIEG4

Customer Reviews:

Best Study of Noir Literature I've Read!.......2000-09-18

William Marling's fine book is a wonderful introduction to the field of hard-boiled detective fiction for the serious scholar. He traces the historical background of noir fiction, provides several case studies of central texts, and gives biographies of Hammett, Chandler, and Cain. He respects the genre without being fawning. This book is very readable and academically sound at the same time.

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Top Female Christian Artists: Featuring 25 Contemporary Christian Hits

Manufacturer: Word Music
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0634039288

Product Description

This spectacular folio features 25 of Christian music's biggest hits as recorded by its brightest and best female artists. Songs include: Crystal Clear (Jaci Velasquez) Free (Ginny Owens) I Call Him Love (Kathy Troccoli) Lord, I Believe in You (Crystal Lewis) Redeemer (Nicole C. Mullen) Shout to the Lord (Darlene Zschech) and more.

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Here,try this one...

Colorful and fun

A Great Collection of Mind Twisters

New Book of Puzzles: 101 Classic and Modern Puzzles to Make and Solve
Jerry Slocum , and Jack Botermans
Manufacturer: W H Freeman & Co (Sd)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Wonders in Wood: 46 Puzzles and Other Novelties to Make and Solve

New Wood Puzzle Designs: A Guide to the Construction of Both New and Historic Puzzles

Crafting Wood Logic Puzzles: 18 Three-dimensional Games for the Hands and Mind

Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements: Embracing All Those Which Are Most Important in Dynamics, Hydraulics, Hydrostatics, Pseumatics, Steam en

More Working Wooden Locks: Complete Plans for Five Working Wooden Locks

ASIN: 0716723565

Customer Reviews:

Here,try this one..........2003-12-03

Boy!! what a book for a puzzle lover and/or collector.You just wont find a better book on the subject than this;for the simple reason that the two authors are the top puzzle guys.Well,maybe their other books are just as good.Can you imagine someone with a collection of 20,000 mechanical puzzles and 2,000 puzzle books. Some of these puzzles date back to the 17th.century.This book is so well put together I would suspect that even someone who doesn't particularly like to solve ,or for that matter don't even think they could solve puzzles ;would find this book a joy to thumb through.
The book includes 101 puzzles ,directions on making and solutions.Going through this book is almost as interesting as would be a visit with the authors and looking at this fantastic world class collection.Without question,a book no puzzle lover should be without .I own about 500 puzzle books and this is one of the best and one of my favorites.

Colorful and fun.......2000-08-25

Excellent book covering a wide variety of puzzles, old and new, simple and complex. Full of color photos and diagrams that illustrate the puzzle and its workings, but with a light touch so the reader is not bored with details.

A Great Collection of Mind Twisters.......2000-03-17

The best puzzles satisfy the following criteria:

(a) Easy to understand and look easy to solve.
(b) Difficult to solve.
(c) In reality, easy to solve and the solutions are easy to understand.

All of the puzzles contained in this book, many of which have been in existence in some form for many years, fit the mold defined above. Detailed instructions on how to construct them as well as solutions are included. While most require only standard materials, such skills as wood and metal working are sometimes necessary.
It is easy to feel like an imbecile when you are unsuccessful in solving some of these items and then in desperation go to the solutions and see how simple it is. In many cases, the secret is to abandon the "obvious" approach and look at the problem sideways. The path that first appears least likely to lead to a solution is often the proper one. If you enjoy puzzles, this book is a necessary purchase.

Published in Journal Of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

Book Description

Will enlighten some noncommissioned officers...and frighten others. The book, based on experience throughout a long and successful career, is about leadership from the NCO perspective instead of the officer perspective.--Army Magazine

Customer Reviews:

A Supervisor's Guide to Personnel Management.......2007-04-18

The concept of the three meter zone is brilliant for business-- when combined with some of the reading in Small Unit Leadership: A Common Sense Approach (notice some, I wasn't entirely happy with the other book) you'll find that there are four basic types of employees:

1)Willing and Able: Those who don't need huge amounts of supervision (100 meter zone, completely safe and needs a pat on the back every once in a while)
2)Willing and Unable: Those who can be molded/trained (50 meter zone, needs some training to get the job done but is completely willing to learn with some help)
3)Unwilling and Able: 50 meter zone employee who needs guidance to get him back to the 100 meter zone
4)Unwilling and Unable: 3 meter zone employee-- immediate up-training and close supervision required.

The concept of the 3, 50, and 100 meter zones is based off of a training that the author received concerning the Bouncing Betty Mine-- this is an anti-personnel mine that was capable of killing within 3 meters, wounding at 50, and wasn't out of danger-close until 100 meters. As a supervisor, we are the mine. Our job is to get our employees out of our killing zone (in other words, write ups, disciplinary action, etc) as quick as possible.

Like other great military/business reads that have proceeded it the material is given concisely with a minimum of fluff; you can tell that the author knew what he wanted to say and how to say it. I highly recommend this book for those who want to learn more about military doctrine in business; my copy is right next to the Book of Five Rings and the Art of War.

The Three Meter Zone.......2007-03-23

Excellent book for any leader that would like to fine tune there skills and furture career advancment

An NCO must!!!!.......2005-09-21

Great book. This is direct, in your face leadership for today's first line leaders. This book should be a required reading for all NCO's in the Army.

The Three Meter Zone.......2004-02-05

Welcome to The Three Meter Zone, the zone where first-line leaders accomplish an organization's most vital work. The critical leadership in any organization is that provided by first-line leaders. In the military that responsibility falls to Noncommissioned Officers, the group of men and women considered the Backbone of the force. Daily, they train and mold soldiers through expert action and by professional example. Without rock-solid leaders in the Three Meter Zone, the strategic mission fails. The Three Meter Zone challenges you to assess your leadership abilities and provide the crucial leadership your organization needs.

The best way to understand the impact first-line leadership has on organizations and what it entails is to thoroughly study it where it occurs. In the Three Meter Zone.

3-Meter Leadership.......2002-11-08

Outstanding guide for NCOs. I bought this book when I was assigned to USAREC and have used it ever since.

Amazon.com

Stories of famously eccentric Princetonians abound--such as that of chemist Hubert Alyea, the model for The Absent-Minded Professor, or Ralph Nader, said to have had his own key to the library as an undergraduate. Or the "Phantom of Fine Hall," a figure many students had seen shuffling around the corridors of the math and physics building wearing purple sneakers and writing numerology treatises on the blackboards. The Phantom was John Nash, one of the most brilliant mathematicians of his generation, who had spiraled into schizophrenia in the 1950s. His most important work had been in game theory, which by the 1980s was underpinning a large part of economics. When the Nobel Prize committee began debating a prize for game theory, Nash's name inevitably came up--only to be dismissed, since the prize clearly could not go to a madman. But in 1994 Nash, in remission from schizophrenia, shared the Nobel Prize in economics for work done some 45 years previously.

Economist and journalist Sylvia Nasar has written a biography of Nash that looks at all sides of his life. She gives an intelligent, understandable exposition of his mathematical ideas and a picture of schizophrenia that is evocative but decidedly unromantic. Her story of the machinations behind Nash's Nobel is fascinating and one of very few such accounts available in print (the CIA could learn a thing or two from the Nobel committees). This highly recommended book is indeed "a story about the mystery of the human mind, in three acts: genius, madness, reawakening." --Mary Ellen Curtin

Book Description

How could you, a mathematician, believe that extraterrestrials were sending you messages?" the visitor from Harvard asked the West Virginian with the movie-star looks and Olympian manner.

"Because the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way my mathematical ideas did," came the answer. "So I took them seriously."

Thus begins the true story of John Nash, the mathematical genius who was a legend by age thirty when he slipped into madness, and who -- thanks to the selflessness of a beautiful woman and the loyalty of the mathematics community -- emerged after decades of ghostlike existence to win a Nobel Prize and world acclaim. The inspiration for a major motion picture, Sylvia Nasar's award-winning biography is a drama about the mystery of the human mind, triumph over incredible adversity, and the healing power of love.

Customer Reviews:

He Saw The World In A Way No One Could Have Imagined: A Tour de Force.......2007-10-06

~A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash~ is Sylvia Nassar's most remarkable biography of the life of mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. This is not the most flattering of biographies, but a remarkably intriguing one nonetheless. Nicknamed the Kid Professor, Nash started teaching first at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at age twenty-three. Nash gained acclaim following after he became a Nobel Laureate in 1994 for his contributions to economics, game theory, and mathematics. But earning this prestigious accolade was marked by a career of alienation and hardship.

He devised the so called Nash equilibrium, and contributed a breathtaking corpus of research to the study of game theory. Game theory concerns itself with the study of strategic interactions between agents. Parties choose strategies which will maximize their return in response to the strategies that other parties choose. Nash transcended the earlier zero-sum game theories, and revolutionized the application of game theory to both economic, political and military strategic questions. Traditionally, game theory applications were primarily were zero-sum in nature, with the winner-take-all approach-- i.e., my win is your loss, or vice versa.

True genius is often thought to meet the edge of insanity by some people. This held true in the life of John Nash. Lamentably, Nash suffered from schizophrenia, and made harrowing descent into mental illness complete with psychotic delusions and bizarre visions. His illness fueled his bizarre obsessions with numerology and other eccentricities.

Nash resigned his post at MIT after his first serious episodes. He took a position with the enigmatic Cold War think tank the RAND Corporation. RAND, the ultra secretive civilian think tank had a casual campus environment in the laid-back Santa Monica, CA of the 1950s, which hosted some of the most brilliant minds in the United States. RAND was enveloped in a melange of detachment, paranoia, and megalomania. His tenure there perhaps fueled his later Cold War paranoia, which came to bloom when his mental illness reached its full blown stage.

After some breakdowns, Nash recouped his bearings and went onto teach at Princeton. There he met his future wife Alicia who was one of his students. She became enamored with his genius. And contrary to popular myth, though schizophrenics are often thought to be devoid of personal attachments, Nash could show empathy and love. Though his illness frequently revisited him, his wife helped him cope with it. Nash scrawled numbers all over Princeton Hall, and became a mysterious ghost-like figure on the campus of Princeton University. His illness ultimately strained their marriage to the point of separation for a while. At one time, he coped with his illness by traveling Europe and became enamored of his delusions of self-importance. When his mental illness became full-blown, it incapacitated him and left him feeling utterly worthless. His wife had him committed to an institution briefly, before reconciling and moving back in with him to care for him. Instead of being relegated to obscurity, Nash eventually overcame his mental illness with age, and with the recommendation of his peers began to earn the recognition he long deserved.

All things considered, this is a most remarkable look at the life of John Nash. Perhaps the eccentric Nash would not have been very well regarded but for his genius. But Nash showed himself capable of compassion, empathy and love in the relationship with his wife Alicia. Nash possessed as his wife Alicia saw--a beautiful mind. Nash's life was dramatized in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind based on Nassar's book, which renewed interest in the book first published in 1998.

My $.02 worth.......2007-09-30

I read this book long after it was published, and long after it had accumulated more reviews than anyone is likely to wade through. It's tough to think of a fresh approach, but here's a try:
An amusing, minor sub-theme in this book is the fact that John Nash, who ranks at or near the top among American mathematicians of the past century, was a flop at picking stocks. He devoted a tremendous amount of time to looking for patterns and other indicators that might help him beat the market, and he wound up doing worse than your average patzer. He even lost a sizable chunk of his mother's investment funds.
Think about that the next time you are tempted to respond to one of those blaring magazine or TV ads offering to sell you a technical stock-picking system that really works.

Dad's father's day gift.......2007-07-22

Amazon's website wouldn't let me type a zip code; the website defaulted the zip based on city name and zip was incorrect. As a result, package couldn't be delivered and I was issued a full refund.

Good, but sometimes to in-depth.......2007-06-29

Very good story, I could hardly put it down.

though at times Sylvia spent an entire chapter simply talking about a university, She struggled staying with her point, though only at times.

A Beautiful Book.......2007-06-15

In Nasar's biography of the Nobel prize winning mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr., his descent into irrationality is portrayed by chronicling several experiences in his frenetic childhood and those from his early adulthood to the present.

In the first chapters of the book, Nasar juxtaposes several episodes in Nash's distinguished childhood, displaying his early genius in chemistry and math in conjunction with those that reveal a childishness equally as impressive. As a youngster, Nasar shows his penchant for pulling pranks on his friends, at one time electrocuting a neighbor and even his own sister, who was continually forced by her mother as they grew up to include the younger Nash in her social activities. However, Nash, though not taciturn, preferred reading encyclopedias and most of all, experimenting. His experiments with bomb-making actually killed one of his childhood friends, after which Nash stopped making them for the rest of his life.

The book describes Nash's early discovery of his love for math one day while reading a book about Fermat's Theorem on prime numbers, which he proved by his own self at the age of 12. It also details his spurning Harvard for Princeton University, a less recognized mathematics school then despite Albert Einstein's prominent position in the faculty, upon his graduation from Carnegie Mellon University, then known as the Carnegie Institute of Technology, because he felt they had not tried hard enough to pursue him.

Indeed, his egocentrism is depicted throughout the whole biography, and it is this megalomania which would later develop into full-blown schizophrenia and terrorize his whole constitution for decades, halting his academic production almost completely during that time period.

Nash ascribes his sudden affliction to a number of disappointments: first, though Nash had solved a problem on turbulence in which he was able to devise a mathematical model for notating its sudden changes in motion, he found out when he was about to submit his paper for publication that someone else, an Italian by the name of De Giorgi, had beat him to it and published his paper in the most obscure journal imaginable; secondly, he says in a letter that his attempt to revise quantum theory was "possibly overreaching and psychologically destabilizing."; third, he attributes his failure to win the Fields Medal in 1958--his last chance since it is generally awarded to young mathematicians--as a contributing factor to his disease. The rest of the book focuses on his delusional experiences and the assistance and loving care of his small group of friends, including his wife, which helped him finally regain control of his mind in 1990.

It was at Princeton that Nash became familiar with John von Neumann's famous theory on rational human behavior, The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, which focused on zero-sum two person games, and which he felt was unrealistic for predicting most economic situations. Concentrating on what to him were gaping flaws in von Neumann's work, he set out to write his epochal dissertation on a theory that could encompass all realistic scenarios, called Non-cooperative Games, which contained the definition of his equilibrium theory, whose name he is now its eponym. His results also inspired the most famous game of strategy in all of social science: The Prisoner's Dilemma. More significantly, it was this work which won him his Nobel prize in Economics in 1994.

Nasar states that his hyper-competitive spirit was fueled by an intense drive to succeed. When he did not receive an assistant professorship offer from Princeton after obtaining his Ph.D at only 22 years of age, despite his seminal paper on algebraic manifolds, he was humiliated deeply and thereafter went to MIT where he was offered a fellowship. At 25, Nasar describes Nash's sudden impulse to solve the embedding problem for manifolds--a problem which had been left unsolved since it was suggested by Riemann--as a way to belittle a colleague at MIT. And he did. This is today one of the most famous works in pure mathematics.

The body of research which Nasar obviously has pored over is impressive, and it shows in the fluidity of his biography, which flows like a novel, and the immense number of sources cited. It is a fascinating book and one which I recommend as an insight into the emergence of a supposedly degenerative disease and its subsequent effects on a man who at the time seemed on the verge of unprecedented success and fame in the scholastic world. It also shows how even the most logical can at times seem most illogical, and vice versa. As Nash says, "the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way my mathematical ideas did." For me, I was less intrigued by the episodes detailing Nash's battles with schizophrenia than I was with those of his academic achievements. His spirit and motivation is something I wish I possessed much more of.

All in all, this is a book I enjoyed immensely. And for $2 at Deseret Industries, I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my money!

A Beautiful Mind - The Life Of Mathematical Genius And Nobel Laureate John Nash

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A Beautiful Mind - The Life Of Mathematical Genius And Nobel Laureate John Nash
Sylvia Nasar
Manufacturer: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JZUHEA

Book Description

Confederate cavalry operating in the Trans-Mississippi during the Civil War has received little scholarly attention, partially because of the paucity of written resources that survived the conflict.

While there are a few published letter collections and a handful of memoirs, little is known of the troopers' daily activities. With the publication of the order book of Parsons's Brigade, a compilation of the original daily orders preserved by members of the brigade following the Civil War, the story of these horsemen comes to light.

The Texans were on the move daily, skirmishing or scouting with Union cavalry from the time they arrived in Arkansas in 1862 until the time they returned to Texas in 1865. As cavalrymen, they endured a life of privation and hardship, sleeping in the muddy bayous of northeastern Louisiana or along the banks of the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers.

For the first time the reader can follow the everyday life of a Texas cavalryman as he served the Confederacy faithfully in a losing cause.

Customer Reviews:

roller coaster book from interesting to absolute boredum.......2006-10-15

As a cavalry history buff I was very interested to read this book. It took all I could do to finish this book. If you are interested in the daily orders that range from oders for deserters, forage, arrest, sickness, or as the author states daily life then you will love this. For me it was a struggle. The maps were so small that I needed a magnifying glass to read. It would have been nice to have had a Texas map showing all of the counties that the soldiers were from. Overall a history lesson of a Texas cavalry unit that suffered greatly as many did in this sad time in our history.

Primary Source Documents of a Confederate brigade.......2005-04-15

The Trans-Mississippi district of the Confederacy has received little attention in the literature. And what literature exists has largely concentrated on the irregular forces operating in Northern Arkansas. Even most of the Trans-Mississippi forces were used in other places (Such as the Louisiana Tigers fighting at Antietam where they suffered 61% casualties.).

After the attack on Fort Sumter in 1861 the Governor of Texas authorized the raising of regiments for the new Confederate Government. The Twelfth Texas Cavalry under Colonel William Henry Parsons was one such unit. Their first battle was against a foraging party on May 19. This was a battle of little overall consequence, but it was the first, and it was a victory.

From then on until 1865 the Texans were constantly on the move around Arkansas. The book consists mostly of copies of orders and reports that cover the movements of the unit. It is fascinating to see the level of detail that illustrates what a military unit of the time was doing. An amazing amount of effort was spent on foraging for supplies, buying horses, sending men to perform some task or whatever. A surprisingly small amount of time was actually spent fighting. These combined documents present a direct first hand account of the activities of a unit.

These documents are a direct representation of primary sources, transcribed from the original hand written documents.

An up-close and personal look Texas cavalry life.......2005-02-09

History professor Anne Bailey presents In The Saddle With The Texans: Day-By-Day With Parson's Cavalry Brigade, 1862-1865, a collection of primary sources, especially special orders, general orders, and communication between lieutenants, colonels and the like with regard to Parson's Brigade of Texan cavalry during the American Civil War. An introduction and footnotes strive to clarify references, but the vast bulk of In The Saddle With The Texans simply presents the communications themselves for scholars and amateur or professional historians to contemplate. Most of the actual missives are brief, such as "Maj. Thos [Thomas] Johns Brigade Q.M. will turn over to Lieut. E.W. Hunt Two Hundred dollars to defray expenses in going after Blankets for the Command." Yet a general picture emerges, of a unit constantly on the move, skirmishing with Union cavalry, scouting the enemy, and surviving in hardship. A welcome contribution to primary source references concerning the American Civil War, offering an up-close and personal look Texas cavalry life.

Texans in the Confederate Cavalry (Civil War Campaigns and Commanders)

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Interesting Subject, Disorganized Presentation

Texans in the Confederate Cavalry (Civil War Campaigns and Commanders)
Anne J. Bailey
Manufacturer: McWhiney Foundation Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1886661022

Book Description

Texas Rangers had patrolled on horseback since the early days of the Republic. Texas military heritage, born in a revolution from Mexico in the 1830s and maturing in the Mexican-American War of the 1840s, shaped all who lived there. Now, years later, a handful of these veterans and a generation raised in this heritage would make a colorful and heroic contribution to the Civil War as unique and independent "horse soldiers." This is the picturesque story of their battles and skirmishes where the often outnumbered cavalry, through bravado or sheer madness, frequently helped turn the tide of battle . . . from Colonel Parsons' assault on the Federal Navy during the Red River Campaign of 1864 to Terry's Texas Rangers with General Wheeler's horsemen tirelessly badgering Sherman on his "March to the Sea," it's all here. A lively and picturesque narration by a respected historian.

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Interesting Subject, Disorganized Presentation.......2000-07-14

You can probably find no more colorful soldiers than those representing the Confederacy from Texas. Ms. Bailey presents an interesting overview of these individuals, often overlooked as they were confined to the obscure Trans-Mississippi department. The presentation of this material, however, seemed to be somewhat disjointed with much content seeming to repeat rather often. I felt that there was so much more to learn about these intriguing and colorful individuals that could have been more thoroughly investigated, even given the restrictive limitations of this introductory overview. Furthermore, a few inaccuracies exist, such as with the illustration presented for David Dixon Porter, which in reality is actually a picture of his brother, William D. "Dirty" Dixon. Being confused for his brother would have created much consternation to David Dixon, as William Dixon was often a source of great anxiety and concern for the Dixon family. Nonetheless, for a quick review of Texan Cavalry participation in the Civil War, especially that of the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy, this title serves satisfactorily as a basic beginning point, prior to more in-depth examinations.

Andrew Jackson Potter, the fighting parson of the Texan frontier: Six years of Indian warfare in New Mexico and Arizona : many wonderful events in his ... known as the "Indian Fighting Parson"

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Andrew Jackson Potter, the fighting parson of the Texan frontier: Six years of Indian warfare in New Mexico and Arizona : many wonderful events in his ... known as the "Indian Fighting Parson"
H. A Graves
Manufacturer: Brookhaven Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Andrew Jackson Potter, the fighting parson of the Texan frontier: Six years of Indian warfare in New Mexico and Arizona. Many wonderful events in his ministerial life
H. A Graves
Manufacturer: Southern Methodist Pub. House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Andrew Jackson Potter, the noted parson of the Texan frontier: Six years of Indian warfare in New Mexico and Arizona, many wonderful events in his ministerial life

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Andrew Jackson Potter, the noted parson of the Texan frontier: Six years of Indian warfare in New Mexico and Arizona, many wonderful events in his ministerial life
H. A Graves
Manufacturer: Pub. House of the M.E. Church, South, J.D. Barbee, agent
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

Development - is it a powerful vision of a better life for the half of the world 's population who subsist on two dollars a day? Or is it a failed Enlightenment legacy, an oppressive 'master narrative'? Such questions inspire a field newly animated by theories of globalization, modernity, cultural hybridity, and transnationalism. The Anthropology of Development and Globalization is a collection of readings that provides an unprecedented overview of this field that ranges from its classical origins to today 's debates about the 'magic' of the free market.The volume is framed by an encyclopedic introduction that will prove indispensable to students and experts alike. Subsequent readings range from classics by Weber and Marx and Engels to contemporary works on the politics of development knowledge, consumption, environment, gender, international NGO networks, the International Monetary Fund, campaigns to reform the World Bank, the collapse of socialism, and the limits of "post-developmentalism. " Explicitly designed for teaching, The Anthropology of Development and Globalization fills a crucial gap; no other available text so richly mingles historical, cultural, political, and economic perspectives on development and globalization, and none captures such a wide variety of theoretical approaches and topics as does this exciting collection.

Book Description

Advances in the dynamics of stellar systems have been made recently by applying mathematical methods of ergodic theory and chaotic dynamics, by numerous computer simulations, and by observations with the most powerful telescopes. This has led to a considerable change of our view on stellar systems. These systems appear much more chaotic than was previously thought and subject to various instabilities leading to new paths of evolution than previously thought. The implications are fundamental for our views on the evolution of the galaxies and the universe. Such questions are addressed in this book, especially in the 8 review papers by leading experts on various aspects of the N-body problem, explaining at the graduate/postgraduate level the concepts, methods, techniques and results.

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