Edith Hamilton's "Mythology" tell the "Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" of classical mythology and this volume, first written in 1942, is now a timeless classic itself. This was the first book of mythology that I ever read and it is still the best. When Hamilton retells the love story of Cupid and Psyche or the tragedy of Agamemnon and his children, she does so with a full sense of what it meant when first told by Apuleius or Aeschylus. These are not children's tales, but the heroic legends and religious beliefs of the ancient Greeks. Furthermore, the illustrations by Steele Savage have the elegance of wood block prints, which, for all I know, is exactly what they are. I appreciate Hamilton's choice to avoid relying on Ovid, for while the "Metamorphoses" is the most comprehensive ancient text dealing with the classical myths, Ovid is an unbeliever. For Hamilton the writings of Homer, Hesiod and Pindar are more abbreviated in terms of providing details for the myths, but at least they take the tales seriously.

Another strength of the book is how she organizes the myths in her seven parts: (1) Covers the complete pantheon of deities, including the lesser gods of Olympus and Earth and the later Roman additions, as well as the earliest heroes. (2) Retells the various tales of love, between mortals and the gods or each other, along with the Quest for the Golden Fleece and other early heroic adventures. (3) Focuses specifically on the greatest heroes, Perseus, Theseus and Hercules, with Atalanta thrown in the mix in a curious but understandable editorial decision by Hamilton. (4) Puts together Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid into a giant epic stretching from the Judgment of Paris to the founding of Roman, with the Odyssey and the tragedies of Euripides. (5) Tells about the great mythological families, namely the House of Atreus (Agamemnon), the Royal House of Thebes (Oedipus and Antigone), and the Royal House of Athens. (6) Covers all of the lesser myths, most notably Midas. (7) Goes off in a new direction, providing a very brief introduction to Norse mythology that seems woefully inadequate given the comprehensive compilation of classical mythology that precedes it.

I looked over other possibilities as a basic textbook for my Classical Greek & Roman Mythology course (I know, it sounds redundant and repetitive to me too), but I selected this one as my basic text (with "The Greek Myths" by Robert Graves to provide more details and alternative tales). If you want analysis of these myths, then you certainly want to look elsewhere. But if you want a solid retelling of the key stories of classical mythology, then Edith Hamilton's volume is still at the top of the list as far as I concerned. I fully admit that I am biased because I read this during my formative years and her language and rhythms are engrained in my brain).

...marred only by the untimely death of the author. Volume Two focuses on the second half of the extraordinary career of the MOST extraordinary W.D. Hamilton. The papers presented here are almost without exception key components of much of what many of us regard as an appropriate evolutionary approach to the origins of sex, kinship, disease response etc. and the book would be worth having just to get all of these in a convenient bound form instead of the dog-eared xeroxes that doubtless clog up many of your files. Beyond that however we also get more of hamilton's delightful insights into just how he came up with an idea, who he was talking to, where he was while he was working on a concept, what he thought of a piece of work years later, etc. etc, -in other words all the "gossip" that when you know it makes science a real human endeavor, and when it is left out tends to leave many of us cold. Above all else one gets the sense that here was someone who was without question a genius, but was also a lovely person as well -someone with a sense of humor and a sense of his own mortality, who at the same time could revel in the sheer beauty of an idea, or the notion of life as a cosmic joke that must nonetheless be taken seriously. Anyone who is interested in the DOING of science as well as the content would be well advised to browse through this book. The intro by Dawkins is frankly skippable, but the rest? Sheer joy!

This is an outstanding collection of some of the most important papers in evolutionary ecology, and when one can get them with Hamilton's wry, insightful, and occasionally extremely funny commentary, all I can say is "BUY IT!" No, Hamilton's mathematics is not for the faint of heart, but even if the thought of equations gives you the willies, you will find valuable stuff about the nature of science and scientists in the "interlinear" that links each of the stand-alone papers. I look forward to Volume 2 with great excitement!

This novel is when your fantisies come true, if you've ever had the dream of being a secretary for the sexiest bussiness man ever, this novel will keep you ravenously turning the pages! Claire agrees to be a wife for her employer and enjoy all the benefits of being a paper wife to a rich and adventrous boss, Jake Winter. The only way to opt-out of this maggige is to fall in love and Clair does-with Jake! However, she can't let herself fall in love and then be hurt. Diana Hamilton's amazing details get you hooked and emotionally envolved in the novel. Read this novel of romanic and intrege to see how Claire survives!

New Daughters Of The Oracle: The Return Of Female Prophetic Power In Our Time is drawn from Virginia Adair's worldwide trip to learn as much as she could about people, especially women, who profess to be psychic. Filled with condensed interviews, exotic practices, and human experience in such varied nations as Italy, England, Hong Kong, Greece, and much more, Highly recommended for women's studies, metaphysical studies, and alternative medicine reading lists and reference collections, New Daughters Of The Oracle is an eye-opening look at the intercultural belief in human psychic powers and those who claim to practice this gift.

Hamilton's compilation of fantastic creatures that explorers such as Columbus claimed to have seen is a wonderful complement to any classroom social studies collection. Reading aloud one or two to my fourth graders resulted in the happy problem that all of them wanted to read the single copy in our library. The delicate drawings that accompany the text are compelling as the fine lines used by the illustrator ironically communicate the power and horror of the beasts described.

With stories like "Ferryman" (Eric Brown), "The White Stuff" (Peter F. Hamilton & Graham Joyce), and "A Night on Bare Mountain" (Graham Charnock), anthologies don't get any better than this. My only quibble is with the experimental narrative "Thirteen Views of a Cardboard City"(William Gibson) which rounds out the volume with a whimper, not a bang. Otherwise, this is Hugo & Nebula territory.

This collection of stories, originally published in 1901, is a graceful retelling of stories from the Eddas. The Norse gods come alive for us as we watch Odin, Thor, Loki (here called Loke) perform their familiar roles for us in the length of time between The Making of the World and The Twilight of the Gods.

The individual stories, enclosed on each page by marvelous intertwined bird and animal cartouches, recount everything from Odin's trip to Mimir for knowledge to the making of Thor's hammer, to the loss of the apples of Idun, to the binding of the Fenris Wolf with a supple, strong, silken twine that was "made out of such things as the sound of a cat's footsteps, the roots of the mountains, the breath of a fish, and the sinews of a bear. Nothing could break it." Just as you think of a story you wish Hamilton Wright Mabie would tell, there it is spread before you. This collection surely will appeal to young people; it is a masterful retelling of the great Norse stories.

I have read this book several times. The 5th reading was just as capitvating as the first. The author of this book provides a detailed description of Wisconsin's Logging Camps. Better then I've ever seen.

A good, solid, book for a undergraduate student in nuclear engineering or anyone with a physical sciences background who is interested in learning more about nuclear power operations and analysis. Very clear text with plenty of information on topics (i.e., reactor design) that often confuse students. -Mike Walker Thorsvedtt