EU Law and the Welfare State: In Search of Solidarity (Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law)
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    EU Law and the Welfare State: In Search of Solidarity (Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law)

    Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    Social Services & WelfareSocial Services & Welfare | Poverty | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books
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    ASIN: 0199287414

    Book Description

    This collection of essays addresses a topical subject of current importance, namely the impact of the EU on national welfare state systems. The volume aims to question the perception that matters of social welfare remain for Member States of the EU to decide, and that the EU's influence in this field is minor or incidental. The various essays trace the different ways in which the EU is having an impact on the laws and practices of the Member States in the area of welfare, looking at issues of social citizenship and the influence of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as at the impact of EU economic freedoms - competition law and free movement law in particular - on both 'services of general economic interest' and on national health-care systems. The significance of the so-called Open Method of Coordination in developing a new compromise on 'social Europe' is discussed, as well as the tensions between market liberalization and social protection in the specific context of this transnational political system are examined. While the various authors clearly have different views on the likelihood of a robust form of European social solidarity developing, the book as a whole suggests the emergence of a distinctive, although partial and fragmented, European Union welfare dimension.
    Social Security and Solidarity in the European Union
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      Social Security and Solidarity in the European Union

      Manufacturer: Physica-Verlag Heidelberg
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      WorkplaceWorkplace | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
      EconomicsEconomics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books | Agricultural | Commercial Policy | Comparative | Consolidation & Merger | Cooperatives | Debt & Deficits | Development & Growth | Econometrics | Economic Conditions | Economic History | Economic Policy & Development | Exports & Imports | Free Enterprise | Inflation | International | Labor & Industrial Relations | Macroeconomics | Microeconomics | Money & Monetary Policy | Natural Resources | Privatization | Public Finance | Statistics | Sustainable Development | Theory | Unemployment | Urban & Regional
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      ASIN: 3790813346

      Book Description

      Since the 1970s social security in the European Union has been dominated by attempts at reform and cost control. In the last decade of the twentieth century these attempts have been strengthened by the coming European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). This book offers an overview of the social security system and its development in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The national contributions are preceded by an introduction on the development of social security in Europe till the present day, with special reference to the postwar process of European integration and its effects. The book is concluded by two essays. The first examines the danger and opportunities of European integration for social security. The second discusses ethical aspects: what effect will European integration have on the quality of social security in Europe?

      The Cost of War: British Policy on French War Debts, 1918-1932
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        The Cost of War: British Policy on French War Debts, 1918-1932
        Arthur Turner
        Manufacturer: Sussex Academic Press
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

        Public FinancePublic Finance | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
        Debt & DeficitsDebt & Deficits | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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        ASIN: 1898723370

        Estimating How the Macroeconomy Works
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          Estimating How the Macroeconomy Works
          Ray Fair
          Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover

          GeneralGeneral | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
          MacroeconomicsMacroeconomics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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          Business & InvestingBusiness & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
          ASIN: 0674015460

          Book Description

          Macroeconomics tries to describe and explain the economywide movement of prices, output, and unemployment. The field has been sharply divided among various schools, including Keynesian, monetarist, new classical, and others. It has also been split between theorists and empiricists. Ray Fair is a resolute empiricist, developing and refining methods for testing theories and models. The field cannot advance without the discipline of testing how well the models approximate the data. Using a multicountry econometric model, he examines several important questions, including what causes inflation, how monetary authorities behave and what are their stabilization limits, how large is the wealth effect on aggregate consumption, whether European monetary policy has been too restrictive, and how large are the stabilization costs to Europe of adopting the euro. He finds, among other things, little evidence for the rational expectations hypothesis and for the so-called non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) hypothesis. He also shows that the U.S. economy in the last half of the 1990s was not a "new age" economy.

          If God Wanted Us to Travel...
          Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
          • An extremely funny little ditty that will confirm your Fears
          If God Wanted Us to Travel...
          David Brenner
          Manufacturer: Pocket Books
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          BusinessBusiness | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | History & Criticism | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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          ASIN: 0671701142

          Customer Reviews:

          4 out of 5 stars An extremely funny little ditty that will confirm your Fears.......1997-07-22

          I like David Brenner. He's one of the funniest comedians I've ever seen. If you've seen David, live on stage, his writing contains the same style of quick wit, hit em' hard and knock em' over enthusiasm that has you flying across the pages. This is a pretty good book. For most, David will confirm your fears about traveling. The rest will grab a few anecdotes you can use to spice up your vacation stories when you return home. A fun, easy-reading, humorous book!
          IF GOD WANTED US TO TRAVEL
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            IF GOD WANTED US TO TRAVEL
            David Brenner
            Manufacturer: Pocket Books
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback
            ASIN: B000IOG6V0

            Masters of Jazz Guitar: The Story of the Players and Their Music Softcover with CD
            Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
            • A MUST have for any jazz guitarist or fan.
            Masters of Jazz Guitar: The Story of the Players and Their Music Softcover with CD
            Charles Alexander
            Manufacturer: Backbeat Books
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            GuitarGuitar | Instruments & Performers | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
            StringsStrings | Instruments & Performers | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | Reference | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
            History & CriticismHistory & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
            JazzJazz | Musical Genres | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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            Similar Items:
            1. The Jazz Guitar The Jazz Guitar
            2. The Guitar in Jazz: An Anthology The Guitar in Jazz: An Anthology
            3. Acquired of the Angels, Second Edition: The Lives and Works of Master Guitar Makers John D'Angelico and James L. D'Aquisto Acquired of the Angels, Second Edition: The Lives and Works of Master Guitar Makers John D'Angelico and James L. D'Aquisto
            4. Grant Green: Rediscovering the Forgotten Genius of Jazz Guitar Grant Green: Rediscovering the Forgotten Genius of Jazz Guitar
            5. Wes Montgomery Wes Montgomery

            ASIN: 0879307285

            Amazon.com

            There are at least three kinds of jazz books: text-laden historical or critical overviews; photo-laden visual chronicles; and collections that detail the operations of a jazz musician, how a musician technically or creatively acts as a pioneer. Masters of Jazz Guitar dabbles happily in all three areas. It's a coffee-table book first, with fantastic, evocative photographs strewn throughout. You rarely see a collection in jazz that features photos of folks like Hungarian six-stringer Atila Zoller just pages away from far better known quantities like Al DiMeola, but the visuals here are just a sweet coating. Inside, the text is even more delicious, with 25 chapters breaking down the jazz guitar traditions, from Django Reinhardt to Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny, and many more. In addition, the chapters are authored by a slew of great British critics, including Stuart Nicholson and Brian Priestley, each of whom demonstrates a liberal cut in the jazz tradition, an idea of the genre that easily spans swing, bop, free jazz, and the chilly abstractions of Derek Bailey. For the guitar player, this is a splendid and entertaining resource. For the jazz fan, it's all that and more. --Andrew Bartlett

            Book Description

            The jazz guitar and its master players have had vast influence in a genre of uniquely provocative 20th century music. Written by some of the world's foremost jazz authorities and illustrated with more than 200 gorgeous photographs, this book spotlights remarkable musicians whose artistry has made the guitar fundamental to jazz. From 1930s electric pioneer Charlie Christian, to 1960s fusion visionary Larry Coryell and beyond, Masters of Jazz Guitar celebrates the achievements of players who changed the sound of jazz. Features deluxe paper stock, full-color throughout the book, and a bonus CD with 14 classic tracks by Howard Alden, Tal Farlow, Danny Barker, Al Casey, George Barnes, Herb Ellis, Bucky Pizzarelli, Phil Upchurch and Jack Wilkins.

            Customer Reviews:

            5 out of 5 stars A MUST have for any jazz guitarist or fan........2003-06-28

            This is quite an excellent book and is surprisingly done in soft cover now. My copy is hard cover and is a prized possession. It's thoughtfully and knowledgably written, has excellent references, recommendations, photos and discussions.

            I love this book, and it would be a GREAT present for ANY jazz guitarist. If you love one, buy it for them and they'll never forget it!

            (-:

            -d

            Of One Mind: The Collectivization of Science (Masters of Modern Physics, Vol 16)
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              Of One Mind: The Collectivization of Science (Masters of Modern Physics, Vol 16)
              John Ziman
              Manufacturer: AIP Press
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Hardcover

              Popular CulturePopular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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              GeneralGeneral | Mathematics | Science | Subjects | Books
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              GeneralGeneral | Physics | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
              ASIN: 1563960656

              Book Description

              This superb collection by the eminent physicist and critic John Ziman, opens with an album of portraits of scientists--Albert Einstein, Freeman Dyson, Lev Landau, Mark Azbel, Andrei Sakharov. Ziman takes readers into the world of the contemporary scientist, showing how discoveries are made and how claims are tested. He then travels into the minds of scientists as they are drawn into competing directions. Here Ziman exposes the path of discovery, which is strewn with complex human needs, governmental restrictions, the desire for profits, and the exercise of technical virtuosity.
              Of One Mind: The Collectivization of Science.
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                Of One Mind: The Collectivization of Science.
                John. ZIMAN
                Manufacturer: AIP Press
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Hardcover
                ASIN: B000OFZRTK

                Television Variety Shows: Histories and Episode Guides to 57 Programs
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                  Television Variety Shows: Histories and Episode Guides to 57 Programs
                  David M. Inman
                  Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Paperback

                  GeneralGeneral | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
                  History & CriticismHistory & Criticism | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
                  Direction & ProductionDirection & Production | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
                  GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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                  ReferenceReference | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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                  ASIN: 0786421983

                  Product Description

                  For the few hundred television viewers in 1946, a special treat on the broadcast schedule was the variety show called Hour Glass. It was the first TV program to go beyond talking heads, cooking demonstrations, and sporting events, featuring instead dancers, comics, singers, and long commercials for its sponsor, Chase and Sanborn coffee. Within two years, another variety show, Texaco Star Theatre, became the first true television hit and would be credited with the sales of thousands of television sets. The variety show formula was a staple of television in its first 30 years, in part because it lent itself to a medium where everything had to be live and preferably inside a studio. Most of the early television stars—including Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ed Sullivan, Red Skelton, Dinah Shore, and Arthur Godfrey—rose to prominence through weekly variety shows. In the 1960s, major stars such as Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Judy Garland and Danny Kaye were hosting variety shows. By the 1970s, the format was giving way to sitcoms and dramas, but pop music stars Sonny and Cher, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and Donny and Marie Osmond hosted some of the last of the species. This book details 57 variety shows from the 1940s through the 1990s. A history of each show is first provided, followed by a brief look at each episode. Air date, guest stars, sketches performed, and a listing of songs featured are included.

                  Artificial Intelligence Illuminated
                  Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
                  • Artificial Intelligence Illuminated
                  • Suitable for a brief course, inappropriate for a regular one
                  • A Thorough Introduction and Beyond!
                  Artificial Intelligence Illuminated
                  Ben Coppin
                  Manufacturer: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Paperback

                  GeneralGeneral | Artificial Intelligence | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
                  GeneralGeneral | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
                  Look Inside Computer BooksLook Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
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                  Computers & InternetComputers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
                  Similar Items:
                  1. Practical Common Lisp Practical Common Lisp
                  2. The Essence of Artificial Intelligence The Essence of Artificial Intelligence
                  3. Artificial Intelligence: A Guide to Intelligent Systems (2nd Edition) Artificial Intelligence: A Guide to Intelligent Systems (2nd Edition)
                  4. A Modern Introduction to Differential Equations A Modern Introduction to Differential Equations
                  5. Artificial Intelligence: Structures and Strategies for Complex Problem Solving (5th Edition) Artificial Intelligence: Structures and Strategies for Complex Problem Solving (5th Edition)

                  ASIN: 0763732303

                  Book Description

                  Artificial Intelligence Illuminated presents an overview of the background and history of artificial intelligence, emphasizing its importance in today's society and potential for the future. The book covers a range of AI techniques, algorithms, and methodologies, including game playing, intelligent agents, machine learning, genetic algorithms, and Artificial Life. Material is presented in a lively and accessible manner and the author focuses on explaining how AI techniques relate to and are derived from natural systems, such as the human brain and evolution, and explaining how the artificial equivalents are used in the real world. Each chapter includes student exercises and review questions, and a detailed glossary at the end of the book defines important terms and concepts highlighted throughout the text.

                  Customer Reviews:

                  5 out of 5 stars Artificial Intelligence Illuminated.......2007-09-09

                  It's new one, which has a great quality. And very quick delivery. Perfect purchase to me.

                  3 out of 5 stars Suitable for a brief course, inappropriate for a regular one.......2007-01-30

                  I recently completed the abbreviated January term class at my college where I taught Artificial Intelligence (AI) using this book. The course was an experimental one with the goal being to eventually add it to our regular offerings. While I found this book adequate for the abbreviated session, I will not use it when AI is offered during a regular term.
                  I found the depth of coverage of most of the topics to be less than what I will need in a full semester course. The topics in the book are exactly what I would cover in such a course, but the examples are limited and too rare in appearance. For example, finite automata are introduced on pages 366-368 but the only example is the simplest possible automaton, a two state acceptor of an even number of a's.
                  Some of the notations were confusing and quite frankly unnecessarily so. A few additional words of explanation would have prevented a simple concept from appearing so complex. The pseudo-code used to demonstrate alpha-beta pruning was close to incomprehensible, although the example was simple. These examples and many others just made the book too hard to read.

                  5 out of 5 stars A Thorough Introduction and Beyond!.......2004-08-09

                  This is an excellent book. It covers all aspects of AI in a friendly, clear manner. Despite being written as an undergraduate textbook it is easily accessible to someone like myself who is not doing a course in computing (or anything else for that matter).

                  The subject manner is handled well with enough diagrams and examples to ensure that you understand even the more esoteric concepts. It is presented in a manner that is enjoyable to read with many asides into the interesting applications in the real world (such as using AI in games programs like chequers and chess).

                  All in all I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in AI from any perspective, whether you are studying in a university or are just interested in learning more about AI in general.

                  The Art of Strategy: A New Translation of Sun Tzu's Classic The Art of War
                  Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
                  • more applicable for the modern thinker
                  • Personal strategic development workbook
                  • Brilliant! A brilliant piece of a complex whole
                  • Explanation on Strategy & Politics
                  • Enter the Dragon
                  The Art of Strategy: A New Translation of Sun Tzu's Classic The Art of War
                  R.L. Wing
                  Manufacturer: Main Street Books
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Paperback

                  GeneralGeneral | Military | History | Subjects | Books
                  Weapons & WarfareWeapons & Warfare | Military | History | Subjects | Books | Biological & Chemical | Control | Conventional | Nuclear
                  Military ScienceMilitary Science | History | Subjects | Books
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                  Similar Items:
                  1. The Complete Art of War (History and Warfare) The Complete Art of War (History and Warfare)
                  2. The Tao of Power The Tao of Power
                  3. Sun Tzu for Success: How to Use the Art of War to Master Challenges and Accomplish the Important Goals in Your Life Sun Tzu for Success: How to Use the Art of War to Master Challenges and Accomplish the Important Goals in Your Life
                  4. Sun Tzu and the Art of Business: Six Strategic Principles for Managers Sun Tzu and the Art of Business: Six Strategic Principles for Managers
                  5. Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers; 50 Strategic Rules Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers; 50 Strategic Rules

                  ASIN: 0385237847
                  Release Date: 1988-04-01

                  Customer Reviews:

                  4 out of 5 stars more applicable for the modern thinker.......2007-04-11

                  The art of strategy is a less militaristic translation than others I have read. I have used it in a strategy class and found the students were comfortable with the concepts and the way Wing applies them to modern confrontation in all its potential. I find this translation is a real problem solver by providing the reader with a more total look at the use of strategy and the need to think through the roadblocks that confront us. I have purchased several dozen copies of this book as gifts for people who for one reason or another have a need to apply taoist thinking to problem solving. In most cases the Art of Strategy has proved of benefit. While other translations of the Art of War may be clearer in the presentation of Sun Tzu's use of the tao, (such as Cleary's "Art of War"), this version seems to connect with today's mind.

                  5 out of 5 stars Personal strategic development workbook.......2006-12-05

                  I first read this I think it was around the time it first came out, and have gone through it a number of times over the years. It is laid out to be able to spread out into bite-sized chunks over a year (or whatever time you want to organize it for). It makes a great workbook for personal strategic development that is based on a classic in strategy. And it touches on different areas of life - personal, relationships, work, etc. The translation has good notes to help in understanding the rendering.

                  5 out of 5 stars Brilliant! A brilliant piece of a complex whole.......2004-02-06

                  Chinese language and culture differ so strongly from American thought and culture that it is impossible to think that a single translation of a classic Chinese text can give the reader the complete experience of having read the text in its original language and context. RL Wing's translation brilliantly shines a light on the ART OF WAR.

                  I came to Wing's translation after having studied and studied the old public domain English translation with its copius notes and explanations. Wing gives the reader a tremendous insight into THE ART OF WAR, the brevity and compactness of Chinese language expression, the morality and thinking of Sun Tzu, and the different ways that the Eastern mind comprehends war from the Western mind.

                  If you are a dedicated student of Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR, this translation belongs in your collection. I don't know if it's the best or not, but it's a vital translation. If peace is your highest aim and the resolution of conflict without coming to violence is your highest aspiration, this book displays the wisdom of the great general in terms that clarify meaning for Western readers.

                  3 out of 5 stars Explanation on Strategy & Politics.......2002-04-12

                  5 star for SunTzu's work
                  0 star for R.W.Wangs annotaion
                  3 stars over all

                  Sun Tzu's strategy is based on the laws of nature - both human and environment. His treatise is a universal template that shows the way to triumph over conflicts from interpersonal to international. The strategy follows a direct path that escalates until victory is assured. From analysis and projection, through planning and positioning and on to confrontation. Sun Tzu explains such techniques as the use of camouflage the creation of illusion and gathering intelligence. A true victory can be won only with a strategy of tactical positioning so that the moment of triumph is effortless and destructive conflict is averted. Sun Tzu pointed out "Those who win one hundred triumphs in one hundred conflicts do not have supreme skill. Those who have supreme skill use strategy to bend others without coming to conflict".

                  Sun Tzu explores the psychological motivations for power and discipline in `Art of War'. His work is ostensibly about tactics and day-to-day practice of warfare. As Sun Tzu was a keen observer of human nature, `the Art of war' is filled with advice useful not only for those engaged in war but also for those carrying on their normal lives.

                  The strategic and tactical doctrines expounded in `The Art of War' are based on deception, the creation of false appearance to mystify and delude the enemy; the indirect approach; readily adaptability to the enemy situation' flexible and co-ordinate maneuver of combat elements and speedy concentration against point of weakness. The best policy is to attack the enemy plans to prevent him from acting; then disrupt his alliances; creating a wedge amongst the people in state.

                  In the `Art of War' the underlying tone is discipline. The general has to spend considerable amount of energy in emphasizing the need for discipline. Discipline via fear is however useful only up to a point. There must be a motivating force for all people who aspire to succeed, whether in the field of business, politics, administration, government or warfare. Wars cannot be won by just mere strength but it is on a conglomeration of factors, which need to be accounted. Sun Tzu emphasizes the need to take the moral of oneself and its enemy, the environment and other barriers into consideration. The moral strength and intellectual faculty of men were decisive in war, and that if these were applied war could be waged with certain success. Never to be undertaken thoughtlessly or recklessly, war was to be preceded by measures designed to make it easy to win. The master conqueror frustrates his enemy plans and breaks his alliances; he creates cleavages between the sovereign and minister, superior and inferiors, commanders and subordinates. His spies and agents are active everywhere, gathering information, sowing dissention and nurturing subversion. The enemy needs to be isolated and demoralized and his will to resist broken, thus without battle his army is conquered his cities taken and his state overthrown.

                  Sun Tzu is a very vigilant and keen observer on human psychology.

                  The commentaries and annotations inserted preceding each chapter by R.W.Wang were lacking in depth; thought and any structure. They are more of an irritant than interesting read. I found myself skipping over his annotations. I found that his annotations had grammatical mistakes and I didn't find an introduction about the author.

                  5 out of 5 stars Enter the Dragon.......2002-01-11

                  I purchased this book in its first edition when I was in my late twenties trying to climb the corporate ladder. I had just finished reading James Clavell's 'Shogun', was deep into the Akira manga and began dating a girl from Shinjuku. Needless to say I was a bit overboard on the whole Asian trip. But you remember the 80s, we were all thinking about the Pacific Rim. With that in mind, I took this book more seriously than the average reader might, but let me tell you something, it was profoundly impressive, and it worked.

                  The book is laid out in such a way that it makes a perfect blueprint for a year's worth of meditations. I rushed the process, but memorized each of the pages, and followed up with journal writings. A bit more extreme than the average bear, I confess but it made such a difference. Now, more than ten years later, what I have internalized from that period remains core. As I review the axioms, it's hard for me to imagine how I saw things before they became as self-evident to me as they are now. And yet I still find myself drawn to repeat the entire process as I embrace a new set of challenges at middle age.

                  I'm not the kind given to 12 step programs and all that, I make jokes about the person who asks for directions to the self-help section of the bookstore, but this is great stuff for the most hard headed pragmatists as well as the wooliest thumbsuckers. My recommendation to you is to take this book as a guide to meditations and study of the tao. The deeper you are into 'untenable' situations, the more profound the insights you will gain.

                  Untying the Knot: A Short History of Divorce (Canto original series)
                  Average customer rating: Not rated
                    Untying the Knot: A Short History of Divorce (Canto original series)
                    Roderick Phillips
                    Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Paperback

                    GeneralGeneral | World | History | Subjects | Books
                    Social HistorySocial History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
                    GeneralGeneral | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
                    Marriage & FamilyMarriage & Family | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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                    1. Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage

                    ASIN: 0521423708

                    Book Description

                    The rapid spread of divorce since the 1960s has dramatically affected family life in Western society. Extensive research has been devoted to this recent period of change, and yet the long-term history of divorce has remained surprisingly obscure. Roderick Phillips, author of the highly acclaimed magisterial history of divorce, Putting Asunder, has now abridged his fascinating and wide-ranging study for a general readership. Encompassing religious and secular attitudes to divorce, the evolution of divorce laws, and changing responses to marriage breakdown, Untying the Knot offers a highly readable and thought-provoking history of the phenomenon, placed illuminatingly against a variety of social, economic, political and cultural backgrounds.

                    Conjeturas Y Refutaciones/ Conjectures and Refutations: El Desarrollo Del Conocimiento Cientifico/ the Growth of Scientific Knowledge (Paidos Basica / Basic Paidos)
                    Average customer rating: Not rated
                      Conjeturas Y Refutaciones/ Conjectures and Refutations: El Desarrollo Del Conocimiento Cientifico/ the Growth of Scientific Knowledge (Paidos Basica / Basic Paidos)
                      Karl Raimund Popper
                      Manufacturer: Ediciones Paidos Iberica
                      ProductGroup: Book
                      Binding: Paperback

                      GeneralGeneral | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
                      MethodologyMethodology | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
                      SpanishSpanish | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
                      ResearchResearch | Education | Science | Subjects | Books
                      Methodology & StatisticsMethodology & Statistics | Experiments, Instruments & Measurement | Science | Subjects | Books
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                      InvestigaciónInvestigación | Educación | Ciencia | Libros en español | Formats | Books
                      Metodología y EstadísticaMetodología y Estadística | Experimentos, Instrumentos y Medidas | Ciencia | Libros en español | Formats | Books
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                      ASIN: 8475091466
                      Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (Routledge Classics)
                      Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
                      • My conjecture on this book
                      • Conjectures and Refutations
                      • How do we know what we know? We don't, we only guess...
                      • Conjectures and Refutations
                      • an enjoyable book
                      Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (Routledge Classics)
                      Karl R. Popper
                      Manufacturer: Routledge
                      ProductGroup: Book
                      Binding: Paperback

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                      ASIN: 0415285941

                      Book Description

                      This classic remains one of Karl Popper's most wide-ranging and popular works, notable not only for its acute insight into the way scientific knowledge grows, but also for applying those insights to politics and to history.

                      Customer Reviews:

                      5 out of 5 stars My conjecture on this book.......2007-07-09

                      Written with atypically clear prose and full of wit and insight. Sir Popper is truly one of the 20th century's greatest minds.

                      5 out of 5 stars Conjectures and Refutations.......2007-05-15

                      This is Popper at his mature full authoritive best. This work connects his early classic on Open Society with the works of contemporary philosiphers as well as with the Greeks. Popper makes the connection with modern science and it's foundations from the ancients. Anyone how has failed to avail themselves of Poppers insights into knowing and learning is the poorer for it.

                      5 out of 5 stars How do we know what we know? We don't, we only guess..........2005-09-23

                      We guess. We make up a story that explains the phenomena we observe. Why is there night and day? Because the sun rises from the east and sets itself down in the west. Aha! Let's check that. Let's go east. After a while we realize that we're living on a sphere and so we know our story is wrong. The sun does not rise up and set. So what does it do? We're on a ball and the sun is above and it moves around us! Great! Problem solved. But wait! Let's check that. The stars also move. Let's plot their course, and then... and so on and so forth.

                      For Popper, this is how we've built up our picture of the world. We make bold conjectures to explain what we see see and then we check, or rather we establish a failure test. If the test is true, then our guess is false. But if we only test to see if a guess is false, rather than to try and prove that it's true, then how do we know our guess is true? Popper answers that we do not and cannot ever know that. Knowledge lies beyond our grasp, we can only seek knowledge without ever hoping to attain it.

                      This is the central theme of Conjectures and Refutations, which itself is a comprehensive overview of Popper's epistemological thought. The book is divided in two parts titled, you guessed it, I-Conjectures and II-Refutations.

                      Part I, Conjectures, comprises the first ten chapters. Popper begins with an overview of his thesis, then explores the nature of the problems that face people who think about the world and who act in it (chapter 2), he presents three other views of what we mean by knowledge (ch. 3), he describes tradition and the history of thought (chapters 4 to 6) and then turns to a critique of Kant, and of the effect that Newton's astonishingly successful theory of gravity, unrefuted for over 200 years, had on the development of western science (chapter 7). Popper then closes part I with discussions on what the difference is between science and metaphysics, on why mathematics works so well in describing the world, and finally on the nature of scientific knowledge, i.e. what do we mean by "knowledge".

                      In part II, Refutations, Popper does not present anything, he destroys existing theories which he feels are wrong. He returns to metaphysics and because it deals in existential statements that are irrefutable (e.g. you can't prove the Devil's existence or non-existence) he seeks to separate its pursuits from that of science. Science deals only in refutable statements.

                      Then Popper attacks other theories and problems. He gives a succinct summary of his attack on historicism, his name for the belief that History follows laws (e.g. Marxism) and that historians should be able to predict the future course of mankind.

                      In short, Conjectures and Refutations is a complete introduction to Popper's thinking. It sketches out all his thoughts on the social sciences and describes in fair detail his thinking on the development of science. He ends on a positive note. It may seem depressing that we can never obtain true knowledge, but we can certainly find sufficiently rich rewards in the pursuit of it.

                      5 out of 5 stars Conjectures and Refutations.......2005-01-10

                      This book is divided into two sections - "Conjectures" and "Refutations". Roughly, or not so roughly, these titles refer to the basic aim of the essays divided under them. Moreover, the process of conjecture and refutation is itself the primary theory threading these various essays together. The first division consists of Popper's own conjectures about the nature of scientific method, human knowledge, the nature of metaphysics, a theory of tradition, etc. The latter section: refutations of commonly held theories on the mind-body problem, the demarcation between science and metaphysics, language, and social philosophy. In this Routledge Classics edition there is a third section of addenda pertaining to just a few of the individual essays in the text.
                      For those who are unfamiliar Popper Conjectures and Refutations is probably one of the best ways to get to know him. Being a collection of essays originally published elsewhere, they are on varied themes. These themes are often inspired by a conference or publication, but despite the occasional aspect of these writings they all generally further the the falsifiability thesis of scientific theories. For Popper, this means that all theories, though they can not be "proved" by "experience" or "observation", that is empirically, they can be falsified by empirical means. This is the truly empirical nature of scientific thought and the scientific method. This empirical-ness of theories (or statements) is what makes them scientific. Unlike the early positivists argued, the empirical nature of the scientific method is not its ability to establish universal laws by the appeal to experience and the use of inductive reasoning. The appeal to observation and experience work to corroborate theoretical claims, but can never "prove" a theory once and for all.
                      Along the same lines, Popper's demarcation between science and metaphysics figures heavily in these essays. While science consists of testable theories/statements to be corroborated or falsified by experience, metaphysics is constituted by un-testable, non-falsifiable theories/statements. The un-testable, un-observable nature of metaphysical statements does not make them meaningless as Wittgenstein, Ayer, and others have argued - a universal claim about the nature of gravity is no way more meaningful - it simply makes them untestable, unfalsifiable, and unscientific.
                      The philosophy of science and scientific method are not all that is important to Popper. They do not even exhaust the topics discussed in this book. I could write (and have written elsewhere) pages and pages on Popper's polical philosophy, his critiques of historicism and scienticism, and his epistemology. If you want a proper introduction buy Conjectures and Refutations. You might want to consider his Poverty of Historicism as well.

                      4 out of 5 stars an enjoyable book.......2002-11-29

                      The book is a collection of articles by Popper. It is easier to understand than his classic Logik der Forshung, and is much richer in content, for Popper embarks in some of these lectures on the history of philosophy and the history of science. There is also a delicious paper on self-reference and meaning in ordinary language.

                      I especially recommend the paper on "Scientific problems and their roots in metaphysics". Popper's conception of scientific dinamics as a sequence of big problems and answers to them makes him see continuity where experts on some particular philospher usually don't. Thus Popper sees a direct relation between Pythagoras, Plato and Euclid based on some fundamental cosmological problems. Euclid's Elements, Popper claims, were conceived by its author not as an excercise in pure geometry but as an organon of a theory of the world, designed to solve the problems of Plato's cosmology. Plato realized that Pythagoras' "arithmetical" theory of the world was in ruins after the discovery of irrational numbers, and that a new method was needed to understand the world. That is why he initiated the "gemoetrical" programme, which found its culmination in platonic Euclid's work. This way of seeing things is a bit unrealistic, a kind of free "rational reconstruction", but I think it is nevertheless a valuable view.

                      The fundamental lecture on philosophy of science in this collection is chapter 10, "Truth, rationality & the growth of scientific knowledge", where Popper presents his philosophy of science quite clearly and in detail. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since this paper was first published. His theory of "verisimilitude", for instance, was shown to be unmistakably wrong in the 1970s.

                      His approach to Tarski's theory of truth in that chapter is rather awkward: he pretends that Tarski's work showed what is meant by correspondence with the facts. To prove this, he appeals to instances of convention (T) and replacement of "is true" by "corresponds to the facts". Thus "snow is white" corresponds to the facts if and only if snow is white. But this might explain what it is for "snow is white" to correspond to the facts, but not what "correspondence with the facts" is. We cannot ascertain what that single property consists of, and surely Tarski's definiens for "truth" (i.e. "satisfaction by every infinite sequence") won't do the job.

                      Also, Popper's answer to the challenge that Duhem's problem posed on his philosophy is disappointing, the answer being something like "there exists a logical method of proving independence from axioms, so we might hopefully see from which axiomS the falied prediction depended; and even so, I admit that this method is usually difficult to apply; therefore holism is an untenable dogma."

                      The thesis of the book, says Popper, can be put like this: we can learn from our mistakes. This is held together with this other thesis: there is no ground for believeing any empirical statement to be true. The reader might wonder how Popper managed to believe in these two thesis at one and the same time. In Popper's view, science is this: conjecturing a theory to be true; subjecting this theory to criticism (empirical testing); this testing is done after experiment, but experiments are not reliable, we have no warrant that our perceptual apparatus is not deceiving us; if the theory fails the test, we reject it; but "it" is a whole system of related theories, even observational theories (even logic and mathematics, says Quine); and then we have to guess which of these we have to reject. The risk of taking a true theory to be false is certainly very high, as high as that of taking a false theory to be true. So I don't see how Popper can be so confident that we can learn from mistakes. Perhaps if we purged Popper's methodology of things like truth (not to mention verisimilitude), we could get a methodology of science conceived as a canon of critical procedure, with no claims as to what we are achieving when we abide by it.

                      The article on hegelian Dialectics is amusing. It tries the impossible task of explaining dialectics in a simple language, and then to refute it. The dialectician's typical reply to this kind of criticism is: you used clear language, so that is NOT Hegel's diatectics.

                      As I said, this is a highly stimulating and clearly written book, which deserves to be read even if many things in it must to be corrected or complemented.
                      Conjectures & Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge
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                        Conjectures & Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge
                        Karl R. Popper
                        Manufacturer: Basic Books
                        ProductGroup: Book
                        Binding: Hardcover
                        ASIN: B000E1B29S
                        Conjectures & Refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge
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                          Conjectures & Refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge
                          karl r popper
                          Manufacturer: Routledge Kegan Paul
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                          ASIN: B000GJ9TG6
                          Conjectures & Refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge
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                            Conjectures & Refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge

                            Manufacturer: Routledge Kegan Paul
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                            ASIN: B000HJNLIC
                            Conjectures and Refutations : The Growth of Scientific Knowledge
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                              Conjectures and Refutations : The Growth of Scientific Knowledge
                              Karl R. Popper
                              Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
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                              ASIN: B000OEWW8A
                              Conjectures and Refutations : The Growth of Scientific Knowledge
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                                Conjectures and Refutations : The Growth of Scientific Knowledge
                                Karl R. Popper
                                Manufacturer: HarperTorch
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                                ASIN: B000WAB5R0
                                CONJECTURES AND REFUTATIONS THE GROWTH OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
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                                  CONJECTURES AND REFUTATIONS THE GROWTH OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

                                  Manufacturer: Harper & Row
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                                  ASIN: B000HGHFXC
                                  Conjectures and Refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge
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                                    Conjectures and Refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge
                                    K.R. Popper
                                    Manufacturer: Routledge & Kegan Paul
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                                    Conjectures and Refutations: the Growth of Scientific Knowledge
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                                      Conjectures and Refutations: the Growth of Scientific Knowledge
                                      Karl Popper
                                      Manufacturer: Routledge
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                                      ASIN: B0000CLMAX

                                      Trout fishing at Banner Lakes.(GETAWAYS) : An article from: Business Record (Des Moines)
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                                        Trout fishing at Banner Lakes.(GETAWAYS) : An article from: Business Record (Des Moines)
                                        Joe Gardyasz
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