Welch: A Business Icon

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SPECIAL INSIGHT INTO THE WORLD'S GREATEST LEADER!

Strong Reading

Don't bother to read it

where is the man?

Underwhelming

Welch: A Business Icon
Janet Lowe
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Amazon.com

Financial writer Janet Lowe is the author of numerous business biographies, including Jack Welch Speaks, which analyzes what the legendary chairman of General Electric has had to say about himself and his career. In her new book, Welch: An American Icon, Lowe defines the legacy he will leave behind, when he retires sometime after the end of 2001, by examining how Welch "made himself into a global icon representing American business in its most powerful, most impressive, most efficient, and most admired incarnation." Her opening section looks at the man--who he is, where he came from, what he believes--along with the inimitable personal style that earned him Fortune magazine's Manager of the Century designation. Part Two details the changes Welch imposed on GE during his 20 years at the helm, from restructuring the management and employee ranks to revamping the business lineup, implementing the Six Sigma quality initiative, and committing to both globalization and the Internet. It also discusses the hundreds of firms he jettisoned or acquired, and the way he used the company's 67,588 patents to build from within. The final part speculates on the future: GE after Welch (including challenges facing his successor, like rebuilding the management team and managing the public's perception of it) and Welch after GE (with activities ranging from a bigtime book tour and golf to charity work and a possible foray into e-commerce). Prior to the release of Welch's own book after he steps down, this offers probably the most up-to-date look available at this highly competitive strategist whose shoes will indeed be difficult to fill. --Howard Rothman

Book Description

A rare perspective on the personal philosophy, business savvy, and future of the chairman of the most admired company in the world
Jack Welch, chairman of General Electric, is due to retire this spring. Welch has transported GE into the new economy with his management style, his forward-thinking approach to new technology, and by encouraging creativity among his employees. This book provides a look at what the innovative powerhouse executive has brought to American business and what will ultimately be his legacy. Thorough, authoritative, and absorbing, Welch: An American Icon includes interviews with CEOs at other leading companies who have worked under Welch and been trained by him, as well as interviews with other GE executives.
Janet Lowe (Del Mar, CA) is an investment writer and author who has written sixteen business and biographical works, including the recent Damn Right!: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire-Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger (0-471-24473-2). Ms. Lowe is past editor of the San Diego Daily Transcript and Financial Editor of the San Diego Tribune. More than 200 of her business articles have appeared in such publications as Newsweek, the Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Customer Reviews:

SPECIAL INSIGHT INTO THE WORLD'S GREATEST LEADER!.......2001-10-10

I really liked Janet Lowe's breezy, yet comprehensive writing style. She certainly captures not only the man but his impressive leadership traits and business acumen. I have the full Welch library but I would highlight this book out of the bunch simply because of her ability to tell a good story. Many of the other Welch books are dry and do not provide new insight. Clearly the author had connects into Welch and GE that allowed her to tell a rich story. I strongly recommend as a must-have to anyone in business.

Strong Reading.......2001-07-11

I don't know what book some of these other reviewers read but I found the man fascinating and the presentation excellent. I would definitely recommend this for anyone interested in the evolution of a corporation in the latter part of the 20th century going into the 21st century.

Don't bother to read it.......2001-06-25

Any book that has that many footnotes can't be good. The reader does not care if the author is completely accurate in their information, we just want to get to know the character of the book - what makes him tick, how he thinks, what are his habits, etc. In fact some of the best biographies I have read take liberties with the information to embelish the story and make it interesting. Just read some of Irving Stone's great biographies, Agony and the Ecstacy for example, to see what I mean. The author has plenty of footnotes, but no insightful information. She jumps from one topic to another, without ever giving the reader a good feel for any of the topics she covers. She would have been better off to cut the things she discussed in half and developed each idea more fully. Don't bother reading this book. Wait for Jack's own book. Hopefully we will get to know him better then.

PS: At least is was better than Robert Slaters fauning accounts of GE and Welch.

where is the man?.......2001-06-22

I was very disappointed in this book .I thought it was a biography of the man but instead it was a synopsis of business management only. Who cares about the daily life of the corporate CEO? I wanted to know the man. What were his parents like, what kind of a childhood did he have? How about some pictures of Jack the kid? Who was his wife of twenty eight years, what are her opinions of Jack, as a man and a father? How about his children, do they have insights into their fathers feelings? What experiences in his life molded him into what he became? These and many other questions were not answered. How can anyone write a biography with no personal facts or anecdotes? Try it again Janet, the third time never fails.

Underwhelming.......2001-06-12

I would have rated this book higher were it the only book on its subject. In fact, Lowe and others have already written or edited an abundance of material about Welch. Moreover, judged as a biography or as a critical analysis, the book is solid but (for various reasons) nowhere near as lively as recent biographies of DiMaggio, Daley, Orwell, Chandler, Chaucer, and Greenspan. Perhaps it is Lowe's writing style. Perhaps it is her often deferential attitude toward Welch as icon. Perhaps it is the relatively modest amount of information about Welch as an imperfect (albeit extraordinary) human being. Frankly, I had hoped to obtain previously unavailable information about various transitions in his life as well as in his career. Or at least learn more about what his career transitions reveal about his values. And especially more about his reflections on past mistakes as well as successes. I plan to wait a month or two and then re-read this book. Perhaps I will then agree that it is the "fascinating and rewarding book" which George Kozmetsky claims, as quoted on the dust jacket. For now, I rate it OK.

Customer Reviews:

the joe louis story.......2003-10-13

well written bio of the great boxer--possibly the greatest heavyweight of all time---some of the photos included should have been edited better
an easy to read format and this soft cover version is very portable

A must-read if you're interested in boxing, race, or history.......2000-01-29

This book was excerpted as a cover story in Sports Illustrated in 1986. I bought it then, loved it, and loaned my copy to somebody who never returned it. I recently bought this paperback edition and reread it. The book is every bit as terrific as I remembered. Chris Mead has done an astonishing job of reconstructing history and of reminding Americans just how different the world was in the 1930s and 1940s. This is a work of discernment and sensitivity -- but it's also an exciting page turner, even if you know how the story comes out. Buy it, read it, loan it to your friends -- but be sure they give it back!

Excellence at its best.......1999-10-18

Boxing fans everywhere must take a glimps at this book. You won't believe the struggle Joe endured to get where he wanted to be. An unbelievable book! You won't be sorry!

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Champion Joe Louis
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The fighting life of a fighter: Joe Louis, world heavy-weight champion

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The fighting life of a fighter: Joe Louis, world heavy-weight champion
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Book Description

Glam & Gutter! Popular British culture of the 1960s and 1970s, with an emphasis on the 'throwaway' world of sex, drugs, comics and rock'n'roll. From clichéd hippies to nonconformists, through trend-crushing youth movements to pop stars in bad horror movies and prog rock.

Customer Reviews:

this book is great.......2003-10-21

good for anglophiles and nostalgics. i wish there were a companion book to this that was mostly pictures. that would be amazing. i highly recommend this.

Book Description

The Beast in the title refers to the crude materialistic culture that is so pervasive in a society dominated by mass media. Gulbekian shows spiritual seekers that, rather than shunning this perceived evil, you can actively and spiritually engage it, thereby transforming it from the inside out.

Part 1 introduces this concept of getting within the skin of pop culture in order to change it and yourself for the better. Part 2 examines a diverse blend of pop culture happenings from the past decade and shows you how cultural events can be transformed into an opportunity for spiritual growth. From Gangsta Rap and "Beavis and Butt-head" to Prince Charles and Princess Diana; to media coverage of the Persian Gulf War, "In the Belly of the Beast" illustrates how these mainstream cultural trends are symptoms of larger undercurrents in the spiritual world and so need to be understood rather than avoided.

Customer Reviews:

REVIEW FROM NEXUS MAGAZINE, June/July 2004.......2004-05-26

I am the author of this book, and I think it's not bad. But don't take my word for it - I'm biased! Here is a published review:

NEXUS MAGAZINE, June/July 2004

Our modern -day mass culture is in the grip of The Beast, characterised by materialism, consumerism and celebrity worship. What it needs, says esoteric book publisher Sevak Gulbekian, is an injection of spirituality; the science of materialism needs to be replaced by the science of spirit.

Acknowledging that we do live in a physical world, Gulbekian proposes a way that we can healthily and constructively engage modern culture from a spiritual perspective and maintain our sanity and balance in the process. The basic premise is that as human beings our task is to tread the spiritual path in a material world. In order to do this, we need to develop heightened capacities of perception so we can have clear insight into the machinations of the material world. This requires, as any true spiritual path does, self-discipline, study and meditation. It also involves learning to appreciate the fine line between truth and illusion and to understand thought as a spiritual force.

Gulbekian's perspective is especially informed by Manichaeism, with its insights into evil and how to transform it, as well as the spiritual philosophies of Rudolf Steiner. It's also informed by his lifelong study of popular culture, and here he presents case studies that highlight how materialistic culture is ripping away at the deeper currents of human soul and spirituality. He looks at the influence of gangsta rap, where music corporations and the rappers themselves are motivated by money, not social conscience; the spiritual leadership of Prince Charles, which has been so trivialised by the mass media; and the latterday confusion of David Icke, whose interest in shapeshifting reptilian aliens is a descent into materialism on another scale. Gulbekian offers a middle path where we can evolve via our commitment to transforming society from within.

Ruth Parnell

This is the real globalisation challenge.......2004-05-25

There are two dangers for the reader of this book: they may read it as an already confirmed opponent of anglo-american/international globalisation looking only for confirmation of their own views. Or they could read it, as one of the editorial critics does, with the opposite bias, unable to see the contemporary problem.
However, the thoughtful reader will find that Gulbekian is that most satisfying of writers: someone who has pondered deep issues of our time enough to distill out some profound and disturbing insights. By any standard deriving from the last 50,000 years of human history, this is an apocalyptic time. The potential and dangers of our time are truly global; many of the threats - environmental, WMDs, poverty etc - are profound; yet much of the politicking about solutions operates at the level of facile soundbite and/or dismissive rhetoric, while an ad for a better cosmetic faces a magazine article on genocide or polluted water supply. The point is that contemporary culture is either dissociated (the optimistic view) or Janus faced.
Gulbekian gives a succinct but powerful reading of these and other issues and suggests a way of individual action that rehabilitates the conscience and awareness of the individual. I commend it.
Professor Angus Jenkinson

This is the book I have been waiting for..........2004-04-07

At last, a book that successfully combines modern culture and spirituality - and offers a way to survive without escaping the world of macdonalds and cocacola. This is a first, and is impressive. Not only does the author present the reality behind contemporary life, but he shows you how you can deal with it, and maintain your composure and consciousness of self at the same time.

This book is bound to be copied by others, so get the real deal now.

Book Description

Want to work more efficiently and effectively? Want to improve productivity? Microsoft is betting that you do. That's why it created Windows SharePoint Services--a set of collaboration tools that helps organizations increase individual and team productivity by enabling them to create web sites for information sharing and document collaboration. Through these team-oriented web sites, users capture and share ideas, and work together on documents, tasks, contacts, etc.--either among themselves or with partners and customers. And if you have Windows 2003 Server, then you already have SharePoint, since it's built right in. But before you can enjoy the benefits of SharePoint, you need to know how to turn it on, set it up, and get your applications working with it. Essential Sharepoint will help you do just that. It's not only the most complete guide for setting up and using these increasingly popular sites, but it also explains in detail the integration that makes SharePoint exciting. Everything you need to know about SharePoint is covered, including:

hosting choices
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Essential Sharepoint covers all the key topics for getting up and running with this powerful and popular set of collaboration tools. And it's not just for members of the IT staff. This comprehensive guide is for anyone in an organization who wants to explore Microsoft SharePoint in order to foster collaboration with other users.

Customer Reviews:

Not enough depth!.......2006-08-24

If you are looking for indepth explanation of how to exploit different features of Sharepoint then this book is not for you. This book is good if you want and can survive with a high level overview of sharepoint.

If you want to know of things like:
-Branding
-Details of ONet.XML
-How to use FrontPage to edit website.
-Best practices for developing Sharepoint based solutions.
you want a different book.

However this book does have its merits if you are starting with sharepoint and want to get up and running soon. It does have a lot of pointers as to where you can get more detailed information.

I would disagree with most reviews posted on this website which claim that this is a must have book for sharepoint. Use of your discretion is highly recommended.

I returned this book........2006-06-23

I've never returned a book to Amazon before, but I did return this one. I got more out of 10 minutes just using SharePoint than I did going through this book.

Several of the examples didn't even work - don't waste your time.

If you are a web developer, this book is for you.......2006-03-15

I am a web developer and bought this book to learn about SharePoint, which seems to be gaining in popularity.
The book was perfect for me. The first half or so of the book explains what SharePoint can be used for and then takes you through quite a few exercises actually using the tool.
The second half covers a lot of ground focusing on developing web parts and how to program access to SharePoint from various Office applications like Word and Excel and also .Net.
The text is easy to follow (and not verbose), works very well with the numerous illustrations and everything is explained clearly and straight to the point.
If you are a web developer, this book is for you.

Best Book on WSS 2.0.......2006-01-06

This book focuses on WSS and gets you up and running quickly. There are extensive examples, all of which work as described. The info on integrating with Office (chapters 4, 5, and 6) are the best resources on the subject available in my opinion.

The web part chapters (8 and 9) take you further in 60 pages than the entire Rational Guide (which I returned). The built web part samples are available from the author's site, as is an "Ask Jeff" forum where you can get answers if you get stuck. More authors should do that!

Not Useful.......2006-01-06

I purchased the book to help with some web parts development. The part on deploying web parts is just patently incorrect. Even following the author's instructions step by step, I still had problem deploying my web part. The worst part of it is that the book's content simply doesn't match up with what happens in Sharepoint. Perhaps the books was written with an earlier, different version of Sharepoint but it doesn't match up with Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services 2003. In fact, compared to other sources, the instructions given appear to be missing a step or two.

Average customer rating:

An Odyssey in Nature

hoff Vs. beck

A Tender Heart

Astounding literature

Will change the way you see your own surroundings

The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow: The Mystical Nature Diary of Opal Whiteley
Opal Whiteley
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

An Odyssey in Nature .......2007-08-21

An incredibly beautiful journal written by a young child prodigy. It is lyrical and delightful. A wonderful book.

hoff Vs. beck.......2006-01-28

I'm a huge fan of Benjamin Hoff. Who is a spiritual writer that a guy like me (who doesn't keep "earth crystals" in pocket or wreak of Nag Champa) can get into. I could go on glowingly about the passion that Hoff applies while exploring his subject. I would be someone pointed out to me that Hoff had been discredited by Katherine Beck. So I'm kind of writing a dual review using Beck's book as a jumping off point.

Some facts about Beck's book:

1) Beck never really discredits Opal for writing the book when she claimed: she admits that:
a) Opal was incredibly bright as a teenager, bizzarely aware of the latin names of plants and animals. beck admits that by 15 or she was already a prodigy. But never attempts to explain how that related to possibly she could have been a brilliant writer as a child.
b) Beck claims in response to forensic information favorable to at least part of Opal's story, that Opal planned the hoax by saving old scraps of paper and crayons from her childhood for 10 or 15 years and moving with to multiple houses and states to write the diary, appearantly hedging against future forensic technology, then torn her work to shreds and left it in jeopardy in a place where it could have been destroyed just to really sell people on it's authenticity. Also as native of the Willamete Valley I've met people who can recreate her journeys, which would have been hard to fake from a distance. That's about as crazy as any claims Opal made about the book.
c) Beck gives examples of other child authors of the time who she feels were better writers, so why would be inconcievable to her that a substandard counterpart would exist? She doesn't even touch on it.
2) Beck doesn't like Opal at all, she doesn't like her writing, kind implies she was harlot and a racist, and worst of all for me personally; she's glib about Opal's crippling mental illness.
3) Beck seems affectionate for amatuer Opalites but seems to think people like Hoff and Nassif are nuts and paints Boulton as criminally Naive. She doesn't seem think Opal should be taught in schools, or at least thinks its screwball.
4) Beck takes no time to really examine the spiritual significance of the book, except to say she thinks it's pre-new age tripe. To Beck it was popular at the time because people were gulliable and if it's getting a comeback now it must be for the same reason.

Even being horder of Opal related history I got bored because reading someone's account of how much they dislike someone who was at worst kind of a liar and bad writer (remember it's not like Opal was dictator or anything) gets really, really tedious after about 50 pages. Also discrediting the most widely discredited author of the last 100 years is not an exciting read. I think the Seattle Times called it "Myopic" which it is, that and commendably thorough and also kind of spiteful. I've been trying to find people to disscuss the book with who aren't Opalites, who dispise Beck. I did talk to one guy who hates Opal and Opalites for very personal reasons but he was a little bored by the book and didn't finish it. The same man read Hoff and praised his writing but didn't see Opal's appeal.

Now, Hoff, by contrast, is over flowing with praise for Opal. Beck interestingly "uncovers" a fact printed in book. Hoff was in love Opal, or the concept of her. So we can't call him biased. He presents a rosy picture of the girl who obiviously had a darkside. At the same time I like Hoff because he comes to the most rational conclusion about the book: It was written by a highly functional abused little schitzophrenic girl, and likely futzed with later in her life. Opal is a tragic figure to anyone who sees beauty in her wierd prose and a non-sequitor for anyone who doesn't. Hoff isn't bias free but no one is biasless about Opal. Also his repackaging of the diary is in my opinion the definitive version. Hoff is a brilliant counterpart in the present day to Opal. Who is due for a looking over outside of the neigh-sayers and new-agers.

A Tender Heart.......2005-10-08

To say this is my favorite book of all time, my most treasured, the one I would grab in a housefire - that is just a beginning. Opal brings us into the innocence and wonder of childhood in a way that inspires us to reclaim that part of ourselves. There are haunting scenes that pull you to love her and precious glimpses into her imaginings that wake you up to the magic in life. As she trots around with critters in her pockets and on her shoulders with names inspired by the great writers, christens baby chicks in the barn and finds notes and ribbons left by the fairies in the woods, Opal delights us and opens our hearts to a more tender place.

Astounding literature.......2005-07-19

This book is the diary of a six-year-old girl named Opal Whiteley, who grew up in Oregon logging camps in the early 1900s. She loved nature and her writing style was inimitably beautiful.

Her diary was published first in 1920, but became the centre of a large controversy and was dismissed as a fraud. Mr Hoff discovered a copy of this book by chance in 1983, and was so fascinated by it that he spent years researching the life of Opal to determine the true story.

It most certainly is no fraud. Mr Hoff opens this book with a very well-researched, unbiased biography of Opal which proves beyond doubt that this really was her diary written at age six. He follows this up with the diary (or what exists of it), and ends with the tale of his story of trying to meet Opal personally.

The tone of the book, by the time you have read from beginning to end, is one of tragedy. However, like the lonely, brave tones of a bird chirping through the twilight its farewell to the setting sun and a day that shall never return, beauty sometimes IS bitter sweet; but the quiet love, the charming way Opal describes her surroundings, her pets, the people she meets, and the voices of the natural world which Opal understood so well balance out the sadness and make this book well worth reading and adding to your personal collection.

Opal's story is at once a sad commentary on the way one small hint of a rumour can snowball into the destruction of a person's life and a celebration of childhood and nature. It is mostly the latter.

This is a brief passage from the diary part of the book, to give you a sample of its simplistic yet profound loveliness.

"And all the times I was picking up potatoes, I did have conversations with them. Too, I did have thinks of all their growing days here in the ground, and all the things they did hear. Earth-voices are glad voices, and earth-songs come up from the ground through the plants; and in their flowering, and in the days before these days are come, they do tell the earth-songs to the wind. And the wind in her goings does whisper them to folks to print for other folks, so other folks do have knowing of earth's songs. When I grow up, I am going to write for children - and grownups that haven't grown up too much - all the earth-songs I now do hear."

Doesn't that just sound like such music?

Please read this book. Take it to heart.

And thank you, Mr Hoff, for your loving tribute to an amazing woman, and for the hard work you did to bring this masterpiece back into the public eye.

Will change the way you see your own surroundings.......2003-04-19

This beautiful, lyrical journal, written by a 6-year-old prodigy from the backwoods of Oregon, will have you gazing in wonder at fire hydrants and listening to the song of the subways. Opal has a direct relationship with every tree, horse, rat and blade of grass in her backyard, and is able to see every living thing as a gift from God.

The story behind the publication of the journal is a sad one, but the diary itself is timeless and transcendent. Opal may have died in obscurity but her lovely spirit lives on in her work.

Average customer rating:
The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow: The Mystical Nature Diary of Opal Whiteley
Opal. Whiteley
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ7OFQ

Average customer rating:
The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow: The Mystical Nature Diary of Opal Whiteley
Opal Whiteley
Manufacturer: Penguin USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBSRVG

Book Description

"Menchaca has accomplished an unprecedented tour de force in this sweeping historical overview and interpretation of the racial formation and racial history of Mexican Americans."

—Antonia I. Castañeda, Associate Professor of History, St. Mary's University

The history of Mexican Americans is a history of the intermingling of races—Indian, White, and Black. This racial history underlies a legacy of racial discrimination against Mexican Americans and their Mexican ancestors that stretches from the Spanish conquest to current battles over ending affirmative action and other assistance programs for ethnic minorities. Asserting the centrality of race in Mexican American history, Martha Menchaca here offers the first interpretive racial history of Mexican Americans, focusing on racial foundations and race relations from prehispanic times to the present.

Menchaca uses the concept of racialization to describe the process through which Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. authorities constructed racial status hierarchies that marginalized Mexicans of color and restricted their rights of land ownership. She traces this process from the Spanish colonial period and the introduction of slavery through racial laws affecting Mexican Americans into the late twentieth-century. This re-viewing of familiar history through the lens of race recovers Blacks as important historical actors, links Indians and the mission system in the Southwest to the Mexican American present, and reveals the legal and illegal means by which Mexican Americans lost their land grants.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent starting point.......2006-07-10

Professor Menchaca's text provides an excellent survey and introduction into the development of ethnic identity in Mexico. 'Scholars' like M.J. Araujo would be well served to read this text with an open mind as the content, backed up by true research, counters a great deal of what has been commonly thought about Mexican ethnic -- and so-called racial -- identity.

A Significant Contribution.......2004-05-11

Contrary to the review by Mr. Araujo, which makes little sense, Professor Menchaca has produced a stunning contribution to current understandings of the Mexican and Mexican American or Chicano experience. Having previously reviewed this book in other contexts, I know all too well the details that make this book significant. In addition to the substantive body of information presented on the cultural contexts and legislative practices that undergird the Mexican American cultural experience, Menchaca's acknowledgement of the African American contribution in said experience, and the legislative and juridical practices that served to disenfranchise people of color in the US Southwest, are all key to what she has to say. Her discussion of the Hispanic colonial Missions and their role in the creation of the Hispanicized Indian communities of the US Southwest is in turn illuminating. Contrary to prevailing anti-Hispanic and or anti-Catholic views of the Mission era, Menchaca makes clear that the hispanicization of the California Indian, for instance, permitted most California Indians of the early American era to assimilate into Mexican and Mexican American communities. This process, she argues, allowed California Indian descendants to survive and prosper under what was otherwise a brutal and genocidal system of early American behavior toward American Indian communities. These critically significant points of departure, and Menchaca's very readable prose, make this a must-have addition to any library on the Mexican American cultural experience.

Inaccurately descriptive........2003-06-10

My two cents.

By M. J Araujo
Philosophy major at the University of California Riverside.

Something to keep in mind:

Blacks were considered property, and a such they were treated. When the land mass which we know today as "Mexico" was in a revolutionary stage, slave owners transferred their negro property to the Caribbean, so that they would not lose their investment. This makes perfect logical sense, as opposed to Menchaca's view that the Spanish made no attempt to protect their investment which is absurd in itself. Her suggestion is equivalent to a person moving out of their house and leaving all their belongings behind for the new tenant to enjoy. Now does this make sense? We must keep in mind that Spain at the time was one of the strongest Countries in the world and was a leading colonizer. The blacks which reside in Mexico today are immigrant arrivals from the Caribbean which came to Mexico upon their own free will.

Now the review:

She can't distinguish the co-reference of the word `Mexican', and often confuses her own thoughts, amounting to frequent absurdities.

(1)One concept of the word `Mexican' means person born in the country Mexico. In other words a citizen of Mexico. Under this thought of the word `Mexican' anyone that is a citizen of Mexico qualifies. Whether they be black,white,asian, etc..(Mexico is a multicultural country) A necessary condition for this thought is the existence of the country known as Mexico( in space and in time)

(2) The other concept of the word `Mexican' refers to the Mexican Race, people of Spanish and Indigenous heritage.Concept (2) can is present within concept(1).

Her hypothesis on being "Mexican" results in the merging of the two concepts together. The problem with this is that if the country known as Mexico were to disappear, meaning that the government would collapse those people that are immigrants of Mexico and those people that are descendants of people that were immigrants in Mexico, would no longer have the claim to being Mexican, because the country does not exist anymore. The very concept that these people are "Mexican" relies solely on the condition that Mexico exist physically, that is that, it exist in space and time when the concept is expressed.

In contrast, a person that is "Mexican" in the sense that they have Indigenous and Spanish blood, would continue to be Mexican, even after the country Mexico has collapsed and its government has dispersed . When this happens there will only be one referent which refers to the property of "being Mexican".

Average customer rating:
Recovering History, Constructing Race: The Indian, Black, and White Roots of Mexican Americans
Martha Menchaca
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORT62C

Average customer rating:
Recovering History, Constructing Race: the Indian, Black, and White Roots of Mexican Americans (Joe R. and Teresa Lozana Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture)
Martha Menchaca
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORT654

Average customer rating:

confusing

Fantastic!

Critical Account of Scientific Reading

Lots of information

High praise for this book!

The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works
Roger Highfield
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey

Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World: An Unofficial Guide

The Hidden Myths in Harry Potter: Spellbinding Map and Book of Secrets

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The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter : A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts

ASIN: 0142003557
Release Date: 2003-05-27

Book Description

Can Fluffy the three-headed dog be explained by advances in molecular biology? Could the discovery of cosmic "gravity-shielding effects" unlock the secret to the Nimbus 2000 broomstick's ability to fly? Is the griffin really none other than the dinosaur Protoceratops? Roger Highfield, author of the critically acclaimed The Physics of Christmas, explores the fascinating links between magic and science to reveal that much of what strikes us as supremely strange in the Potter books can actually be explained by the conjurings of the scientific mind. This is the perfect guide for parents who want to teach their children science through their favorite adventures as well as for the millions of adult fans of the series intrigued by its marvels and mysteries.

Customer Reviews:

confusing.......2006-06-20

unless you have a degree in physics, i wouldn't recommend this book. i had a very hard time wrapping my mind around alot of the concepts. the book also has very little to do with harry potter and much more to do with all of the scientific advances out there that semi-resemble things from the books.

Fantastic!.......2006-04-09

I loved this book. Behind every 'old wives' tale is a body that ate a certain substance or an occurance that happens every time certain conditions are met. I loved the quote "that the highest form of technology is indistinguishable from magic". The country people are 'superstitious' and the learned are 'factual'. Those who are adept at manipulating matter are witches.

What this book does is take every single magic trick and give the physics explanation for how they work. Behind every act of 'magic' is either an illusion or an adaption and manipulation of matter. Period. Physics can and does explain both. This is a book that should be widely read and hopefully widely understood

Critical Account of Scientific Reading.......2006-03-20

For a piece of school A level coursework, I chose the book - The Science of Harry Potter - By Roger Highfield. His best-known work to date gives a flavour for the kind of writer he is, `Can Reindeers Fly?' a discussion on the science of Christmas.
I personally love to read, no matter what the book is about. However unfortunately, I struggle on the imagination side, and most books I find it hard to get my head around the fictional creations - Including many of the Harry Potter Books written by J.K.Rowling. So I thought this book would be great in explaining the scientific side of how the magic really works.
I was very exited to get started on this book, and my aim was to read the whole thing. However by the second page I found myself confused at Mr Highfields intelligent, though odd attempt to straddle the imaginative worlds of science and fiction. I had hoped this book was an effort to introduce basic science concepts to young Potter fans (After all, It is these people who will go out an buy his book - simply because it has the word Harry Potter on the front...) But instead I was met with the rational laws of science, quantum physics to ethnobotany and cosmic antigravity?
"While special relativity deals only with flat space-time, general relativity deals with space-time that has been warped by gravity."

It should be noted that you will not be able to levitate a broomstick after reading it... And I personally found that this book really does read more like an obsessive PhD dissertation! Also, I cannot not stress how much the scientific ideas are really quite challenging!

Lots of information.......2006-03-01

An interesting way to get some kids interested in science. It's a little like a leader ad in the paper. I honestly was hoping for a less serious take on the subject, with more interesting artwork similar to what we see on the cover of the book. I have to agree with other reviewers and say that, for some people, this books contents could diffuse the wonder of the original Harry Potter stories.

High praise for this book!.......2005-10-09

Roger Highfield is to be commended for his solid scientific
work in this clever and informative book. His obvious
knowledge in many fields of science in combination with
his discussions of old myths and legends are a delight to read.

And he certainly knows his Harry Potter stories, and admires
them as much as I do! Dr. Highfield manages to inform us and
amuse us with his sly references to the Rowling characters.
And yes - I am over the age of 13 - by 63 years!!

The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works

Average customer rating:

The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works
Roger Highfield
Manufacturer: Viking
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

THE SCIENCE OF HARRY POTTER: HOW MAGIC REALLY WORKS.

Manufacturer: Headline
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0755311507

Book Description

Marine Ornamental Species: Collection, Culture and Conservation is a comprehensive resource containing information on the growing and economically important marine ornamental industry. Experts address current issues from a global perspective, covering the full-range of topics from world economics and product demand to aquatic animal health to ethnic and social/cultural concerns.This up-to-date overview will contribute to the creation of an economically and environmentally viable future for this dynamic industry worldwide and for its diverse clientele by: outlining improvements in the methods for the collection and distribution of wild marine ornamental species; providing information to accelerate an increase in the variety, quantity, and availability of cultured marine ornamental species; and encouraging outreach activities in the conservation and husbandry of marine ornamental speciesThe value of and the interest in marine ornamentals from many governments as well as conservation organizations underline the critical need for this book. It is also essential reading for scientists involved in marine biology and conservation issues, aquarists at public and private aquaria, tropical fish farmers, advanced hobbyists, fishery biologists, importers and exporters of marine ornamentals, commercial collectors, veterinarians who specialize in fish disease, and businesses that manufacture or sell aquarium media, equipment, and feed.

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