Human Well-Being and Economic Goals (Frontier Issues in Economic Thought)

Book Description

What are the ends of economic activity? According to neoclassical theory, efficient interaction of the profit-maximizing "ideal producer" and the utility-maximizing "ideal consumer" will eventually lead to some sort of social optimum. But is that social optimum the same as human well-being? Human Well-Being and Economic Goals addresses that issue, considering such questions as:

Does the maximization of individual welfare really lead to social welfare?
How can we deal with questions of relative welfare and of equity?
How do we define, or at least understand, individual and social welfare?
And how can these things be measured, or even assessed?

Human Well-Being and Economic Goals brings together more than 75 concise summaries of the most significant literature in the field that consider issues of present and future individual and social welfare, national development, consumption, and equity. Like its predecessors in the Frontier Issues in Economic Thought series, it takes a multidisciplinary approach to economic concerns, examining their sociological, philosophical, and psychological aspects and implications as well as their economic underpinnings.

Human Well-Being and Economic Goals provides a powerful introduction to the current and historical writings that examine the concept of human well-being in ways that can help us to set goals for economic activity and judge its success. It is a valuable summary and overview for students, economists, and social scientists concerned with these issues.

Customer Reviews:

Analytical summaries of the best of the literature.......1998-11-03

The Frontier Issues in Economic Thought summaries, along with the overview essays, provide a markedly different service from the standard collection of abstracts. The series will benefit not only scholarly work but the application of our best thinking to the problems of the times.

Kenneth Prewitt, President, Social Sciences Research Council

Book Description

Breakthrough will help executives lead their teams to peerless, unsurpassed performance by helping them define a grand goal and engage the organization to pursue and achieve that goal, no matter how difficult the challenge seems. Based on a ten-year landmark study of more than seventy bold, breakthrough companies such as IBM, Dayton-Hudson, Progressive Insurance, EMC, American Standard, Charles Schwab, and Dell Computer, the book shows how these remarkable companies adopted outrageous objectives and then did what it takes to achieve remarkable results.

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Customer Reviews:

Review of Management Book.......2005-09-16

Thank you for the book. It came in good time and was in good condition.

A Good Read!.......2004-08-04

This book aims to show CEOs how to achieve the impossible. Based on a study of 70 companies that managed to accomplish incredibly ambitious goals, it offers a straightforward and, for the most part, lucid set of guiding principles to reach breakthrough success. Author Bill Davidson anchors his prescription in the experiences of real companies and illustrates each point with copious anecdotes. Although he strays now and then into the jargon of the academic tribe, these digressions are rare and excusable. His case histories and tactical advice offer something of value to every CEO or senior manager. We recommend this book to executives whose companies are trapped in strategic dead-ends and desperate to blast out, or to executives who would rather act before a crisis really blossoms.

Breakthrough.......2003-11-14

Breakthrough is an outstanding book. Davidson gives first-hand experiences with numerous successful breakthrough companies and synthesizes practical principles on how to craft and achieve the "Outrageous Objectives" of your company's next success cycle. I disagree with the reader below. While Good to Great is also an excellent book, Breakthrough provides deeper insights into the essential ingredients of breakthrough and gives more valuable, real world examples to illustrate them.

Breakthrough.......2003-11-11

This book contains an extraordinary amount of very valuable material in a short and readable format. There are several new ideas in here that capture critical emerging trends in management. The idea of enterprise strategy, and the leadership model that goes with it, is a key, contrarian take on what works in the world of business. The depth of research underlying the
book gives great weight to what might otherwise be dismissed because it challenges our prevailing assumptions. There are many

powerful examples descibed in detail, and the author brings you inside a number of fascinating organizations, with a close-up, real-time view of leaders in action. There are also two very useful frameworks - one for strategy formulation includes some new thinking on the difference between segments, niches and mainstsream markets that sheds new light on strategic positioning. The author summarizes the experience of dozens of successful breakthrough companies in an AIM, Ready, Fire framework that captures their best practices. The final chapter on leadership also gives new thoughts on what it takes to lead a breakthrough company.

Ho-hum stuff.......2003-11-06

I disagree with the reader below who says it's the next Good to Great, one of the all-time best business books (my copy is totally dog eared, and I loan it out all the time). I didn't find anything new in this book, and I worked at two of the companies the author "studied" in his research. I say there's no need for a new Good to Great (it's timeless, in my opinion) and certainly no need for an also-ran like this one.

Book Description

This exciting new book looks in detail at the effects of nutrition on population dynamics. Drawing examples from around the world, and using knowledge of modern biochemistry and physiology of nutrition, and time-series statistical analysis of data, the authors explain historical epidemiology, providing a full and fascinating insight into this fundamental subject.

Demography and Nutrition: Evidence from Historical and Contemporary Populations

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Demography and Nutrition: Evidence from Historical and Contemporary Populations
Stuart Scott Duncan
Manufacturer: Iowa State Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUTCQG

Book Description

Paras Prasad’s text provides a basic knowledge of a broad range of topics so that individuals in all disciplines can rapidly acquire the minimal necessary background for research and development in biophotonics. Introduction to Biophotonics serves as both a textbook for education and training as well as a reference book that aids research and development of those areas integrating light, photonics, and biological systems. Each chapter contains a topic introduction, a review of key data, and description of future directions for technical innovation. Introduction to Biophotonics covers the basic principles of

Optics
Optical spectroscopy
Microscopy

Each section also includes illustrated examples and review questions to test and advance the reader’s knowledge. Sections on biosensors and chemosensors, important tools for combating biological and chemical terrorism, will be of particular interest to professionals in toxicology and other environmental disciplines. Introduction to Biophotonics proves a valuable reference for graduate students and researchers in engineering, chemistry, and the life sciences.

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Optics
Optical spectroscopy
Microscopy

Customer Reviews:

For research only.......2006-04-18

If you are going for PhD, then read this book.

But, if you are planning on getting a job in the industry, then forget this book. Study Analog and Digital design, VLSI, C.

Very superficial coverage, and my book is missing sections.......2006-01-18

When I recieved the book, everything seemed to be in order, and it was only when I tried to read chapter 4 (Fundamentals of Light-Matter Interaction, which some might argue, is quite important) that I discovered, this valuable chapter had been replaced by incoherent babble about statistical methods and linear algebra, that did not match the table of contents. Furthermore, it didn't have anything to do with biology, or photonics. I don't know if all of the books contain this misprint, but I wouldn't buy it from Amazon (at least check it when you get it so that you can return it if your's is screwed up!)
Furthermore, the book has many interesting topics, but each is covered in a very superficial way. Mathematical models are avoided almost totally, and the ocassional equations have no derivation. This could be a plus for some, but I feel like this book would not help anyone solve actually engineering problems in biophotonics. It was merely a collection of interesting summaries.

Biological Sciences Graduate Student.......2004-06-18

Like many introduction to optics books published by Wiley, this book is well organized and gives an excellent overview with some good illustrations (terrible representation of Optical Coherence Tomography). It is a good overview of many areas like bioimaging and biosensors. As a biological science graduate student, I found the few formulas easy to understand. FRET and FLIM should have been developed better. The web references are convenient.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to have a good overview on different biological optical applications.

Customer Reviews:

THE BEST BOOK ON THE OLYMPIC COAST, EVER!.......1999-10-22

This is the epitome of good writing. It is an excellent resource for all those who love the Olympic Coast. If you are heading to the Olympics, this book is essential. Filled with fascinating facts, history, details, and so forth, it is the Olympic Coast Bible. Buy this book for all your friends, you won't be disappointed.

GREAT BOOK IF YOU LIKE HIKING ON THE OLYMPIC COAST.......1999-06-20

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK ON HIKING THE OLYMPIC COAST. I HAVE HIKED HALF OF IT AND THE BOOK CAME IN HANDY. IT POINTS OUT A LOT OF LANDMARKS THAT I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE MISSED. ALSO GIVES THE HISTORY OF THE OLYMPIC COAST, AND TELLS WHERE SHIPWRECKS AND MEMORIALS ARE.

Exploring Washington's Wild Olympic Coast

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Exploring Washington's Wild Olympic Coast
David Hooper
Manufacturer: The Mountaineers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VHORH4

Book Description

The most complete and up-to-date resource for Sandia Mountain hikers, this guide presents information on fifty-seven trails covering a total distance of about 175 miles. Each trail entry begins with the length of the trail, the elevation gain, and degree of difficulty. The author, who has hiked each trail many times, gives directions to the trailhead and descriptions of trail terrain, scenic viewpoints, vegetation, and neighboring trails for making nice loop hikes. Also included are GPS readings to help high-tech hikers locate landmarks and points of interest via latitude and longitude information. The book contains twenty-five contour maps covering the trails in different sections of the Sandias and a separate large, full-color map of the mountain (also sold separately) printed on water-resistant paper.

The hiking trails of the Sandias are among the great recreational assets of life in north-central New Mexico, yet many hikers are familiar with only one particular trail, La Luz, which is one of the mountain's more challenging and crowded routes. This book will encourage novices and veterans alike to get out and experience the many other inviting trails to be explored in the Sandia Mountains.

This guide to fifty-seven hiking trails in New Mexico's Sandia Mountains includes twenty-five contour maps and one large four-color pull-out map on water-resistant paper.

Customer Reviews:

Good Resource.......2006-01-03

I've been hiking this area since 1983. My bible for the Sandias is Mike Hill's "Hikers & Climbers Guide to the Sandias". However, the last edition is well out of date and I supplement with this book. When I decide it is time to explore a new area of the Sandias in depth, I take out both books and the maps provided therewith, set my GPS and make notes about terrain and when I have the time I'm off. Now if someone could just write one book that combines all this information, I'll be in hiker heaven!

what they said.......2005-11-07

now, just because we all know Mike doesn't mean these reviews are baised. This is an excellent book and it's easy to use. I would reccommend this book to anyone in Albuquerque that wants a beautiful hike, but doesn't know where to go. It is true that there are a lot more trails than just La Luz.

This is such an awsome guide.......2005-08-28

I must say this i probably one of the best guides for the sandia mountains in a long time. knowing the author myself i can tell you he definitely knows what he is talking about when it comes to the sandia moutains. it says it took him twenty or so years to hike them all, well before he wrote the book he decided to hike them again and it took him 3 months. Now thats detication.

A fantastic resource!.......2004-11-27

This book is a fantastic resource. I have watched the author over the years put this guide together with painstaking precision, love and care. The full-scale map alone is worth the price of the entire book!

Hikers and Climbers Guide to the Sandias (Coyote Books)

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Be sure this book comes with the map as it's supposed to!
Best, maybe only guide available to the Sandias
Helpful, but perennially out-of-date.

Hikers and Climbers Guide to the Sandias (Coyote Books)
Mike Hill
Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Sandia Mountain Hiking Guide

ASIN: 0826313418

Customer Reviews:

Be sure this book comes with the map as it's supposed to!.......2007-07-18

I bought this through a used book seller on Amazon and it came without the map that's supposed to accompany it, which makes it pretty near useless.
Aside from that, it seems mostly to be a climber's guide to various peaks, not a hiker's guide.

Best, maybe only guide available to the Sandias.......2006-03-28

I've had this book since it was first published, and use it mostly for information on trails I haven't been on in awhile. Trail information is mostly accurate, but visit the Tijeras Ranger District for recent information about the trails.

There's some information about the cross country ski trails near the Crest. Most of it is accurate, though there may be additional trails up at the Crest that have been blazed since publication.

For climbers, most of the routes listed are big wall routes, not bouldering areas, so the book isn't of much use if a climber wants to do boulder problems. However, Mike does suggest that climbers get in touch with the New Mexico Mountain Club (NMMC) to find out more about what climbing is available. NMMC is a good information source for hikers as well.

NOTE: parts of the Sandias are closed during the summer to allow falcons and other raptors to raise their young. The Shield is one of those areas, and there are others. Check with the Ranger District (or NMMC) about areas closed to climbers and hikers.

Helpful, but perennially out-of-date........1998-05-05

Hikers interested in the Sandia Mountains will be disappointed in this book, as it contains only the most rudimentary of trail descriptions. Most of the book is devoted to climbing routes, and the route descriptions are generally helpful, if not particularly detailed. However, new editions of this book appear only about every 8-10 years, and the route information in new editions seems to be about two years old upon publication. No mention is made in the current edition of either sport climbing routes in the area or the growing bouldering scene in the Sandia foothills. It will be interesting to see if there is ever a later edition, as Mike Hill's store went out of business and I'm not sure he even lives in the area now.

Hikers and climbers guide to the Sandia Mountains

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Hikers and climbers guide to the Sandia Mountains
Mike Hill
Manufacturer: Adobe Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006X66ZY

Book Description

For those interested in learning and honing the art and craft of creative playwriting! With an infectious enthusiasm for the theater, Catron presents the basic principles of playwriting, including plot, dialogue, and character development, as well as the more complex issues of creating multi-dimensional characters and writing stageworthy plays that will attract producers, directors, actors, and audiences. Throughout, he sprinkles examples from classical and modern plays, provides exercises for sharpening and developing skills, and offers practical guidelines on working with actors and directors, getting produced and published, and finding an agent. Favoring concrete advice over theory, The Elements of Playwriting is an invaluable resource for both beginning and advanced playwrights and for anyone involved in the art and craft of theater. Special features: 1) provides step-by-step techniques for improving a play; 2) includes information about copyright, agents, organizations, and references; and 3) offers end-of-chapter exercises for fine-tuning creative application of topics discussed.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent advice and information for the price!.......2007-06-22

I have just started to write plays and bought this book based on customer reviews. The reviews were right on, for this author gets his points across in a clear and concise manner. All of his suggestions are so valuable and useful not only for playwrining but fiction writing also. Mr. Catron has a passion that he realtes to the reader, giving them the incentive to start up and keep going to completion. Great book!

The best playwriting guide I've read so far.......2006-03-01

I only have one negative thing to say about Louis E. Catron's "The Elements of Playwriting," so I'll get it out of the way right off.

In various spots in the book, he makes critical remarks about both soap operas and the "Perry Mason" TV series that make me wonder if he's ever actually watched them. The writing cautions he connects with the remarks (respectively, always make sure your characters' emotions are motivated, and avoid a "deux ex machina" ending) are absolutely legitimate, but using these as illustrations are simply untrue.

In most other books such false reporting would seriously damage the writer's credibility in my view, and indeed it's the one thing that keeps me from awarding a full 5 stars. The one saving grace in Catron's case is that every other piece of advice is illustrated accurately, if not explicitly in the text. He shows quite well how to make your story appeal to directors, actors, and audiences, not only explaining what they look for but illustrating how to achieve it.

As with any book on writing, this is meant to be a book of ideas, suggestions, and recommendations to empower us as writers rather than restrain us. Where an accepted "rule" goes against the story we want to tell, we're expected to be true to the story rather than the rule. Every other book on this topic has taken this attitude, but Catron consistently takes the next step and cites plays that illustrate how nearly every rule has been broken by a successful play, and why that play succeeded in spite of breaking that rule.

Catron is a completist in other ways as well, taking the reader from the conception of a story all the way to a list of playwright's resources (such as directories of literary agents).

Whether your playwriting is a hobby, a sideline, or a prospective career - or even an established one - I highly recommend this book.

A Great Book for Understanding the Playwriting Process.......2004-08-02

The Elements of Playwriting is a great book for anyone who wants to understand what it takes to write a play. Catron goes over everything a person needs to know including creating characters, building a plot, and constructing dialogue. I really liked the chapter on What Makes a Play.

Even if you are not a Playwright, but you are involved in the theatre in another capacity, such as an actor or stage manager - you would still benefit greatly by reading this book. It will give you a great understanding of what a Playwright must accomplish in order to get his play to the stage.

Catron helped get my play on stage.......2003-10-23

I completed the first draft of my play "American Brass" back in 1999. It was pretty awful. Then, I found this wonderful book by Prof. Catron. Following the guidelines and inspiration contained in his book I eventually transformed the draft into a stageworthy script.

Before reading his up front advice "Don't show anyone your first draft", I had given a reader a look at the play. The reader, an experienced theater person, tried to be helpful with constructive comments, which I came to understand after reading Catron's book meant - I had no plot, my characters were flat and I was writing narrratives rather than dialogue.

This book provides a clear understandable guide to the structure and dynamics of a successful play and how to write one. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.. and before each rewrite review Caron's book for insight and inspiration.

There's also practical advice - look to get your play on stage not necessarily on Broadway. So I had a high school do a reading and then a church group and now I have the area community theater interested in a full production.

Thank you Prof. Catron

CORE TEXTBOOK FOR THE SERIOUS PLAYWRIGHT.......2003-09-24

I am a Midwestern physician by day and fledgling playwright by night. One year ago I decided to take an idea to paper and wrote my first play. The story was clear in my mind so the writing went easy. Within six weeks I had completed a rough first draft. At this point I ventured over to the local bookstore to see what books they had on playwriting. There were several, but Louis Catron's The Elements of Playwriting caught my immediate attention. Standing there, I skimmed the contents then read a few pages. The book was full of pearls gleaned obviously from a lifetime of experience in the theater. I bought the book and ordered a coffee to read more, (isn't that the way it always happens?)

Catron goads our left and right brains into action in ten chapters that range from how to get the play started, formatting the text and incorporating Aristotle's six elements of live theater into the work, to suggestions on getting your work published and performed. Various exercises to get the point across are used along the way. The book is a joy to read; a superb "nuts and bolts" treatise for the novice and veteran writer alike. I pick up something new each time I read it. I particularly enjoyed the discussion on how to be a playwright, involving as much with how one "thinks" as what ones "does."

In my opinion, Louis Catron's The Elements of Playwriting is the best book on the subject out there. It helped me complete my play and make it a more polished work. The book would be perfect as the main textbook in any college playwriting class. Louis Catron's "Elements" certainly "plays in the heartland!"

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The art of playwriting: Being a practical treatise on the elements of dramatic construction ; intended for the playwright, the student, and the dramatic critic
Alfred Hennequin
Manufacturer: Houghton, Mifflin and Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000856DLC

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The Elements of Playwriting
Louis E. Catron
Manufacturer: Macmillan Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O91VA0

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The Elements of Playwriting
Louis E. Catron
Manufacturer: Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GU68IC

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How plays are made: The fundamental elements of play construction
Stuart Griffiths
Manufacturer: Prentice-Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0134281373

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The Power of Spontaneous Expression

Life, Paint And Passion - Reclaiming The Magic Of Spontaneous Expression
Michell and Cubley, Stewart Cassou
Manufacturer: G. P. Putnam's Sons/Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K0DIGI

Customer Reviews:

The Power of Spontaneous Expression.......2007-03-03

This is an inspiring book on letting go and letting art come from you without your internal critic or judgements on meaning or technique. It is about Learning from Art; and letting art take you where it will. It is about discovery and play -- ultimately it is about how to get into the Process of Creating.... and stop worrying about the "product"

This is one of those books that I read and instantly thought of five friends I wanted to share it with. And it also helped jump start me to believe in making what I make; not to worry if it is too dark, too silly, too profane, too honest and vulnerable; and not to try to direct it to what I think it is supposed to be.

The book contains short chapters about challenges and personal accounts. It can be just as beneficial to open the book to any page and read what is there as a jumping-off spot. It does not tell you "how" to create your work -- but it shares why, and it also shares methods for loosening the restrictions and the blocks. "What" you create will come from you.

Sometimes living in the world is a challenge with all the other concerns and critiques of other people...but if we keep growing and learning and making/creating -- it can keep us going! Art is a respite for me; it is what gives me meaning and value in my life, it is what gives me energy. This book puts these ideas in an inspiring perspective with some humor, some philosophy, and some common sense. Don't let anyone keep you down -- and don't keep yourself down!

Artists, writers, educators, and anyone who loves any of the arts would benefit from the viewpoint of this book. No experience is necessary, just the desire to create for the fun of it -- for the play and joy and experience.

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