These Enrichment math workbooks are the best I've found because they are so creative. Kids feel as if they are solving puzzles and playing games rather than doing boring math homework. The front of each workbook page is for the child to do on his own; the back has an activity or game to play with a friend or parent. We've gotten some great ideas for math games that we have played over and over again. We have the 2nd and 3rd grade books, and now I am buying the 4th grade book.

I used this book in an introduction to writing course at Portland Community College in Oregon. Students of various capacities were able to read and understand the text, and yet I found it beautifully written and scintillating. He is able to talk in a simple way about beauty and yet reference Coleridge, Kant, Burroughs (John) and many different academic geographers. We went through chapter by chapter and talked about the problems of aesthetics in Beaverton (a very ugly town, by the way, which was rapidly being developed into one of the ugliest towns in America). I've since moved to the Catskills because I simply couldn't watch what was happening in Oregon any further. One of the interesting things that Porteous does is give an overview of research in the field. Apparently, many different groups are trying to build a model of what is objectively beautiful in landscape such that certain lakes, mountains, and prairies can be preserved for future generations. Porteous' clear and vivid prose makes for wonderful reading. He is a published poet in addition to a geographer. He has, therefore, a scientific apprach but is capable of vivid evocative prose. The illustrations and photographs in the text provide a very thorough sense of examples for the deep themes running through the book. Porteous' thesis is that although there are many different kinds of people we all appreciate the same things. Although we manifest our concerns for beauty through various means -- activism, or scientific objectivity, or study, -- we can save what's good about our environment if we work together and can form bridges between various eco-factions. Porteous doesn't always make this thesis clear in the book. The most interesting aspect of the book are the legal implications of an objective assessment of landscape. We are not yet at the point of a thoroughly objective assessment of what is and what isn't beautiful (I know painters who love smokestacks for their cylindrical forms), but Porteous is working towards that. If it is achieved, then it will be easier to save certain areas. This is the best book I've read in the area, but have a lot to do yet before I've covered this extraordinarily exciting new field.
-- Kirby Olson

Baker is in a unique position as an authority on esoteric anatomy, being both a medical doctor and one of the world's leading esotericists. Man is the grand symbol of the universe and each body part corresponds to a cosmic counterpart. Of particular interest is the discussion on the Vegas Nerve, the only body part that is truly the devine flesh of the solar petries, and it allows us to communicate directly with the gods!

If you only read one book in your lifetime on astrology, this is the one. Baker explains each of the signs and ruling planets better than anyone, giving their true meaning, unlike the supermarket astrology trash. Combine this with his more detailed work, his three volume Dictionary of Astrology for the 21st Century, and you have the complete body of knowledge on astrology, with correct modern interpretations.

Dr. Baker is a master astrologer and when he interprets a chart, one of the first things he looks for is intercepted signs, so they must be important. If you are born in the northern climates, there's a good chance you have intercepted signs in your chart. This work is the most authoritative on the subject.

Mundane (exoteric) astrology focuses on the personality, through the Sun sign, whereas true Esoteric Astrology focuses on the Soul's Purpose, mainly through the ascendant sign. This work by the Master Astrologer Dr. Douglas Baker covers the ascendant sign for about half of the signs, with the other half in Part VIII of the same title. Baker parses the aspects of each of the 12 (ascendant) rising signs and gives significant insight into unfolding the Soul's Purpose to anyone with the same rising sign. A very deep work and a must for any esoteric astrologer.

Retrograde planets offer real spritual opportunity for those individuals on the Path. Some of us are born with some retrograde planets and all of us experience retrograde planets as they transit our charts and daily lives. Baker gives us the real meaning behind these opportunities, as no one else could.

This amazing book is divided into the sections: Stress Disorders, Flower remedies, Alcoholism and The Completion of Cycles, but it deals with much more, like symbols, their use in meditation, the Cell Salts of Dr Schuessler, the platonic solids, and even astral vampirism! The section on the Bach Flower Remedies is the most interesting and informative I have ever found on the subject and contains beautiful color and black & white illustrations of the plants concerned, plus a striking illustration of how the vibrations in the remedies swirl in and around the body after you've taken them. Instructions on how to prepare the remedies are provided. The next section deals with alcoholism, its esoteric significance and healing. Some of the text can only be understood if one is familiar with the vocabulary of Theosophy (rays, etc), but other parts are easier to grasp - a relevant letter of Carl Jung is printed in full. This sections also contains impressive illustrations, the most frightening of which is an instance of astral vampires attaching an alcoholic in sleep. Treatments for alcoholism are given with special reference to psychology and the flower remedies. This is followed by a long illuminating section on the Vagus nerve (Man's Psychic Aerial) and the charkas. The work concludes with an essay on holistic methods of healing and there are fold-out maps of the flower remedies and their use, ear-stimulation acupuncture points and feet-massage reflexology points. A very impressive work to be read again and again, and an essential reference work for practitioners of alternative healing.

This book brings together articles by men and women "who have spent countless hours listening to LDS couples and assisting them to enrich, change, refurbish, and restructure their relationships." Expressing the overall purpose of this book, the editors indicate: "We think you who read this book will find within it the keys to improve your marriage" (from the jacket).

I was lucky enough to have Dr. Davidson as a professor in my final year of Undergraduate work at Western Michigan University. This was an optional buy on our booklist that semester, but I always bought the optionals, just in case. We never cracked it during the semester, so I was a little unhappy that I'd shelled out the money. However, when summer came and I had some spare reading time, I pulled it out and read it. I'm very glad I did. This is an incredible scholarly work. If you have any interest in the topic, I would greatly recommend tracking down a copy, as I see it now requires a special order from Amazon.com While the tone of the book is not quite as loose and casual as Dr. Davidson's lectures (as it couldn't be, seeing as it is a serious academic work), his passion for his subject still comes through. For any current or future WMU students who might happen past this, take one of Dr. Davidson's courses (he teaches in the Sociology department). His was one of the few lectures in my four years of undergrad that I actually looked forward to every week. He is very engaging, he will make you think, and he will help you learn.