As a long-time admirer of both Arthur C. Clarke the man and his fact and fiction, I've been looking for a good biography for quite a long time, and am glad to say I've finally found one. Neil McAleer has done an excellent job, and obviously put a lot of time into research and interviews. This book was compiled from several interviews with Clarke himself as well as with many of his friends, family members, editors, publishers, fellow writers, colleagues, and the like. One is greatful to get such a great glimpse into the lives of science fiction's most famous author, as well as one of the 20th century's most famous visionaries. Truly a remarkable man, Clarke has had an almost unbelievably productive, meaningful, and memorable life. Here we learn about his upbringing and exploits living on a farm in England in his childhood, and through his experiences in school and budding interest in science and science fiction. We then learn of Clarke's going on to join the Civil Service and eventually the Royal Airforce (where he helped with the radar "talk down" system), and through his college years. We are able to see the development of his writing years, and his active and vital role in the British Interplanetary Society. All of Clarke's major novels and several of his short stories are gone into in detail, and oftentimes we learn of his motivation for writing them, and also something of his writing method. One of the most important and revealing aspects of the book for Clarke fans are the long behind-the-scenes look we get at the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey. We learn of the working relationship between Clarke and Kubrick, and also get a glimpse into the super hush-hush activities that took place on the set. This book covers his career up to the release of his novel The Ghost From The Grand Banks, and a little beyond. It also touches mightily upon his non-fiction writing, as well as his many other and less celebrated exploits - lecturing, popularizing of communications, diplomatic interests, and the like. We learn a lot about Clarke's vital role in the establishment of communications satellites. This is quite simply an essential book for Clarke fans, with much knowledge held within it to put across and share. The only real drawback to it is that it does only go up to 1992, and thereby misses out on some important events in Clarke's career (the release of further books, including his final novel, 3001, his collected stories and essays, his knighthood, the unfortunate (and falsely alledged) accusations of pedophilia against him, and the actual coming of the year 2001, just to name a few.) Still, this is by far the most comprehensive and thorough book about Arthur C. Clarke available. Obvioiusly, as with any biography, it's not a book you'll want to dive into unless you are already familar with the author and his works. If you are, though, then this is an essential volume to add to your collection.

In this novel, Arthur C. Clarke's entire life story is told. Also, actual interviews with Clarke and his family members are used. A fascinating bit of information is that Clarke co-anchored the moon landing in 1969 with Cronkite. This is a great book for any fan of Arthur C. Clarke.

Arthur C. Clarke had been one of my favorite writers since the early 1970's. The first book of his that I read was 2001: A Space Odyssey. I was hooked on Mr. Clarke and science fiction forever. This biography of Mr. Clarke is a pleasure to read. The most satisfying thing about the book is that Mr. Clarke in real life is very much the man you picture while reading both his fiction and non-fiction. The three most interesting aspects of the book was his early work with the British Interplanetary Society, his life in Sri Lanka, and his work on the movie 2001.

This book details the consequences of unequal wealth distribution and false dreams. As a native Detroiter I was amazed at the accuracy that the book details choices and options that are left for inner-city youth. I do not ANY form condone the actions of Mr. Jones or other Young Boys but I do appreciate the candor that Mr. Jones spoke upon the choices that one is faced with when staring down the evil eyes of poverty. This book should serve as an example for all conservatives who vehemently support the "bootstrap" theory. Not all criminals are unintelligant, but when you are hungry and you can be accepted in "da hood" and recieve immediate gratification or struggle with "the man", what would you do?

This book is a must have,must read by everyone.Especially those like myself who are from Detroit and know about the Y.B.I.first hand.I became a member of Y.B.I. at age 12.I am now 34 and have a 13 year old son who I'm going to make sure reads this book to maybe steer clear of the painful,bloody,murderous & cold,cold path that this book reveals.I remember Butch Jones, and personally knew most everyone mentioned in this book. I thank God I'm alive and able to read it. Because most of my fellow Y.B.I. friends & members are expired as a result of membership.May God have mercy on there souls most of us were just kids. Dwayne(DUB)Davis,Ricky(RENO)Thomas & Shaun(ork)Boyce R.I.P. And last but not least the Dog of Dogs Raymond Peoples R.I.P.

A book that should be read by all high school students, Butch Jones' autobiography presents a wealth of accumulated knowledge. It is a lesson in economics, philosophy, and Detroit history. Butch Jones, supreme teacher and urban philosopher, turns learning into a game.

I am always left breatheless at the majestic beauty of every cave I am blessed to enter. This book gives wonderful descriptions of caves and the pictures in this coffeesque style book are the icing on the cake.

This book is very well written with lovingly detailed chapters devoted to the many splendid cave networks dotted around the world. There's a great section on the flora and fauna of the underworld, as well. I went potholing in Kak Canyon once, and saw a couple of chutney ferrets, all thanks to this book. Incredible creatures - and I wouldn't have known they were there until I read this.

I really liked this book. It has good pictures for people who want to be a cave explorer. It tells you a good description of the caves these people explored. I really liked the fact that they explored ice, water and earth caves. I think students that are studying caves would really like this book

This little book starts off by actually teaching you HOW to read a CXR. Not many books do that ... they just assume that you can. Then it goes into the four broad categories of abnormalities: 1) too white, 2) too black, 3) too large and 4) in the wrong place which helps you to categorise abnormalities. Then all the major conditions (e.g. pneumonia, COPD, malignancies etc.) are reviewed under each category. Read this before you start you clinical years and keep it in your coat pocket along with 'The ECG made easy'. Look at heaps of CXRs and ECGs from the beginning of the year along with the help of these books. Practice makes perfect! Good luck! I wish someone had told me these things at the beginning of the year! ;)

This book teaches the basics such as pneumonia, pneumothorax, and other abnormal thoracic conditions through the use of x-rays. It explains the abnormal findings of each x-ray in a clear and easily understandable manner. Best book I've seen so far on chest x-rays.

I love this book. It first teaches the reader how to look at a chest x-ray in a simple, step-by-step approach. Then it is organized quite effectively into chapters based on the appearance of the x-ray (white lung field, widened mediastinum, etc.). A must read for medical students starting their rotations.

I have used this book for a course in Artificial Intelligence at the college level many times. The book was published in 1992, which is outdated in many areas. However, the historical development in AI is highly readable. Many predictions in the book turn out to be true. The new book by the same author is not good at all.

Ray has developed many applications in AI with his own company and enjoyed much success. He is a great role model for young entrepreneurs.

I read this book only recently, having read the author's two most recent books "The Age of Spiritual Machines" and his book "Kurzweil vs The Critics of Strong AI". Both are excellent books, and reflect the author's extreme optimism about the future of artificial intelligence. He is definitely one of the best apologists for AI, and documents well its living history. Reading this book after the recent ones gives an interesting comparison between what was real in AI then and what is real now. Indeed, the AI landscape has changed dramatically, and there were a few companies specializing in AI in business at the time of publication of this book, that are not around any longer. But for every company that has failed, there have been many more to take their place. Their character as companies has changed, due in part to the rise of the Internet. In fact, it is network engineering that has resulted in many of the applications of AI in the last 5 years, and those applications of course are not mentioned in this book, due to its date of publication.

The author begins the book with a discussion of what he calls "The Second Industrial Revolution", which, he claims, is now in progress, and is based on the rise of thinking machines. These machines will extend and leverage human mental abilities, he says, challenging the human uniqueness in this regard. He expresses caution over the idea of making our military defenses controlled by intelligent machines, at the same time expressing his confidence that machine intelligence will indeed be sophisticated enough for this to happen. This revolution is here he says, will be more radical than the first one, but cannot be stopped, and he encourages therefore the constructive use of its technology. Thus is the author's motivation to write this book: to give the reader an overview of what was possible in AI at the time, and encourage the benevolent use of it.

The author not only discusses the technology of AI, but also attempts to give the reader insight into just what AI is. This entails a discussion of philosophy, since philosophical debate dominated AI in its early years. Such debates are still common, but due to the frequent vituperation involved in them (which the author recognizes and mentions in the book), not much is to be gained from these. Time is better spent on actually trying to build thinking machines, and not engaging in conversations that lead nowhere. Since this book appeared, many philosophers have left their "arm chairs" and have joined in the practical research in artificial intelligence. This trend will no doubt continue in this century, thus giving rise to the "industrial philosopher".

A fairly detailed history of the field of artificial intelligence is given in the book, with several articles written by some of the more recognized individuals in the field. All of these are interesting reading, and shed light on the different attitudes and prejudices regarding AI. For readers who are new to AI, this will be welcomed, as well as the many discussions on the mathematical foundations of AI and its intersection with cognitive science.

The author refrains from including any mathematical notation or equations in the book, and this has its advantages and disadvantages. It allows a more general readership but sacrifices some of the clarity of thought that mathematics allows. The author does give a good discussion of pattern recognition though, especially edge detection. His discussion on this topic is interesting in that it brings up his demarcation between "logical" and "parallel" thinking. Logical thinking is referred to as "sequential" and "conscious", with a resulting limitation in computational ability. It is to be distinguished from parallel thinking which can process multiple levels of abstraction, and can occur without conscious direction. Pattern recognition is in his view an example of the latter, and he justifies this view in the book in some detail. More evidence for his view from laboratory experiments is needed however. Pattern recognition algorithms and technologies have exhibited considerable advance since this book was published.

There have been many advances in AI since the time of publication, due in large measure to the rise of the Internet. Most of these advances have been breathtaking, such as in computer chess, games with imperfect information, Bayesian networks, financial engineering, network intelligence, literary creativity, automatic theorem proving, to name just a few. The author discusses his projections for the future of AI in the book, and it is interesting to compare them with what really came about within the decade later. There is no doubt that more exciting developments are on the way, and the optimism expressed by the author in all of his writings is also characteristic of all who are responsible for these developments. The machines, getting more intelligent with every decade that passes in the 21st century, will bear the signature of these individuals: a tell-tale sign and proof of the genius of the human species.

one book for read good now if like kitten milk yamma laugh now. peanut rumple dilple fork?

Overall, this was an excellent book. It does not differ much from the english version, and it is, as is the english, wonderfully illustrated. It is not perfect, however. I thought that it was well translated into spanish, however, the words are not as easily read and understood as the english version. Also, it was very disappointing to me that the character's names are the traditional, english names, and were not translated into their spanish cognates. That detracts from any feelings of non-ethnicity and partiality that good literature nees.

This is a great book for those of us who want to raise our children bilingually and equally wonderful for Spanish-speakers. The Spanish is fun--I also love the repetition of "el día terrible, horrible..." The fact that the names are not translated is fine--not all English names have a Spanish translation and vice-versa. I believe it keeps the integrity of the original version and the Alexander character.

Qué dice un niño al que TODO le sale mal ? "Me voy a Australia !". Los dibujos - en blanco y negro - están espléndidamente ilustrados, la cara de Alexander es indescriptible por su picardía. Un libro para leer y ver con los hijos a la hora de dormir. Un libro alentador, especial para aquellos niños "difíciles"

A simple method for a basketball players to know the mental effect of fantastic basketball game.

This book is a excellent source of information for players and coachs. This book was for me a point of motivation in the game. I'm very glad and satisfied for buy this book.

Basketball Fundamentals is equally valuable to coaches and players of the game. This easy to read book help players and coaches understand WHY certain things happen.

Why can't players afford to complain about reffing? Why can some players shoot well in practice and not in games? How can consistency be developed in players? In easy to read language, Jay Mikes not only offers answers to these question, but also solutions.

This book will be required reading for my Varsity players.

Book is great for those who want to know how bond trading really works, especially for those just starting out. Good for both salespeople and traders. However, the book is a decade old and has little on ETS and other recent developments. It also has many, many errors which are irritating, thus the 4/5. I should hope that these points are addressed in a second edition. It is otherwise well-written.

Ms.Ray focuses on providing a clear conceptual framework for understanding fixed income concepts. The approach is highly intuitive and reader-friendly. A must for anyone trying to get to grips with the concepts of duration, BPV, vols, forwards, etc....

The Bond Market, by Christina Ray was one of the first books I read about fixed income securities that really explained how trading really is in the real world. I am happy to find another copy on ADC. This was used as a text in a class in Grad. school and I lost the book. Highly recommended.

It was overall a okay book. It was somewhat funny. But if you have seen the movie can't hardly wait don't buy the book it is word for word the same

This book is really great and it really explains the movie and the characters in the movie. If you haven't seen the movie, it was great! And even if you have seen the movie you should read this book.

This book was great! You're always hearing about what happened during the high school years, but never what happened after the graduation. You never hear about the intense plots, the funnies, the occasional tears. Not until this book anyway. It was great, and I loved it. The movie was pretty good too.

I was fortunate to read this as a manuscript from the author. It was written in the days before there was much to do about aids and HIV, but not much was written about the subject. It is action packed and the author is very imagnitive. It is almost spellbinding. It is a good read and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Filled with scary people worthy of diabolical CIA candidates. Makes you look over your shoulder when out in public!

Keeps you on the edge of your seat! once you pick it up, you will find it hard to put down.