I read Consilience a few years ago and was enthralled with the vision of "unified knowledge" that E.O. Wilson outlined. His thesis: that science would unify disparate intellectual disciplines and bring about giant leaps in knowledge and understanding, struck me as prophetic and inspiring. Because I was so taken by Wilson's book, I was thrilled to learn a few months ago that someone had written a rebuttal. I assumed that the rebuttal would spring from the perspective of a spiritualist; someone who shared the view that we are (and should be) marching forward in our understanding of the world around us but wished to reinvigorate the soul along with the mind. Perhaps my expectations were too high because "Life is a Miracle" disappointed me.

Berry basically dismisses Wilson's book as the work of an academic elitist who is preaching science to people who know no better. Frustratingly, Berry never really addresses any of the arguments in Consilience. This seems to be because Berry dismisses all rational, evidenced-based inquiry as insufficiently respectful of the grand design God has laid out. It's hard to imagine Wilson responding to Berry's critique because they come from such different perspectives. Wilson wants to explore; he wants to see what is at the end of the universe and within the core of the Earth. The thirst for knowledge energizes Wilson's view of the world and he sees everything as a chance for us to learn and explore.

Berry, however, sums up his view of exploration and wonder by recounting a story about an 18th Century biologist who, because of infirmity, cannot travel far beyond the confines of his small farm. This restrained explorer is content to study every blade of grass, every insect, every creature that inhabits the few acres he is confined to. This is Berry's vision of exploration: a few acres of land that is deeply felt for, he says, contains more wonder and magic than all the rest of the world in total. To frame Berry's argument most favorably, he is not anti-exploration; he just believes that the real magic of the universe is more readily available to us in our own backyards than in tinkering with our genetic code or sending rockets to the stars.

I realize it is condescending to think of Berry's vision as "quaint" and "cute," but I can't help it. His insistence that we must stop thinking of the world as a predictable, mechanical process to be dissected and analyzed is inspiring as poetry for the end of the day but it constrains the very intellect it pretends to engage.

What's worse, Berry dismisses much of the advances in medicine and technology the rest of us take for granted. To make his argument Berry must maintain that people should be willing to die younger, accept that some diseases will not be cured and that there is no good reason to explore other planets or our own DNA. In Berry's view, the violence that scientific pursuit does to our souls and our environment is not worth the gains in medicine or physics. Berry proclaims several times in "Life is a Miracle" his preference for the technology of the last century. He does not use a computer to write his books, (he writes in longhand and his wife types it for him) he says, because he does not want to contribute to the strip mining used to make the material contained in computers. (Yeh, I didn't get it either.) In fact Berry says he sees no reason for computers. He asks, rhetorically, what good they have done us. The list of things that a person of modern education could name as having been made possible by the computer would be long indeed (computer technology took its greatest leap in the 60s because of the US desire to beat the former USSR to the Moon. Scientists needed better computers to do the calculations necessary to get a craft to the Moon and back. But of course Berry sees no value in landing on the Moon).

"Life is a Miracle" is pleasant to read and Berry makes some graceful and well thought-out points about paying due attention to the wonders right before us instead of constantly seeking out new wonders. It is too simple to say that we should take some of what Berry says and use it to moderate our (perhaps) excessive reliance on technology. Berry wants to stop us from exploring because he believes that exploration is a destructive process-it is not. Exploration, properly done is careful and respectful. This is true whether the discipline is genetics, physics, chemistry or agriculture. The understanding we gain from exploration has brought us to the point where we can properly access the levels of destruction that our actions have caused to the environment. All the simple poetry in the world won't bring an endangered species back to sustainable levels if we can't use our understanding of chemistry and biology to make the proper changes.

My reading of Life Is a Miracle was, admittedly, biased by my reading of David Bohm a short time before. Just as Wendell Berry can point out unspoken assumptions, sloppy logic and dangerous potential application of concepts in Consilience by Edward O. Wilson, so one could critique Berry's book while being "truthful". However, there are several concepts in Berry's work that are worth further thought:

Berry sees science as interested in "knowing" while arts and humanities are interested in "doing, responding". This has interesting consequences in the definition of "knowing" and of "liberal arts education".

Berry sees science as generalizing, simplifying while experience is always specific and complex. With the raise of chaos, complexity and entanglement in scientific theory, science is itself beginning to recognize the dissonance between experience and scientific explanation. As Berry recognizes, literature and poetry normally explore the general human condition through a very specific instance.

Berry sees science as dividing the world into the known and the not yet known. To this Berry wishes to add the category of mystery i.e. unknowable by the limited human capacity.

If any of the points described above interest you, this book is well worth your time whether you agree or disagree with Berry's position.

Wendell Berry is a gentleman. No, he's a gentle man. And he very gently but thoroughly skewers E.O. Wilson's thesis, that science explains (or more correctly, one day will explain) everything. As a scientist and artist (weird combination but nonetheless, that's me), I find the book fascinating. Wilson says that religion/humanities and science must come together. No argument there. Wilson then states essentially that the way that will happen is for religion to "learn the language of science," that is, Science is not budging. It is my experience that science is a religious tradition as entrenched in its sacred cattle as any religion.

Berry does not dispute the place of science in making lives better, as it sometimes does. He just questions the wisdom of betting our future on the hopes that science will "come up with something" to fix whatever mess we find ourselves in, be it disease (antibiotics), agriculture (petrochemicals), energy (ditto), or what have you.

If you're going to read one of Berry's books, I'd recommend "The Unsettling of America." This book is a close second. Then get "Farming: A Handbook" to see how a brilliant essayist writes poetry.

Being an avid mystery fan and a great fan of Agatha Christie, I was delighted when I came upon this novel. My delight turned to dismay as I started reading this "novel". I use this term loosely since it reads more like the play that it was originally meant to be. The book reminded me of a Nancy Drew mystery , which were favorites of mine in the fifth grade. If I ever get a craving for a good old fashioned Agatha Christie mystery, I'll just have to re-read one of her classics, and enjoy watching her plays performed on stage, as Miss Christie intended.

I am a person who enjoys non-fiction and mystery novels. I think that this book was great. Agatha Christie did a wonderful job on this book. She made it all seem real. As I was reading the book it felt like I was watching it all happen in my head. I like the part when Michael helps Lauren plan a way to keep herself out of jail. She made Michael seem like he has done this type of thing before. The whole book was great. I just love to read books by Agatha Christie.

Agatha Christie once more proves that things aren't always what they seem. When I was about halfway through the book, I was convinced that I knew the outcome and had, finally, after reading so many of Christie's mysteries, conquered her ingeniousness. But in the end, I realized that I was once again mistaken. Although I greatly appreciate the beautiful writing techniques that Christie uses, I sometimes prefer the writing of Charles Osborne. I find that he uses words that I am more familiar with and less outdated, and he does not prolong the beginning of the book. He seems to get more to the point, and this keeps me intrigued throughout the book. After reading Black Coffee, I knew that I must read The Unexpected Guest. The only fault that I found in this book was of my own opinion--I did not like the ending. I am a fan of Hercule Poirot's triumphant cases, but I disliked the very end (although I liked the twist to it). Moreover, this inadequacy proved too imparticular for me to rate this book less than five stars.

Agatha Christie is the Master of the sophisticated, too-too British, country manor murder mystery. All that I have to SEE is her name on a book and I grab it up fast as I can! That's how I became the owner of Spider's Web at a recent book sale.

After reading the first few pages it didn't have that cozy, snuggle into the book feeling of a Christie and I couldn't figure out why. Finally (LIGHT BULB) I examined the cover and "saw" Charles Osborne's name. With a little digging I uncovered the true facts: This is indeed a Christie. An adaptation of her play, turned into a novel by Charles Osborne.

It has some small charm, but leaves me wanting the full-bodied robust flavor of 'Ten Little Indians' which was referred to in the text of this book.

When I finally understood WHAT it was I was reading (adaptation of a Christie play, written by another) I was able to finish the book, but under Osborne's hand, the elements of the stage production are not well hidden. When character's come into the room, it is an Entrance. There is an artificial flow to everything that is written, as though it were still a stage play complete with stage directions for each character's actions.

Clarissa is 'breezy', her husband Henry 'bumbling', Pippa --- 'hungry'. All Fun for the stage and giving the viewer something to identify, but not very satisfactory for a murder mystery novel.

So, gentle reader, if you are looking for vintage Christie, don't be fooled by the cover. You won't find it here.

Originally written as a play by Agatha Christie in 1954, this book was successfully adapted as a novel by Charles Osborne in 2000. All of Christie's books are listed in the front of this book which is a nice touch for Christie fans. This is the typical English country house murder that Christie did so well. Clarissa, the main character of this book, has a vivid imagination and likes to play pranks on her friends. She is sometimes a stranger to the truth which adds to the plot. This is perfect reading for a cold winter's afternoon.

In Cobblestone Court, Henry and Clarissa Hailsham-Brown host three guests: Sir Rowland Delahaye, Hugo Birch, and Jeremy Warrender. However, Clarissa soon discovers the corpse of an unknown guest in the drawing room. Knowing her spouse plans to bring home a bigwig, Clarissa decides to hide the body until she can get around to figuring what to do next. In the course of temporarily disposing the deceased, police Inspector Lord arrives, stating he received a tip that murder occurred here.

Clarissa revises her plan to include keeping the police from knowing that someone was in deed murdered in her home. She continues to serve as a gracious host to her guests and her spouse's dinner company while at the same time deciding to uncover the identities of the body and the killer by herself.

SPIDER'S WEB, the third adaptation of an Agatha Christie play to a novel (see BLACK COFFEE and THE UNEXPECTED GUEST), is pure 100-proof Christie and not lite. The story line contains the elements that have made the renowned author so beloved. Fans of Ms. Christie and anyone who enjoys a featherbrained English amateur sleuth will fully enjoy this tale that shows Charles Osborne fully understands the grandmistress of mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Please let's move on from the nonsense of these kinds of government guru books! Our governments are already messed up enough to have our government officials follow this advice.

Well, the Vice President loved it and the President bought into it, but it did not make a difference. The National Performance Review identified a number of substantive objectives for intelligence reform, and the intelligence bureaucracy was successful in ignoring the White House. I suspect it has something to do with one of the fundamentals: "Unleash-but Harness-the Pioneers." The U.S. Intelligence Community can't stand pioneers unless they are spending billions of dollars on something really, really secret that has a high probability of failure. Reinvention boils down to uncoupling or deconstructing a whole bunch of stuff, and then allowing the pieces to compete. It requires managers that can "let go" and employees that can "take hold." Above all, it requires openness and accountability....

If you work in a school or another government institution, and if every Dilbert cartoon is one you want to cut out and post, then read this book.

Working in an absurd environment is funny on the surface but it also can be deeply depressing. This books shows us how we can do something about it.

This is a handbook for fighting the good fight for the return of a little sanity in the government workplace.

This is the first book in Trollope's 6 part Barchester series. While the subject matter, the intrigues surrounding clerical life in a fictional English cathedral town, might put you off, don't let it. Trollope wrote fantastic characters. While it's sequel, Barchester Towers, is even better, this is an excellent short introduction both to the series and to Trollope's writing as a whole. (Incidentally, the BBC TV series `Barchester Chronicles' is a really good adaptation of both `The Warden' and `Barchester Towers'.)

This is a simple, short novel dealing with the ethical dilemma of a virtuous man. The Reverend Harding is the warden of a small home providing quarters for 12 retired, indigent workers. The facility is provided for by a trust set up by its founder over two hundred years ago. Income off the land provides revenue for the maintenance of the home and a living for the warden.. The warden has traditionally been the benefactor of this income which has increased over the years. The Rev. Harding is a gentle, honest man who has never given thought to his 800 pound annual revenue until a young reformer files suit, claiming the intent of the will is being violated. Harding thinks about the matter and is inclined to resign. The Bishop and Archdeacon argue that he is entitled to the income.

This book certainly would be a good one for a book club read and discussion. The reformer, the lawyers, the church hierarchy and Reverend Harding all have their views on the matter. Author Trollope does not really pass final judgment on his characters; none of them are cast in black and white terms. In fact Trollope makes the unusual move of bringing a criticism of both the press and Charles Dickens into the novel. The press makes strident value judgments about issues without bothering itself with all the facts or considering the effect their articles will have on the people involved; Charles Dickens treats people as being all good or all bad. Indeed, I found myself arguing with myself for several days after reading The Warden. What should the Rev. Harding done? Was the issue shrouded in shades of gray, or was it clear cut one way or the other?

Many critics consider this to be one of Trollope's lesser works, yet to me it is a very interesting, valuable presentation of an ethical dilemma. And for readers who are reluctant to pick up Victorian novels because of their common 700+ page lengths, this is a little gem at less than 300 pages. Criticism? Well I did a bit of eye-rolling during some of the melodramatic passages. All and all, though, this is an excellent read. From an historical standpoint there was considerable attention being paid to clergy income during this period in England. Trollope's tale was very timely in this regard.

One final note. There are many outstanding Victorian novels that I would give a five star rating to. This book doesn't quite fit into that hall of fame so I have given it just 4 stars, which shouldn't be interpreted as a slight to Mr. Trollope or The Warden.

I first read Anthony Trollope's book "The Warden" in 1995 at the age of 54; three years later I had finished all forty-seven Trollope novels, his autobiography, and most of his short stories. "The Warden" provides a necessary introduction to the Barsetshire Novels, which, in turn, provide a marvelous introduction to rural Victorian society, and its religious, political, and social underpinnings. However, "The Warden" is a small literary masterpiece of its own, even though the more popular "Barchester Towers" tends to obscure it. "The Warden" moves slowly, of course, but so did Victorian England; soon the reader is enveloped in a rich world of brilliantly created characters: in the moral dilemma of a charming and innocent man, Reverend Septimus Harding, who is probably the most beloved of all Trollope's characters; in the connivings of Archdeacon Grantly, who will become a significant force in the later Barsetshire novels; in Eleanor, an example of the perfect Victorian woman, a type that appears in many of Trollope's subsequent novels; and in the sanctimonious meddling of John Bold, whose crusade for fairness throws the town into turmoil. In modern terminology, "The Warden" is a "good read" for those readers with patience, a love of 19th century England, and an appreciation of literary style. Trollope's sentences have a truly musical cadence. "The Warden" was Trollope's fourth novel and his first truly successful one. It provides a strong introduction to the other five novels of the Barsetshire series, where the reader will meet a group of fascinating characters, including the Mrs. Proudie (one of Trollope's finest creations), the Reverend Obadiah Slope, and the Grantly family. The reader will soon find that Trollope's well-developed characters soon become "friends," and that the small cathedral town of Barchester becomes a very familiar and fascinating world in itself. It is a wonderful trip through these six novels. (I read all six in about three weeks.) But one must begin with "The Warden." Brew a cup of tea, toast a scone on a quiet evening, and begin the wonderful voyage through Trollope's charming Barchester. When you have finished the six novels, you may, like me, want to commence reading the Palliser series (another six novels) and follow Plantagenet and Glencora Palliser through their triumphs and travails! However, that remains another story.

As much as I enjoyed the Bride of Willow Creek (5 stars) and the Wives of Bowie Stone (4 stars) that's how much I did NOT enjoy this one. The story is preposterous, the events are unlikely, the characters (except for Lily) are unsympathetic and even she begins to grate after a while. First she feels one way, then does a U-turn with respect to her feelings for Quinn. Quinn's secretiveness becomes absurd as the book progresses. - shades of Jane Eyre - And Paul is a total jerk. Still, the author's other books are well worth reading - I am reading "Silver Lining" at this moment. Much better.

I wanted to like this book as well but I just couldn't. It starts off well and you think you're going to get another heroine like Jenny Jones but after the first third of the story the rest just drags. And drags. And drags. A cardboard villian is thrown in then conveniently killed off. The sinister man behind the politician threatens Lily all through the book to get her cooperation then accepts her decision to end the charade with almost no protests. The epilogue is also a big let-down. I would try The Promise of Jenny Jones, The Wives of Bowie Stone, The Brides of Prairie Gold or The Best Man before reading this one.

The initial premise of this novel - that a Colorado politician somehow finds his wife's double in an Arizona prison and persuades her to imitate his mysteriously missing wife during an upcoming campaign - is so implausible that some readers are unlikely to get any further. What were this guy and his cronies doing, holding a beauty pagent in prisons around the country? If you can suspend disbelief a little and get past this initial problem, you're actually going to find a very unusual and sweet romance. I particularly liked the heroine. This was a woman who admittedly made some very poor choices in her life, but she was smart enough to realize her mistakes and take advantage of an opportunity to change her life around. Osborne has some fun with the mystery of the missing wife. The sexual and emotional tension between the two lead characters is well done, and many readers will be surprised by the ending.

Deathweave and Darkloom both have the potential to be very good stories. Unfortunately, Osborne focuses only on Arden to the exclusion of all other characters. While there is some minimal development of Rafe and Abbot Grayson, most of the background characters are exactly that - background. We get very little sense of the other characters motivations or aspirations. What could be a very complex tale comes out very flat.

Fasten your seatbelts, hangon for dear life, and prepare yourself for yet another action packed adventurous romp courtesy of the resilient and insightful Cary Osborne who has blessed the lover of Sci-Fi futuristic fare with an emotionally endearing sequel to Deathweave. After author Osborne captivated her readership with a climactic roller coaster ride of fast paced turn of events to finish off the drama, intrigue and mystery of Deathweave, it was hard to imagine a successor tome that could further maintain or improve upon the plot and character centered around her heroine Arden Grenfell and the rest of the mainstay principles on the planet Glory. Once again Osborne delivers in grand fashion without missing a beat. Picture Nancy Drew, all grown up, with a very modern day woman's perspective and attitude, complete with a special forces military training background acquired at a reclusive countryside monastery during her impressionable years; throw in an extra dash of strength, wisdom, courage and resolve while maintaining a touch of her youthful innocence and tender caring heart, then zoom forward a few centuries in time. That's Arden Grenfell. Arden's mission is to preserve the peace on Glory, a world desperately trying to come to grips with its own erupting latent anarchy and civil war on the heels of finally achieving intergalactic peace after years of external planetary warfare. Arden's main squeeze and romantic interest, Captain Raphael (Rafe) Semmes, is a likeable rogue salvager who plays the perfect complimentary role as a mischievous sleuthing midlife Joe, a la Hardy Boys fame. Often remote and inaccessible, both emotionally and due to chosen occupation, Rafe proves the typical modern man, sometimes incapable of commitment but willing to lay down his life at a moment's notice in support of Arden through heartfelt profession of his own terms of endearment to her. In a classical time tested story of good versus evil, and heroes matched against villains, writer Osborne displays, in her patent tantalizing manner, the uncanny knack for weaving into each and every personality she creates, the values, standards, hopes and dreams of several present day generations, themselves easily identifying with this world of the future and its fate inspired Glorians. If you're looking for a fun filled feel good fantasy to curl up with on a rainy day, or, searching for a surefire cure for those nagging blues, then Darkloom is the perfect prescription to fill the bill. Enjoy!

Darkloom is full of action, adventure, and intrigue. I was happy to find it and happy to take it with me to work on the bus to read. Recommended for all who enjoy well-written fantasy and good characters!

I bought this book because I was trying to teach myself enough to become a Financials Developer. This still MIGHT be the right book for me. However, this is not a step by step guide to the installation. In addition, the book assumes some familiarity with accounting systems.

Firstly, I have to admit I'm a friend of the primary author David James, but I think they did a great job. Some of the negative reviews have been unfair. A book like this can't possibly be all things to all people. It doesn't cover HR, Payroll, or the core Manufacturing modules - that's why it's the "Oracle Financials Handbook", not the "Oracle Applications Handbook". It's definitely not a reference book or technical manual - you get those from Oracle Corporation anyway. What this book does do, is give an excellent background to real-world implementation of the Financials modules at a functional level. It's great for beginners and the more advanced, but I would defy even the gurus to read it and say they haven't learned from it.

I actually tried to talk David out of the whole endeavour almost three years ago, not because I didn't think he was qualified, but because I didn't think it was possible to write such a book covering all the Financials modules. I think he'd admit he underestimated just how much work it would be. That's one reason why a book like this hasn't been written before - there is just so much information to cover, unless you resort to wholesale cutting and pasting from the manuals and other people's papers.

I think the book is very impressive. I know David's skills, and I know how hard he worked to put everything together, and update it as the product evolved. I would recommend it to anyone working on a Financials implementation.

For those critics of you out there who think that this book was not this or not that, especially the reader from Port Arthur in Tasmania, I suggest you buy an Oracle Reference Manual or Users guide. Get real! This book gives a great introduction to the core Oracle Applications and I believe it was well done. It introduces the business and Functional side to Oracle Financials. For those pretentious readers who can't spell Oracle read the cover "Oracle Financials Handbook" - "Planning and Implementing the Oracle Financial Applications Suite" No where does it say Technical Reference Manual. I'd like to see these half baked consultants write ANYTHING half as good. Well done David and Graham. If anyone cares to discuss this work email me and we'll "CHAT"

To much math and not easy to understand.

I agree with a previous review that this book is not good for individuals. Solutions to the excersizes are only available to educators. If the book is assigned for a class and the teacher has access to the solutions and can coach the student through the excersizes this is probably a great book because of it's depth. It is probably also a good reference book for those already familar with the subject.
However if you are like me and were looking for a strong book that will help a motivated individual learn game theory this book is not for you. I have tried many of the excersizes and I am still not positive that I my answers are correct. The material in the book is very complex but accessible, that is not the problem. The problem is the lack of development because I can not go over my answers to the excersizes and see what I did right and what I did wrong...

This was one of the first books I read in Game Theory, and definitely the hardest. Those who want a gentle introduction to the concepts of modern game theory might do better with a simpler text such as Gibbons. That said, there is no substitute for quality. The depth of analysis is entirely necessary to get to the meat of the theory.
Osborne and Rubinstein write extremely well, softening the blows of some of the more complicated concepts. Their own substantial publication records in the Game Theory literature do much to recommend their version of analysis over others.

Please inform me when someone writes a decent book on the registry. This one doesn't fit the bill either. We need practical examples that are organized in a useful manner, like "Controlling the User Interface", "Network Services", "File Associations", and "Shared DLL Handling". I will be waiting with bated breath. Until then, save your money on this book.

The bulk of the book is devoted to describing the Registry entries controlled by the Control Panel interfaces and other applets. Approximately 25% of the volume is a raw dump of a NT registry. If you are looking for how to enable command completion in a DOS window, or other interesting tidbits, this is not the book.

One of the few books I've ever found so useless that I've bothered to return it -- fortunately, Amazon.com makes returns quite painless.

This book has more unknown registry settings than any other Registry Book. The first discovery of Flag settings are discussed and are invaluable when trying to program the Windows Interface or programatically controlling the control panel applets. It even shows how to create your own policies using settings in the Policy chapter. GREAT BOOK !!!