CRM Unplugged: Releasing CRM's Strategic Value

Book Description

Building and maintaining a customer-centered enterprise cost-effectively is a hot topic and key business issue. This book provides the definitive work on how to derive return from investment. It shows readers strategies for successful CRM implementation into a company, and how to achieve a good ROI through CRM, and also details best practices.

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

Quick, practical, innovative approach to CRM.......2004-05-23

This book provides thought-provoking and practical advice about how to drive sustainable business impact from customer-facing initiatives. The advice is based on a careful blend of well know frameworks from leaders like Professor Michael Porter and years of experience from the authors and leading corporations. The descriptions of how to use CRM to increase competitive advantage and improve profitability are particularly intriguing, as they elevate CRM from a business initiatve to a business imperative.

The authors have included plenty of examples of real world successes and failures, and hence keep the book rooted in practical and actionable guidelines. I highly recommend this book for CRM novices and experts and for technical and business professionals, as there is important advice in here for everyone.

Customer Strategy "How To".......2004-05-01

Don't let the title scare you, this is book is all about customer strategy--a "how to" book on effectively implementing customer relationship management. Relying on their experience, Bligh and Turk demonstrate how CRM SHOULD be executed--using a customer demand-driven approach. They include some amazing real-world examples from Fortune 500 companies including Dell, Wal-Mart and Pepsi to deliver this point--CRM initives implemented the right way are essential to the success of a business. Failures are covered too as learning opportunities. Chapter 2 has a case study about how Halloween 1999 was Hershey's scariest ever, a fantastic example. Each chapter ends with a "Key Points" summary to make reading easier and quickly review the material. If you think CRM is just software, pick up "CRM Unplugged", it should help change your perception.

Book Description

In recent years, much attention has been given to the unparalleled economic development of East Asia. The Changing Capital Markets of East Asia gathers a number of contributors who explore the growing sophistication of capital markets in this area and discuss the possible economic and political consequences.

Ky Cao brings together papers that analyze the recent changes in the emerging capital markets of East Asia and the implications that these changes may have for the international and regional capital markets in general. The volume explores global trends and their impact on the region; the changing patterns of capital market activity including the emergence of equity markets; the development of new frameworks of taxation and accounting; and provides case studies of South Korea and Taiwan. In challenging conventional thinking regarding the investigation of East Asian issues, which is usually local in nature, The Changing Capital Markets of East Asia providesa rounded view of East Asia's markets via the forces of domestic politics and history as well as of external structural changes.

Average customer rating:

The Changing Capital Markets of East Asia.
Ky (EDT). Cao
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N6CYW8

THE CHANGING CAPITAL MARKETS OF EAST ASIA. Routledge Studies in the Growth Economics of Asia

Average customer rating:

THE CHANGING CAPITAL MARKETS OF EAST ASIA. Routledge Studies in the Growth Economics of Asia
Ky. Cao
Manufacturer: Routledge,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000W3QXFG

Product Description

11 X 8.5 PAPERBACK

Problems and Materials in Evidence and Trial Advocacy

Average customer rating:

Problems and Materials in Evidence and Trial Advocacy
Robert Burns , and Steven Lubet
Manufacturer: National Institute for Trial Advocacy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1556816316

Book Description

The Cases book features a civil and a criminal case file, and is designed to present students with a series of challenging decisions, including the choice of trial theory, organization, and presentation of evidence.

Average customer rating:

Problems and materials in evidence and trial advocacy

Manufacturer: National Institute for Trial Advocacy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1556816324

Problems and Materials in Evidence and Trial Advocacy: Cases

Average customer rating:

Problems and Materials in Evidence and Trial Advocacy: Cases
Robert Burns , and Steven Lubet
Manufacturer: Nita Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1556814259

Problems and Materials in Evidence and Trial Advocacy: Problems

Average customer rating:

Problems and Materials in Evidence and Trial Advocacy: Problems
Robert Burns , and Steven Lubet
Manufacturer: Nita Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1556814267

Problems Materials in Evidence and Trial Advocacy Vol. II, Problems, Fourth Edition

Average customer rating:

Problems Materials in Evidence and Trial Advocacy Vol. II, Problems, Fourth Edition
Robert P. Burns , and Steven Lubet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1556818521

Product Description

large paperback , 11 x 8.5

Book Description

This CCPS Concept book shows designers and operators of chemical facilities how to realistically estimate the flammable mass in a cloud of accidentally released material that is capable of igniting. It provides information on industry experience with flammable vapor clouds, basic concepts of fires and explosions, and an overview of related computer programs.

Current Issues in Geology: Selected Readings
Average customer rating:
Current Issues in Geology: Selected Readings
Michael L.; Tolliver, Robert L. McKinney
Manufacturer: West Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OA31J8

Average customer rating:
Current Issues in Geology: Selected Readings

Manufacturer: West Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Geology | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Earth Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0314061096

Current Issues in Geology: Selected Readings 1996
Average customer rating:
Current Issues in Geology: Selected Readings 1996

Manufacturer: West Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Geology | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Geology | Earth Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0314075682

Current Issues in Geology - Selected Reading
Average customer rating:
Current Issues in Geology - Selected Reading
Michael, McKinney
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OU06NC

Current issues in geology : selected readings / edited by Michael L. McKinney, Robert L. Tolliver - [1995 edition]
Average customer rating:
Current issues in geology : selected readings / edited by Michael L. McKinney, Robert L. Tolliver - [1995 edition]
Michael L. Tolliver, Robert L. McKinney
Manufacturer: Minneapolis/St. Paul : West Pub. Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VZBFH6

CURRENT ISSUES IN GEOLOGY SELECTED READINGS
Average customer rating:
CURRENT ISSUES IN GEOLOGY SELECTED READINGS
MICHAEL L.,PARRI SHARIFF & ROBERT L. TOLLIVER (Edity by) MCKINNEY
Manufacturer: West Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTNKCW

Book Description

A collection of essays by a Nobel Prize Laureate on a wide range of critical issues facing the world, and the role of scientists in solving these problems. Kendall has been closely involved with the Union of Concerned Scientists, a group that began as an informal assocation at MIT in 1969 to protest US involvement in Vietnam and is today an organization with an annual budget exceeding $6 million, with 100,000 supporters worldwide. UCD is today a voice of authority in US government science policy, particularly with regard to environment issues, most recently the worldwide initiatives on global warming. Together, these essays represent both the sucessses and failures of science to impact public policy, the challenges facing scientists, and offers practical guidelines for involvement in science policy. The essays are roughly chronological, organized by subject with introductions, beginning with the controversies on nuclear power safety and Three Mile Island,then followed by sections on national security issues, global environmental and resource problems,and radioactive cleanup and other current issues. Kendall's Nobel Prize lecture as well as a more popular version thereof is also included (and is the only really technical material in the book). The photos in the book are Kendall's, from an 1992 exhibition of his work. Henry Kendall was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics (jointly with J.I.Friedman and R.E. Taylor) in 1990 for his research in the structure of the proton and netron. In 1969, he was one of a group of physicist who founded the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and is currently Chairman of its Board of Directors.

Book Description

When Beverly Hills Police Officer Charlie Willis pulls over a speeding Rolls Royce hell-bent for Neiman Marcus, he’s surprised to see Esther Radcliffe, the geriatric star of the TV series Miss Agatha, behind the wheel. He’s even more surprised when she guns him down and keeps on driving. A few hours later, he wakes up in the intensive care unit…to find a William Morris agent, a network president, and the head of Pinnacle Studios standing at the foot of his bed. They have a proposal for him: in exchange for conveniently forgetting who shot him, they’ll make him the star of his own series, My Gun Has Bullets. So Charlie trades in his real badge for a fake one…and so begins an uproarious but deadly romp through the wonderful world of TV make-believe…with real bullets. To make it to sweeps week, Charlie will have to survive two homicidal stuntmen, a rabid celebrity dog, a hit man-turned-producer, a psychotic old lady, a sex-crazed blackmailer, and vicious ratings…with only a stunning, leather-clad Baywatch beauty to help him.

“It will make you cackle like a sitcom laugh track. Goldberg keeps the gags coming right up to the end.”—Entertainment Weekly

“A very funny novel…a pinch of Carl Hiaasen, a dash of Donald Westlake, and a heaping portion of avarice and inanity Hollywood Style. It’s boffo!”—Thomas Gaughan, Booklist

“A rousing send-up of everything and everyone in the world of show-biz.”—Judith Kreiner, The Washington Times

Customer Reviews:

I'd also have to go with Screamingly Funny.......2006-04-17

So there I am, sitting at a stoplight at the end of an effing world-class bad day, two years after reading My Gun Has Bullets for the first and only time, and out of the blue, I recall the stunt men who were impervious to pain, and then the visual of Jessica Fletcher petulantly gunning down a cop for pulling her over, which means that to keep her hit show on the air, the producers must offer the gutshot cop a show of his own... and I felt much, much better. Driving along, crying and cheeks cramping up, thinking, "Okay, I better get another copy and hurt myself a little more."

Then these two cops pull alongside, and no way to explain that my inappropriate risible symptoms were from an old stored memory of a truly, exceptionally funny book, so damn good that I immediately gave it to someone about to leave town. That way, I wouldn't read it to tatters in a month and wear out the happiness. No, I'd even wait years to have the pleasure of reading it fresh. I'm buying two copies, one for me and one as a gift to the next poor suffering bastard I meet who needs a laugh.

Anyway, seeing the cops set me off again. I looked away, and that didn't help. Couldn't stop laughing, not their faults or mine. The officer riding shotgun just glanced at me without changing expression, and they drove on, God bless 'em for the pass. It wasn't contempt-of-cop. But what could I do? If I'd rolled down the window and explained, while laughing my head off, "My Gun Has Bullets," guess what bad thing would have happened next.

Surely someone has optioned this by now.

My Gun is Hilarious.......2004-02-12

Lee Goldberg's My Gun Has Bullets is definitely one of the crazier, funnier books I've come across in a very long time. he situations are broad and unbelievable, but there is enough truth there to make you wonder.

The situation, in which the Mob finances a television series and, when the show doesn't do as well as expected, begins killing off the stars of the competing shows, is not in itself laugh out loud funny, but Goldberg's deft poking manages to create humor out of a silly premise.

The erstwhile star of the book, Charlie Willis, is also the novel's main flaw - he's just too good to be believed. He's a gentle, kind, aw-shucks ex-cop who gets his own TV series. When the competition staerts dropping like flies, he acts like a cop once again, hunting the killers.

If you're interested at all in the makings of a TV program, you'll enjoy this book. Though tongue-in-cheek, there's enough truth to make you think. The comedy is broad, (think Woody Allen's early films), the writing is above-average and the novel is entertaining, What more did you want?

My Gun is Hilarious.......2004-02-12

Screamingly funny.......1998-04-06

It's incredible that this book is out-of-print already. I ran across it in the library, starting reading the first few pages, and had to run for the desk. Laughing so hard (and so quietly) that the librarians were about to dial 911. Fortunately, one of them had read the book, and understood why I was weeping and gasping for breath. Took it home and had sore stomach and cheek muscles for a week. This is easily among the ten funniest books I've ever read.

Average customer rating:

My Gun Has Bullets
Lee Goldberg
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OOZTC6

Average customer rating:

My Gun Has Bullets
Lee Goldberg
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQMBA8

Average customer rating:

My Gun Has Bullets
Lee Goldberg
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTGR36

Average customer rating:

My Gun Has Bullets
Lee Goldberg
Manufacturer: St. Martin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OPCA9U

The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France Since 1944
Average customer rating:
The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France Since 1944
Henry Rousso
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | France | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Vichy France

France: The Dark Years, 1940-1944

Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France During the German Occupation

Strange Defeat

Dora Bruder

ASIN: 067493539X

The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France Since 1944
Average customer rating:
The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France Since 1944
Henry Rousso
Manufacturer: Harvard Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000X9LRT6

THE VICHY SYNDROME History and Memory in France Since 1944
Average customer rating:
THE VICHY SYNDROME History and Memory in France Since 1944
Henry Rousso
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JVCH7O

Amazon.com

A millennium before the Incas built their empire, the city of Tiahuanaco sat at the center of a great empire of its own. Located on Lake Titicaca, the world's highest at 13,000 feet, in what is now Bolivia, at the very limits of agriculture, the people of Tiahuanaco developed an ingenious system of cultivation based on raised planting beds alternating with trenches that served as irrigation ditches. From A.D. 400 to 800, the temples of Tiahuanaco glittered with gold and the empire supported as many as 250,000 people. Kolata, who has spent more than 17 years excavating the empire's ruins, weaves together the story of Tiahuanaco and the region's modern inhabitants, the Aymara.

Book Description

In a secluded valley high in the Andes Mountains, long before the time of the Incas and the Aztecs, the empire of the Aymara rose from the shores of Lake Titicaca and flourished for nearly a thousand years. The secrets of the Aymara civilization, one of the first great empires of the Americas, have only recently been deciphered from the haunting ruins of their splendid temples, among which their contemporary descendants still live and work today.

In Valley of the Spirits, Alan Kolata takes us deep into the mystical world of the Aymara, where past and present come together and the spirits of ancient ancestors still speak to shamans in the voices of mountain springs. Kolata's unique knowledge of the Aymara is based on 17 years of research at the site of the ancient empire.

Its crown jewel was the dazzling ancient capital of Tiahuanaco, whose gold and silver-appointed temples and "monumental stone sculptures intensified the mythic aura of the city, imbuing it with a quality of the supernatural." From A.D. 400-1100, it was the spiritual center of the Andean world. According to Aymara myth, the creator god Viracocha brought man to life from the springs and rocks of Tiahuanaco's sacred landscape.

The city's rich symbolism linked man inextricably to the majestic plan—and the cyclical fates—of nature. Royal priests performed elaborate animal and human sacrifices and buried human trophy heads and the mummified remains of Aymara kings in lavish religious pageants. So impressive was the legacy of Tiahuanaco that the Inca rulers claimed descent from the Aymara kings more than 500 years after the empire's mysterious catastrophic demise.

Kolata deciphers the mysteries of the ancient monuments, from the massive Akapana pyramid, the symbol of sacred mountains, and of fertility and abundance, to the imposing archway known as the Gateway of the Sun, among the most exquisite artistic monuments of the ancient Americas. And he takes us into the contemporary world of the Aymara as well, where shamans recite the names of ancestral spirits in a hypnotic protocol of remembrance and homage to Lady Earth and Lord Sky.

"To anyone fascinated by the total experience of humans, to anyone who wishes to go beyond the familiar world, to anyone wanting to push the envelope of their own perceptions, a sojourn into the mind and history of the Aymara is disturbing, exhilarating, and ultimately unforgettable."—Alan Kolata, in his Introduction to Valley of the Spirits

Customer Reviews:

Archaeological Speculation Presented as Fact.......2007-06-12

This book states what I take to be the archaeological myth that Tiahuanaco flourished between 400 and 1100AD. The author doesn't state any conclusive evidence to support this hypothesis. The other myth that the peoples of the Americas entered the country via the Bering Strait is also stated, without mention of any supporting evidence. Frankly, I found chapter 8 of Harold Wilkins' Mysteries of Ancient South America far more informative than the entirety of this book. Apparently, Tiahuanaco in Quechuan translates as "city of darkness or waning light", which wouldn't apply to a city high up in the mountains! Therefore, it seems that Wilkins' reasoning that Tiahuanaco was at one time a submerged city that was raised when the Andes were formed has more scientific veracity.

Most of the book is theories unsupported by evidence. The only chapter I liked was the "Restoration" chapter where the author convinces some locals to return to the ancient method of agriculture using raised fields (ridge backs), and witnesses spectacular results. Given the ever increasing costs and ever diminishing returns of industrial agriculture it seems sensible to investigate ancient but effective techniques of food production.

Overall I would recommend Mysteries of Ancient South America and Secret Cities of Old South America over this.

Archeology rocks!.......2001-01-29

I think this is my favorite book I've read about South America before and after a trip there. The author introduces us to the people who live there and are his friends. We get to see how Tiawanaku looked when it was in use and learn about customs and traditions which live today. The project to re-introduce ancient agricultural practices of raised beds and irrigation, was exciting. We were kept on the edge of our seat waiting to see if a freeze killed the crop and put the population in jeopardy. A real armchair trip to Bolivia!

Spirit of the Aymara.......2001-01-27

If you can't go to Bolivia, this is the next best thing. The archeological information about Tiawanaku is fascinating. The cultural information regarding the Aymara is great too. But, my favorite part was the project to reintroduce abandoned agricultural practices to the area. Much larger populations were supported in ancient times due to the micromanagement of climate using irrigation and raised fields. And it was dramatically demonstrated that it works in this book! Good reading!

Valley of the Spirits.......2000-03-13

I really enjoyed this book and have since read further volumes on South American Indian cultures because of it. Written by the primary researcher at Tiahuanaco, Alan Kolata, the text covers the origin of the earliest pre-Inca highland civilization, the Ayamara. So impressive was the legacy of this people to their successors that the Inca themselves sought to legitimize their claim to empire by seeking to place their roots at this site. I found Kolata's successful test of his economic hypothesis regarding population density and farming methods (by the reintroduction of raised bed and canal farming at altitude) especially profound. It certainly made abundantly apparent the pertinance of modern day archaeology, not only to the preservation of the world's ancient inheritance but to the material well being of modern populations as well. This book is a good place to start for anyone with an interest in ancient South American cultures and to applied archaeology.

this is a fine book.......1997-04-10

I'm an Egyptologist, but I like to read outside my own field. This excellent summary of years of work in the field was a real joy. It was exciting to read of a culture "done in" by a change in climate (we think this also happened in ancient Egypt!), and heartwarming to read of ancient irrigation technology revived to help people today. I feel this book is a must for anyone who cares about the past . . . and people today

Book Description

This invaluable book teaches readers a unified design methodology. After providing some introductory material, it guides students through MSI and LSI combinatorial loci elements, emphasizing devices that can be programmed for specific applications. The rest of the book deals mainly with synchronous sequential logic. Throughout, problems with step-by-step solutions and delayed answers help readers guage their progress, deepen their comprehension, and sharpen their analytical skills.

Customer Reviews:

Save Your Money!.......2003-04-05

Don't waste your money on this book. The primary problem being that the authors have gone completely "over the top" in their efforts to introduce logic representations employing what they refer to as "the mixed-logic convention". This has resulted in a key chapter (4) on the design and implementation of combinational logic being completely incomprehensible. And unfortunately much of this confusion is carried throughout the remainder of this book.

In fairness, I will point out that I'm somewhat biased. Being from an older school of though where we were taught binary arithmetic, Boolean algebra, Karnaugh mapping, digital IC hardware types, combinational and synchronous circuit design/analysis and how to establish and maintain a logic/voltage convention in our circuits. We were also taught how to take the family of logic that the boss gave us(usually the NAND gate, NOT inverter and J-K F/F) and design, test and draw a schematic for a circuit. We saw no need to have two or three different drawings for the NAND gate; somehow we just seemed to know how to interrupt the NAND function and no one seemed to agonize over what if the signal is "active high", "active low", "asserted", "unasserted" and etc. We also knew what the schematic meant without any "half arrows", "back slashes" or active high/low indicators other than the bar. God did we have it nice.

I fully understand that an instructor in this field today must incorporate some aspects of this mixed logic convention into their presentations. Many circuit designers have been taught this, to some degree or other, for several years and new students are sure to see different gate representations with different logic conventions being used in the same schematics; however this book is going to do nothing but be confussing in this area. When presenting the simple NAND gate implemented latch circuit (basic F/F), you see a drawing with two gates, eight half arrows, two back slashes and active logic livel indicators on all four I/O's, you have got to know something is seriously wrong. Do not read this book until you have your degree and then only for a laugh. For a Schaum's Outline, check out DIGITAL PRINCIPLES by Tokheim. If you can afford a good hardback reference, chech out DIGITAL SYSTEMS, PRINCIPLES & APPLICATIONS by Tocci & Widmer.

A "MUST BUY" Book.......2000-07-18

Excellent book for beginners and a great reference for every one! This books covers every thing you need for designing Digital Systems and covers all course fundamentals (Binary System, Logic Design...... upto Design of Simple State Machines and Electronically Programmable Functions) and supplements any class text. An essential book for all levels from High School to College. Schaum's Outline Series are a great help.

A " MUST BUY" Book.......2000-07-18

Average customer rating:

Logic Machines & Diagrams

Manufacturer: McGraw Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000EX90RW

Average customer rating:

Logic Machines & Diagrams

Manufacturer: McGraw Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000EXFK26

Average customer rating:

Logic Machines And Diagrams
Martin Gardner
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0000CK1P5

Average customer rating:

From the dawn of the computer era
The history of logic manipulatives well told

Logic Machines and Diagrams
Martin Gardner
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Logic & Language | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0226282430

Customer Reviews:

From the dawn of the computer era.......2005-06-24

This is an interesting, if brief look back at historical computing mechanisms. It is interesting for two reasons. First, that it focuses exclusively on tools for logical reasoning, and not on numerical tools like a slide rule or abacus. Second, it was written at the dawn of the electronic computing era, before even one-at-a-time transistors were used, and long before the earliest integrated circuit.

It briefly describes Lull's rotating disks, a little like the child's toy that can put a lion's head on a turtle's body. Lull used dozens of variants (up to 14 disks, in one case) to explore combinations of theological and moral ideas, but not for reaching conclusions from basic premises. Gardner goes on to describe set-inclusion diagrams pioneered by Euler and popularized by Venn, Pierce's arcane "existential diagrams", and a few other pencil and paper notations. He describes a few clever tools based on different cards with windows cut into them, so that the alignment of windows in overlapping cards represents joining of logical statements. He also mentions mechanical, electrical, and relay-based gadgets, as well as one based on rotating, counter-rotating, and jammed gears.

For some reason, he chose not to mention a once-popular tool based on stacks of cards, with holes punched or notches cut in the edges. Stack the cards, slide a pin through the aligned holes representing (for example) male subjects, and shake loose all the cards with notches that don't snag the pin. Repeat the process on the male or female stack of cards, using other holes representing different traits, and the desired subset of subjects (if any) remain. Although used for filing, this tool could easily have handled dozens of logical variables, not just the four or five seen in other mechanisms.

The second facet of this book gives it a quaint feeling. Gardner ends the book with a set of predictions about the future of logic machines. He dismisses programmable computers as unwieldy and inefficient. Still, he hopes for inference engines to be sped up electronically, perhaps using analog computation. Other predictions sound equally odd - some because they did not come to pass, others (like H. G. Wells' World Brain) because they did in some way.

This book is an interesting bit of modern history, and a worthwhile collection of visual tools for representing logical concepts. If nothing else, it gives insight into how complex problems of four logical variables were once thought to be - much simpler than the computer circuits and even logic puzzles of today.

//wiredweird

The history of logic manipulatives well told.......2004-07-03

The advent of the digital computer has rendered logic diagrams and manipulatives into historical footnotes. Nevertheless, they are significant in the historical development of logic as an area of mathematics. In this book Gardner describes the various ways syllogisms and propositions have been represented in diagrams, but he also spends a great deal of time explaining the personalities.
Ramon Lull was quite a character. Early in life he was a hedonist, but due to a religious vision, was converted into somewhat of a religious fanatic. While some groups considered him divinely inspired and he has been beatified, the Dominicans considered him a madman and his prolific writings contain a great deal that could be considered heretical. He even wrote a book containing dialogues in which he and a priest argue as to which one has had the most preposterous life. On three occasions, he made pilgrimages to Moslem cities in Africa in order to engage in religious debates with Islamic leaders and point out the errors inherent in Islam. The first two times he managed to escape with his life, but the last time, at the age of 83, he was stoned to death by a mob. In many ways, it is thought of as his way of committing suicide.
His logic diagrams were a set of circular manipulatives that could be rotated to create different combinations of symbols. Various symbols represented God, the soul, sins, virtues and other elements of religious belief. While they are of interest, after reading of his rather eventful life, they seem anticlimactic.
The diagrams of John Venn, network diagrams that represent the propositional calculus, tables with parts that slide to evaluate propositions, computing using binary values and even spinning wheels are all used to perform logical computations. The number of different ways and materials that can be used to evaluate propositions was surprising. I found the use of spinning wheels to be of greatest interest. If the wheel spins in one direction it is true and if it is spinning in the other direction, it is false. A proposition is then true if the spins interact to allow another wheel to spin the in the positive direction.
This is a book that is now of historical interest only. However, I think that I may introduce the spinning wheel example in class the next time I teach discrete math. It is easy to understand and demonstrates another way in which logic can be applied to describe the world.

Logic Machines, Diagrams and Boolean Algebra

Average customer rating:

Logic Machines, Diagrams and Boolean Algebra
Martin Gardner
Manufacturer: Dover Publications, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0486218937

Average customer rating:

Logic Machines, Diagrams, and Boolean Algebra

Manufacturer: Dover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000B7K4Y4

Product Description

Logic Machines, Diagrams, and Boolean Algebra, by Martin Gardner, Dover Pubs, 1968, 13.5x21.5cm, 157pp + ads.

Machine Learning: ECML 2000 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science / Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence)

Average customer rating:

Machine Learning: ECML 2000 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science / Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence)
Ramon Lopez, Ed. de Mantaras
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Data Mining | Databases | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Databases | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Medicine | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Medicine | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 3540676023

Book Description

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th European Conference on Machine Learning, ECML 2000, held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in May/June 2000.The 20 long papers and 23 short papers presented together with 2 invited contributions were carefully reviewed and selected from 100 submissions. All current issues in machine learning as well as advanced applications in various areas are addressed.

Average customer rating:

Logic Machines & Diagrams 1ST Edition
Martin Gardner
Manufacturer: MCGRAW HILL BOOK COMPANY INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QA5SF6

Average customer rating:

LOGIC MACHINES AND DIAGRAMS
Martin Gardner
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OP7P5Y

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books