Calculus: Single and Multivariable

Average customer rating:

Required for classes

Rewarding Book

Used it for Calc1 , 2, and 3

I would not adopt it for my courses in calculus

Not good.
Calculus: Single and Multivariable
Deborah Hughes-Hallett , Andrew M. Gleason , William G. McCallum , Daniel E. Flath , Patti Frazer Lock , Thomas W. Tucker , David O. Lomen , David Lovelock , David Mumford , Brad G. Osgood , Douglas Quinney , Karen Rhea , and Jeff Tecosky-Feldman
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Student Solutions Manual to accompany Calculus: Single and Multivariable, 4th Edition

Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight

Calculus: Single Variable

Chemical Principles

Calculus: Student Solutions Manual

Accessories:

Student Study Guide to accompany Calculus: Single Variable, 4th Edition

Student Solutions Manual to accompany Calculus: Single and Multivariable, 4th Edition

ASIN: 047147245X

Book Description

Striking a balance between concepts, modeling, and skills, this highly acclaimed book arms readers with an accessible introduction to calculus. It builds on the strengths from previous editions, presenting key concepts graphically, numerically, symbolically, and verbally. Guided by this innovative Rule of Four approach, the fourth edition examines new topics while providing readers with a strong conceptual understanding of the material.

Customer Reviews:

Required for classes.......2007-05-17

If I had to learn solely from this book, I would not know anything about calculus. This book is a great tool for professors to supplement their teachings, but not very good as a stand alone if you are trying to learn on your own. There are lots of examples throughout many of the chapters that skip crucial steps and of course the even problems are much harder than the odds which have answers in the back. I'm mostly glad that this book covers three semesters of math credit at my community college.

Rewarding Book.......2007-05-13

If you want to learn integration techniques and become a whiz at basic computational calculus, you need another book. If you want a book that gives you a lot of proofs and tons of examples, you also probably need another book.

So why do I give the book 4 stars? The answer is _the problems_. I used this book for 3 semesters of calculus, and I felt like I actually discovered a lot of the machinery of calculus just by doing the problems. It's a great feeling to discover rather than be taught. That's what this book helps you do.

Of course, this means you will probably have to do a few more problems than the teacher assigns (unless the teacher is very in tune with the book and knows exactly which problems are related). Also, when you get to techniques of integration, you'll probably need to refer to other books for examples.

Another downside is the cost. But, unfortunately, that's a problem with all American text books.

Oh and about the book and solution manual not giving many solutions... Don't worry about it. When you solve most of these problems, you _know_ when you get the answer because everything will click and make sense. This is a fun book for problem solvers.

Used it for Calc1 , 2, and 3.......2007-03-31

It was a nice value, having bought the book new, that I was able to use it for three classes. The book itself, however, needs a lot of help. I agree that it does under explain and then do a lot of examples. The problem is that the examples are often nothing like the exercises in the book. They are often oversimplified or overly complicated compared to the exercises used as homework. The student solution manual is good for what problems it has. But with only every other odd, there are not nearly enough.

Mathmatica is used with this book. Which is nice, if you enjoy using a computer program that is not as good at a TI-89 graphing calculator.

I would not adopt it for my courses in calculus.......2006-12-22

I teach mathematics and computer science at a small college, so I examined this book for possible adoption as a text in our three class sequence in calculus. Since it does cover calculus all the way through flux integrals and the calculus of vector fields, there is certainly enough material for the sequence. One characteristic that I approved of was the lack of "using technology" segments.
In this area, I will be the first to admit that I am of the old school, even though I have taught a course in programming with Maple and am a heavy user of Mathematica. The reason why I disapprove of using these programs in calculus is that the students have enough on their minds without having to learn how to program a symbolic mathematics package. Learning calculus is very hard, all mathematics, especially calculus, is not a spectator sport. Some people liken it to a contact sport, as it can be very exhausting to learn it. Forcing the students to simultaneously learn programming is in my opinion too much to ask. There are plenty of exercises and solutions to the odd-numbered ones are included.
However, I will not be adopting this book or recommending that it be adopted. I do not think the depth of the explanations is adequate. For example, on page 50 there is the epsilon-delta definition of a limit. After that, there is only one example (limit of 2x as x goes to 3) of how this definition is used to determine a limit. On the next page there is a theorem listing many of the properties of limits but no explanations as to why they are true. Proofs are largely nonexistent, the pedagogical style is to say, "here is something that is true" and then go immediately to an example of how it is used.
I will readily concede that if that is your style of teaching calculus, then this book will work for you. However, if you want to occasionally give a true proof-style explanation as to why a property holds, then you are on your own.

Not good........2006-10-13

I used the James Stewart 5e for the first quarter for calculus. But I switched schools and this school used the Hughes Hallett book.

Pros: None

Cons:

There not enough reference pages.

There only a total of 2 pages back and front for the whole calculus book. This book is used for 3 quarters of calculus and this book ONLY has 2 references. It would be nice to able look back in reference page to refresh my head from first quarter calculus formula but this book has a short list. James Stewart is better in the way that it takes an extra step to include lots Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry formulas.

Solution manual only has every other odd.

I bought solution manual without looking at it. They only have a solutions for problem 1, 5, 9, 13, and etc. The review problems are the same thing where they only work out every other odd problem. I was able to return this solution manual. I am super happy I didn't have waste any more money into this book.

Those two cons make me hate this book.

I would recommend that if you had to buy the book, look to other books for reference pages. Unless your teacher assigns every other odd, I wouldn't buy the solution manual.

Average customer rating:

Extremely unhelpful
I love calculus!
A really really dry calculus book
A Bad Book
The worst calculus book on the market

Calculus: Single Variable
Deborah Hughes-Hallett , Andrew M. Gleason , William G. McCallum , Daniel E. Flath , Patti Frazer Lock , David O. Lomen , David Lovelock , Brad G. Osgood , Thomas W. Tucker , Douglas Quinney , Karen Rhea , and Jeff Tecosky-Feldman
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Accessories:

ASIN: 0471484822

Book Description

Now in its fourth edition, Calculus reflects the strong consensus within the mathematics community for a balance between contemporary and traditional ideas. Building on previous work, it brings together the best of both new and traditional curricula in an effort to meet the needs of instructors and students alike. The text exhibits the same strengths from earlier editions including the Rule of Four, an emphasis on modeling, exposition that is easy to understand, and a flexible approach to technology.

Customer Reviews:

Extremely unhelpful.......2007-05-16

This book is terrible. Learning Calculus with the "aid" of this textbook was painful and unproductive. Examples are short, lack explanation, and are too specific to be applied to any other exercises. Simply awful. Fortunately my college is switching back to Steward's calculus book, which is like heaven compared to this book. The only acceptable use for this book is toilet paper, and even then it is horrible.

I love calculus!.......2007-05-12

I was pleasantly surprised with this book, the previous book from the same publisher, "Functions Modeling Change" I found to be confusing. BUT "Single Variable" is a great book. Of course lecture is the best way to learn a math class, especially anything more difficult than algrebra. But when I missed a class I was able to pick up where we left off from the instruction in the book. The problems were not as abstract as calculus problem can be. Overall I am glad this was my textbook, but I am also a math major so I may be bias.

A really really dry calculus book.......2007-02-07

While I do not expect calculus to be much other than dry, this text was especially difficult to read and follow. The chapters were very short but that is probably because the explanations were so brief. The problems were not broken down into easy to understand steps at all. Considering that this is a Calculus I book I, and other classmates, felt that there could have been a lot more explanation on the problems. I did, however, take the course online, so there was also no actual discussion involved in my learning. That said, I do not think that the book is effective for independent learning at all.

A Bad Book.......2007-01-22

This book is terrible. I used it for both calc 1 and 2. The University of Connecticut used this book for 3 semesters and than decided it was junk. Most of the math department hated the book and for the spring 07 semester they switched to the James Stewart book which is used for multivariable.

The problems are very hard and often the chapter does not show how to solve or give you strageties to solve them, the book does nothing well and is just an expensive paper back book with a horrible solution manual.

The worst calculus book on the market.......2006-09-01

This author has written a series of calculus books, and every one is deficient on numerous levels. She presumes a prior understanding of the subject and therefore her books do not cater to the first time student (of a particular subject). I have switched sections to get classes where her books are not used and gotten A's as a result. Its a terrible book, beware!

The Revenge of Gaia: Earth's Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity

Average customer rating:

Wrong even in basic
Science education
No Simple Answers
An invaluable guide to the future
Very late on Gaia. Very, very late

The Revenge of Gaia: Earth's Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity
James Lovelock , and J. E. Lovelock
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 046504168X

Book Description

The key insight of Gaia Theory is that the entire Earth functions as a single living superorganism, regulating its internal environment much as an animal regulates its body temperature. But according to James Lovelock, the theory's originator, that organism is now sick. It is running a fever born of increased atmospheric greenhouse gases. Earth will adjust to these stresses, but the human race faces a severe test. It is already too late, Lovelock says, to prevent the global climate from "flipping" into an entirely new equilibrium that will threaten civilization as we know it. But we can do much to save humanity. In the tradition of Silent Spring, this is a call to action.

Customer Reviews:

Wrong even in basic.......2007-10-07

I'll be sincere.I tried to read this trash-book , here in Brazil.I'm an agronomist and I like to read books.
This book is a trash.Why?Because it has too many frauds, half-trues,etc.
Someone perhaps will claim that this book defends nuclear power.Even in this topic, this trash-book is a failure.This book claims that nuclear fusion reactors are near and will be very good.None is correct.After sixty years and tens of billions of US dollars wasted, no fusion reactor is working today.Fusion reactors will also produce nuclear trash.
As world's enemies, this book puts(as ever among ecology books) among poor and colored people as the menace.
Under green disguise, eugenics is back.Its new name is ecology.

Science education.......2007-08-22

In every life time we come across a few books that are really important. I class this as one of them.

This book provides the man in the street with the information he needs to make balanced decisions about what is really going on with the climate and how well meaning green efforts are counter-productive.

The arguments in the book are counter-intuitive and as a result exposes the folly of most of the political and media commentary espoused on this very important issue.

Complex ideas are simply presented in a very accessible manner, this is not a stuffy science book full of incomprehensible statistics, rather its science education at its best.

Teach it in schools, Teach it to journalists, teach it to the man in the street.

No Simple Answers.......2007-08-19

Lovelock sees himself as a member of a new profession of planetary physicians. Continuing the analogy, the earth is running a fever, and in danger of acquiring a morbidity lasting as long as 100,000 years.

This fear is based on evidence from the Earth's history 55 million years ago when a geological accident released more than a terraton (a million times a million) of gaseous carbon compounds into the air, raising the temperature in tropical regions about 5 degrees C and 8 degrees elsewhere, and taking over 100,000 years to return to normality. Lovelock further claims we have already put more than half this quantity of carbon gases into the air and the sun is hotter than it was in the earlier instance.

Positive feedback in the Earth's environment makes our situation particularly sensitive. Warming from existing CO2 melts glaciers, which in turn reduces existing reflectivity of the sun - warming the Earth more; at the same time warmer seas reduce the oceans' ability to hold existing dissolved CO2, etc. (Melted ice caps would increase ocean levels 120 meters.)

Alternatives are few, and difficult. Powering all transportation through biofuels would require acreage 4-6X that now used for food, and would still generate considerable CO2. Burning natural gas produces half the CO2 now created otherwise; however, 2% leaks (natural gas is mostly methane - much more climate-affecting than CO2, though fortunately shorter lived) throughout the process would negate this benefit. Peat bog fires create 40% of the world's total carbon emissions, per Lovelock (it seems something could/should be done in this area). Wind energy is only available about 25% of the time, and tidal energy would only supply about 6% of England's requirements. Sunlight is not even totally reliable in the SW, and storage and transmission costs would seriously hurt its viability outside that immediate area.

Recommendations: 1)Nuclear energy. 2)Population reduction, assisted by productive uses of women's' talents.

One topic was not addressed - Lovelock states that the U.S. has been reluctant to pursue global warming improvements. I suspect he is correct; however, no explanation for this was offered.

An invaluable guide to the future.......2007-07-01

In this dour assessment, Lovelock has taken his original brilliant insight of Earth as a living organism and extrapolated it into the pessimism of an environmental disaster in the making.

Until Lovelock, no one thought of all life on this planet as creating a unique living being in its own right. In retrospect, it's obvious; this is the nature of true genius. In a very scientific manner, backed by the finest research and impeccable data, Lovelock reached an understanding of the Earth that matches the basics of Native American philosophy.

This book is a timely prediction that life on earth will collapse within the next century due to human activity. His reasoning is accurate, brilliant and based on a fundamental flaw; he fails to recognize that humans continue to change. The agricultural revolution that began 10,000 years ago made profound changes; the evolution of teosinte into corn is one of a myriad of amazing progress.

Now the Industrial Revolution is changing human habitation from 95 percent rural to 95 percent urban; worldwide, 50 percent of people now live in cities, and this will be 70 percent within 50 years. It's the most profound population shift since hunter/gatherers became farmers; and, it's likely to have an ever greater impact on the natural world.

Humans have evolved from gathering food to producing food to producing things to producing intangible ideas. An intengible idea has economic value, but it is not something you can drop on your foot. It's a product of brainpower, not natural resources. Two centuries ago, the wealth of nations was their natural resources; today, the natural resources of the US are 3 percent of its wealth while the intengible ideas are 82 percent.

Lovelock ignores this ability of humans and wildlife to change. In Phoenix, the rich live in walled, guarded and video-camera'd enclaves such as Biltmore Estates; coyotes are also learning to live there and are making Shih Tzus, Sharpeis and other toys into their own fast food snacks. Coyotes once were limited to the Rocky Mountains; now, they're found in Central Park in New York and everywhere else they choose to adapt.

Life changes. People are flocking into cities which became "the dark satanic mills" of Dickens' times. Now possible to build zero-carbon cities, as planned in Abu Dhabi. Humans change. Granted, change is often costly. Without forethought, millions may die. Without change, the toll will be even greater. But, change will occur. It always has, it is now, it always will be so.

This book sets out the scenario of a potential disaster, based on the knowledge of a brilliant and innovative scientist. Neither Lovelock or any other individual will come up with all the answers; but, in reading it, every thoughtful person will be prompted to come up with their own solutions large, small and meaningful.

Lovelock presents a beautiful concept of the world, a philosophy that reaches the levels of Native American wisdom. The difference is not becoming stuck in the status quo, as with Native American religions; but, in adapting to a radically different future. This book recognizes the danger of the status quo; change (evolution) means everyone must adapt to the future. Those who don't will become extinct.

Those who do will be thankful there were books such as this to serve as guides and inspirations along the way.

Very late on Gaia. Very, very late.......2007-05-25

What sets this book apart from the other climate crises books is that Lovelock's view is complicated by double aspects. Not only is global warming causing its problems, but also overpopulation is causing disturbance of Gaia's self-regenerating processes. Even if we were fortunate enough to solve atmospheric carbon accumulation we would still face a shortage of land. Lovelock points to land lost to agribusiness to feed the billions. Disturbance of soil microorganisms as well as the loss of the rainforest is to blame.

Lovelock stresses alternatives to fossil fuels favoring immediate development of nuclear fission. He notes "one of the striking things about places contaminated by radioactive nuclides is the richness of their wildlife."

Lovelock also distances himself from environmentalists in his defense of DDT. "These insecticides badly needed controlling, but the indiscriminate banning of DDT and other chlorinated insectides was a selfish, ill-informed act driven by affluent radicals in the first world. The inhabitants of tropical countries have paid a high price in death and illness as a result of their inability to use DDT as an effective controller of malaria."

The tone in this book is decidedly grim - much more so than Lovelock's early books. He does stay on-point here.

Principles of Service Marketing and Management (2nd Edition)

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Principles of Service Marketing and Management (2nd Edition)
Christopher Lovelock , and Lauren Wright
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0130404675

Average customer rating:

Excellent Choice for the Non-Math Student
Harvard

Applied Calculus
Deborah Hughes-Hallett , Patti Frazer Lock , Andrew M. Gleason , Daniel E. Flath , David O. Lomen , David Lovelock , William G. McCallum , Brad G. Osgood , Douglas Quinney , Karen Rhea , Jeff Tecosky-Feldman , Thomas W. Tucker , Otto K. Bretscher , Sheldon P. Gordon , and Eric Connally
Manufacturer: Wiley
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Binding: Paperback

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Accessories:

ASIN: 0471681210

Book Description

APPLIED CALCULUS, 3/E brings together the best of both new and traditional curricula to meet the needs of today's students. The author team's extensive teaching experience and proven ability to write innovative and relevant problems has made this text a true bestseller. Exciting new real-world applications make this new edition even more meaningful to students in management, life and social sciences. This book will work well for those departments seeking a middle ground for their instructors.

APPLIED CALCULUS, 3/E exhibits the same strengths from earlier editions including the "Rule of Four", an emphasis on concepts and modeling, exposition that students can read and understand and a flexible approach to technology. The conceptual and modeling problems, praised for their creativity and variety, continue to motivate and challenge students.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Choice for the Non-Math Student.......2007-03-31

This is a magnificant calculus book. It is aimed at students in business, the social sciences, and the life sciences. This is done by first the examples and problems. But perhaps even more important the wording of the text is such that these students will understand what they are trying to convey and to clearly show them how calculus can be used to solve problems in their particular field.

At the beginning of the book, three pages of the Preface, the applications discussed in the text are listed by: Business and Economics, Life Sciences and Ecology, Social Sciences, Physical Sciences. Under these headings are subjects like: Value of a Car, AIDS, Cancer Rates, Abortion Rate and so on. These are subjects that will have some interest and applicability to students rather than the old traditional problems like water flowing into and out of a bucket that used to be the mainstream of teaching calculus.

Finally, calculus marks a transition in the study of mathematics for a student. Up until now he studied arithmetic every year in school, maybe he finally got to a bit of algebra and trig. Now he is exposed to a whole new world of ways to handle problems that go beyond anything he has seen before. This book eases the student into an understanding of how to approach these problems better than any I've seen.

Harvard.......2007-01-31

Sorry to bother you with this review. The authors of this book are distinguished professors at Harvard University (a fine school, no matter what anyone says). Professor Gleason, in particular, is a mathematician of world-historical importance. In a sense, taking lectures from Gleason is not worse than having a lecture from Laplace or Poincare or any of the other great lights of mathematics. I confess that I haven't seen the book or held it between my hands, but I couldn't just leave it here with only a one star review of a disgruntled student. Really, the book has to be better than a single star if Gleason even held it in his hand once.

Services Marketing (6th Edition) (Prentice-Hall Series in Marketing)

Average customer rating:

Excellent book covering a critical topic
Synthesizes all the best practices and leading edge thinking
An Excellent Insight Into the World of Services Marketing
Review by Venkat
An excellent book on Services Marketing

Services Marketing (6th Edition) (Prentice-Hall Series in Marketing)
Christopher Lovelock , and Jochen Wirtz
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0131875523

Book Description

Significantly revised, restructured, and updated to reflect the challenges facing service managers in the 21st century, this book combines conceptual rigor with real world examples and practical applications.

Exploring both concepts and techniques of marketing for an exceptionally broad range of service categories and industries, the Sixth Edition reinforces practical management applications through numerous boxed examples, eight up-to-date readings from leading thinkers in the field, and 15 recent cases.

For professionals with a career in marketing, service-oriented industries, corporate communication, advertising, and/or public relations.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent book covering a critical topic.......2006-05-28

As Services industries continue to become a larger and larger share of our global economy, the importance of Services Marketing can only grow. Wirtz and Lovelock have written an excellent book for understanding Services Marketing and backing it up with numerous excellent real world case examples. I have been in the Services industry for 21 years, but still learned a tremendous amount from the book and cases. The book makes it easy to grasp the key concepts and has a logical, smooth flow. If after reading this book and exploring the accompanying cases, you still don't have a thorough knowledge of Services Marketing, it is YOUR fault! I highly recommend this book and think it should be part of every MBA program.

Synthesizes all the best practices and leading edge thinking.......2004-04-26

This is such a well-written and well-organized book that you can simply read from cover-to-cover or jump into your interested chapters right away.

Not only does the authors present you with their in-depth coverage of the various services related topics, supplementary materials (papers, cases) from other excellent sources/authors make this an absolute encyclopedia of services marketing and a coherent contemporary literature for both novices and seasoned practitioners.

This is THE book for this very under-written and immensely critical topic of services marketing and an essential reading for the 60-80% of the workforce who are involved in the ever growing services sector.

An Excellent Insight Into the World of Services Marketing.......2004-04-24

With its comprehensive content, the book gives a fantastic overview of the important issues in services marketing today. There are many interesting and practical examples demonstrating the learning points. Well-balanced perspective. Besides giving readers the foundations of concepts and tools to use as services marketing managers, it also gives readers interesting tips on how to get around or leverage on current services strategies used by companies as customers.

Review by Venkat.......2004-04-23

Its a very useful book covering all aspects of services marketing. Contents are well organised with real world examples, frameworks that you can apply to practical issues etc. I have read through all the chapters in the book and a few headings very interesting
1) Loyalty
2) Managing services people
3) Understanding service quality
4) Power of service guarantee
I strongly recommend anyone interested in services marketing to buy this book.

An excellent book on Services Marketing.......2004-04-21

a) The subject content is very good and is quite informative with the relevant examples of the best practices and cases. Gives good insights into the various aspects of Services Marketing and changes your perspective.
b) The paper used is just perfect (not a glossy) which gives a great reading pleasure.

Average customer rating:

Other Books
Earth as an Organism
Not even good science
Brilliant hypothesis, poorly presented
Gaia: A Libertarian Manifesto

Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth
James Lovelock
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192862189

Book Description

In this classic work that continues to inspire its many readers, Jim Lovelock puts forward his idea that life on earth functions as a single organism. Written for non-scientists, Gaia is a journey through time and space in search of evidence with which to support a new and radically different model of our planet. In contrast to conventional belief that living matter is passive in the face of threats to its existence, the book explores the hypothesis that the earth's living matter air, ocean, and land surfaces forms a complex system that has the capacity to keep the Earth a fit place for life. Since Gaia was first published, many of Jim Lovelock's predictions have come true and his theory has become a hotly argued topic in scientific circles. In a new Preface to this reissued title, he outlines his present state of the debate.

Customer Reviews:

Other Books.......2007-09-03

A really interesting book, and hypothesis. I first noticed this theory, funnily enough, after watching the excellent miniseries 'Edge of Darkness' and some of the writing involved with talking about that show. Well worth a look. The Earth as 'living' in the sense of a being a system, where life and the planet exist in a relationship. This is definitely a thought provoking piece of work.

Earth as an Organism.......2006-08-19

Lovelock is certainly an out-of-the-box thinker. The main point Lovelock drives home is that Earth behaves as an organism. The aim is to get the reader thinking that Earth is alive, and does have the same functions an organism. For example, the chemistry of the atmosphere and the ocean are controlled by life for the purposes maintaining the planet as a haven for life's continuance.

Life does appear to drive the planet away from the expected chemical equilibria. To this I give Lovelock credit for drawing a brilliant parallel that makes the book worth reading. There is a sort of alternate equilibrium under life's influence that hasn't been studied enough. The book really can change the way one looks at Earth. I'm not perfectly convinced with the precision here, but this is far better than picturing random life trying to survive on a otherwise dead world.

However, there were some chapters in the second half that were weak, and seemingly off-the-point. The role of mankind isn't supported as claimed. I'd give this 3 and a half stars if I could.

Not even good science.......2006-04-26

I ordered this book hoping for some scientific evidence supporting what I already knew from personal experience; that there is a gestalt emerging from all of the beings in the universe. An emergent property that some call `the spirit that moves through all things' and some call `god' and I was hoping that this book would call it Gaia. Bah! The author totally ignores the metaphysical evidence and misrepresents the impact of civilization on the natural world. He also misrepresents the relationship tribal aka primitive cultures had with the natural world. Furthermore, this isn't even good science. Typically I pass books on to friends or trade them at a used bookstore. The best thing about this book was how easily the pages tore out to become kindling for my fire. If I could I would give it a negative rating -- don't pollute your mind with this trash.

Brilliant hypothesis, poorly presented.......2005-10-27

In essence, Lovelock says that since evolution started eons ago, all forms of life evolved together resulting not only in balance among themselves and their surroundings, but also in such a way that they regulate the environment, controlling the atmosphere, the salinity of the seas and the temperature. This complex eco-system is presumably an inevitable consequence of the algorithm of evolution running successfully. Want to know if there is life on another planet? Easy, look at the atmosphere.
This comes out in the book, but it is a bit bizarre. Lovelock seems to go from anthropomorphism (the world learning to breath and making decisions) to using scientific terms that the average non-science reader will have to look up. He presents a table on page 63 that I think is incomprehensible unless you understood the work that went into it, which is not presented. He finishes with a plea not to hunt whales, which seems like a strange non-sequester to the book as whole.
As a consequence of this he seems to have appealed to crystal-swinging, horoscope-reading new age wo-wos rather than hard scientists. This is a shame, because the idea is brilliant (thus 4-stars), and could result in decades of research, added to which Gaia is a great name. It seems self-evident that we are part of and completely dependent upon the environment around us. Lovelock has such faith in the self-regulating mechanisms, he rather pooh poohs our ability to mess with it too much. However, it seems to me that evolution and balance takes time - we do things incredibly fast - our ability to warm the globe has only been for a couple of hundred years. We could easily give Gaia a fever, by overcoming her ability to make gentle regulations. If this happens, we do not know what the results will be, but we almost certainly will not benefit from them. As they say; "nature bats last".
Everyone should read this book and, despite its faults, it is readable.

Gaia: A Libertarian Manifesto.......2005-04-30

James Lovelock's book "Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth" reads like a libertarian manifesto. No doubt, many well-intentioned liberal environmentalists will be turned off by his laissez-faire approach to polution, as he believes that Gaia (the Earth-organism) can, and has handled much worse than our man-made pollution of the present day. Likewise, self-absorbed capitalists and fiscal conservatives may feel redeemed by some of Lovelock's claims, and may quote passages of this book to their liberal family members to score points in some future debate.

However, it would be wrong to interpret Lovelock as condoning pollution and the misdeeds of mankind. Lovelock instead implores us to participate in Gaia from a Taoist perspective, by learning to work with, rather than against the ways of the Earth. He believes (as do I) that we can only do this when we fully understand how the Earth has changed throughout history (including the environmental holocausts that the Earth has already endured), and how it presently changes to maintain a global homeostasis.

After reading this book I felt encouraged by the strength and mother Earth, and impressed by her ability to adapt to a wide range of near-cataclysmic events. My only critique of the book is that Lovelock sometimes makes certain leaps in his explanations, which at times left me (a lay scientist) confused as I was reading through them.

Student Solutions Manual to accompany Calculus: Single and Multivariable, 4th Edition

Average customer rating:

Solutions? Please!
A waste of Money
Helpful for the selective few
Useless solution guide
Not that you have much choice.

Student Solutions Manual to accompany Calculus: Single and Multivariable, 4th Edition
Deborah Hughes-Hallett , William G. McCallum , Andrew M. Gleason , Daniel E. Flath , Patti Frazer Lock , Sheldon P. Gordon , David O. Lomen , David Lovelock , Brad G. Osgood , Andrew Pasquale , Douglas Quinney , Jeff Tecosky-Feldman , Joseph Thrash , Karen R. Rhea , and Thomas W. Tucker
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0471659959

Book Description

Work more effectively and check solutions as you go along with the text! This Student Solutions Manual is designed to accompany Hughes-Hallett’s Calculus: Single & Multivariable, 4 ^th Edition. It contains solutions to every other odd-numbered problem in the text for chapters 1-20.

Striking a balance between concepts, modeling, and skills, Calculus: Single & Multivariable, 4 ^th Edition is a highly acclaimed book that arms readers with an accessible introduction to calculus. It builds on the strengths from previous editions, presenting key concepts graphically, numerically, symbolically, and verbally. Guided by this innovative Rule of Four approach, the fourth edition examines new topics while providing readers with a strong conceptual understanding of the material.

Customer Reviews:

Solutions? Please!.......2007-05-17

This book only has every other odd. And the solutions are hard to follow, just like the accompanying text book. If I wasn't taking class in a classroom environment and only had the books to rely on I'd be in bad shape.

A waste of Money.......2007-01-05

This book was a real waste of money. Only a select number of odd problems were worked out, and it always seemed to be the easier problems. Much of the time just the answer was given, which could be found in the back of the textbook. This is the perfect accompaniment to a very confusing, poorly written textbook

Helpful for the selective few .......2007-01-04

This is a good companion book for the math book that follows. The answers are given in good detail and explained enough that you could follow what they are saying. The only real problem I had with the book was, it only had the odd answers. You are practically buying an extended version of the back of the book.

Useless solution guide.......2006-12-13

When doing problems for the textbook, it seemed that the solution guide did a pretty poor job in describing the correct way to do the problems. Oftentimes it did not even have a sample for each type of problem in the section review excersises. The solutions found in the back of the book were an adequate enough solution guide for at least the calculus class I had taken.

Not that you have much choice........2006-11-14

Not all odds are listed. Most of the ones needed in my course were not there, probably by teacher design. The text book that it goes with is just as bad. If you can take a class from somewhere else that uses another book especially if you need the examples to follow. I found it hard to learn from as a returning student.

Applied Calculus, Student Solutions Manual

Average customer rating:

Save your money!

Applied Calculus, Student Solutions Manual
Deborah Hughes-Hallett , Patti Frazer Lock , Andrew M. Gleason , Daniel E. Flath , David O. Lomen , David Lovelock , William G. McCallum , Brad G. Osgood , Douglas Quinney , Karen Rhea , Jeff Tecosky-Feldman , Thomas W. Tucker , Otto K. Bretscher , Sheldon P. Gordon , and Eric Connally
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Mathematics | Science | Subjects | Books

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

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0471739251

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

Save your money!.......2007-05-07

Do not purchase this solution guide! You are better off with the solutions in the back of the text. This guide does not explain anything! What a waste of money.

Healing Gaia: Practical Medicine for the Planet

Average customer rating:

Planetary Life Cycles 101
A more mature review
A great book about a great theory.

Healing Gaia: Practical Medicine for the Planet
James Lovelock
Manufacturer: Harmony
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0517578484
Release Date: 1991-10-23

Customer Reviews:

Planetary Life Cycles 101.......2005-04-05

Healing Gaia is a masterpiece of science, vision and thought. This book looks something like a cross between a collegiate textbook and a beautiful coffee table art book. The art work in the many illustrations is superb and along with fine photos and graphs depicting Earth's many life cycle systems, easily and clearly describes what a self-regulating life support system is and looks like.

The text is comprehensive and complete, yet does not overwhelm. After reading this book, if one still does not believe that Earth is a self regulating life support system, one will at least admire this very compelling dissertation. One need keep in mind that at the very basics of self regulation is the fact that the Earth has maintained it's life supporting oxygen level of about 21% for over a billion years. More oxygen and we're toast; not enough and we suffocate.

Earth formed, cooled and then microscopic life developed in the oceans. Ranging on or near the surface of the ocean, tiny one-celled phytoplankton, through the process of photosynthesis, produce oxygen and also trap a significant amount of carbon dioxide which has been identified as a significant contributor to global warming.

With the land forests of the world being cut down at an alarming rate, phytoplankton are, once again, becoming a primary supplier of oxygen. The delicate balance between land and ocean environs is needed to regulate not only the carbon/oxygen balance, but also, to help regulate the weather and Lovelock, et al., give a compelling argument for implementing corrective measures to help restore that balance.

When we understand life cycle processes and understand what we as humans are doing to upset and alter them, we then have a sense of which direction to go in order to alter our life styles and bad environmental habits. So this book covers the entire spectrum from a discourse in Earth life support cycles to avenues of approach to Healing Gaia. My hats off to Lovelock and his staff for creating this masterpiece.

I have only seen one other book that approaches this caliber of discourse on Gaia and that is: "The Seven Mysteries of Life" by Guy Murchie. The title is somewhat misleading because the gist of the book is very similar to Healing Gaia- and no mystery, really, just a good dissertation on Earth`s life cycles. As with Lovelock, Murchie (a meteorologist) was also inspired to write his book about a self-regulating life support system and the interconnectivity of all life while contemplating the beautiful view of Earth from space.

A more mature review.......2004-07-14

The other review on this page was written by me (Lloyd) a few years ago. I am writing this review as a second look at the book now that I am older and (hopefully) more critical - i.e. less willing to be persuaded (!). Whilst I still think that the Gaia hypothesis is a fascinating idea and that Lovelock's book is well worth reading, I am now much more sceptical about the actual evidence for the hypothesis -- empirical evidence is, after all, the final and absolute test of a hypothesis in science.

Lovelock's writing can be very poetic. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, but in some cases -- such as the description of the earth as being an `organism' -- clarity and scientific precision seems to be sacrificed in favour of emotion. In the review `Reviewing Lovelock's second book on the Gaia Hypothesis' of `The Ages of Gaia' someone explains Lovelock's ideas about the earth as an organism more eloquently than I can. I find this view much less likely (and therefore not as good as a scientific hypothesis) than the more down to earth -- if you will forgive the pun! -- statement that living things sometimes modify their environment in a way that keeps conditions favourable for life.

Which brings me back to the all-important question of whether the earth is `self regulating'. It seems to me that this would be quite a difficult thing to demonstrate experimentally or by observation (although Lovelock does give examples of observations that support his hypothesis). I don't know what the current evidence amounts to (I am not a scientist!) but it seems to me that the current consensus is not with Lovelock.

In summary, I would recommend people to read the book but to bear in mind that Gaia is not a well-established theory. In particular, it might be good to also read some books about more mainstream evolutionary theory by authors such as Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould (which are, in my opinion, brilliant books) first.

A great book about a great theory........2001-07-22

Gaia is one of the most profound theories of the 20th century; the theory veiws the earth as a living organism with the ability to regulate the climate so it is comfortable for life.

Lovelock does a great job of expaining this theory in terms undestandable to anyone with a basic scientific education. the book is written from the point of veiw of a plenetary physician, this top down perspective really adds to the books charm. He includes case notes providing real cases of planetary ailments. There are sections on the anatomy, physiology and plagues of our earth.

This book is a refeshing escape from the usual reductionism of science, and a great treatment of the pressing issues concering our evironment.

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