Winning at Work: Breaking Free of Personal Traps to Find Success in the New Workplace

Book Description

The comtemporary workplace is filled with traps but none more dangerous than those we set for ourselves. With compelling precision this book shows how even the most effective among us can undermine our careers by falling into our own private traps.

Customer Reviews:

Effective, "reader friendly" advice for employment success........2000-05-04

Mel Sandler and Muriel Gray's Winning At Work tells how to break free of personal traps which prevent workplace advancement. From workaholic and loyalty issues to maintaining perspective and understanding a work role, this is packed with practical applications to work.

Book Description

This new short text by the authors of Investment Appraisal and Financial Decisions focuses on investment appraisal decisions. Fundamentals of Investment Appraisal examines the internal workings of a company rather than covering the much broader subject of financial management. Theory is illustrated with numerous worked examples, followed by a chapter summary, quick questions - all answered at the end of the book - and more detailed practice questions.

Book Description

In 1998 the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities began operations. This study evaluates how the standards of the Framework Convention function in reality and whether the interests of minorities are best served by this form of protection by the international community. The author assesses the use of international principles on rights for minorities in Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, three states with a difficult socio-economic situation and large minority populations.

Book Description

Most consumable products of animal origin, such as eggs and milk, are obtained through exploitation of the reproductive processes of livestock, making efficiency extremely important in intensive production units. Critical evaluation of each technological innovation in this field is necessary before widespread introduction, and this requires an extensive knowledge of reproductive biology.
This volume presents comprehensive, current discussions of the individual aspects comprising the complete reproductive process in domesticated animals, covering various technological procedures for regulation and manipulation of particular events. It provides extensive coverage of reproductive anatomy and includes avian reproduction, supplying original and often innovative figures. This book will be of great value to agriculturalists and veterinarians as well as to food and environmental scientists.

Book Description

FUNDAMENTALS provides basic and balanced information for the study of exercise physiology for the undergraduate introductory level student. It thoroughly examines both the immediate responses to, as well as the long-term benefits of exercise. The book uses full color illustrations to enhance learning.

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Human Biology: Ready Notes
Sylvia S. Mader
Manufacturer: Mcgraw-Hill College
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

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Human Biology: Ready Notes
Sylvia S. Mader
Manufacturer: Mcgraw-Hill College
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFW7J8

Book Description

Well Testing is recognised by many operating oil and gas companies to be the most hazardous operation they routinely undertake. Therefore, it is of great importance that such operations are extremely well planned and executed.

This handbook covers all the major "Operational Aspects of Oil and Gas Well Testing" and uses a structured approach to guide the reader through the steps required to safely and effectively plan a well test operation under just about any circumstances world wide.

Safety procedures and well testing recommended practices are rigorously addressed in this book, as are the responsibilities of those persons involved in well testing operations.

Perforating equipment, drill stem test equipment and bottom hole pressure gauges are discussed in detail in the book. There is also a very valuable section on sub sea equipment, an area often not well understood even by experienced engineers who may have been primarily involved with land or jackup rigs.

A major part of the book is the detailed coverage of the equipment and instrumentation that makes up a surface well testing package. It also covers operational and testing related problems such as, hydrates, wax and sand, and offers the reader some possible solutions.

There are useful chapters on sampling, onsite chemistry, coil tubing and nitrogen operations and basic stimulation as they relate to well testing.

Finally there is an extensive section of appendices covering useful engineering calculations and there is a complete example of a detailed well testing programme.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent..!.......2001-08-16

I believe this book fills a need that engineers always had. It explains in a very clear way how to do procedures in field operations and how to resolve different situations that can appear in oil and gas well testing... I really recommend it to the oil industry.

Book Description

This book presents a critical and modern analysis of the conceptual foundations of statistical mechanics as laid down in Boltzmann's works. The author emphasises the relation between microscopic reversibility and macroscopic irreversibility. Students will find a clear and detailed explanation of fundamental concepts such as equipartition, entropy and ergodicity. They will learn about Brownian motion, the modern treatment of the thermodynamic limit phase transitions, the microscopic and macroscopic theory of the coexistence of phases, statistical mechanics of stationary states, and fluctuations and dissipation in chaotic motions.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting but limited.......2000-04-14

This is a refreshing book filled with the sorts of comments a good lecturer might provide during his lectures. It is probably not that good as a text itself, but might make an interesting optional readings book for a graduate class for this reason (and it is relatively inexpensive for books in this limited market). He is much more forthright about the classical/quantum measurement uncertainty issue than are most textbook treatments, and makes a lot of interesting points (such as that thermodynamics as taught usually really involves stationary distributions only). A nice interesting coverage of the basic issues, with much thought in evidence, and many loose threads to many issues in non-linear dynamics, insights into what is acutally going on, limitations of standard treatments, etc. There are also comments on the philosophical foundations of stat mech, and references to more or less recent solutions to important problems, giving a feel for work in the area. There are no exercises.

Book Description

Julia T. Dyson offers a radical reinterpretation of Virgil's Aeneid. She persuasively argues that Aeneas' final sacrifice of Turnus, which has perpetually troubled readers, is demanded by the religious framework of the poem. Bridging the longstanding gap between literary criticism and the study of Roman religion, this book shows that Virgil's allusions to Roman cult prophesy the sacrificial death of Aeneas himself.

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Born scores of miles below the earth's surface eons ago, the great gem known today as the Hope diamond has been "crisscrossing countries and cultures for more than two thousand years," bringing fortune and disaster alike to its many owners. Marian Fowler reconstructs the flawless blue diamond's long journey from its discovery in the mines of northern India to Europe and onward to America. Along the way she looks at the strange mania for gem collecting among Europe's nobility (noting, for instance, that French monarch Louis bought $16 million worth of jewels in the year 1687, to his treasurer's great consternation); studies a remarkable gang of jewel thieves who used the turmoil of the French Revolution to their highly profitable advantage; and examines the career of the American entrepreneur and gem collector Harry Winston, who "became obsessed with owning all the world's largest, most famous diamonds," and whose largesse, though self-serving, made the great gem part of the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution. Fowler's tale has all the twists and turns of a good mystery, and gem fanciers and history buffs alike will enjoy following the Hope diamond's curious career through her pages. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

The Hope Diamond–the largest and most beautiful blue diamond ever found–has inspired centuries of legends and lies, fabulous superstition, and fierce passion. French kings and ravishing Hollywood stars have worn it next to their hearts; reckless aristocrats have let it slip through their fingers. Flaunted, hidden, stolen, and cursed, the Hope Diamond still tantalizes and inspires all who lay eyes on it. Now in Hope: Adventures of a Diamond, Marian Fowler tells the riveting story of this mythical gem and the extraordinary men and women who have owned and lost it.

It is a tale that begins more than a billion years ago in the mountains of India where the gem was forged of basest materials. Unearthed sometime before the birth of Christ, it was more than twice its present size and wondrously shaped. For long slow centuries, the immense blue stone, revered as a divine gift, probably served as the unwinking eye in a statue of a Hindu god.

With the arrival of Europeans, the Diamond was snatched from the realm of the mystical and thrust into the world of commerce, materialism, and political symbolism. Marian Fowler brilliantly unfolds the complex story of how French merchant/adventurer Jean-Baptiste Tavernier acquired the sacred diamond in India and sold it to the one monarch who could–and would–pay for it, King Louis XIV of France. Cut and polished to half its original size, the diamond remained in the possession of the house of Bourbon, passed down from Louis to Louis, until a cabal of common thieves stole it during the French Revolution.

The pace quickens once the diamond comes into the possession of Philip Hope, the scion of a Dutch-based trading and banking empire who gave it the name it has carried ever since. But the heady days in the London townhouses and country estates of the Hope family were brief, and by the twentieth century, the Hope Diamond had become the object of unseemly marital wrangling and social climbing of American millionaires. It was only when diamond master Harry Winston donated this prize to the Smithsonian Institution that the Hope was finally safe and accessible to all who wanted to admire it.

A sweeping saga peopled with the world’s most beautiful women and most unprincipled men, Hope: Adventures of a Diamond is at once a page-turning thriller and a glittering social history of the astonishing few who craved–and could afford–such a gem. Dazzling and delicious, this is a book truly worthy of its flawless, priceless subject.

Customer Reviews:

LOUIS' BLUE.......2006-11-05

No other diamond in the world has the pedigree of the French Blue. This book is fascinating and the author infuses the story with mystery and peaks your interest throughout. From ancient India, to the pinnacle of the French Court, to the fog of London and Mr. Hope, to the elegant hand of Cartier, to the eccentric Mrs. McLean, to the remarkable Harry Winston, to the people of the United States of America, this diamond has had a singular journey. I found this book hard to put down and it made me want to see this breathtaking gem again, I want to look into the azure stone and feel its allure again.

This book is a rare and beautiful find!.......2005-09-27

Don't believe the four reviews below, gentle reader, I beg you! In Hope: Adventures of a Diamond, Marian Fowler has created an absolute masterpiece of non-fiction which combines rock-solid historical reportage with simply the most elegant and satisfying prose that I have ever encountered. This book is an absolute gem, and I can only pity those earlier reviewers who must not have had the intellectual stones to appreciate both the factual depth and stylistic complexity of this virtuoso performance. Simply one of the best books that I have ever read.

An absolute gem!.......2005-09-27

I read the hardcover version of this book, so I am sorry if this review is inappropriate, but I just wanted to express what a joy this book was to read. An inspired historical romp from the vantage point of probably the world's most famous and notorious gemstone, Dr. Fowler proves she is not only an exceptional detective, but one of the finest stylist of the English language writing non-fiction today. Hope is simply one of the most beautiful and enjoyable books that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. An absolute gem!

Somewhat entertaining.......2002-12-19

The most interesting part of this book for me was a glimpse into the lives of French kings who owned the diamond. For the most part, the first 3/4 of the book were a good read. I liked the way the diamond was personified, but didn't care for the way the curse was dramatized, as there was quite frankly little evidence to suggest such a curse. In the more modern history of the diamond, the book starts to become boring, I don't need so many words to tell me that Harry Winston planned not to cut the diamond at all, but changed his mind later and cut it anyway. If you have the time and are interested in the history of the diamond, read the first part of the book and skim through the rest.

I Don't Think So.......2002-07-20

One of the dumbest books I have ever read. Fowler does OK, just OK, when she writes of the more recent history of the diamond because she has well-documented information from which to draw. But, in her chronicles of the stone during the early years of its murky existence, she lets her imagination run wild, her prose becomes over-blown and turgid, and "facts" she throws about are questionable in the extreme. Ghastly, ghastly writing. Do NOT buy this book!

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Hope: Adventures of a Diamond
Marian Fowler
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVUVCM

To the Cape for diamonds: A story of digging experiences in South Africa with comments and criticisms, political, social, and miscellaneous, upon the present ... and future prospects of the diamond fields

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To the Cape for diamonds: A story of digging experiences in South Africa with comments and criticisms, political, social, and miscellaneous, upon the present ... and future prospects of the diamond fields
Frederick Boyle
Manufacturer: Chapman and Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Amazon.com

This may surprise those who have trouble carrying the remainder in division or figuring out a 15 percent tip on a $20 lunch bill, but according to mathematician and psychologist Stanislas Dehaene, mathematics is an inborn skill. In The Number Sense, Dehaene makes a compelling case for the human mind's innate grasp of mathematics. Take, for example, the fact that place value systems (such as the Arabic numeral system we use) arose independently in four separate civilizations--evidence of a universal sense of number. Dehaene's book is filled with examples to support his thesis, from young babies' ability to "count" (i.e., to react when single objects are replaced by two or more) to examples of how brain damage affects various individuals' number sense. Even more fascinating is his discussion of the relationship between language and numbers. Though Dehaene's book is about mathematics, even those readers with the worst math anxiety will find The Number Sense an intriguing exploration of the world of numbers--and the human mind.

Book Description

The Number Sense is an enlightening exploration of the mathematical mind. Describing experiments that show that human infants have a rudimentary number sense, Stanislas Dehaene suggests that this sense is as basic as our perception of color, and that it is wired into the brain. Dehaene shows that it was the invention of symbolic systems of numerals that started us on the climb to higher mathematics. A fascinating look at the crossroads where numbers and neurons intersect, The Number Sense offers an intriguing tour of how the structure of the brain shapes our mathematical abilities, and how our mathematics opens up a window on the human mind.

Customer Reviews:

"The number sense" revealed.......2007-10-13

This is a masterful account of how people, and animals, use their number sense to bring mathematics into their world. It uses recent advances in neuroscience and evolutionary theory to create a coherent account of how we evolved our mathematical abilities. For instance, he shows how and why we have a marvelous analog capability, a subitization capability for immediately recognizing the numerosity of small collections, and a natural knack for counting.

But he also explains how and why we are very bad at digital computations and 'unconnected' memory tasks, like remembering multiplication tables. Not much use for knowing what 7 * 8 is amongst hunter gatherers! His solution -- let children use calculators! This pragmatism, and caring attitude, pervades the book relieving math anxiety like a wine French wine reduces stress.

He attacks the "Bourbaki" school for demolishing mathematical education in France (and elsewhere) by forcing axioms down children's throats instead of gently stimulating their intuition and allowing them to use their inborn number sense. Piaget also comes under attack for not allowing that children are born with number sense, and can do 'hard sums' much earlier than Piagetian dogma allows for. This attack is backed up by references to dozens of research papers that make his case conclusive.

The final chapter is a tour-de-force overview of mathematical philosophy , with a devastating attack on Platonism and a harsh critique of formalism. He comes down (mostly) on the side of the intuitionist mathematics of Poincaré, but is quite harsh on the constructivist Brouwer.

All in all, a jaw-droppingly brilliant book on the philosophy and psychology of mathematics. I've read a few such books, and this is by far the best I've read. Start here if you want to begin to find out what mathematics might really be about. He also has a superb bibliography to lead you to more mathematical wonders.

Illuminating! Captivating! Pass the salt!.......2007-07-18

Dehaene is a witty, gifted writer with an invisible style. He elucidates his subject matter so plainly that no one could be lost. Even a complete neophyte such as I am would have no trouble following his constructs. Or better to say if I was lost, I never knew it because the book made a lot of sense to me.

As a math teacher, I had long suspected mathematics was an unnatural act of the mind. Dehaene confirms my suspicion. The chapter on patients with severed corpora callosa put me in mind of similar split brain findings in the field of linguistics.

I'm not sure about the limits on subitizing. The handful of my students with innate math reasoning seems to be able to subitize beyond what Dehaene suggests.

The evolutionary build-up should be taken with a grain of salt. Can we just observe the increasingly complex organization of living things along a continuum without making the presumption that nature is showing up a time-lapse film?

Good book.......2006-08-07

This book is a tour de force of neurology as it applies to mathematics. From anectodes and case studies of mathematical greats and autistic calculating prodigies to brain scans and theory of the evolution of our calculating ability.

The only reason I give it four stars is its obvious political correctness is parts where it fails to even consider taking group differences into account (read genes) before ascribing differences to culture. For instance, the bulk of Chinese superiority in math at grade school level is ascribed to the fact that chinese sounds for numbers is smaller than english, allowing chinese students to keep longer strings of calculations in their short-term memory. Well, this could very well be a contributive factor, but what about American second or third generation chinese who speak only english who also show heightened mathematical ability? Not a peep about that!

Of course the above is just a small complaint in the end. The book on the whole is fascinating and well worth a read.

Amazing, objective research scores an A!.......2002-01-02

Fascinating. That's the word I've been using to describe this book. From the information on numerical experiments with animals to the solid evidence presented for the hardwired concept of numbers from birth, the author ties together an amazing work.

The clear organization of the book, described from the onset, was my first clue that this was a bit more polished than other works. From a gradual examination of an innate "number sense" in even lower animals, through babies identifiying that 1+1 is not 1 or 3 but 2, up to the examination of innate calculatory facilities, this book covers it all. By the end, you will have been presented with practically all the evidence you need to make your own conclusion--and the case for the existance of the "number sense" is incredible. Psychology and neurology are both linked to the examination.

As a math teacher, I've even gleaned a few points to help in the presentation of the topic to my students. While I don't agree with all of the authors views on education, I do think he made some very profound points (the comment that standardized education has probably stunted natural development ofthe culture--specifically language--is a good example.)

Probably my only real disappointment with the book is the author's overemphasis on evolution throughout the text. Yes, most technical types unfortunately seem to be passionate about evolution's role in everything nowadays; it wouldn't have been that big a deal had the last few pages of the book not delved wholeheartedly into a philosophical expository of how mathematicians of the past were silly to have attributed the apparent design of the mind to match the universe numerically to a God, when evolution is an available alternative. However, this small distasteful thread didn't really detract from the research. (In fact, in practically all other maters the author is refreshingly objective and unbiased, examining counterpoints to his theories and conclusions.)

In all, the book still earns its five stars for rigor, fascinating material, objective examination, and clear presentation. Well worth the read, well worth the purchase.

Quality science, excellent entertainment.......2001-12-21

I received this book as a gift. I skimmed it and left it unread for months. I thought it was a cash-in on Steven Pinker's excellent The Language Instinct. But no!

When I finally read it was as impressed with Dehaene's science as with his literary flair - not to mention the excellence of his self-translation. His thesis is fascinating, his references authoratitive and his story telling masterful.

This book should fascinate everyone who can count up to two or beyond. Dry it is not. Beyond the interest he develops in the subject are the insights he gives into the ingenuity with which psychological experiments can be designed to eliminate the flaws that a layperson would think unavoidable.

There is a darker side, however. Like that other fellow with his lethal experiments with chicks to test for chemical changes relating to memory, there are allusions to intrusive experiments on living subjects . True, these were some time ago and Dehaene exhibits a proper degree of unease about them. None the less I am much more comfortable with the ingenious ape and baby tests. In my view, no matter how intriguing the question, and how beguiling arguments of research potential leading to new therapies, there is a line that should not be crossed. Dehaene, I'm glad to say, seems aware enough not to cross it.

Fascinating. Highly recommended.

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The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics by Stanislas Dehaene ISBN 0713991704
Stanislas Dehaene
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RSQWBG

Product Description

The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics by Stanislas Dehaene ISBN 0713991704 Binding: Hardcover Publication date: 1997

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Number Sense How the Mind Creates Mathematics
Stanislas Dehaene
Manufacturer: Oxford
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000X6CDZG

The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics

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The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics
Stanislas Dehaene
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKJ6DI

Book Description

This digital document is an article from San Diego Business Journal, published by CBJ, L.P. on May 8, 2000. The length of the article is 1107 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Critical Mission Bay Report Sparks Call for Special Fund.(Brief Article)
Author: Lee Zion
Publication: San Diego Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 8, 2000
Publisher: CBJ, L.P.
Volume: 21 Issue: 19 Page: 1

Article Type: Brief Article

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