Book Description
The third edition of Engineering Design represents a major reorganization and expansion. The revision has resulted from the recognition that engineering students need more structure to guide them through the design process. Chapters have been reordered to be more in the natural progression of the design process. The book is broader in content than most design texts, but now contains much more prescriptive guidance on how to carry out design.
Book Description
'A fascinating book, well written and forcefully argued...Luttwak's formulations are as refreshing as they are convincing... He has done for Roman historians what they have not done for themselves.' --Z. Yavetz, New Republic
Customer Reviews:
Pellucid analysis, and perhaps relevant to our own time?.......2007-04-17
Luttwak's book is not only a marvelous addition to any library concerning strategy or Rome, but it may also be, in Barbara Tuchman's phrase, "A Distant Mirror". Speaking of the last phase of the Roman Empire (i.e. the late third and fourth century CE), Luttwak says "The machinery of empire now became increasingly self-serving, with its tax-collectors, administrators, and soldiers of much greater use to one another than to society at large...."
Great explanation how a world empire defended its citizens.......2005-05-28
I do not agree that this book is only for specialists. I am of the opinion that it is a book for history lovers. And, moreover, it is for any person who wishes to understand how a highly developed society managed to defend its way of living. It most valuable because it depicts the success of the Roman system in the first two centuries of our era. The Third Century depicts the problem of a World power which has began its decline.
Reading the book you understand the Roman system, and you learn how a society must be prepared for selfdefense, and even for attack, if it wants to survive.
If you translate this book into the idiom of the early XXIst Century, you realize how our declining Western Civilization must behave in order to protect itself, and its inhabitants, from its external -and even internal- threats.
Eye-opening analysis.......2005-05-19
This book is a very interesting analysis for everybody who wants to know more about the strategy of the Roman Empire. While also very accessible to non-experts, even experts or people who have read a lot about Rome will learn a lot and see things a new way.
Mr. Luttwak splits the time of the roman empire into time periods of same strategy. This strategy changed a few times through the centuries.
One of the most interesting points is that the Roman Empire did have trouble expanding its Empire beyond the size of Augustus Principate because the roman army could not apply its full military force in the border areas because of the evironment there. The roman army's core was the heavy infanterie and with this the legions were strong and hard to stop or defeat but they were also slow. Therefore in areas where enemies had something to defend (cities, fields, etc), the power of the roman army (also using their siege capabilities) was very high and therefore it could apply this potential military might either in direct military success or into political power which then helped the romans to create client states around their empire which served as buffer states against any potential enemy attack.
But the forested middle Europe, the desert areas of Arabia and North Africa and the plains of Iran and Ukraine were wide and the people who lived there did not depend on a city structure which they needed to defend. Therefore they could avoid a direct confrontation with the Romans (which was their main strength) and apply their way of fighting to the Romans. The Roman army could still penetrate these areas, but only under above average costs and had trouble keeping this area under their control. Examples of this are the losses of Crassus against the Parthians and the losses of 3 legions against the Cherusci in the Teutoburg Forest.
Very good book!
Ancient history for current events.......2004-09-22
Although much of this book may be at a level of specificity of interest only to Roman history buffs, Luttwak's assessments of the Roman Empire's strategic strengths and weaknesses has much relevance to the modern United States, which occupies an historical position not unlike Rome's at the beginning of the Empire. For example, issues such as the efficient use of a relatively small professional army, or the maintenance of client states, are directly relevant to the modern world. Each section begins with a sufficiently adequate historical summary that readers not yet familiar with Roman history will not be lost.
An excellent overview of Roman imperial strategy.......2003-03-09
This is a unique work in that it tries to explain an overall strategic picture of Roman Imperial defense through the principate and into the turbulent third century when the empire as a political entity was in real jepordy of being swept away by internal and external threats. In somewhat technical terms, he goes on to explain how Roman Imperial security evolved over time starting with the early principate. Then going into the Flavian, Antonine and Severan eras. Luttwak does a great job in outlining the threat, security measures and strategies of each different era. Extensive notes allow for additional study. Even though written almost 30 years ago, it is still very relevant. It is striking how simmilar the strategic problems faced by ancient Rome are today faced by the U.S. My only critisism is that he does not go into any detail of internal security measures or how these relate to strategic defense. Otherwise an excellent work.
Book Description
The Third Edition of Gary Bronson's popular text implements the ANSI C standard in all discussion and example programs. An early emphasis on software engineering and top-down modular program development makes it readily accessible to novice programmers. Early introduction and careful development of pointers demonstrate the power of good programming.
Customer Reviews:
Not the greatest C book.......2006-05-17
The book follows a very good style in which it teaches you some concepts, demonstrates some programs, and then gives you some problems. Sadly no answers were provided for the questions. Most of the programs demonstrated do not follow the usual syntax of ANCI C, for example the book uses the notation void main(void) { } while other books stress that the standard specifies the use of int main(void) { } . Another noticeable problem was the use of function prototypes inside the main function rather than outside.
Will teach programming + how to think as programmer.......2004-02-08
Im Computer engineer ,,iv finished bs degree,, this book was my starting step to build my knowleg in computer field,, this book is used in our university for first year programming subject,, im still keeping this book its meens alot to me, i visit this site to view what the people r writing about this book and i was really dispionted i saw 1 star!,i think its desirve more , im using the 2nd edition this book include 14 chapters but i think the new edition include more,, its includs the data types,logical operators,loops,functions,arrays,pointers,strings,structures,data file,and other additional topics and introduction to c++,class,,in end of each chapter there is common errors,summury,exercises,, this book done the job and more for me,if u want to study go for this book,,this book can be learnd byself study,,dont waste time and money on other books this book is the best,,,
With a few exceptions, it is a good book........2004-01-20
This book is a good guide book for beginners. It is great for classes in ANSI C, but not necessarily for independent study. It provides simple visuals, shows common programming errors, and has a great reference. In fact, for the lightly seasoned C programmer, this book does work well as a reference.
The down falls of this book are the occasional editing errors, but if you can accept the few mistakes, then this book is okay.
This book follows the ANSI C specifications and introduces common programming practices. If it were not for the slight aforementioned mistakes, this book would perfect.
Great introduction to C.......2003-06-01
Students in my class really agreed that this was a well written book. The many code examples were great in that they reinforced the reading material. Any of the source code errors in the examples that might have occurred during the printing of the book were easily fixed. You also have the complete source code available to you from the book's website, thus allowing you to clear errors in the examples.
The text goes into the details of the code examples and into the details of the topics. For someone knowledgeable in C or with past programming experience, it might seem a bit wordy. But as in introduction to programming, it's wonderful. Excellent for self-study or for an Intro to Programming classroom environment.
All in all, I thought this book was great.
Stupid Book.......1999-11-15
I had to have this book for my first C programming class and it sucks. There are only about 5 examples per chapter. They show the code to make something, but you have to guess what its output will look like. This book tells you that you can do stuff but not how to do it!
Amazon.com
In this memoir, the man most responsible for Singapore's astonishing transformation from colonial backwater to economic powerhouse describes how he did it over the last four decades. It's a dramatic story, and Lee Kuan Yew has much to brag about. To take a single example: Singapore had a per-capita GDP of just $400 when he became prime minister in 1959. When he left office in 1990, it was $12,200 and rising. (At the time of this book's writing, it was $22,000.) Much of this was accomplished through a unique mix of economic freedom and social control. Lee encouraged entrepreneurship, but also cracked down on liberties that most people in the West take for granted--chewing gum, for instance. It's banned in Singapore because of "the problems caused by spent chewing gum inserted into keyholes and mailboxes and on elevator buttons." If American politicians were to propose such a thing, they'd undoubtedly be run out of office. Lee, however, defends this and similar moves, such as strong antismoking laws and antispitting campaigns: "We would have been a grosser, ruder, cruder society had we not made these efforts to persuade people to change their ways.... It has made Singapore a more pleasant place to live in. If this is a 'nanny state,' I am proud to have fostered one."
Lee also describes one of his most controversial proposals: tax breaks and schooling incentives to encourage educated men and women to marry each other and have children. "Our best women were not reproducing themselves because men who were their educational equals did not want to marry them.... This lopsided marriage and procreation pattern could not be allowed to remain unmentioned and unchecked," writes Lee. Most of the book, however, is a chronicle of how Lee helped create so much material prosperity. Anticommunism is a strong theme throughout, and Lee comments broadly on international politics. He is cautiously friendly toward the United States, chastising it for a "dogmatic and evangelical" foreign policy that scolds other countries for human-rights violations, except when they interfere with American interests, "as in the oil-rich Arabian peninsula." Even so, he writes, "the United States is still the most benign of all the great powers.... [and] all noncommunist countries in East Asia prefer America to be the dominant weight in the power balance of the region." From Third World to First is not the most gripping book imaginable, but it is a vital document about a fascinating place in a time of profound transition. --John J. Miller
Book Description
Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was granted independence in 1965. How is it, then, that today the former British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with not only the world's number one airline, best airport, and busiest port of trade, but also the world's fourth–highest per capita real income?
The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore's charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore now is hailed as a city of the future. This miraculous history is dramatically recounted by the man who not only lived through it all but who fearlessly forged ahead and brought about most of these changes.
Delving deep into his own meticulous notes, as well as previously unpublished government papers and official records, Lee details the extraordinary efforts it took for an island city–state in Southeast Asia to survive at that time.
Lee explains how he and his cabinet colleagues finished off the communist threat to the fledgling state's security and began the arduous process of nation building: forging basic infrastructural roads through a land that still consisted primarily of swamps, creating an army from a hitherto racially and ideologically divided population, stamping out the last vestiges of colonial–era corruption, providing mass public housing, and establishing a national airline and airport.
In this illuminating account, Lee writes frankly about his trenchant approach to political opponents and his often unorthodox views on human rights, democracy, and inherited intelligence, aiming always "to be correct, not politically correct." Nothing in Singapore escaped his watchful eye: whether choosing shrubs for the greening of the country, restoring the romance of the historic Raffles Hotel, or openly, unabashedly persuading young men to marry women as well educated as themselves. Today's safe, tidy Singapore bears Lee's unmistakable stamp, for which he is unapologetic: "If this is a nanny state, I am proud to have fostered one."
Though Lee's domestic canvas in Singapore was small, his vigor and talent assured him a larger place in world affairs. With inimitable style, he brings history to life with cogent analyses of some of the greatest strategic issues of recent times and reveals how, over the years, he navigated the shifting tides of relations among America, China, and Taiwan, acting as confidant, sounding board, and messenger for them. He also includes candid, sometimes acerbic pen portraits of his political peers, including the indomitable Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the poetry–spouting Jiang Zemin, and ideologues George Bush and Deng Xiaoping.
Lee also lifts the veil on his family life and writes tenderly of his wife and stalwart partner, Kwa Geok Choo, and of their pride in their three children –– particularly the eldest son, Hsien Loong, who is now Singapore's deputy prime minister.
For more than three decades, Lee Kuan Yew has been praised and vilified in equal measure, and he has established himself as a force impossible to ignore in Asian and international politics. From Third World to First offers readers a compelling glimpse into this visionary's heart, soul, and mind.
Customer Reviews:
Great account of Singapore's development.......2007-08-23
This book is a detailed account of Singapore's history beginning from its independence and its development to a first world country under Lee Kuan Yew's leadership, and the second part is Lee's diplomatic relationships with different nations and his dealings and views on their leaders.
It is a very entertaining and insightful read, Lee goes deep into details in problems looming over Singapore in its infancy and in developing the nation to feed its population. How he tried to persuade the British to maintain its military base there to protect Singapore from its two dangerous neighbours and communism from China and in within, and when failed how he placed utmost importance in building a working army to defend itself.
Lee realizes the importance of a clean and competent government, whereby he believes a good paycheck would help curb corruption and an anti-corruption agency with a high degree of power was formed to further prevent it. He was able to gather a group of honest and able people to form an efficient government, which was vital in building any nation.
He created a safe and secure environment through the rule of law and honest public administration to attract foreign direct investment to build up factories in Singapore, this was essentially the main driver behind Singapore's phenomenal growth. Through this he created thousands of jobs and gave the Singaporeans adequate livings.
He knows the importance of human resources given that's the only resource Singapore has, he stresses on education and the English language to effectively connect Singapore to the world. He had to close down the Chinese-speaking Nanyang University because most graduates had a hard time finding job.
He also gave explanations on some of his rather controversial actions in suing newspapers and political opponents, which seem reasonable.
Overall, he has done a remarkable job in creating an honest and efficient government, a sound legal system with the rule of law, excellent infrastructure and he was able to provide jobs and a good living to his people. All these are the factors to Singapore's miraculous transformation. And on top of that, he retired from his prime ministerial post and passed on the baton, albeit still holding a senior minister post.
All in all, Lee has done a spectacular job in transforming Singapore to the only other first world country in Asia aside from Japan, heads off to him.
most impressive character.......2007-05-14
great book. lee is the most impressive character i've ever read in history book.
A Taiwanese Perspective.......2007-04-08
I loved this book. Lee is insightful and a great writer.
His chapter on Taiwan, however, was mad hypocrisy. He critices Taiwan for "pulling away" by teaching in schools primarily the history/geography of the island instead of China, as before. Funny this is coming from a guy known for getting rid of all Chinese-language universities in Singapore. He spoke about ensuring he brought Malays along in his trip to China, and conducting meetings in English, to ensure China recognizes Singapore's unique identity.
Also funny was Lee KY's attributing Lee Teng-hui's provocative behavior to Lee TH's Japanophilia and being "powered" by the spirit of the Bushido warrior." Yet throughout the book Lee KY talks about how British he is, e.g., his habit of drinking tea in the morning! Furthermore, he spoke of the great sentiments associated with attaining British knighthood, which according to him, was the greatest honor he had ever received. I couldn't help laugh when reading the British knight accuse the Bushido warrior of Japanophilia, when he himself is brimming with Anglophilia.
Illuminating what can be achieved by a superior intellect coupled with honesty........2006-09-26
I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Lee Kuan Yew. Besides being a genious at governing the man is a gifted writer. The book is full of information for those, like me, that were curious about how this gentleman, along with his associates, pulled out the feat of transforming an underdeveloped society into a model society. He, almost singlehandedly, achieved what other countries and societies with far more resources only dream of. Pick this book if you wish to learn and, at the same time, be entertained.
Excellent insight!.......2006-06-12
Gives Excellent insight to see how singapore found it's own way in this competitive world.
Book Description
Say congratulations with the two bestselling parenting books presented together in one handsome gift set. Packaging What to Expect When You're Expecting with What to Expect the First Year--together with an astonishing 13.5 million copies in print--creates an instant 1,200-page reference library on pregnancy, childbirth, and baby's first year. Each book is trusted, reliable, and reassuring, thorough in approach, and always up-to-date. Together they'll guide every mother- and father-to-be through the 21 most important months in their lives as parents.
Customer Reviews:
worth while reference.......2007-08-25
We use the whole set for references at work. It is terrific and I remind women that they can borrow it from the library. Worthwhile having on your own shelf!
What ever expecting mother should know.......2007-06-30
I used this book with both of my children. I never called the doctor once during the children's first year. When the doctor asked me why I was the only parent that had not had called her with a million questions, I explained that the answers I had sought were in this book. I purchased this copy for a friends daughter. A must read.
A must-have for expectant and new parents.......2007-04-11
This set includes two of the most informative books out there. The chapters are clear and easy to follow and are absolutely full of great information. I can't think of a better book for expectant parents and the first year book is a helpful resource to have on hand, too, to accompany The Baby Book by Dr. Sears, both of which should be in every parent's bookcase.
Love This Book Series.......2006-12-20
I read When You're Expecting during both my pregnancies. I am the proud mother of 2 girls, ages 13 and 2. These books are filled with valuable information and facts. I loved the week by week details on growth and development of both baby and mother during pregnancy in When You're Expecting. My younger sister is now pregnant with her first and I'm buying her this set as her first baby gift! It's a must read!
Good combination of reference books for the pregnant mother!.......2006-07-18
Bought for a friend's first pregnancy! She loved them!
Book Description
A First Course in Fuzzy Logic, Third Edition continues to provide the ideal introduction to the theory and applications of fuzzy logic. This best-selling text provides a firm mathematical basis for the calculus of fuzzy concepts necessary for designing intelligent systems and a solid background for readers to pursue further studies and real-world applications. New in the Third Edition: · A section on type-2 fuzzy sets - a topic that has received much attention in the past few years · Additional material on copulas and t-norms · More discussions on generalized modus ponens and the compositional rule of inference · Complete revision to the chapter on possibility theory · Significant expansion of the chapter on fuzzy integrals · Many new exercises With its comprehensive updates, this new edition presents all the background necessary for students and professionals to begin using fuzzy logic in its many-and rapidly growing- applications in computer science, mathematics, statistics, and engineering.
Customer Reviews:
prof. review.......2006-01-15
this is the best intro to fuzzy ever writen....im a university prof on the subject of AI so...Ive read tons of books on the subject and this is by far the best intro to fuzzy even for those who ll be learning on their own... very simple put and yet very abording on the matter!
A First Course in Fuzzy Logic.......1999-12-22
If you are looking for a book on Fuzzy Logic Theory, this is a good book. It explains the mathematical basis of fuzzy logic, the mathmatical symbols used, provides proofs for theorems, etc. The chapters and sections are clearly labeled in the table of contents, making it easy to zero in on a topic. It is a College Text Book, with problems to solve at the end of each chapter. Selected problems have answers in the back of the book. Unfortunately, that wasn't the type of book that I expected or needed. I was looking more for the hands on, how to, type of book. That is the only reason it did not get 5 stars.
Outstanding, for people who are interested in this area.......1999-09-21
This is the clearest explanation and application of fuzzy logic that has been published. It is thorough, without being arcane or pedantic.
Book Description
Thousands of years--way before Christopher Columbus set sail--wandering tribes of hunters made their way from Asia across the Bering land bridge to North America. They didn't know it, but they had discovered a New World. The First Americans is a fascinating re-creation of pre-Columbian Native American life, and it's an adventure of a lifetime! Hunt seals with the Inuit; harvest corn on a cliff-top mesa; hunt the mighty buffalo; and set sail with Leif Erickson, Columbus, and all the early great explorers--Cabot, Balboa, Ponce de Leon, Cortes, Henry the Navigator, and more--in this brilliantly told story of America before it was America.
Customer Reviews:
Incredibly well written!.......2007-04-07
I wish this text had been available when I was in school.
First of all, it is not in the slightest bit boring. It's so well written.
Second, unlike so many histories of America intended for our kids, it starts at the real beginning with the ancient civilizations of America - not only Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas, but the amazing Chaco Canyon and Mississippian city-states as well, along with the farming village cultures and hunter-gatherers that lived all over our continent. This in contrast to even an otherwise pretty good ancient history storybook, like Susan Bauer's Story of the World, in which Ms. Bauer gives the impression that all ancient North Americans were nomads wandering around aimlessly (a glaring error).
Third, when it comes to Columbus and the Spanish Conquistadors, she neither glorifies the conquerors nor the conquered. She tells the good, the bad, and the ugly, on both sides.
Why I didn't give it five stars: I'm sorry, but I don't think we should go overboard in teaching kids to be part of a fan-club for the US government. She just raves about how protected we are from bad government, saying things like "even the President has to obey" the constitution because he can be impeached. Hmmm. I'll just leave everyone to decide on their own whether they agree with that - I found it unbelievably naive.
One other glaring thing I read was her comment that the Plains Indians became wasteful with the buffalo. Since I'm not an historian, I could be missing some information, and maybe the Indians did get less thrifty - I don't know, it's certainly not what I was taught elsewhere. But to state that without putting it into context - which is that non-Indians, including our government, systematically wiped out the buffalo as a tool to reduce the Indians ability to fight for their land - I found very objectionable. (More evidence of the naive fan club mentality about our government?)
Even with those caveats, because ALL historians have biases and errors in their work, I'm still loving this and finding it the best kids history of the US I've ever seen!
All kids' books should be this good........2004-07-03
I thought my 4-year-old was only half listening as I read "The First Americans" to her sister (age 6). But the other evening at story time, her face lit up and she begged for "history"! I can give it no higher praise.
This volume covers the first 12,000 years--give or take a few millennia--of human life on our continent. Hakim strikes a good balance between outlining the broad sweep of the period, and focusing in on interesting stories, people, and trivia ("fun facts" in my girls' lingo). She doesn't gloss over difficult subjects, such as the massacre of the Aztecs by the Spaniards under Cortés. But she relates these events with balance and sympathy, helping her young readers to understand them from different points of view (in this case the Aztecs; their neighbors who were victims of cruel Aztec rituals; and the Spaniards who wanted Aztec gold, but also were abhorred by Aztec viciousness towards their neighbors). What's more, Hakim openly invites them to think about and even reject her own judgements.
She has sparked many good conversations in our household. For instance, she used the example of Cortés to illustrate some tough ethical questions that philosophers debate to this day. I talked about these questions with my daughters, and helped them to express and refine their own thoughts. Then I invited them to think up some other tough questions. My younger one took the cake with "what is 'is'?". She had offered it in jest, but to her surprise I pulled out "Being and Time", one of several big books on my shelf devoted to that very question. She was amused, but quite pleased.
No doubt you will find something to disagree with in this, as in any good history. When that happens, do what the author suggests: use it as an opportunity to debate her conclusions with your kids, and sharpen their critical skills. For the rest of it, enjoy a great story well-told. I can hardly imagine a better history for this age group.
The first volume in Joy Hakim's "A History of US".......2003-07-29
A History of US is basically an attempt to write a juvenile history of the United States that will speak to a generation of young readers who get most of their information from computers and the Internet. That means Joy Hakim offers up lots of information with lots of illustrations, but it also means been very much aware of the mind set of her readers. When Hakim describes the scope "The First Americans: Prehistory-1600" we get a clear sense of this perspective: "This book begins in the Ice Age with some people who hiked and canoed from Asia to a New Land and, thousands of years later, got called Indians by Christopher Columbus, who didn't know where he was." This first volume begins with the first human beings crossing the land mass that once connected Asia and North America and ends with the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the event that signaled the beginning of the end of Spain's empire in the New World and the start of English colonization of the land that would become the United States.
The volume is basically divided into two main sections. After establishing the value of studying history, Hakim looks at how human beings crossed Beringia to a new continent and how these first Americans became Indians. The first section looks examines the Indians on a regional basis, from the Eskimos of the far north to the Cliff Dwellers of the southwest, as well as from the people of the Northwest coast and the Plains Indians to the Mound Builders and People of the Long House in the East. Chapter 13 is a transitional section that covers how the Vikings came to the New World. The rest of the book is devoted to the European voyagers of exploration to the Americans and the early colonization efforts of the Spanish and French. Consequently Hakim tells the stories of Columbus, Balboa, Magellan, Cortes, Ponce de Leon, and Coronado. The establishment of New Spain and New France is contrasted with the lost English colony of Roanoke.
Throughout the volume there are features on related topics from the Vikings at L'anse Aux Meadows and the first map to include "America," to stories of how the world began and how to ravel by canoe and portage, including excerpts from the writings of explorers Christopher Columbus and John White. The margins are crammed with additional information such as quotations, definitions, names to know, and even some jokes. The volume is illustrated with mostly historic etchings, drawings, and maps, as well as contemporary photographs of ancient sites and artifacts, (accurate) maps of voyages, and quotations from primary and secondary sources. The back of the volume offers a Chronology of Events, a list of More Books to Read, and a series of Maps: Old and New.
The strength of "The First Americans: Prehistory-1600" is that it is written as if it were actually being taught in a classroom. Hakim knows when to stop and explain the material, the same way a teacher would talk to their students about what they were reading. For example, she discusses the various names used to talk about the First Americans, pointing out that not even the Indians are really "native" Americans and then later addresses the question of what would have happened if Columbus had actually found Cathay as he expected. I can see why these volumes would be popular with parents who are home schooling their children, because Hakim is able to assume the role of teacher within the pages of her textbook (besides, I am not sure how many school districts can afford a 10-volume American history textbook or how many years it would take to get students to read them all). She also constantly asks her young readers to imagine themselves as specific people in particular situations to appreciate what it was like to live during these time periods, and I find such role-playing to be another key ingredient of computer life for young students in the 21st century.
The first volume in Joy Hakim's "A History of US".......2003-07-29
A History of US is basically an attempt to write a juvenile history of the United States that will speak to a generation of young readers who get most of their information from computers and the Internet. That means Joy Hakim offers up lots of information with lots of illustrations, but it also means been very much aware of the mind set of her readers. When Hakim describes the scope "The First Americans: Prehistory-1600" we get a clear sense of this perspective: "This book begins in the Ice Age with some people who hiked and canoed from Asia to a New Land and, thousands of years later, got called Indians by Christopher Columbus, who didn't know where he was." This first volume begins with the first human beings crossing the land mass that once connected Asia and North America and ends with the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the event that signaled the beginning of the end of Spain's empire in the New World and the start of English colonization of the land that would become the United States.
The volume is basically divided into two main sections. After establishing the value of studying history, Hakim looks at how human beings crossed Beringia to a new continent and how these first Americans became Indians. The first section looks examines the Indians on a regional basis, from the Eskimos of the far north to the Cliff Dwellers of the southwest, as well as from the people of the Northwest coast and the Plains Indians to the Mound Builders and People of the Long House in the East. Chapter 13 is a transitional section that covers how the Vikings came to the New World. The rest of the book is devoted to the European voyagers of exploration to the Americans and the early colonization efforts of the Spanish and French. Consequently Hakim tells the stories of Columbus, Balboa, Magellan, Cortes, Ponce de Leon, and Coronado. The establishment of New Spain and New France is contrasted with the lost English colony of Roanoke.
Throughout the volume there are features on related topics from the Vikings at L'anse Aux Meadows and the first map to include "America," to stories of how the world began and how to ravel by canoe and portage, including excerpts from the writings of explorers Christopher Columbus and John White. The margins are crammed with additional information such as quotations, definitions, names to know, and even some jokes. The volume is illustrated with mostly historic etchings, drawings, and maps, as well as contemporary photographs of ancient sites and artifacts, (accurate) maps of voyages, and quotations from primary and secondary sources. The back of the volume offers a Chronology of Events, a list of More Books to Read, and a series of Maps: Old and New.
The strength of "The First Americans: Prehistory-1600" is that it is written as if it were actually being taught in a classroom. Hakim knows when to stop and explain the material, the same way a teacher would talk to their students about what they were reading. For example, she discusses the various names used to talk about the First Americans, pointing out that not even the Indians are really "native" Americans and then later addresses the question of what would have happened if Columbus had actually found Cathay as he expected. I can see why these volumes would be popular with parents who are home schooling their children, because Hakim is able to assume the role of teacher within the pages of her textbook (besides, I am not sure how many school districts can afford a 10-volume American history textbook or how many years it would take to get students to read them all). She also constantly asks her young readers to imagine themselves as specific people in particular situations to appreciate what it was like to live during these time periods, and I find such role-playing to be another key ingredient of computer life for young students in the 21st century.
Great history book for homeschooling!.......2003-02-28
I am currently using the first book in The History of US to teach history to my homeschooled children, ages 9 and 6. Written for children, the books tell a story of being a time and space traveller, and visiting chronologically the stages of development of the Unites States. The first book starts in the Ice Age, with Asians crossing the land bridge, and follows up through Native American tribes, ending with explorers from Europe.
I'd say these books are probably around a 6th grade reading level, and they are fun, interesting, and capture the imagination as well as teach an awful lot about history. The perspective of the books is that no one view of history is correct, and your child is expected to formulate his/her own ideas about what is right and wrong (for example, about forcing "native americans" to live on reservations.)
I highly recommend the first book in the series, and I can hardly wait to finish it up, so we can start in on the next one!
Product Description
Join a little monkey named Max on his fun-filled day and watch your child's vocabulary blossom! Visit the zoo. Have fun at the circus. Celebrate holidays and learn all about animals. It's a game of questions in picture form that will help your child explore the world. 400 Questions to Build Your Toddler's Word Skills. Ages 2-3.Curriculum-based! Teacher-approved! Full-color illustrations throughout. Question and answer cards hinged together by a plastic bolt. 3 decks come inside a plastic container. 26 cards per deck. Includes Guide for Parents.
Amazon.com
It's never too early to build a child's vocabulary, and the updated My First Brain Quest--designed specifically for 2- and 3-year-olds--is a fun way to get started. The tall, skinny plastic box contains three decks (the cards are attached so they fan out on a hinge) with a total of 400 questions, and a spongy, nontoxic Max toy monkey. The idea is to have the toddler bond with the monkey, so the child associates the cards with playtime! Deck One offers a full day with Max from the time he wakes up until bedtime. For example, a full-page cartoon of Max in his colorful toy-ridden bedroom asks, "Who just woke up? What is Max wearing? What do you see in his room?" The cards break down into smaller illustrations with object and activity identification ("What is Max doing? He's putting on his slippers" or "What is this called? A clock.") We follow Max through breakfast, school, music lessons, and more. Deck Two introduces children to seasonal activities, including trick-or-treating and playing on a snowy day. Deck Three explores the world, following Max from the mall to a picnic in the country to a farm. The Brain Quest series is a wonderful vehicle for parents to play and learn with their wee ones, and paves the way for a lifetime fascination with words. (Ages 2 to 3)
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful book .......2007-06-12
My son absolutely love this product. He always ask for SAM. This is helping him a lot to use his words.
Late talker loves these cards.......2007-04-01
I bought these for my son, he is 30 months old and a late talker. They were great for helping build his vocabulary. It gave me great ideas of topics to talk to him about and he loved the little monkey. I say "Let's play with Max" and he runs and gets his cards. We substitute storytime before bed with the cards on some nights and it works out great. I will definitly continue to buy these cards as he gets older.
My First Brain Quest.......2007-03-08
This is a great learning tool for 2-4 year olds. Also great to take on trips to keep your child entertained.
Learning.......2006-01-03
We have had this for awhile now and have recently been playing this...great learning and fun. Amazing just how much your little one will know using these cards. All the cards stay together so you don't have to worry getting any of them lost.
A great Learning game!!!
A Fun Way to Learn.......2005-08-22
We bought this set when my daughter was about 2 1/2, she loved Max the Monkey, and it was a really good way to teach her how to relate words with pictures. She amazed me with how much she already knew, then again some of the things that she didn't know amazed me too!My only complaint is that Max is not more durable, I mean come on, who makes a two year olds toy out of foam?? I would reccomend this product, I have already bought the 3-4 year old version of brainquest.
Book Description
The First Hebrew Primer is a simple, straightforward guide to Biblical Hebrew. Thirty lessons provide enough information and practice to enable you, with the aid of a Hebrew-English dictionary, to understand most biblical texts. The goal of the Primer is to teach students to read and understand Biblical Hebrew as quickly as possible; therefore, the lessons emphasize recognition and translation - not memorization. The thirty lessons incorporate:
Verb, grammar, and spelling charts
Vocabulary lists
Oral reviews
Exercises
Stories
Biblical quotes
Book of Ruth
This revised third edition introduces several new terms and clarifies grammatical points, but will look the same to long-time Primer readers. The key change we have made is the inclusion of new explanatory endnotes. Many readers have expressed a desire to deepen their knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, but have unanimously endorsed the clear, uncomplicated tone of the Primer. We have responded by adding these optional supplementary notes. Students may read the notes to enrich their understanding of Hebrew grammar or concentrate solely on the main text. Either way, the Primer provides a sound foundation for more advanced studies in the Hebrew Bible.
Customer Reviews:
The best teachable book for Hebrew beginners.......2007-07-13
I am very enthusiastic about this book. Until now, I have bought many Hebrew Grammars as the Weingreen, Pratico, Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar and others in the Greek language. None is so teachable as this one for Biblical Hebrew. The beginning is very soft and easy. There are not many grammar details or exceptions of the general rules, only the main rules. But the teaching is not simplistic; there are also endnotes, where you can read more details or exceptions.
The pronunciation is the same as in modern Hebrew. So you learn to spell ancient Hebrew as modern Israelis speak now. This is easier and useful. Other Grammars teach another way of pronunciation that could be more accurate regarding the ancient pronunciation, but Israelis don't speak now like that. So in the future, if you want, you could learn much easier the modern Hebrew.
This is not a complete Hebrew Grammar. If you want to learn more, you can buy for example the Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar by Pratico and Van Pelt.
It contains many exercises which make you learn the language by repetition of the words and the rules. This book doesn't contain detailed terminology. The kind of teaching is modern and pleasant.
If you are a beginner and you want to learn Biblical Hebrew, don't hesitate to buy this book. You will not waste your money. I advise you to buy also the "Primer Answer Book" of the exercises, and the "Audio Companion tape or CD set". So you could learn better the pronunciation by Hebrew teachers.
There is also an excellent digital edition for self study, which contains the Textbook, the Answer book and the Audio Companion together. You can buy the Audio CD set and the Digital Edition only by the EKS Publishing Co. (www.ekspublishing.com). The rest you can buy also by the Amazon.com.
May you enjoy teaching and learning of Biblical Hebrew by this book!
Spyros Karalis
The best biblical Hebrew tutor on the market.......2007-07-08
This is easily the best Hebrew tutor that I have come across.
It builds in very tiny steps from the initial recognition of letters through to the most complex grammar. Each chapter includes far more exercises than any other book I have found. These include sight reading,vocabulary building, writing, translation (both ways) and grammar exercises. The exercises often include humerous stories and reading the book of Ruth is integrated into the process.
The appendices include verb and noun spelling charts, grammar summaries, as well as Hebrew/English and English/Hebrew glossaries of the words used in the book.
I know many people who having reached only chapter seven or eight of this 30 chapter book are already able to read Hebrew with a greater understanding than most of those around. I confess that I do not know anyone yet who has completed all thirty chapters, including myself.
This is a wonderfully constructed book that I do not hesitate to recommend to anyone wanting to learn biblical Hebrew.
Simply Amazing!.......2007-04-10
This book launches you into learning the Hebrew language in a simple, yet concise manner. You will constantly be learning new information and reviewing things already learned simultaneously. A very, very highly recomended book if you desire to learn Hebrew.
The First Hebrew Primer.......2007-03-12
I like the format and size of type. The only problem is the book asks the student to write the Hebrew, but never shows how to properly write the Hebrew letters. Simply showing us the alphabet is not enough; we need the proper way to draw the letters (right to left, not as English speaking people would write).
It would also be good to include the meanings of the words somewhere.
You probably need this and will need more.......2007-02-19
On the plus side:
(1) This book can be used for self-study. At the outset you will probably welcome someone to delineate the Hebrew characters and pronounce the sounds for you, but after that you will manage to work through the text even by yourself.
(2) No grammar for grammar's sake. This book is aimed at teaching the minimum you need before tackling your first OT chapters.
(3) Well chosen and highly recurrent vocabulary. After that much repetition you will memorize most of the words effortlessly.
(4) Lots of exercises. Generally speaking, exercises are better dull than difficult--and these aren't even dull all the time.
(5) Crisp fonts, clear layout. Given the unfamiliar Hebrew alphabet, this is quite important, and yet many primers (especially older ones) fail to meet the condition.
On the minus side:
(1) Grammar fragmented and oversimplified. You don't really get what you need to grasp even the simplest OT passages. Terminologically and even notionally, this book leaves you where it found you, unable to understand what any relevant grammar has to tell you about the language.
(2) Ivrit under a Biblical disguise. Much of this text is best described as Modern Hebrew without modern words, some of the basic features of Biblical Hebrew having been pushed aside as mere details of style. The overall picture you get is false. (I am not one of those who believe Biblical Hebrew should be taught exclusively on bits and pieces taken from the OT. Still, what is needed is a reasonably good pastiche, not the image of two Tel Avivis engaging in a weird conversation about the king's cattle, the three little pigs and the altars of Yhwh.)
Advice:
The pluses of this text outweigh its minuses. Unless you like stiff textbook prose and a steep learning curve, you will probably find it useful. You may buy it together with another excellent book, Lambdin's "Introduction to Biblical Hebrew", which is rather more serious: work through the first ten chapters of the Primer, then start using Lambdin as a second-wave text.
Customer Reviews:
Great book for University ESL in Korea.......2006-08-25
This book almost looks too simple, but it worked out very, very well. The problem in Korea is that students often feel they should be learning from difficult-looking textbooks, despite their level. Also, they feel they should just instantly go from knowing nothing to writing full-page TOEFL essays! This book doesn't look difficult, so I was a little worried at first, but it turned out fine.
This book really helped my uni students learn how to write a proper basic paragraph. It could also be used for high school students, provided they can form sentences on their own. I also required my students to write a daily journal of at least 20 lines or so (using paragraph form).
I was satisfied with this book, and my students said it was "good."
Good for higher level ESL students.......2006-02-08
I used this text with a class of 25 ESL students in Japan, most of them who had been abroad for an extensive period of time and were highly motivated to learn English writing. This is a good choice of book if your students' already possess intermediate writing skills and would like to progress to paragraph and short essay writing.
Books:
- Europa The Ocean Moon: Search For An Alien Biosphere (Springer Praxis Books / Geophysical Sciences)
- FDR
- Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland After Auschwitz
- Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance
- Fire Places: A Practical Design Guide to Fireplaces and Stoves Indoors and Out
- Flowers: Creative Design
- For Such a Time as This: Your Identity, Purpose, and Passion
- German Fighter Ace: Hans-Joachim Marseille : The Life Story of the "Star of Africa" (Schiffer Military History)
- Gift from the Sea: 50th Anniversary Edition
- Healing Your Appetite, Healing Your Life
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Two Fat Ladies Full Throttle
- JFK: The CIA, Vietnam and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy
- Cost-Justifying Usability, Second Edition: An Update for the Internet Age, Second Edition
- Critique of Accounting: Examination of the Foundations and Normative Structure of an Applied Discipl
- History: Fiction or Science
- Out: A Novel
- How to Become a Rainmaker: The Rules for Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients
- Competition and Chaos: U.S. Telecommunications Since the 1996 Telecom Act
- Economic Apartheid In America: A Primer on Economic Inequality & Insecurity, Revised and Updated
- The Longleaf Pine Ecosystem: Ecology, Silviculture, and Restoration
General
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Fundamentals of Machine Component Design
Advanced Strength and Applied Elasticity, Fourth Edition
Theory and Design for Mechanical Measurements
Response Surface Methodology: Process and Product Optimization Using Designed Experiments (Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics)
Modern Control Engineering (4th Edition)
