Economics Interactive Flashcard Book (Flash Card Books)

Book Description

In the world's harshest environments, the key to survival is adaptation. It's a simple tenet of biological life, but when you apply it to the business realm, it can yield fresh insights and innovative ideas for companies struggling to survive.

In this intriguing new book, Harvard Business School Fellow William Fulmer does just that. Drawing on ideas and concepts of biology, he provides a broad, sweeping look at the business environment today--one characterized by unprecedented volatility and constant uncertainty.

And the book supplies concrete advice on how to build an adaptive organization that's able to embrace constant change and thrive in today's highly competitive business landscape. Readers learn how to:

* Pinpoint which landscape they operate in, recognize how rugged it is, and gauge their own fitness for survival * Cultivate learning, the root of adaptive organizations, through strategic planning and organizational design * Emulate the leadership skills needed for creating adaptive organizations, both start-ups and established companies * Discover why "the edge of chaos" is the best place to be.

SHAPING THE ADAPTIVE ORGANIZATION is packed with powerful examples of how adaptive companies are coping in an unpredictable, ever-changing environment--as well as eye-opening stories of how successful businesses can quickly find themselves in serious trouble.

Customer Reviews:

Insightful!.......2001-05-08

Author William E. Fulmer uses a biological analogy to discuss how organizations form and evolve in an environment that changes through co-evolution with other organizations. Organizations must be ready to learn, and need leaders who can help participants understand change and adapt to it. Though strategic planning can help, Fulmer emphasizes preparing for continual adaptation. His thoughtful, in-depth discussion draws on research from biologists, philosophers and various academic and business writers to create a biological model. He weaves in examples of businesses that have thrived or failed based on their ability or inability to adapt. When Fulmer veers away from his biological analogy, he starts to sound much like many of the other adapt-or-die prophets out there today, but nevertheless, we [...] recommend this solid presentation of a complex subject to executives, top managers and academics.

The changing face of business strategy.......2000-04-01

While the coverage of some topics is slightly more cursory than I might consider appropriate, I have found this book useful in prompting new thinking about how we fashion strategy in the new business environment. This is an excellent book for anyone who has interests in the new understandings we are gaining in the sciences, and is wondering about how to apply the new thinking to shaping organizations, old or new. While one may question some of the corporations selected as exemplars, among the real benefits of this book is that the author steps far out onto the limb to suggest practices in current organizations that illustrate key points in the development of an organization that can thrive in the tumult of our times. I believe that this book is a must read for people interested in the evolution of business strategy.

Customer Reviews:

Introduce Your Child to Nature at the Seashore.......2006-06-10

You can never have too many indentification guides. Here's what the Appalachian Mountain Club says of this one:
"Help your children explore the seashores of the Atlantic Coast. Packed with scores of fascinating facts and new illustrations, this completely revised and updated edition tells children all about nature along the Atlantic coast. This hands-on guide includes: sections on common shells, shore birds, sea creatures, and a new section on insects; a greatly expanded territory, now reaching from Maine all the way to Florida, with dozens of species added; locator maps showing where each species may be found; tips on safety and protecting the shoreline; and a sturdy, waterproof cover for long-lasting use."
Here are the contents:
1. Exploring the Seashore
2. Sea Creatures
3. Shells to Collect
4. Seashore Plants
5. Insects
6. Shorebirds
7. Estuaries: Where Rivers Meet the Sea
Appendix A: Special Places along the Atlantic Coast
Appendix B: Sea-Searching on the Internet

what a treasure!!! informative with excellent illustrations!.......1999-09-03

I have two kids with active imaginations who love to explore and learn. This book encourages getting outside with hands-on examples of what you could find in your area, and in an age of computer games it's nice to find a fun and imformative book with such wonderfull illustrations. This is an inexpensive gift for kids with alot of energy like mine !

Book Description

In an easy-to-read conversational tone, David Badger provides a general overview of lizards and then digs deeper, exploring the specific characteristics and behaviors of 29 species of chameleons, geckos, skinks, anoles, iguanas, monitors, and other lizards. He discusses physical characteristics and behaviors of lizards, the natural history of selected species, the curious relationship between lizards and humans, and the current threats to lizard populations and their habitats. Featuring 102 full-color photographs by the late renowned nature photographer John Netherton, Lizards is a fascinating look at a fascinating creature.Previous hardcover edition ISBN 0-89658-520-4, 141382AP, $35.00

Customer Reviews:

Lizards!.......2007-06-20

Lizards are one of my favorite animals, and all of the beautiful pictures and fascinating facts made me love them even more, and gave me some interesting ideas about what types of lizards beyond the common ones will make the best pets. In addition to the types of lizards which everyone knows about, such as the green iguana, the leopard gecko, the various types of chameleons, the Gila monster, and the green anole, there are types of lizards not commonly known outside of the herpetological community, such as the Eastern glass lizard, which looks like a snake (I think that's my new favorite lizard!), the black tree monitor, the fat-tailed gecko, the six-lined racerunner, and the granite spiny lizard. There isn't a single bad picture in here; lizards just seem to be naturally cute, beautiful, or stately. Some of the more interesting ones are the ones that look like miniature dinosaurs (and have been used in numerous movies over the years as doubles for dinos); this order of reptiles is, after all, descended from the dinosaurs and millions of years old, older than the human race or even the mammalian class. Along with the lovely pictures are chapters on physical characteristics and behavior (such as vision, hearing, mating, teeth, thermoregulation, domestication, hibernation, and locomotion), information on each of the lizards profiled, information on lizard conservation (it's sad how threatened this neat little order of reptiles is by humans, when they do us a great service by eating insect pests and could hold within them medical secrets that could save lives), and the relationship between lizards and humans throughout history and in various places around the world. Though the reptilian brain will never be as advanced, either intellectually or emotionally, as the mammalian brain, the information contained here reveals that numerous types of lizards seem to be rather intelligent, resourceful, and even emotional.

Sadly, during the writing of this book, the photographer, John Netherton, passed away suddenly at a rather young age. Though there wasn't time to get his stories behind these pictures, the text David Badger did include probably would have done him proud. I can't wait to read the other books they collaborated on, about snakes and frogs.

Enchanting.......2007-01-19

I've been photographing Anoles around my garden for the last year or two, and, wanted to do a little extra reading on them. Lizard: A Natural History, provides not only a very enjoyable read, but, fantastic photography. A must companion book for anyone who enjoys getting a little closer to the 'backyard wild', and, wants a closer look at what roams around the rest of the world. Oh, and a bonus, the book has a collection of witty lizard observations from famous authors and naturalist. Quite fun!

Outlines not just facts, but also common fiction.......2003-12-12

This natural history of lizards includes the chameleon, iguana, gecko and more, pairing brilliant close-up color photos by John Netherton with a scientific and popular survey by Badger which outlines not just facts, but common fiction about different lizards. David Badger's Lizards is a very fine guide which will serve as both a leisure browse and a library reference.

Average customer rating:

An amazing story well told

Tragic but compelling

Outstanding tribute to Chappie and Mays

An incredible story, incredibly well told

Fascinating account gives this tragedy much-deserved attention

The Pitch That Killed
Mike Sowell
Manufacturer: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books
History | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Reference | Subjects | Books
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A Day in the Bleachers

Red Legs and Black Sox: Edd Roush and the Untold Story of the 1919 World Series

Tris Speaker: The Rough-and-Tumble Life of a Baseball Legend

Walter Johnson: Baseball's Big Train

The Black Prince of Baseball: Hal Chase and the Mythology of the Game

ASIN: 1566635519

Book Description

The story of Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians, a popular player struck in the head and killed in August 1920 by a pitch thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. Mr. Sowell's book investigates the incident and probes deep into the backgrounds of the players involved and the events that led to baseball's only death at bat. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Splendidly researched and vivid as today...remarkable. --Roger Kahn

Customer Reviews:

An amazing story well told.......2007-05-29

Everything that the other reviewers have said is dead on. This is a fascinating story, simply on the surface, but Sowell digs deeper and finds so many more interesting storylines. Even if you're not an Indians fan, there's a lot to love in this book. The 1920 season is amazingly fertile ground.

The only reason I'm holding back that last star is more because of a technical issue. While the book is clearly a non-fiction story, there are moments that Sowell writes about as if they happened, when there's no way he could know that. There's a scene early in the book between Babe Ruth and Carl Mays that has to be fictionalized as there's no way Sowell could know what these two said to each other. It's just strange to read because it's laid out as fact, when it's clear it isn't.

That said, it's a minor point. The book is fantasic.

Tragic but compelling.......2006-11-23

Fascinating look into a little-known event in Major League Baseball. Extraordinary detail. The characterization of Carl Mays and Ray Chapman is outstanding.

Outstanding tribute to Chappie and Mays.......2006-10-16

This is one of the better baseball books I have read. I remember seeing it in hardcover in a Borders in East Lansing, MI, around 1989. (I never picked it up because I was a poor postdoc). Both Mays and Chapman's lives, and how they fatally intersected, are described in detail, almost as if the author was actually there. Sowell is a talented writer, he covers the era in general outside of baseball well. I agree with a previous reviewer, this is fantastic movie material, I wonder why the story has never been picked up?

An incredible story, incredibly well told.......2006-09-07

A good history book of any sort should take a place in time normally only remembered in outline and fill in the colors, transporting the reader back into the heart of the story as if they were breathing it in. Sowell's outstanding and chilling account of the Ray Chapman beaning not only does that, it could be held up as a model for how others can do the same.

That the subject matter of this book is a sporting event doesn't diminish its importance, but does the reverse, reminding us of the power our games can hold. The Ray Chapman/Carl Mays saga plays against the backdrop of so many other major events in baseball that were it fiction one would be tempted to accuse the author of over-indulgence. Babe Ruth's selling to the Yankees, the unveiling of the previous year's Black Sox Scandal, one of the closest pennant races in history; these are just some of what intertwined with baseball's single darkest moment. And yet instead of randomly adding them in as dressing, Sowell masterfully integrates into his retelling of that day every surrounding element he can find.

Most strikingly portrayed is the stark personality differences between the pitcher and batter at the heart of the story. You almost could not find in baseball history two players more on opposite ends of the likability spectrum. Sowell details fully the love of ballplayers and Clevelanders for Chapman and the devastating shock his death caused, while simultaneously detailing the animosity that Mays seemed to live off, even before the fatal pitch. It's noteworthy, for example, that from the details of conversations between he and Mays, even the oft-detested Ty Cobb comes off as more personable.

The emotion of the players, fans and family that Sowell is able to channel actually makes the book hard to read at times. And that's what proves its success. This is an extremely human tale about a very human endeavor. Sowell deserves the highest praise for so perfectly treating it as such. And any fan of the game, or maybe more so anyone who doesn't understand why baseball holds the sacred place to many that it does but wants to try, owes it to themselves to pick up this book and read this story. "The Pitch That Killed" reminds us that even in those rare cases where baseball becomes black magic, it is still magic.

Fascinating account gives this tragedy much-deserved attention.......2006-08-02

On August 20, 1920, Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch thrown by Yankees pitcher Carl Mays - still the only fatality in a major league baseball game.

This event is mentioned in passing whenever someone is seriously hurt by a pitch. It is not, however, a well-chronicled event in the long history of the game. So it's good to see Michael Sowell give this story the attention it deserves in this fascinating book.

The book is written as a dual biography of Chapman and Mays. It could be called a triple biography, because Joe Sewell, Chapman's rookie replacement, is also prominently featured.

However, the book covers much more than these three men and the events directly concerning the fatal pitch. Sowell captures the flavor of the dead-ball era. But as Mays and Chapman approach their destiny, change is in the air. 1920 was the greatest turning point in baseball history. In that year:

The Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to the Yankees.
Ruth set a new home run record with 54. (The old one was 29.)
Chapman is killed by Mays.
The Black Sox scandal breaks.
Kennesaw Landis becomes the first commissioner of baseball.
The spitball is banned, and dirty baseballs are removed from play.

All of this is in the story.

Chapman, by the way, was popular. Mays was not, even before the fateful day. As for the details of the pitch that killed, I will leave you in suspense...

Amazingly, this tale has not been dramatized. Why not? This story has many ideal elements for the big screen:

* We have a tragic hero, a triumphant hero and a villain, yet none are well known.
* The villain plays for the Yankees.
* Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Joe Jackson, the Black Sox scandal, and the birth of the Yankee dynasty are in the background.
* The fatal beaning takes place in the heat of a thrilling pennant race.
* The Indians, Yankees, and Mays must cope with something that has never happened before or since.
* Despite the tragedy, the good guys win the pennant and the World Series. Somewhere, Chapman is smiling.
* Did I mention that in the World Series, our heroes produce the first grand slam, the first home run by a pitcher, and an UNASSISTED TRIPLE PLAY - all in one game?
* Chapman becomes a martyr. Sewell becomes a Hall of Famer. Mays becomes a pariah, blackballed from Coopertown.

Sounds like good movie material to me. A good director could make his reputation with this.

Average customer rating:

Pitch That Killed
Mike Sowell
Manufacturer: Macmillan Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8ZMWE

Amazon.com

"There are now not enough commercial magazines regularly publishing literary fiction to count on the fingers of a single hand," says Rust Hills. So why bother writing literary short stories, or books about doing so? Because, says Hills, a longtime fiction editor at Esquire, "what young writers want to write, or ought to want to write, is literature." In Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular, Hills examines "the essential techniques of fiction and how they function." The short story is a tricky form, with no margin for error: "The successful contemporary short story," says Hills, "will demonstrate a more harmonious relationship of all its aspects than will any other literary art form, excepting perhaps lyric poetry." Many of the fictional elements discussed in this book will not be new to most fiction writers. We know that stories must have beginnings, middles, and ends; we know about epiphany and suspense and stock characters. But Hills claims that much of how we look at fiction derives from drama theory and from the formulas of "slick fiction" (fiction that once served the purpose mindless television now serves). Learned but not pedantic, Hills addresses these elements strictly in terms of literary short fiction.

An interesting side note here is Hills's discussion of the shift in support for American writers. "It is no longer the book publishers and magazines," he says, "but rather the colleges and universities that ... provide the major financial support for the great majority of American writers today." Given that, we might find it odd that this book comes from a man best known for his magazine editing. But we shouldn't. "Teaching fiction writing and editing magazine fiction have ... the same rather odd ultimate purpose in common: trying to get someone else to produce a fine short story." One caveat emptor: our copy of this edition fell quite apart upon our first, gentle reading of it. --Jane Steinberg

Book Description

Here is a practical guide to writing short stories that explains all the essential techniques of fiction - from character and plot to flashback and foreshadowing - in a way that is both understandable and useful to the beginning writer. Long considered a classic in the field, WRITING IN GENERAL is the product of a lifetime of reflection by one of our best literary minds.

Customer Reviews:

Disparaging cynicism.......2007-04-22

Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular' is directed at writers rather than readers. Yet in the introduction, Hills says "Everyone seems to know that, even those thousands all across the country sitting in creative writing workshops right this minute, either being paid to do the impossible or paying to have it done to them." (P. Viii).

This sentence is typical of Rust's writing. It is riddled with long, meandering sentences, that often start with 'And' or 'But', have parenthesis in the middle, and are often incomplete. They choke the enthusiasm of the reader like indigestible food.

The book has nearly 60 paragraphs in its 200 pages. Short stucco and poorly linked, they irritate the readers eye like dust from a sand storm. The book's structure does not appear to reflect the structure or skills of writing. The content is often repetitious. If a 'How to.." book has value then it will become a reference for writers. For that it needs an index.

Everyone knows that if a writer has a good story to tell, then the reader will often forgive the writing to gain the story. Especially a reader seeking to learn. Hills does not have a story worth the effort. All that he has to say can be found in a number of excellent texts 'on writing' some like King's 'On writing' are also also entertaining. "Writing ....the Short Story in Particular' contains little that is of help for that particularly.

"Even then," writes Rust "it wouldn't be a short story. I don't know what it would be." (P.81). The disparaging sentiment of the introduction is a theme continued throughout the book. If the lesson of Rust's years of editing short stories is that creative writing cannot be taught, then what was the point in Rust putting pen to paper to writers?

just Jack

Best in field.......2007-01-03

Once read, twice read, an aspiring writer of short stories (or other) will not be needing another how-to book of its ilk.

Covers a lot in a slim volume.......2006-05-25

I think I've read all I need to know or want to know for now on writing the literary short story. I learnt a lot from this book and liked the way Hills talks straight about the high-flown stuff. I found that his commentary was based a little too much on Henry James--for, against, etc. And in one too many areas I was irritated by his saying one thing and saying that the contrary works, too.

The reading is sometimes arduous, but mostly it's worth reading this book and absorbing all the advice and good inputs that a writer may never receive otherwise.

How did this guy get a book deal?.......2004-03-24

Hey, if this guy can do it, you too can get published. That's about the only thing I learned from this book. This rambling, disjointed, poorly-organized guide on how to write is really no help at all.

Great little book.......2002-02-21

I like the way this guy gets right to the point. There's no "filler" in this book. He simply says what he wants to say and moves on to the next subject.

The stuff he says is extremely helpful. It is making me a better reader, as well as a better writer. As I read this book I began applying the subjects I read to my writing and noticed improvements in the style and focus of the work.

Average customer rating:
WRITING IN GENERAL AND THE SHORT STORY IN PARTICULAR AN INFORMAL TEXTBOOK

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H2H3SI

Average customer rating:
Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular: An Informal Textbook
L. Rust Hills
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NY3LQS

Book Description

Stephen Rogers Peck's classic Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist has served for thirty-five years as the standard manual for students exploring the intricacies of the human form. In this new book, Peck has expanded and elaborated on the material in the last section of the earlier book to
provide a detailed but succinct guide to the mysteries of facial expression. Illustrated with fifty pages of drawings depicting musculature and facial expressions and sixteen pages of photographs of heads sculptured in clay, the book will be an invaluable reference for artists, art students,
actors, writers, physcians, and anyone interested in the art of relating emotion via the physiology of the face.
The book begins with a look at facial behavior in infancy--the child crying out in discomfort or pouting in displeasure--and then considers facial behavior in adult situations, analyzing the facialexpressions that convey animosity, alarm, suffering, and more. From the sardonic smile to the
lustful leer, from woolgathering to screaming, from nausea to cold sweat, the book covers in nontechnical language, with wit and insight, the elements that go into conveying each human expression, noting the position of the eyebrows, mouth, jaw muscles, and nostrils. Like Peck's earlier book, An
Atlas of Facial Expression is organized for ease of use, with illustrations well integrated with the text. It will be a treasured addition to the reference shelf.

Customer Reviews:

Outdated book.......2006-07-21

The images are a few quick sketches, and not well organized. I have appreciated a little gallery of 16 clay models. I would suggest you a better book by Gairy Faigin.

A good work, but not an Atlas.......2000-09-24

Over all I would recommend this book. However, it is not by any means a exhaustive effort. Facial drawings are charcoal and, in my opinion, lack the necessary detail. The author only skimmed over one extremely important aspect of human nature--sexual interest and attraction. Still, there is enough in this book to make me feel that it was worth the price.

Atlas of Facial Expression: An Account of Facial Expression for Artists, Actors, and Writers

Average customer rating:

Atlas of Facial Expression: An Account of Facial Expression for Artists, Actors, and Writers
Stephen Rogers Peck
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKD9S6

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