There is no way to prove whether dropping the amotic bomb did or didn't save more lives. This book proves nothing. People are always looking for black and white in such situations. There isn't any. America dropped the bomb because it didn't want to face the outcome of an armed water landing on Japanese soil. It is certain that many Americans would have died in such attempt and most certainly many Japanese. If such a water landing had occured it would have made DDay appear to be child's play. America was ready to commit about 500,000 troops to the effort. How does he figure 500,000 to millions anyway? Also there is the pain and suffering involved in the aftermath of an atomic explosion that has to be considered. War is a terrible experience but nothign compared to living through an atomic explosion. There is no mention of this in the book.

This is a great book for anyone who has ever questioned America's use of the atomic bomb to end World War II. It not only includes an introduction from Paul Tibbets, Pilot of the Enola Gay, but material from one of this country's surviving recipients of the Medal of Honor. The coverage on Japanese attrocities in Nan King was horrifying...the death stats from battles in the Pacific were also startling...this book proves that the Atomic bomb saved more lives than it took.

was the atom bomb really necessary to end world war II ? this book proves that the bomb was not only right,but mandated; as it saved millions of UNITED STATES lives,and saved many more millions 0f Japanese lives. Every veteran [army,navy, air force or marine]and every Americanwho has ever questioned or felt guilty about the Bomb, must read this book. Read this book and forever have a CLEAR CONSCIENCE about America and President Truman using the Bomb.

I know it is impossible to find a completely new plot for romance. They've all been written. This one is written very well, but I couldn't help comparing it to the movie "While you were sleeping" the whole time I read it. It is about a woman who believes she is in love with a man she hasn't spoken to named Gregory. Then she is mistaken for Gregory's wife. He ends up being kidnapped and his family comes to see her and takes her home with them so they can all support each other while they pray for the kidnappers to release him. She ends up falling in love with Matt, Gregory's brother. But she doesn't know how to tell Matt the truth about her and Gregory.

I really enjoyed this book -- I don't try to compare them with any others. Just try to take them on their own merits!
[taken from the back of the book] A PICTURE! Only Brynn Magee knew the wedding photo of herself and the playboy Gregory MacKenzie was a computer-enhanced fake. It was a harmless flight of fancy, until Gregory disappeared -- and his sexy brother, Matt, entered her life......
WORTH -- Matt had doubts about his brother's "wife," but with Gregory gone, Matt's family had latched on to Brynn. [here it really starts getting good] Trouble was, he hadn't counted on his overwhelming attraction to the beautiful stranger.
A THOUSAND WORDS -- Brynn hadn't exptcted Matt to become her real-life love, but those darn photos [guess who made them?] stood in her way! She knew she had to come clean, but could she risk losing Matt forever by telling the truth? [fat chance]
The family has really fallen in love with Brynn and taken her into their hearts -- Matt didn't stand a chance. --- You will enjoy this one.

The history of cattle was an attractive subject for a lifelong city dweller interested in learning new things. Unfortunately, much if not most of the book is neither a history nor about cattle. Carlson takes a quirky, scattershot approach to her subject and is never able to focus her thoughts. Unfortunately, there apparently was no editor to bring some order to the book, or even to correct the numerous factual errors. The author is something of a mystic, and as such uncritically collects myths and regurgitates them. Cattle have a mystical significance for her, and this somehow seems to give her license to include her ill-informed musings on many unrelated subjects within the pages of the book. However, there was some useful information about cattle and the products made from them scattered through the book; hence the two star rating. If you have a high tolerance for irrelevance and are not a stickler for accuracy, the book may be worth reading.

Carlson tackles a huge topic with interesting facts and details. She argues FOR cattle in a way that makes sense for both environmentalist-minded readers as well as ranch types.

the different slides in the book specially philippine editions are not complete and obsolete and should be further revised.

If one is looking for a microbiology text that contains clinically relevant information, diagnostic approaches, and tests need to specify and diagnose an organism, then this is the one book that you need to get. Things like molecular basics in bacteria, viruses, etc are not extensively covered, but the text is clinically oriented. I would recommend this book highly to anyone in the medical/clinical field as well as to clinical pathologists.

The recent edition of the "Color Atlas" is the standard by which all other comparable works must be judged. The volume should be the standard reference for both laboratory personnel and clinical microbiology educators. Previous reviews to the contrary, charts and figures represent the current state of the art in microbiologic taxonomy and identification methodology. The book is highly recommended for both professional microbiologists and for the interested layperson with a background in biology, chemistry and pathology.

Kerry Snow, Section Leader, Clinical Mycology and Myobacteriology Laboratory, Walter Reed Army Medical Center

this book uses old approaches and was written long ago the ideas and concepts are old fashioned.

Good reading for those interested in the effects of hypnotism on physiology and hypotisms relationship to psychology and psychiatry.

I could have learned phsyical chemistry through first principal experemintation and derivation more easily. Poorly written, poorly executed, and altogether bad

For quite some time now, Peter Atkins has been the worlds leading author in physical chemistry. And for good reason: Atkins is a prolific writer who is obviously deeply in love with his chosen profession.

Like Atkins, Winn loves his chemistry. And his math. And he combines both in a book that is beautiful to behold and read. There used to be a great scientist (can't remember who, right now) who could sniff out the truth by studying the aesthetics of his equations. Winn's book is just like that; it develops chemical and mathematical instinct. That, if anything, is THE reason I recommend this book. Yes, it is a huge volume. But isn't it better to have and not need than vice versa? Yes, its level of rigour is quite high, but it all suits a purpose and is quite instructive. Yes, this book looks intimidating, but you shouldn't judge it by its formidable appearance, should you?

This book is a natural to learn physical chemistry from. Its chapters on quantum chemistry, thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics are nothing short of sublime.

Finally, without taking anything away from Atkins' enourmous contribution to chemistry education, here we have a book that is at least as good. To be honest, I find myself preferring Winn's book practically all the time. Sadly, this book didn't take off, and is now poorly available. I doubt whether the astronomical amount of effort and love that Winn put into it will ever be recognized or rewarded.

Most of the book did nothing more than tell you that "paying taxes is bad," and the "tax man is evil." It convinces the reader that giving to charity is more effective for helping the poor than giving to the government. However, the book doesn't give you REAL tips on reducing your taxes, and I believe it is geared toward people who are rich -- not middle class.

The book is for people who are new to the concept of Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) or need a quick refresher. The book does an excellent job describing the fundamentals of CRT and gives numerous hypothetical scenarios in which this method of financial planning would be beneficial. Although rather simplified, each scenario is illustrated with $ comparisons of Assets, Cash flow, and Estate tax, with and without the use of CRT. (This comparison got a bit tedious towards the end.) The book also contains a short glossary for reference. As with any beginner book on a highly technical and complex subject, the reader is left with more questions than he/she had started with. A good beginner book answers most of the questions that the reader started with and elevates the reader's curiosity to seek answers to a more refined set of questions. I believe this book has been successful in accomplishing that.

Murderess Ink is dedidcated to women in mystery: both writers, beloved characters and types such as the nosey neighbor lady, the beautiful orphan and of course, the little old lady. It was great fun when I bought it in the 80s but it hasn't aged well. The whole thing has a heavy handed feminist air and since this is a collection of essays and opinions it's not entirely accurate. For example, the descriptions of the women of the James Bond novels is completley wrong. I still pick my copy up every now and again and it is a good introduction to a number of books and authors even the most devoted mystery fan has probably never heard of.

Laurie Carlson had a theory about Salem and supported it using an ambivalence for fact that you might experience gossiping with friends over a beer at Chili's. What a disappointment because it could have been interesting. Where do I start?

[1] All her research was done using books written in the 20th century. She is (sadly) unknowingly swayed by the biases of those 20th century authors. She wrongly accepts their judgements as fact, which annoyed me immensely. [2] She accepts outlandish courtroom pranks as genuine physical ailments. Why? Even by her own description, the 'fever' that was present in the colony subscribed to far more uncontrollable symptoms than repeating the words of the accused 'in chorus'. [3] She would have benefitted from reading documents from the period. Her understanding of the period is academic and lacks any genuine understanding of the events that unfolded. [4] The sentence that finally made me stop reading? "The first arrivals at Plymouth had been delighted to discover that the Indian population had already been wiped out by an epidemic... [any 3rd grader can tell you there were Indians in Plymouth]" an epidemic which she credits to the French in Nova Scotia, despite the fact that Europeans had been fishing the waters up and down the coastline for years and had even established outposts along the coast long before the puritans arrived in Plymouth. Sigh. [5] Please don't read this book.

While she has a compelling argument, one based on sensationalism, her thesis fails to illustrate why the hysteria found in Salem did not occur in other communities that were afflicted with same microbiological phenomena. This monograph makes many assumptions and more often than not her arguments seem predetermined. The amatuer reader will enjoy her writing, but academic historians will be disappointed.

This book shows that witchcraft was more complicated than social-economic-gender issues. Religion was part of it, but mostly medicine. There WAS no medical care then, how did they know what to do? Prayer was it. This author tackled a difficult topic, and opened my eyes to what witchcraft is all about.

This book is a lightweight in the recent flood of cyberscare publications. It presents some interesting perspectives on US-French competition in the world of industrial espionage but overall it is not very informative. Its principal failing is that it is a book about technology that butchers technical details.

The author's disconnect with technology is demonstrated in his discussion of the Clipper chip. Clipper is now installed in most stand-alone voice encryptors that are sold in the US. At the beginning of each phone call a new session key is shared between the two callers. It is not practical to find this session key by guessing but a separately encrypted version is sent along with the conversation. The session key can be discovered by government agencies through appropriate procedures. The author's discussion of this states that a NSA proposal "...would add a device called the clipper chip to every telephone or computer manufactured in the United States." For most phones that use analog transmission of voice this would clearly make no sense. Apparently the author missed the issue entirely.

In places the book becomes more of a political platform than a balanced discussion. After condemning filtering programs that block access to porn sites he states that "The fun for those who devote themselves to censorship is the daily discovery of new sites that they can condemn and prohibit"

Even commonly known security details are missed. In a discussion of phone phreaking the author states that the publication titled 2600 was named after the frequency that a quarter made when falling into a pay phone. 2600 Hertz is actually the frequency of a supervisory tone that was used to bypass toll equipment.

In an evaluation of the hacker Kevin Mitnick's his technical abilities were rated as #2 in the world. I am personally aquatinted with associates of Mitnick who state that he is a technical wannabe that excels only in dumpster diving and social engineering.

[exerpted from a review for Security Management -- all rights reserved by the author]

Jean, a nationally-respected journalist in France who has covered espionage matters for decades, is the author of one of those rare French books that make it into the U.S. marketplace. Translated into English after great reviews in Europe, it charts the migration of European and Anglo-Saxon intelligence professionals into cyber-space.

Cyberwars: Espionage on the Internet. By Jean Guisnel; published by Plenum Publishing, 800/221-9369 (phone), 212/647-1898 (fax); 296 pages; $26.95.

In the recent flood of cyberspace publications, this book at best adds a mere trickle to the literature. While the author presents some interesting perspectives on United States­French competition in industrial espionage (in fact, the book is translated into English from French), the faulty technical details present throughout ultimately sink this effort.

The author's disconnect with technology stands out in his discussion of the Clipper chip, which is now installed in most standalone voice encryptors sold in the United States--but in few other applications. The author contends that the National Security Agency proposes to add the chip to every telephone manufactured in the United States. This statement is both illogical and wrong. Analog phones, which can't take chips, continue to be widely manufactured because they are far more affordable than digital phones. Moreover, digital phones are generally hooked to analog lines and don't use encryption. Thus, installing Clipper in all phones makes no sense.

The author even confuses commonly known security details. In a discussion of phone phreaking, for example, he claims that the publication titled 2600 was named after the frequency generated by a quarter as it plunks into the slot in a pay phone. In fact, the publication's title derives from the frequency in hertz of a supervisory tone used to bypass toll equipment.

And in places the book lapses from a balanced discussion into political commentary. For example, after criticizing filtering programs that block access to pornographic and other objectionable Web sites, the author states that "The fun for those who devote themselves to censorship is the daily discovery of new sites that they can condemn and prohibit."

Instead of providing new material, this book is essentially a collection of accounts of computer intrusions previously published in newspapers. Security managers seeking a digest of hacking articles might find some value in this book, but it is not recommended for serious practitioners.

Reviewer: Gordon Mitchell, Ph.D., manages Future Focus, a Seattle-area company that gathers clues from hard disks for commercial clients. He is a member of ASIS. D&M company for scientific research