Water Resource Economics: The Analysis of Scarcity, Policies, and Projects

Book Description

Economics brings powerful insights to water management, but most water professionals receive limited training in it. This text offers a comprehensive development of water resource economics that is accessible to engineers and natural scientists as well as economists. The goal is to build a practical platform for understanding and performing economic analysis using both theoretical and empirical tools. The mathematics needed to understand the subjects covered in this text include basic optimization methods and integral calculus. Familiarity with microeconomics or natural resource economics is helpful, but all the economics needed is presented and developed progressively in the text. Many water-based example calculations are included. Thus the book can be used for independent study as well as course work.

The book focuses on the scarcity of water quantity (rather than water quality). The author presents the economic theory of resource allocation, recognizing the peculiarities imposed by water, and expands the theory to encompass time-defined matters such as ground water depletion. He then discusses such subjects as institutional economics, water law, how economics is used in policy and cost-benefit analysis, the roles of water marketing and water pricing, demand and supply estimation, privatization, and modeling with demand and supply functions. As an aid to readers with specific interests, references to recent literature are given for all of these topics. Each chapter ends with a summary and exercises. All graphic portrayals of economic theory and most calculations are performed using Mathematica software. These programs are downloadable, but their use is entirely optional.

Book Description

The sociology of emotions is now at the forefront of micro social theory and research; and increasingly, the dynamics of emotions are seen as one of the ways to link micro to macro-level social processes. For in the end, what drives people to create social structures and to maintain commitments to these structures is emotion. The papers in this volume represent a broad array of approaches to the analysis of emotions. Some come from well established traditions in social psychology and micro sociologytraditions such as symbolic interactionism, expectation states research, interaction ritual theory, and power-status theory. Others come from more macro-oriented theorizing in Europe; another set comes from meso-level analysis of organizational structures; and still others come from the opposite end of the intellectual continuum and explore the physiology and evolution of emotions. The goal of the volume is to sample the range of work in an area that did not exist three decades ago in sociology and to see the theoretical and research programs that sociological theorists and researchers on emotions are pursuing. The sociology of emotions is now a broad-based intellectual movement, with the result that no one volume can fully capture the diversity of work being performed by sociologists. Still, this volume attempts to provide readers with a review of some of the more creative work on emotional dynamics in human groupings.

Book Description

This book introduces the theory and practice of Chinese freshwater fish culture to the world. Fish resources, reproduction, feeding and nutrition, genetics and breeding, fry and fingerling nursing, integrated fish farming, fish culture in lakes, reservoirs, pens and cages, luxury species culture, as well as disease control are described. A representative collection of the Chinese literature is cited, most of it exposed to the world for the first time. This volume will be invaluable to all aquaculturists and animal/fisheries scientists.

Amazon.com

Will quantum physics let us reduce consciousness to computation? Roger Penrose says "no" with great force and eloquence in The Large, the Small, and the Human Mind. Prepared as a series of three lectures in Cambridge's Tanner Series on Human Values, the material is both meticulously thought out and informally presented, including many illustrations by Penrose and others. For publication, the author sought out rebuttals and commentary by philosophers Abner Shimony and Nancy Cartwright, as well as his own colleague and occasional rival, the well-known theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. Penrose then reserves the last word for himself, an author's prerogative. The result is a sharp but polite argument on the nature of thinking and its reducibility. Readers familiar with The Emperor's New Mind and Shadow of the Mind will find the arguments from quantum physics fleshed out in greater detail, but also attacked with good-natured aplomb. Those who missed out on Penrose's older forays into this territory (or are somehow uninterested in the nature of thought) will find this an excellent broad overview of the modern conception of physics, from subatomic shenanigans to the radius of the universe, as well as a stimulating debate among several great modern thinkers. Despite Penrose's certainty that our brains can't be modeled by computational systems--and hence that strong artificial intelligence will remain in science fiction--the argument continues, and will continue for some time. The Large, the Small, and the Human Mind crystallizes that debate for readers who want to keep up with the latest thinking about thinking. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

Roger Penrose's views on the large-scale physics of the Universe, the small-scale world of quantum physics and the physics of the mind are controversial and widely discussed. This book is a fascinating and accessible summary of Roger Penrose's current thinking on those areas of physics in which he feels there are major unresolved problems. It is also a stimulating introduction to the radically new concepts that he believes will be fruitful in understanding the workings of the brain and the nature of the human mind.

Customer Reviews:

Lucid approach to establish a quantum-based mind theory.......2004-04-07

Penrose concisely manages to give us an overview about 3 somehow interconnected fields, the mathematically described large-scale world, the deterministic quantum microcosm and the recently emergent mind science. His major aspiration is to see the new generation of scientists erecting a bridge between the quantum world and the always controversial substance of conscience.

Having in his mind (in a neo-platonic way) the idealistic nature of mathematics that apply to the physical world as a well-justified model, he firstly presents some themes from cosmology and abstract mathematics (e.g. hyperbolic, Riemann geometry), and why, in his opinion, Guth's inflationary universe theory, has weak points (see also Penrose's book- Difficulties with inflationary cosmology) In chapter 2 ,quantum physics related, he gives us interesting examples (the paradox& puzzles reference shows his great sense of humor) and explain us how wavefunction's reduction can assist us to deal with the probabilistic nature of events in this level.
In the most interesting third one, he is concerned to lay an in-depth foundation between quantum procedures through neurons, so as to explain his main belief - brain function (that creates conscience) can't be simulated through A.I. Even though I tend to prefer J.Searle opinion (presented in his book Mind,Brain & Science) Penrose's points are adequately justified, thus leaving an open window for Free Will.

In the next three chapters certain Penrose's point's are opposed from Shimony (physician, philosopher) Nancy Cartwright(logician, philosopher) and the renowned Steven Hawking.
Shimony in a formalistic language, but slightly excessive for the common reader, finally makes a conjecture about a hyperselection law, in order to avoid quantum dualism, while Mrs Cartwright sets a contronversy against the usefulness of a perception that sets Physics the only explanatory science for mind theory and not for example Biology.(which for Penrose is reduced to Physics)
Hawking denies an indispensable and direct correlation between quantum gravity and the yet inextricable conscience and in chapter 7 Penrose responds to all so as to end this dialectically fair and fruitful discussion.

Overall this was worth my time, not only for this subject's great interest but because Penrose explains his thesis, clearly and distinctly.The uprising need for 'popular' science is reflected and adequately satisfied through this lucid book which succinctly presents a contemporary overview in a 'hot' scientific field.

Even non-expert readers (no special background in maths or physics is needed) will be able to follow and admire the ongoing revolution of scientific thought.Given it was written in'97 I'm looking forward and will benevolently embrace another similar work of a splendid thinker such as Penrose

Biology Contradicted........2003-12-12

What I am writing here in no way does justice to the book, I am merely trying to add a corrective to the way the book is reviewed. With Penrose, biology and the brain itself become epiphenomena. Biology loses its status as protected economic mythology (by default, not in the book). To become a neurobiologist (for instance) one usually has to accept at least some of the assumptions of the discipline or accept some responsibility for them; even by the questions Penrose raises he is fundamentally undermining such disciplines (even categorically) and at the same time seriously calling into question the judgment of their adherents. After all why would one have accepted or promoted such polluted theories when (after the fact) clarity was there all along... unless there was another motive. So more than their judgment is at stake, this work even calls into question their character as reflected in their basic sense of things. What are they going to do? Reform? It calls into question their basic forum.

With reservations, a fascinating discussion.......2003-06-30

As my background is mainly in the brain sciences, I was most interested in what Penrose had to say about consciousness and the brain in this book, so I'll concentrate mostly on the chapter that had to do with that. This is not to say I didn't enjoy the other chapters, just that I'm not as qualified to critique those as I am the one on the brain. There has been a lot of speculation in recent years about such things as computability and the brain, quantum consciousness, and so on, and I was interested to find out what Penrose might have to say about that.

One of Penrose's major ideas in this chapter is his demonstration that consciousness, although perhaps mathematical, isn't computable, in the sense that you could program a computer to simulate it. Penrose uses the example of geometric tilings or polyominos that are deterministic in their coverage of the Euclidean plane, but that aren't computable, to show this. Since, as Penrose points out, there are plenty of mathematical concepts that aren't computable and that can't be done on a computer, but that the human mind can understand, Penrose concludes that there is something beyond computability in both pure mathematics and the human brain.

This is interesting, and Penrose might be right about that. However, I must point out that while consciousness itself may not be computable (and I'm not really prepared to conclude this for sure at this point, because of what I'm about to say), nevertheless, many aspects of the brain's functioning have been shown to be computable, so I'd like to discuss that briefly.

For example, sensory neurophysiology has been shown to be both quite mathematical and computational as a result of the work of a pioneering mathematician by the name of David Marr 25 years ago, whose ideas revolutionized neurobiology almost overnight, after which the field was never the same. Marr examined a number of different fundamental sensory mechanisms, and showed, for the first time, that the way in which the visual system was processing light information was consistent with the operation of certain sophisticated spatial-frequency filtering transforms that are well-known in many engineering applications. To mention just a few of his important ideas, Marr's demonstrations that retinal receptive-field geometry could be derived by Fourier transformation of spatial-frequency sensitivity data, that edges and contours could be detected by finding zero crossings in the light gradient by taking the Laplacian or second directional derivative, that excitatory and inhibitory receptive fields could be constructed from "DOG" functions (the difference of two Gaussians), and that the visual system used a two-dimensional convolution integral with a Gaussian prefilter as an operator for bandwidth optimization on the retinal light distribution, were more powerful than anything that had been seen up to that time.

It was as if vision research suddenly acquired its own Newtonian Principia Mathematica, or perhaps General Relativity Theory, in terms of the new explanatory power Marr's theories provided. Basically, in one fell swoop sensory neurobiology also became an area of theoretical physics rather than purely biology, giving the area a rigor and elegance never before seen--an amazing achievement for a young man who died so prematurely from leukemia at the age of 36.

The main point of all this is that all of these mechanisms are both mathematical and computable, although the way in which they're done in the brain is probably more like how a computer would use numerical analysis to solve a differential equation, rather than using the original equations in a purely analytical way themselves. Since Marr's time, there has been further progress in this area, such as the great Bela Julesz's demonstrations that the visual system can extract and compute binocular disparity cues point-by-point for depth information from abstract, non-representational pictures or textures such as random-dot stereograms, the extension of Marr's ideas about monochromatic edge detection into color edge detection, the mathematical bases of non-linear visual field distortions present in optical illusions, and many other areas.

Furthermore, in the last few years, the nature of consciousness itself has been shown to be composed of many different separate mechanisms in the brain that are being coordinated in time in order for consciousness to occur. It simply isn't one process or central program that runs in the brain, nor is there a "master" brain center that one can point to where it can be said that consciousness resides. I'm sure the progress of this research will also have implications for ideas about the nature and computability of consciousness.

So overall, a fascinating and enjoyable discussion about the brain and consciousness by Penrose, even if I don't completely accept one of his major ideas about it for the reasons that I discuss above.

Penrose: Science needs a "revolution"........2003-03-12

Let me first say something about Roger Penrose. One notices how certain other mathematicians and mathematical physicists speak of him. He is not only admired and respected; it seems that he is positively enjoyed! This may be a bit surprising when one notices that Penrose is something of a thorn in the side of several popular ideas in contemporary physics (and psychology). Cosmic inflation theories and ideas regarding the fundamental nature of quantum uncertainty find a formidable and articulate critic in the Oxford mathematician. Of the somewhat less popular, but ever fanciful "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum superpositioning, Penrose says "[the 'many-worlds' view] is not a very economical description of the Universe but I think things are rather worse than that for the many-worlds description. It is not just its lack of economy that worries me. The main problem is that it does not really solve the problem." He brings the same mental rapier to what he has called "the missing science" of mind and to the idea of computational / artificial intelligence. It is the problem of superpositioning described by Schrodinger and the decoherence caused by quantum measurement that prompt Penrose's search for an 'objective reduction' (OR) of quantum state vectors, the key ingredient in a "revolutionary" physical theory that remains a mystery. He speculates that this physical mystery may be related to the mystery of consciousness. He is unconvincing in this regard, but his ideas and arguments are quite interesting.
Well, let me now take this a bit further. Penrose also seems to terribly irk certain others! In particular he really raises the hackles of proponents of strong AI and the Dawkins/Dennett camp of 'consciousness-is-merely-mechanism' dogmatists. His views are much closer to those of perhaps most mathematicians and philosophers and stand on a deeper logical footing than do the doctrines that the human mind is mere biology. Let me say that I agree with Penrose in that the 'simple biology' view is never going to win this argument for reasons that can be demonstrated by the application of mathematical logic. To say that Penrose "doesn't understand biology" is to miss the point. The author freely admits, "there is a good deal of speculation in many of these ideas". Of course there is; science is largely -- we might even say wholly -- speculation. A more perceptive analysis would suggest that those committed to a rigid materialistic aesthetic don't understand (don't want to understand) the mathematics. Those who summarily dismiss Penrose do so unwisely. Given his contributions to mathematics (e.g., Penrose tiling, computability, mathematical logic) and his stature within the mathematics community, and given that the history of mathematics is essentially written by mathematicians, Roger Penrose may come to be considered the greatest mathematician of his generation. Given his work on black holes and space-time geometry (he recognizes the apparent "flatness" of the universe but suggests a more elegant geometry to describe that flatness), he may be one of his day's greatest physicists as well. Should his hunch ("OR") one day prove "true", his stature would approach that of a Newton or Einstein. The point being that any scientist who avoids or ignores Penrose's views, or is inclined to dismiss them by erroneously characterizing them, does so, as I say, unwisely.
Chapters 4, 5, and 6 are challenges to Penrose from A. Shimony, N. Cartwright, and S. Hawking, respectively. Apart from Shimony's discussion of A. N. Whitehead's views, its not on a par with the author's discourses; Cartwright suggests that nature may be a mess of "patchwork" laws (her view itself seems a horrible mess), and Hawking is disappointingly flippant. Penrose certainly meets these challenges.
I must say that the "controversy" over Penrose's Platonism is nothing less than nonsensical. Hawking complains "basically, he's a Platonist," as though calling him an offensive name and thereby granting the reader cause to disregard Penrose's arguments. That's unfortunate. Most of history's great minds have been Platonists; even Aristotle*, so often cited as the philosophical godfather of reductionism, was arguably a Platonist. Augustine, Kepler, Descartes, Pascal, Newton, Leibniz, Kant, Linnaeus, Einstein*, Schrödinger, Gödel, Whitehead -- the list of Platonists is long and impressive. As Penrose has said, "... it is my direct personal impression that the considerable majority of working mathematicians are at least 'weak' Platonists." Yet it seems as if some who call themselves "positivists" feel a calling to be science's mind-police. I suggest that this should be the real controversy... So-called positivists would do well to honesty consider Gödel's observation that the idea that mind/mentality is simply material is nothing more than the "prejudice of our time."
There is a rather child-like glee in the way Penrose sees and uses mathematics. His investigations and speculations are those of an extremely astute mind having fun! In his aggressive curiosity, his boldness, his clear-eyed honesty about the frailties of human thought and the limits of science, it seems to me that Penrose is something of a treasure and an inspiration. As he candidly states, "... the world-view that present-day physicists tend to present may well be grossly overstated as to its closeness to completion, or even to its correctness!" This volume presents a concise look at the Penrose ideas/arguments and even if nothing much ever comes of these arguments, they present a shining example of the kind of creative thinking that moves science into new frontiers.
*(footnote: While recognizing that it can easily be argued that Aristotle and Einstein were not "strong" Platonists, it seems obvious to me that they were each Platonists in some fundamental ways. I consider them to have been "weak" Platonists.)

It just doesn't work..........2002-04-08

Turned off by the strong AI type point of view of consciousness, yet looking for a scientific explanation, I have repeatedly turned to Penrose's work hoping he would have enlightening ideas. At first, he seems to be on the right track, but when he starts making conclusions, things go awry.
As a biology student, I can say that his understanding of biology seems mediocre at best. And physics may be even worse - in fact his skepticism about the "flatness" of the universe has recently been rendered bascially obsolete.
I feel that the unified brain quantum undulation camp, if you will (penrose, zohar) paint themselves into a frightful corner. For instance, penrose never explains why his microtubule ideas would apply to the brain in particular...we've got oodles of them in every cell in our body! Basically, these ideas try to strike out against the strong AI poing of view, but actually create a new version of it! It's not the neuron construction, they say, instead it's a mechanism even more arbitrarily linked to the brain!
Penrose seems to be a great mathematician...and should stick to that. Still searching for explanations...

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The Large, The Small and the Human Mind
Roger Penrose
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NUL07E

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The Large, The Small and the Human Mind

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I0Y2WE

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The large, The Small and The Human Mind
Roger Penrose
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NUI18K

The Large, the Small and the Human Mind.(Review): An article from: The Review of Metaphysics

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The Large, the Small and the Human Mind.(Review): An article from: The Review of Metaphysics
George L. Farre
Manufacturer: Philosophy Education Society, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Review of Metaphysics, published by Philosophy Education Society, Inc. on September 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1162 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: The Large, the Small and the Human Mind.(Review)
Author: George L. Farre
Publication: The Review of Metaphysics (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1999
Publisher: Philosophy Education Society, Inc.
Volume: 53 Issue: 1 Page: 191

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Large, the Small, and the Human Mind
Roger Penrose
Manufacturer: CAMBRIDGE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SSVER2

Book Description

Richard W. Bulliet has long been a leading figure in the study of human-animal relations, and in his newest work, Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers, he offers a sweeping and engaging perspective on this dynamic relationship from prehistory to the present. By considering the shifting roles of donkeys, camels, cows, and other domesticated animals in human society, as well as their place in the social imagination, Bulliet reveals the different ways various cultures have reinforced, symbolized, and rationalized their relations with animals.

Bulliet identifies and explores four stages in the history of the human-animal relationship-separation, predomesticity, domesticity, and postdomesticity. He begins with the question of when and why humans began to consider themselves distinct from other species and continues with a fresh look at how a few species became domesticated. He demonstrates that during the domestic era many species fell from being admired and even worshipped to being little more than raw materials for various animal-product industries. Throughout the work, Bulliet discusses how social and technological developments and changing philosophical, religious, and aesthetic viewpoints have shaped attitudes toward animals.

Our relationship to animals continues to evolve in the twenty-first century. Bulliet writes, "We are today living through a new watershed in human-animal relations, one that appears likely to affect our material, social, and imaginative lives as profoundly as did the original emergence of domestic species." The United States, Britain, and a few other countries are leading a move from domesticity, marked by nearly universal familiarity with domestic species, to an era of postdomesticity, in which dependence on animal products continues but most people have no contact with producing animals. Elective vegetarianism and the animal-liberation movement have combined with new attitudes toward animal science, pets, and the presentation of animals in popular culture to impart a distinctive moral, psychological, and spiritual tone to postdomestic life.

Customer Reviews:

A remarkable text from academia's renaissance man.......2005-12-05

I have had the good fortune to take Richard Bulliet's class at Columbia University on the past, present and future of human-animal relations. Suffice it to say that Bulliet is the truest of academic renaissance individuals - I have taken classes of his on medieval Iranian history and "America and the Muslim World," and found each more entertaining than the next.

Bulliet has broken new ground here and provided us with a text that is accessible far and wide, a book that on its surface may appear to appeal only to a niche of Peter Singer-ites and, perhaps, that professor's intellectual sparring partners, but in fact offers lessons and eye-opening narratives on topics many of us have never stopped to consider.

"Hunters, Herders and Hamburgers" is the perfect book for anyone who is intellectually curious, and I heartily recommend it, especially to those who rarely stop to consider our relations with the "lesser species."

Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers: The Past and Future of Human-Animal Relationships

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Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers: The Past and Future of Human-Animal Relationships
Richard W. Bulliet
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPCHJS

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Tube Flies: A Tying, Fishing & Historical Guide

Innovative tying

Tube flies: the next frontier!

Save money, space, and time by learning about tube flies

Tube Flies: A Tying, Fishing & Historical Guide
Mark Mandell , and Les Johnson
Manufacturer: Frank Amato Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Manufacturing | Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Guides | Fly Fishing | Fishing | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
General | Fishing | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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Tube Flies Two: Evolution

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Woolly Wisdom: How to Tie and Fish Woolly Worms, Woolly Buggers, and Their Fish-Catching Kin. Tying Recipes for 400 Patterns!

Spey Flies and Dee Flies: Their History & Construction

ASIN: 1571880364

Book Description

BACK IN PRINT SPRING 2004

In the history of fly tying very few books have changed the course of the art. Tube Flies will make a very large impact. This all-color, large format book will amaze you with the beauty of tube flies, their ease of tying and very effective fishing traits. Tube flies can be used for everything from stream trout and surface steelhead to billfish. The rich vein of tube-fly history, innovation, and tying/angling personalities will amaze you and open up a new dimension to our sport!

Customer Reviews:

Tube Flies: A Tying, Fishing & Historical Guide.......2007-02-24

excellent book, if you really want to learn how.

Innovative tying.......2004-10-13

Tube fly tying is not well known or practiced in Australia. I had the opportunity to buy a tube fly tying set of tools and did so with very little knowledge of how to go about it.
After buying & reading this book a new avenue for fly tying opened up to me.
The book is well written with easy to understand instruction, excellent photographs and plenty of patterns to tie.
With a little imagination one can utilise the techniques explained in this book and tie many of the traditional flies normally tied straight to the hook.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in getting into tube fly tying and those tyers who already tie tube flies.

Tube flies: the next frontier!.......2000-08-19

Having read a lot about flies, and having tied even more, I always believed that fishing with flies entailed nothing more than the use of a rod, reel & line, and some dry or wet flies. And on a more imaginative day, the use of a nymph or a streamer. Of course, technique was tantamount important, but never did I imagine that my vision on fly fishing would change as much as when I laid eyes on "Tube Flies" by Mark Mandell and Les Johnson.

As far as I know, their book is the first comprehensive book on tube flies. Tying tube flies, and how to fish them make up the body of this book, but much of the flavor of this great read derives from the historical aspects and personal notes by the writers. From salt to fresh water is but a jump, but from a streamer to a tube fly is like entering an alternate universe. Tube flies are different, unlike any other fly, and they require a different approach.

The book consists of 6 chapters. Chapter one (1) deals with why one should fish with tube flies, or 'go tubular', as the writers put it. Tube flies can simplify one's tackle, they last longer, and seem to mimic baitfish in a way that hook-tied flies cannot. The next two chapters (2-3) deal with the different types of tube flies, and tell about 'how?' and 'with what?' to tie a tube fly. Next come three chapters (4-6) covering a large number of tube flies currently know to man. Each tube fly is introduced with a color photograph, a brief description, and a step by step tying recipe. Where possible, information about the inventor(s) of a particular tube fly is added, and sometimes one even gets to see its maker. Almost all the tube fly patterns come with expert comments on the fish they have been used on, and how well they caught.

This is without a doubt a magnificent book for anyone who wants to venture into the world of tube fly fishing and tying. It is a bright, well written book, with lots of very good illustrations. Descriptions of all the presented tube flies bring them within reach of any fly fisher who makes his/her own flies, but even those among us who don't (yet) may be inspired by this book to start tying their own. A very inspiring read, that cannot be resisted .... one simply has to go tubular. And for those who still hesitate after this, let it be said that tube flies can be used as well in fresh water as they can in the salt water, make no mistake about that!

Save money, space, and time by learning about tube flies.......1999-06-22

I picked up Tube Flies in hopes that I might be able to better tie larger flies for blue water fishing. Not only did the advice in this book allow me to tie in the sizes I needed but the instructions corrected the problem of line twist that made me give up on tube flies a decade ago. My blue water box is now 3/4's tube flies and the money I have saved on hooks is, at least, three times the money this book costs. One pattern from the book took 20 tuna on a recent trip, and is still in good enough shape to take with me on the next trip. Since the fly slips up out of the mouth of the fish, it doesn't get chewed up during the fight and you have to take fewer patterns, that weigh less. There is a lot of history, and rigging advise as well. For a smart salmon, steelhead, or blue water fisherman this book is highly recommended.

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Brilliant!

great trivia

Very addicting...

indispensable

Vital Statistics: An Amazing Compendium of Factoids, Minutiae, and Random
Paul Grobman
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

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mental floss presents Instant Knowledge (Collins Gem) (Collins Gem)

ASIN: B000F7113S

Book Description

For lovers of SchottÂ's Original Miscellany, Jeopardy, and The Book of Lists

Trivia lovers rejoiceÂ—Vital Statistics has arrived. Part reference work, part compulsive bathroom read, this compendium of humorous, fascinating, quirky, and insightful tidbits offers knowledge on everything from sports and fashion to literature and architecture and everything in-between.

Organized by subject, Vital Statistics helps readers learn the answers to such pressing questions as:

What did Charles Lindbergh eat on his transatlantic flight?
How did a goat lay a curse on the Chicago Cubs?
Which color do race car drivers consider unlucky?
What are the dimensions of the average fashion model?
How many lawyers in America are named Â“CrookÂ”?

Packed with an enormous array of factoids, minutiae, and random bits of wisdom, Vital Statistics is perfect for both knowledge hounds and pop culture fiends alike. From the cost of the first pair of LeviÂ's to the name and release date of the first color movie, rest assured, Vital Statistics has the answers.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant!.......2006-12-10

This book is absolutely brilliant. More than a bunch of random statistics thrown together, this book makes me laugh out loud multiple times per page. If the great content weren't enough, the juxtaposition of various stats is so clever. Case in point, something like "The percent of 70 year old men who say their wives are more beautiful than they were when first married - 74%. Next stat: The percent of 70 year old men who need glasses: 89%.
Stuff like this is what the book is about - truly an impressive compendium, well delivered.
I can only imagine what kind of work must have gone into writing such a book. As another reviewer wrote, this is the perfect bathroom book. Buy it - you won't regret it.

great trivia.......2005-08-02

This is the perfect book for bathroom reading.
It's filled with tons and tons of interesting trivia.
It covers tons of topics and is a lot of fun.

Very addicting..........2005-07-07

I found Vital Statistics to be very addicting.... kind of like the potato chip ad "it's hard to read just one!" More than just a trivia book, the information is presented with the story behind the story, providing a wealth of interesting information you never knew. That's really why you get hooked. When you get to the end, the author lists his website address, which has even more Vital Statistics to keep you addicted.

indispensable.......2005-07-06

this is fun to read and an indispensable guide to minutiae
loaded with entertaining chatter
great for fans of trivial pursuits

Book Description

He conquered the known world. He united it for the first time with a common language. His military tactics are still being studied-and used-by today's warriors. He is considered the most courageous and heroic warrior in history. But (and more importantly): He was hot. His boyfriends were hotter. He could throw hissy fits that would take Liza Minelli's breath away. He traveled with an advance publicity team. He was so vain, if Preparation H had existed, his enemies would have rubbed it on his ego. He had fag hags hanging off him like laundry. We're approaching 2,350 years after his death and people are still fascinated by Alexander the Great. Even Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, the people who gave us language, math and philosophy, didn't have Oliver Stone making movies about them. All the great conquerors that followed Alexander tried to emulate him-Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Jeff Striker. Michael Alvear presents a most unusual biography of history's greatest warrior.

Michael Alvear is a syndicated columnist whose commentary has been heard on NPR. He is the author of Men Are Pigs, But We Love Bacon.

Customer Reviews:

A fun and interesting read........2005-09-23

Michael Alvear has givien us another biography of Alexander, and it's a fun read. I don't agree with everything he wrote, but I do think that one can get a feel for the great king's more fun side while reading this book.

All-in-all, it was a quick and fun read. The history is supported for the most part (although I tend to think he takes a dimmer view of Alexander than I would).

An excellent book!

History's most influential (...) man.......2005-07-14

I wish there were more books like "Alexander the Fabulous." Even though it's a mostly humorous account of the life of Alexander, it tells a lot more about what kind of person Alexander was than Oliver Stone's movie "Alexander." It's a fast, informative, fun book to read. My only complaint is that it was too short.

Fun reading!.......2004-12-19

Alexander the Fabulous is a tongue-in-cheek "history" of the great guy himself. The book reads like a gossip column, and is chocked full of "tell-alls", both real and imagined. Totally entertaining reading for those seeking a decidedly editorialized and glomourized "biography".

Fantastic! At last, history is made interesting and fun!.......2004-11-19

An excellent text to accompany the Oliver Stone movie, "Alexander," this book is astonishingly well-researched and written by Michael Alvear with assistance from Vicky Shecter, who is now working on a children's book about Alexander the Great.

If you laugh out loud at David Sedaris books, this book may remind you of what a serious ancient history book would be like if David Sedaris had written it. It is a laugh a minute. Yet, the basic facts provided are correct. This book just makes it FUN to learn a bit of history that most people (even in Greece!) know far too little about.

I am a public librarian, and have read at least 12 books on Alexander the Great in the past six months. What one inevitably finds when researching Alexander is that his life is hotly debated by many differing factions: Should he be called Macedonian or Greek? Should he be called bisexual or gay? Should he be hailed as a hero and liberator or condemned as a mass murderer? Was he buried in Alexandria or someplace else? Did he have a part in killing his father or not? You can forget about finding a book that makes EVERYONE happy, though the best overall book I have found is Robin Lane Fox's "Alexander the Great" published in 1986 by Penguin Books. I believe it stands head and shoulders over any other book on Alexander, and every public library MUST have that book. Oliver Stone chose Robin Lane Fox to be his historical consultant for the film "Alexander." I would avoid the new book by Paul Cartledge even though it is new; the Robin Lane Fox book simply covers so much more and does it so much better. Also, the account of Alexander's travels by Arrian is a must.

Every library needs sources on Alexander, however, for those who may not care to read the serious history texts. Mary Renault's "Persian Boy" is outstanding for fiction readers, and her other books on Alexander, especially "The Nature of Alexander," are also excellent. But for those who want to really have FUN as they learn their history, you just can't beat Michael Alvear's "Alexander the Fabulous."

Anyone who is terribly homophobic may not like this book, but then again, anyone who is terribly homophobic is not likely to be reading about Alexander the Great anyway. After Jesus Christ, Alexander may be the most influential human to ever live, and there should be as many books about his life in our libraries as possible. The fact that he was gay or bisexual should not be a reason for not providing a book about his extraordinary life.

Don't miss this great book! You will be ever so glad you found it!

Why oh why aren't other history books like this..........2004-11-05

Finally! Someone with a sense of humor tackles one of the most amazing characters in history. I actually laughed out loud in some spots. This is the first comic biography of Alexander the Great. Being a history buff myself I was impressed with the book's historical accuracy. Most people know Alexander conquered the known world. But most don't know he was so vain "his generals had to rub Preparation H on his ego," according to the authors. My favorite example was the shaving craze Alexander started. Back then almost all warriors had beards. Alexander rationalized his shaving as a combat advantage. Hey, if the enemy couldn't grab you by the beard he'd have a harder time killing you. Here's what the authors have to say: "Historians have waved their BS detector over Alexander's reason for shaving and can't decide if it was legitimate or just another example of his vanity. Let's just say there's a whole school of thought that says Alexander didn't like hair on his face for the same reason Narcissus didn't like ripples in the water-it got in the way of the view."

Reading how the authors send up Alexander's temper tantrums, his flair for the dramatic and his marathon drinking sessions is worth the price of the book alone. One warning: the humor is a bit on the crude side. But that's half the fun.

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