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Paul Strathern's A Brief History of Economic Genius is a lively and ambitious series of linked biographies of notable visionaries in the world of economics. The cast includes schemers, dreamers, unheeded prophets, utopians, sages, mountebanks, dour pessimists, megalomaniacal optimists, socialists, laissez-faire extremists, mighty eccentrics, and, within their own rights, geniuses of all ranks. Some of these are well known--John Maynard Keynes, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Robert Malthus, George Marshall, and John Nash of A Beautiful Mind fame. Others are obscure: John von Neumann, inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove character; Luca Pacioli, "inventor" of double-entry bookkeeping; John Gaunt, the father of statistics; John Law, a good candidate for the title of "richest man in history," who, in the early 18th century, almost single-handedly bankrupted France. Strathern weaves the men's lives and contributions with notable marketplace milestones such as Holland's 17th-century bout of tulipmania, Britain's notorious South Sea Bubble, the Great Depression, and the rebuilding and retribution strategies following the two world wars. A Brief History of Economic Genius is an amiable, measured, delightful, instructive, and, at times, extremely humorous narrative. In Strathern's hands, the "dismal science" becomes anything but. --H. O'Billovich
Book Description
Strathern brings the reader along in a lively, breezy and elegant manner, through Adam Smith and Hume; the French Optimists and British Pessimists: Saint-Simon and Owen; Marx and Hegel; Pareto; Veblen; Schumpeter, Keynes, John Nash and finally fullcircle back to von Neumann. Strathern uncovers the genuine progression of the development of mathematics and economic theory, from double-entry booking keeping to the discovery of standard deviation and the various applications of probability theory. These brilliant economists and mathematicians often were aware of each other, had met each other or read each other's work thereby influencing and building upon one another's conclusions. Strathern manages his broad swath of historical information and condenses it into a very usable, readable and informative format.
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Paul Strathern's A Brief History of Economic Genius is a lively and ambitious series of linked biographies of notable visionaries in the world of economics. The cast includes schemers, dreamers, unheeded prophets, utopians, sages, mountebanks, dour pessimists, megalomaniacal optimists, socialists, laissez-faire extremists, mighty eccentrics, and, within their own rights, geniuses of all ranks. Some of these are well known--John Maynard Keynes, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Robert Malthus, George Marshall, and John Nash of A Beautiful Mind fame. Others are obscure: John von Neumann, inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove character; Luca Pacioli, "inventor" of double-entry bookkeeping; John Gaunt, the father of statistics; John Law, a good candidate for the title of "richest man in history," who, in the early 18th century, almost single-handedly bankrupted France. Strathern weaves the men's lives and contributions with notable marketplace milestones such as Holland's 17th-century bout of tulipmania, Britain's notorious South Sea Bubble, the Great Depression, and the rebuilding and retribution strategies following the two world wars. A Brief History of Economic Genius is an amiable, measured, delightful, instructive, and, at times, extremely humorous narrative. In Strathern's hands, the "dismal science" becomes anything but.
Customer Reviews:
Very good general overview of the history of economic thought.......2006-06-29
Strathern(S) has done a commendable job in this book.He covers practically every major economist who has made a contribution over the last 400 hundred years.The one oversight here is that Samuelson does not receive the number of pages needed to cover his general contributions accurately.
I will concentrate on how S handles Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes.S makes it clear that the libertarian conceptualization of Smith's term,the Invisible Hand,is anathema to Smith.The Libertarian view of the Invisible Hand is that of an optimal self adjusting mechanism that guarantees that the capitalist system can never break down as long as there is no government involvement/regulation in the economy.This was the view of Quesnay,Mandeville,and Say, but not Smith. S fails to mention that Smith's repeated support for interest rate control laws simply means that he had an understanding that savings would not be transformed into Investment intertemporally unless the savings made its way into the hands of productive investment and not speculator con men like John Law.Low and fixed interest rates would promote productive investment and not wasteful extravagance on consumption.S also fails to mention that,while Smith did vigorously opposed protective tariffs aimed at saving the monopoly position of firms in their home market,he did not oppose retaliatory and/or revenue tariffs,although he recognized the second best nature of both tariffs.It is an interesting historical fact that Smith's Wealth of Nations served as the blueprint on which conservatives Alexander Hamilton and George Washington based early American economic policy,while such policies were opposed by the libertarian Jefferson ,who claimed that Say was a much superior economist than Smith.Finally,as claimed by S, there is no contradiction between Smith's advocating universal education and religious instruction for all citizens and his observation that the division of labor reduced workers to unthinking cogs in an economic machine process.The value of education is not reducible to purely one dimensional economic considerations.
S's handling of Keynes is generally correct,but filled with many omissions that undermine the worth of his commentary.The problem shows up on p.269 and p.273 where S claims that " Keynes insisted that the " tacit assumptions " of neoclassical economics " are seldom or never satisfied ...It cannot solve the problems of the actual world." Yet according to the final passage in the General Theory,"If our central controls succeed in establishing an aggregate volume of output corresponding to full employment as nearly as is practible,the classical theory comes into its own again from this point onwards." He seemed to want to have it both ways." Unfortunately,S's mathematical deficiencies have led him astray.I am not singling out S since this characterization of his mathematical capabilities applies to all 20th and 21st century economists ,whenever the issue arises about what was the mathematical model used by Keynes in the GT . Another example is that S is unable to comprehend that,since the marginal propensity to consume,mpc,is equal to 1-(1/k),then,by definition,the marginal propensity to spend on investment goods,mpi,must be equal to 1/k,which is just the inverse of the investment multiplier,k.
Keynes told Dennis Robertson bluntly in mid 1935 that the mathematical model of his theory of effective demand(Keynes's D-Z model) was not contained in the first 17 chapters of the General Theory.Keynes stated that the Employment Function model was contained in a later chapter and not in chapter 3 of the GT, as Robertson argued.It is obvious to anyone who can read English that the model is in CHAPTER 20 OF THE GT,titled The Employment Function. Keynes derives the following condition,first presented to the readers of the GT on pp.261-262:w/p=mpl/(mpc+mpi)is the general optimality condition at the macroscopic level based on a microeconomic foundation of purely competitive firms and industries,of which there were two,consumptions goods and investment goods.w is the money wage,p is the expected price level,w/p is the expected real wage,mpl is the marginal product of labor derived from an aggregated neoclassical production function(see p.283 and p.285 of the GT),mpi is the marginal propensity to spend on investment goods,and mpc is the marginal propensity to spend on consumption goods.Unless the mpc+mpi=1,it is impossible to attain the result required for full employment of all resources in neoclassical theory,excluding frictional or slack unemployment,which is w/p=mpl.If mpc+mpi
< 1,multiple stable unemployment equilibria exist in the economic system which cannot be eliminated by labor cutting its money wages because the optimality condition specified by Keynes above requires that the money wages must rise,which is a direct contradiction of classical and neoclassical economic theory.Keynes's central controls are aimed at making sure that mpc+mpi=mpc+mps=1,where mps is the marginal propensity to save.There is no contradiction here on Keynes's part.S simply is ignorant of Keynes's mathematical analysis in chapter 20 of the GT.Only Paul Samuelson has taken this statement by Keynes seriously,although he has operated with it in an intuitive sense only, due to his failing to realize that Richard Kahn and Joan Robinson were lying to him when they told him that Keynes had no correct worked out mathematical or microeconomic theory contained in the GT because Keynes had ignored their advice.
This is the first draft of a great book.......2004-08-04
I feel sorry for the author. I do not know enough about the industry to know if this is very bad writing or catastrophically bad editing, but under all this lies quite an interesting book.
As others have pointed out the book starts with frequent editing errors, where the spacing is wrong (somewhat lik ethis). This happens every other page for about the first 25 pages, but then seems to stop. Even worse are smaller, stranger errors that remind me of my student papers before I reviewed them. For example in discussing John Law he makes a very interesting introduction, until he mistakenly refers to him at one point in the text as William Law (he had discussed a William Peterson right before). I find this sort of error inexcusable in a published book, and once I lose respect for the work it becomes truly hard to enjoy it.
I also believe this form of mistake has motivated most of the bad reviews, even those which mention flaws in economic theory. For example one reviewer critiqued the comparative advantage example (I presume it is the one where two men work in a deserted island); it is indeed very poorly phrased, but it is an example of comparative advantage. However, after all the previous mistakes who cares to read carefully that which was not written carefully?
The evolution of the science of economics.......2002-06-07
A Brief History Of Economic Genius by Paul Strathern (Lecturer in Mathematics and Philosophy, Kingston University, London) is an engaging and highly accessible look at the most eccentric and gifted economists including Johann Becher (1635-1682); John Law (1671-1729); Adam Smith (1723-1790); Robert Malthus (1766-1833); Karl Marx (1818-1883); Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929); and John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946). These notable and influential figures, along with their triumphs and failings, and the evolution of the science of economics, are all intelligibly considered in this fascinating presentation that is recommended for academia, as well as the non-specialist general reader.
Good but there is ALOT better out there.......2002-05-28
I bought this book hoping it might shed some insights into the thoughts and times of the world's greatest economists and I got what I hoped for. In particular I was hoping to see if the author did a good job in relating economics to other areas such as politics, science, sociology, history philosophy and mathematics and the book fulfilled my desire. The book was well written, in terms of prose, making it an easy book to read economics books, especially for non-economists.
If I had anything to gripe it would be the EXTREMELY poor editing. Throughout the book I found words that had mistakenly been split up by a spac e mark, such as what I have included in this review. One or two can be forgiven but the twenty or so I seem to have come across is truly shameful for a book at approximately $20 or more. As a result of this and the poor examples provided I rate the book a 3 star book
This book, like The Worldly Philosophers and New Ideas from Dead Economists, is designed to illustrate the thoughts and history of the world's greatest economic thinkers. Economists. This book is ideal for those seeking to learn about some of the contributions of the world's greatest economists as well as those who are history buffs and want to learn more about the times / overlap of the world's greatest minds in other areas such as philosophy, science, etc as many of these individuals had an impact on economists of their times.
Economists highlighted in the book, which goes in chronological order from past to recent, include Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Robert Malthus, George Marshall, Thorton Veblen, Joseph Schumpeter, John von Neumann, John Nash and Milton Friedman.
Some historic events mentioned in the book, since they affected the economists' thoughts, are Holland's 17th-century bout of tulipmania, Britain's notorious South Sea Bubble, The French Revolution, the Great Depression, and the rebuilding and retribution strategies following the two world wars.
Most of my reviews are in business / economics and I encourage people to read them. If you are interested in another excellent economics book I would start with The Worldly Philosophers (which I would buy before this book) and then read Hernando DeSoto's Mystery of Capital. A great general business book is by the management guru Peter Drucker entitled "The Essential Drucker". Just so you know, he didn't pick the title but his work is excellent and highly applicable for managers.
One final note, The Mystery Of Capital is a highly regarded, easy to read book on economic development that is VERY popular in the offices of dignitaries throughout the world, including Paul O'Neill (Secretary of State for the U.S). During a recent CNBC documentary on Mr. O'Neill the secretary met Mr. DeSoto to get some insights before his trip to Africa where he will focus on ways to improve economic development in 3rd world nations.
Readable, but with numerous mistakes.......2002-05-14
This review is for a book by Strathern published in Canada under the title
"Dr. Strangelove's Game: A Brief History of Economic Genius".
I found this book a major disappointment. It seems to me that the author is
clearly outside his field of expertise, the result being a book riddled
with errors. For instance, in his exposition of Ricardo's theory of
comparative advantage, the example has no comparative advantage. If he had
bothered to read a chapter of an introductory international economics book,
he would have found a clear illustration, Similarly, his description of
Edgeworth's contract curve is muddled and wrong with one consumer gaining
utility at the expense of the other. Indeed, it seems that the author spent
so little time writing the book that he does not even get his arithmetic
right -- his own numbers indicating the American domestic market was 167
percent larger than the British in 1910, not 250 percent larger as claimed.
To his merit, he does say something about nearly every major figure in
economics up to Friedman -- I would probably have included Samuelson as
well -- and other figures as well, e.g., Luca Pacioli, the father of
accounting. And his prose is quite readable, although I found his tendency
towards hyperbole annoying.
On the whole, if you are interested in biographical sketches of leading
economic thinkers in history and are not concerned about an explanation of
their ideas, you may find this book interesting. But I would look
elsewhere.
Book Description
Brilliantly entertaining, Dr. Strangelove’s Game will do for economics what Sophie’s World did for philosophy and E=mc2 for physics.
With the infectious enthusiasm of a great teacher and a novelist’s eye for a colourful parade of often bizarre and idiosyncratic figures, Paul Strathern gives us a vivid account of the world of economics through the lives and minds of those who contributed to the growth of economic thought from the Middle Ages to the present.
The familiar and iconic names – Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes – turn out to be fascinating characters, as do a host of lesser-known figures – from Luca Pacioli, a medieval monk who used a ball game to stimulate thought about probability theory (and gambling) to John von Neumann, the manic genius who invented game theory, worked on the atomic bomb, and was probably the model for Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. There are pessimistic priests, visionary socialists, crackpot academics, and an alleged murderer who controlled France’s finances.
Paul Strathern sets their lives and thoughts against the dramatic backdrop of great events – the South Sea Bubble, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution and the Great Crash. His lightly worn erudition makes Dr. Strangelove’s Game amazingly accessible, leaving readers enriched and enlightened.
Customer Reviews:
Easy, fun read on economics........2003-04-22
This is an entertaining book with lots of stories, history and general interest. It's a weekend read, with a good story type pace. If you enjoy it, also try Butterfly Economics by Paul Ormerod that really picks-up where this book ends.
The History of Money.......2003-01-18
This was a great book for me. I'm a Management major and it was interesting to find out where certain ideas and methods that we just take for granted came from. Things like double entry accounting or paper money, things they talk about in school but rarely discuss the history of. The book is somewhat informal in that it doesn't reference at the end of each chapter with footnotes but it does provide a quick pace and makes for a more enjoyable leisurely read. Paul Strathern has an incredible grasp of the subject, covering a broad period of history, and is a vast fountain of knowledge. I especially appreciated some of his personal insights. I suspect that I will want to learn more about some of the great economic thinkers of the past, this book certainly has wet my appetite. However I thought that there could be more on game theory since the title would kind of suggest that, don't expect an indepth explanation of various theories or techniques, but do expect to find out who, where and when they came from.
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Dr. Strangelove's Game: A Brief History of Economic Genius
Paul Strathern
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
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ASIN: 0140299866 |
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Organizational Transformation : A Manager's Guide
Michael Hick
Manufacturer: Hick Shenton Associates
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ASIN: 0968359108 |
Book Description
Success in business means doing better than the competition. Typically this means being able to deliver products faster, always meeting delivery dates, never having defects or warranty claims and reducing costs so that you can sharpen prices.
There is a simple, well proven methodology that can be used to achieve these goals.
The first step involves defining the critical success factors and setting challenging but realistic improvement goals.
The next step is to select the business process that has the greatest impact on these success factors. In most businesses this would be the order fulfilment cycle. The process is analyzed to find what goes wrong and why it goes wrong.
The process is then modified to fix the root causes to ensure problems to not recur. This is done over and over again, fixing the biggest problems first then the smaller ones so that over time performance improves, costs go down, quality improves, cycle times get faster.
Why does the methodology work so well? Most performance problems have simple solutions and are organizational in nature. They don't get fixed because people are so busy doing the day to day work. By using a methodology to systematically improve performance you can, over time, bring about dramatic improvements.
The methodology is based on well established techniques such as quality management, socio technical analysis and process re-engineering. All have been researched for decades, they are sound reliable and effective.
This is valuable to you as an owner or manager because every dollar saved is money in your pocket. Improvement in perceived quality or responsiveness provides an competitive advantage enabling you to charge a small premium.
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Applied Genetics of Leguminosae Biotechnology (Focus on Biotechnology)
Manufacturer: Springer
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1402014856 |
Book Description
Legumes include many very important crop plants that contribute very critical protein to the diets of both humans and animals around the world. Their unique ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in association with
Rhizobia enriches soil fertility, and establishes the importance of their niche in agriculture. Divided into two volumes, this work presents an up-to-date analysis of
in vitro and recombinant DNA technologies for the improvement of grain, forage and tree legumes.
Volume 10B presents the current state and future prospects of
in vitro regeneration and genetic transformation expression and stability of transgenes modification of traits in almost all the important legumes, for example: soybean; peanut; pea; french bean; chick pea; pigeon pea; cowpea; mung bean; black gram; azuki bean; lentil;
Lathyrus; lupinus;
Lotus spp;
Medicago spp;
Trifolium spp; Winged bean; Guar; and tree legumes for their improvement.
Book Description
This new book provides a unified, in-depth, readable introduction to the multipredictor regression methods most widely used in biostatistics: linear models for continuous outcomes, logistic models for binary outcomes, the Cox model for right-censored survival times, repeated-measures models for longitudinal and hierarchical outcomes, and generalized linear models for counts and other outcomes.
Treating these topics together takes advantage of all they have in common. The authors point out the many-shared elements in the methods they present for selecting, estimating, checking, and interpreting each of these models. They also show that these regression methods deal with confounding, mediation, and interaction of causal effects in essentially the same way.
The examples, analyzed using Stata, are drawn from the biomedical context but generalize to other areas of application. While a first course in statistics is assumed, a chapter reviewing basic statistical methods is included. Some advanced topics are covered but the presentation remains intuitive. A brief introduction to regression analysis of complex surveys and notes for further reading are provided. For many students and researchers learning to use these methods, this one book may be all they need to conduct and interpret multipredictor regression analyses.
The authors are on the faculty in the Division of Biostatistics, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, and are authors or co-authors of more than 200 methodological as well as applied papers in the biological and biomedical sciences. The senior author, Charles E. McCulloch, is head of the Division and author of Generalized Linear Mixed Models (2003), Generalized, Linear, and Mixed Models (2000), and Variance Components (1992).
From the reviews:
"This book provides a unified introduction to the regression methods listed in the title...The methods are well illustrated by data drawn from medical studies...A real strength of this book is the careful discussion of issues common to all of the multipredictor methods covered."
Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics, 2005
"This book is not just for biostatisticians. It is, in fact, a very good, and relatively nonmathematical, overview of multipredictor regression models. Although the examples are biologically oriented, they are generally easy to understand and follow...I heartily recommend the book"
Technometrics, February 2006
"Overall, the text provides an overview of regression methods that is particularly strong in its breadth of coverage and emphasis on insight in place of mathematical detail. As intended, this well-unified approach should appeal to students who learn conceptually and verbally."
Journal of the American Statistical Association, March 2006
Customer Reviews:
very good book, compact but comprehensive.......2007-05-12
This book covers a wide range of topics in Biostatistics, in a comprehensive, but not overwhelming way. In my opinion this book has the potential of being useful to a broad audience, from Statisticians to other professionals who do health related research.
Excellent book ..........2007-01-09
A very specific book, with a lot of details for a statistitian
Customer Reviews:
A fine guide to native and exotic mammals........2002-03-26
Most touristic field guides are remarkable either by a dearth of meaningful information, poor photography, or both. This book, and its parent series, for that matter, suffer from neither, and form excellent works that are a proud part of anyone's library.
With respect to the instant work, the text is exceptional, containing many captivating facts about animals a lot of folks would regard as very ordinary and uninteresting. Did you know, for example, that beavers were once wild in Florida, were trapped into extinction. and that they are now returning?
The great color photography closely follows the expertly-prepared text, and brings out many detailed facets of the creatures described. I would heartily recommmend this book and its companions to anyone, tourist or native, who has any sort of interest in Florida or North American wildlife or nature.
Fabulous Book about Fabulous Mammals.......2000-07-09
I have been charmed by this book, I can pick it up at any page and be absorbed, read interesting information about the mammals of Florida, my home state. The book is filled with many clear pictures of each animal, and even their young, and also details about their particular features, say clawed feet, or color forms, or teeth and such. In and around each picture is a clear explanation of each animal, their habits and lifestyle, what research there is and their condition of care or preservation in Florida. Also there are panels describing the the effects of man or changes in habitat, the politics and even what fokelore there is and whether this is true. The language is such that any young person who is able to read can understand it, but also it is extremely informative in ways that keep my interest as an adult. I would recommend this book to anyone of any age. Even pre-readers can use the pictures to learn by.
Book Description
A valuable reference for novice and expert anglers alike, from the world's most respected name in fly fishing.
Customer Reviews:
The Orvis Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing.......2007-06-15
What a great source of information on fly fishing. Easy to read and follow directions on alot of fly fishing techniques. This book gives generous photo support as well. Recommend this book to all levels of fly fishermen.
illustrated manual on all aspects of fly fishing.......2005-01-26
The visual elements of color photos of fishermen, flies, and fishes, and detailed illustrations of fly-fishing techniques discussed in many of the 34 chapters by expert fly fishermen make this fishing manual particularly informative as well as attractive. The four-page detailed Index in smaller print is another reason for the manual's particular relevance and usefulness for fishermen. The contents and writing evidence that the editor and the several authors know their prospective readers. With their identification with them, editor and authors know the challenges and questions on fly fishermen's minds, and also understand the allure and satisfactions of this sport. In "How Trout Feed," the editor in one of his articles advises readers, "If water temperatures rise above seventy degrees F. in summer, both insect hatches and trout feeding dwindle." Lou Tabory tells "How to Read a Beach" in salt-water fly fishing for bluefish. The first eleven articles are on the general subjects of casting and flies. Subsequent sections deal with fishing for trout, steelhead (salmon), and bass, with a closing section on salt-water fishing.
Product Description
This is the best guide ever published on how to acquire and maintain good study skills. It covers everything from developing a vocabulary to improving the quality of written work, and has chapters on studying math, science, and languages; taking tests; and using libraries. If anyone you know is college-bound, buy this book: it will prove a lifesaver and a godsend.
Customer Reviews:
Oustanding outline.......2005-12-14
This brief book is aimed at high school students, but speaks to anyone learning at any stage of life. That ought to be just about everyone.
Its formal, no-nonsense tone closely matches its content, a school-masterly essay on schooling. Armstrong starts by pointing out the number of hours spent in school. If a carpenter set out to build houses single-handedly, he'd be well into the third using only the hours a child spends in K-12 education. Does the student have as much to show for the time spent? If not, why not, and what can be done to fix that problem?
Armstrong starts with the basics: reading and writing. Reading doesn't just mean recognizing each word on the page, it means taking in the information, disgesting it, and incorporating it into oneself as thoroughly as one digests a sandwich and incorporates it into the body's tissues. The goal is to bring the information back to life, not just to treat it as dead facts on paper from dead trees. Writing is the other half of the text. I've seen it again and again: someone who can't express an idea is as ineffective as someone who doesn't even have one.
Only a third of the book remains after that discussion, which Armstrong dedicates to specific tips for studying languages, math, science, and history. He generally handles these topics thoroughly and evenly, except for some weakness in the science and math sections and some zealotry regarding history. Well, he was a history teacher - if conveyed only a tenth of his passion to his students, that was a hundred times more than my history teachers ever got across. I criticize this part of the book only for ignoring the arts. They demand all the concentration and study that math and science do, but the study differs slightly in kind - and no, it's not "just natural," any more than learning French or calculus.
My only criticism is that the text aged. The first edition apparently dates to the 1960s - none of the references seem newer than the late 1950s. As a result, the discussion misses the entire computer age. Yes, there may be some somatic sense in writing with a pencil that can't be replicated at a keyboard, but the whole process of editing and revision has changed since then. Also, his praise for the "new math" seems more like a perfunctory show of support for his colleagues. In retrospect, it caused more problems than it solved.
These are minor points, though, and don't detract from the main discussion. I recommmend it to any student and any teacher, including the self-taught student.
//wiredweird
Great Tips for Studying!.......2005-06-12
Next year I will be entering a hard high-school where good study habits are required in order to get a passing grade. I would study for hours, and yet, get an unsatisfactory grade on my papers. So, when I was in Barnes and Noble, I picked it up. This informative book by Mr. Armstrong was very helpful and gave great ways to study better and learn to have good study habits. I would recommend this book to all who have a hard time studying.
"Before the Gates of Excellence the High Gods Have Placed.......2004-07-05
Sweat ... ."
This passage from the Greek Poet Hesiod (which concludes: Long is the road thereto and rough and steep at first; but when the heights are reached, then there is ease, though grievously hard in the winning) is the core message of this book. It is also the passage that was posted on William H. Armstrong's classroom wall for over 30 years. This book and the work ethic instilled by Mr. Armstrong in his classroom did change my life to a very good degree. It took longer for the lessons imparted here to sink in on me than on others but they were there when I needed them once I got to college.
Study is Hard Work, as its title suggests, pulls no punches. It is direct and to the point. Excellence is not easy. It takes work and organization. Mix well and repeat! Mr. Armstrong sets out a number of excellent suggestions which, when read, cause you to smack your head and say - "how obvious". Obvious yes, but overlooked or forgotten until seen in print in simple declarative sentences. The fact that study is hard work is an important lesson for children, particularly bright children, to learn as they move from elementary to middle school and then on to high school and college. Ones ability to thrive on sheer native intelligence alone gets more difficult each step of the way. This book serves as preparation for the increased level of sheer work that is involved in maintaining that level of excellence. It is similar to a dentist advising you "this may hurt a bit". Foreknowledge is a valuable tool.
As has been noted, Mr. Armstrong's approach may seem a bit blunt in today's environment. That fact alone seems a compelling reason to read the book. The fact that the suggestions noted in the book may seem a bit dated provides those children who can absorb these lessons with a valuable competitive edge in our increasingly competitive school and work environment.
I have recently purchased this book along with a teacher's lesson plan book,another organizational tool used by Mr. Armstrong, for my daughter. It is a book worth buying. It is a book worth going over with your children even if, as with the dentist, it hurts a bit.
It's been around for a while, but it's advice is timeless..........2003-04-03
William Armstrong's small work is a great way for all life-long students to understand what it takes to streamline techniques for higher learning. Although many might fault the book for it's brevity and say that the author doesn't go into enough detail, I felt the author's advice was very pertinent, and very self-explanatory. His 50 year experience in teaching shines through with a gently guiding hand, placing the responsibility in the hands of each student. There are no tricks that are presented here, as indicated by the very name of the work. So, whether you're looking for ways to succeed in that upcoming course that's supposed to be tough or just trying to brush up on ways to maximize your efforts in a lifetime of learning, you're definitely on the right track, by reading this one.
One other thing to keep in mind, because the author wrote this work so long ago, it provides a great baseline in it's fundamental principles. I would also suggest Adam Robinson's "What Smart Students Know" to supplement the principles introduced in "Studying is Hard Work". Robinson's work has some more methodology and covers some more modern principles like memorization and the use of "hooks". Good luck in your learning!
This book should be required study.......2001-03-21
Sure wish I had known this book was available in our local library since 1957. I sure could have use it when I was in highschool in the 70s. Our schools' teachers should all read this and begin disseminating it to students beginning when they begin school.
Since most schools send out newsletters to parents/guardians of students the same book should be made known to them to read on their own with the notation that these principles will be what is presented to their children as guides to become the best student they can be. As parents are a child's first and best teacher, reading this book will prepare your child for school as you will likely begin to follow these principles and pass them on to your children without much effort.
Too many letters go out telling parents to become involved in their children's schooling...but the why and how isn't there. This book is the why and the how. I'll be writing a letter to the editor of our local weekly newspaper as well as to several other daily papers that our community subscribes to so that those wishing to improve their study skills will know they have a means to do so.
I doubt any other study books compare as this one has all that is necessary to make a person realize it is within oneself to get the job done. It is outlined...as some have reviewed otherwise, if you apply the study skills to the book itself the gems will leap out at you.
Book Description
More than 200 authentic Celtic motifs, ideal for myriad uses, include elaborate spirals and weaves, exotic birds, horned beasts, mermaids, and other fanciful creatures. This outstanding collection of distinctive designs features a rich and diverse variety of patterns, which can be used as borders or individually.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent source for ideas.......2007-10-05
This is an excellent source of design ideas. I have recently started working in polymer clay and hope to start also with metal clay, so I was casting about for ideas and came across this book and CD of Celtic art motifs.
I am very fond of the basic knotted designs of the Halstadt culture which tends to be very curvilinear geometric, and over half of the designs in this book are Halstadt in style (as opposed to the later La Tène period with designs that incorporate stylized animals into the Celtic knot motif. For those who prefer the latter, check Celtic Designs in the same collection.)
The CD was easily installed on my computer, easy to open and navigate. It took me a little time to refamiliarize myself with the clip art style. I haven't used it since it came on floppy disks! This was very much easier to do.
Celtic Design Cd - excellent buy!.......2007-07-09
This was a great purchase for me. I have really enjoyed creating with the designs. There are many variations to choose from and I have used it a lot!
Great for design.......2007-04-03
I needed to get this book for some wedding designs I was making up. The pictures are great there are lots of different designs and they have them in all different file formats. Perfect for Graphic Design.
Celtic designs.......2007-01-04
No need for a scanner with the cd-rom. I use these for scrollsawing patterns.
Honestly represented and fairly priced.
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