This is an excellent elementary introduction to numerical analysis, only basic math is required. It is fun and easy to read. This is a "small" book; the largest section (linear equations) being 66 pages. However, it does cover a lot of ground.

Code fragments are in C and FORTRAN. The C code obviously hasn't been tested (abs() instead of fabs() throughout). There are many typos in the text as well as in the code fragments.

Alone Among Friends is the first full-scale biography of W. Robert Parks, the eleventh and longest-serving president of Iowa State University. The life of Parks and the evolution of his university are intimately intertwined compelling this biography to serve as a history of the nation's first land-grand university as well. Alone Among Friends shows how a people's college, under Parks' stewardship, went on to become one of the nation's great institutions of higher learning a the peer of even the more prestigious European university systems. Alone Among Friends is a detailed, candid, occasionally humorous, exceptionally well presented and highly recommended biography of the man who, more than any other, is inextricably linked to Iowa State University.

This is a terrific book on the University - the photographs
are nothing short of amazing. Mr. Adelman is to be con
gratulated on his execution of this idea. Everyone who has
attended this school should own this book - it will bring back
fond memories. I hope we can look for more volumes on
other schools.

As one of the Open University Oceanography Series, this book offers an excellent introduction to the physical processes operating in the nearshore and immediate offshore environments of the coastal zone. With a particular emphasis on the relationship between process and form, this work covers essential ideas and practical applications for university level instructors and students interested in the coastal environment. The book material is straightforward, readable, and offers the opportunity to develop fundamental research questions at a variety of levels. Best of all, it's a well-organized work at an affordable price.

Having read this superb book, nothing Mr. Greenspan says will ever be the same. Clearly, he is a very conflicted person. One cannot help but conclude that our savings and our pensions are in mortal danger. How come this book has not come to the attention of our elected representatives? This is much more important than the Enron fraud. Anyone who is concerned about having adequate funds for retirement should read this book very carefully.

In March 2002, a great piece of sports history closed its doors for the last time...Cole Field House. Home to the University of Maryland Terrapin basketball teams for 47 years, the 2001-2002 season was the last season that Cole would be host some of the greatest college basketball ever played. "Cole Classics" is a wonderful way to journey through the past and remember all the great moments that were visited upon hardwood there. "Cole Classics" remembers all the great games, from Maryland's 'slowdown' victory over #2 South Carolina back in the early 1970's to a stunning overtime victory in 1998 over a #1 North Carolina team just 10 days after getting dismantled by Duke, to 2001's 35-point season finale destruction of a good Virginia team that foreshadowed Maryland's run to the Final Four for the first time in history. In addition to highlighting the great games, "Cole Classics" also remember the great players and coaches who graced the Maryland program through the years.

Published prior to Cole's last season in order to capitalize on the nostalgia and demand for memorabilia of this arena, "Cole Classics" is missing a key element, the final season. In this final year, Maryland added another #1-ranked victim to its count when Maryland hammered Duke 87-73 in the last game to be played by these two teams at Cole. There is probably no other arena in the country that has proven to be a graveyard to as many #1 ranked opponents as Cole. In addition, Maryland finished the season undefeated at home for only the third time in school history. Oh, and there was that little think about a National Championship. This would have been a satisfyingly complete remembrance of Cole if the publishers had waited and the last season had been included. Aside from that omission, however, "Cole Classics" still serves as a marvelous scrapbook at one of the true sports landmarks in college basketball.

The book has a great way of jogging your memory of those great ACC battles from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Each mini-chapter tells the story of the old Maryland stars and big games. The book has lots of great photos and terrific quotes like this one from Derrick Lewis:

"We ran one play all year and we got away with it because Lenny [Bias] played like Superman. He was double-teamed and triple-teamed every night, and they couldn't stop him. I remember asking him, 'How do you do it?' Lenny said, 'If you want it more than they do, they can't stop you. You have to be intense all the time and you won't have a problem.' "

The final chapters bring you up to this year's team by including profiles of Gary Williams, Juan Dixon, and Lonny Baxter. Terp fans will really enjoy it.

Fear the Turtle!

I never missed a home game in 4 years in the ACC. This book brings back the feeling of a game -- the heat, the noise, the raucous fun. Great stories and quotes from players that I'd never heard before, they open up to tell what they loved about the game and the forum and what drove them to win. A quick read, an excellent gift for any fan of the ACC or college basketball. When Cole Field House goes inactive, it'll be a sad day in Maryland (although a happy one in North Carolina!).

Hollenback spends most of his book dedicated to the premise that the mystical experience is culturally and historically conditioned. What Hollenback never takes into account are the ideas of German anthropologist Adolf Bastian. Bastian recognized that throughout the mythologies and religious systems of the world, the same images, the same themes are constantly recurring, appearing everywhere. He called these "Elementary Ideas," Elementargedanken. But he recognized also that wherever they occurred, they appeared in different costumes with different applications and different interpretations. He called these provincial differences "Folk Ideas," or "Ethnic Ideas"-Volkgedanken. Now this is a very important distinction. It divides our subject into two quite different departments. Historians and ethnologists are interested in the differences, and one can study the mythologies and the philosophies of the world with an accent on these differences. On the other hand, the problem emerges of the Elementary Ideas. Why are they everywhere? This is a psychological problem, and it's a problem that separates us in our discussion of comparative forms from the whole research having to do with differences.

Hollenback, a historian, spends most of his time analyzing the ethic ideas, and ignoring the elementary aspect of the mystical experience. Put simply, he is interested in plot and ignores theme. Furthermore, Hollenback associates mysticism with persons who are clearly not mystics, namely Moses, Augustine, who is a conservative fundamentalist if there ever was one, and St. Francis of Assisi and St. Theresa of Avila who were contemplatives. He further confuses the mystical experience (elementary idea) with the relating of the mystical experience (ethnic idea).

In completion, this is a very poorly written and conceived book which amounts to a 600 page waste of time.

Mysticism: Experience, Repsonse and Empowerment may yet found a new paradigm for the study of mystical phenomena. The author, J.B Hollenback, offers a masterful review of previous theoretical approaches with a radical new understanding of mystical practice and experience. Hollenback combines a sensitivity to the role of cultural context in shaping mystical experience with an unbiased approach to the claims of mystical practioners. Thus, he avoids psychologistic reductionism and is willing to seriously consider phenomena such as astral projetion and telepathy and examine how they actually work. His thesis: Concentration, often charged with affect, leads to an empowerment of conciousness which enables the mystic to attain abilities not accessible to ordinary states of mind. This focus on the question of power brings mysticism into the forefront of contemporary discussions of power, such as James Hillman's Kinds of Power. Hollenback displays exceptional openness to the mystical practices of tribal cultures, and one of his case studies deals with a Native American Shaman. The openness, innovative claims, erudition and conceptual clarity of this book make it a "must" for students of mysticism and comparative religion. For further discussion and critique, see my review in The Journal of Religion, 78 (4) 1998, pp. 593-601.