This is a collection of essays written over a period of twenty years. This book is as stunning in its unexpected insights as it is diffcult to summarize. Agamben's mastery of classical philosophy and philology gives him the advantage of discussing pressingly modern issues in philosophy, history, politics and criticism as personified in the works of everyone from Aristotle to Heidegger, Benjamin, and Derrida. And that advantage is apparent not only in the ease with which he brings Aristotle's discussion of dynamis (potentiality) on the issue of redemption and Being, but also in the vividness of ancient philosophy's immediate relevance to the discussion of the messianic notion of time and history as transmitted to our age through figures such as Kafka, Benjamin and Scholem.
This collection of essays is divided into three parts: Language, History, Potentiality. Each section has under it a number of essays loosely pertaining to that category. Under the section on Histroy, for example, we have essays on Aby Warburg and the man's legacy in the refiguration of the study of art history; on Tradition; on Hegel's Absolute and Heiddeger's Ereignis; on Walter Benjamin's Angel of History; and on Benjamin's rumination on the Messiah in realtion to the Sovereign.
Heiddeger looms, as always, over much of Agamben's writing, but here so does that which has no name except as a tradition that partakes of the kabbalistic power of deep vision. The content of the book is offered here like so many spores of light, shedding light on so much of what constitutes the abyss/ground of modernity, but resisting capture in the stiff net of unimaginative academic argumentativeness. The prose is as dense as usual, reflecting the very density of the topics the author is trying to analyse. A most head-on collision of a reading.

Potentialities, or more precisely, potentia passiva. Reception and capability go together: the hand is the gift that gives itself (handshake) and receives: catch! The chapter on Heidegger and Stimmung is for me the most interesting. The word "facticity" is confusing because it implies making (factum est verum), but is the very opposite of any making (ie, thrownness). Agamben traces in the word the common root of both fetish and faktish, and finds in the notion of Stimmung a weise, a face, or guise. There too is a passivity, and the passivity of "affect" as both reception and potential (the ability to receive: endexetai). Heidegger would perhaps find there xeir-, or hand: VorHANDenheit and ZuHANDenheit). Aisthesis as both an activity (-is) and a passivity (think of all the plays on the word horen in S&Z). The introduction by the translator is curious. As for the distinction of intentio prima and intentio secunda, it is the very basis of modern science and Descartes' geometry: not this conic section (intentio prima) but every conic section (intentio secunda taken as intentio prima). That is the origin of Husserl's "sedimentation," and hence the return to the "things themselves." In sum, much can be learned from this book.

This text includes all topics necessary for success on the AP exam - I am completing my first year of teaching with this text, and have found it to be an excellent book. The supplemental resource binder for teachers is excellent - it contains sample quizzes, and a short synopsis of what to expect from students encountering this new information for the first time. Lots of activity - based problems and simulations - My hopes for the next edition? The book cover seems to contain some laminate or plastic covering which starts to flake off after much use - a bit annoying- otherwise a very good book.

This is my second year teaching Advanced Placement Statistics. I greatly appreciated having a clear stats book that followed the AP curriculum and included the Texas Instruments TI-83 calculator built in to the examples and problems. Most AP Stats students do not own statistical software and rely on their TI-83. This book is a thorough introduction to statistics text written for the bright high school student with a TI-83. The problems come from real data giving the students the sense they are doing real statistics and not just crunching numbers. All of the students from my class passed the AP test.

There are not many books available on tempera painting mainly because few artists these days have either the time or the patience to grind their own pigments and mix them into a binder. For anyone who does have such an interest egg tempera is a fascinating and beautiful medium to learn. Anyone who has ever tried to scrape off dried egg yolk from a plate will soon realize how incredibly durable a binder it makes for a painting medium. The Practice of Tempera Painting covers a lot of subjects in-depth. Everything from preparing the surface, pigment to egg to water ratios, discussions of various pigments to actual instructions for the traditional hatching and cross-hatching brushstroke technique is shown.

The only section readers today might want to supplement is reading up on a more up-to-date book on pigments. Many of the pigments discussed in Thompson's book, while still available, are now known to present health risks. Modern pigments that are safer and just as lightfast (in some cases even more lightfast) are now available that Thompson and painters of the 1930's didn't have. Other than that one caveat this book is a great introduction to egg tempera painting.

This excellent introduction to egg tempera is invaluable to oil painters as well. Thompson's writing is filled with humor and wit, making the book very readable.

I was delighted to discover that, unlike so many books about painting techniques, Thompson's is clear and thorough without being a condescending "how to" manual. It also avoids being mired in footnotes and tedious tangential detail. It is obvious that he speaks from the perspectives of both painter and scholar. The only drawback is that the reproductions are in black and white, but as this was standard when the volume was written it is forgivable.

This book will prove informative for artists, teachers, and museum professionals (I am all three) who are in search of solid information on tempera painting. Look no further and enjoy the read!

This book was crucial to my early release from prison. Although it deals primarily with prison condition litigation, rather than conviction issues, I can think of no other gift to a loved one or friend who is incarcerated.

Not just for prisoners. Know your rights. Learn the Legal Process from the inside. Be a jailhouse lawyer without going to law school.

Stroock in the preface to his preface gives his graduate school introduction to probability from Kac and McKean to explain why the book is written from the analytic rather than the probabilistic viewpoint. The coverage is thorough and rigorous with important proofs provided in the style he likes best. As an example in Chapter 2 where he covers the central limit theorem and the Berry-Esseen results on rates of convergence, he uses Stein's method rather than more complicated approaches using Fourier series.

This covers all the standard topics for a first year graduate course in probability and a bit more.

I am using this book as a reference for a first graduate coursein Probability Theory. In all fairness I must confess that I have notread the whole book, though I have browsed through it and I have read a few pieces here and there. My reason for selecting this book as a reference is partly the fact that the instructor is not using a book, only his notes and this book is listed as an additional reference. Having done some serious book browsing before settling on this one, I can say that its certainly more advanced than typical "first graduate course" books like the ones by Durrett or Williams. The author assumes knowledge of real analysis and launches right away into Probability. The book covers topics like convergence of probability measures and Wiener measure which are given little or no mention in Durrett's and Williams' books. The author in fact devotes an entire chapter to Wiener measure. I don't know if I would like to use this book in isolation. Its pretty advanced and has a whole lot of material that'll take a very long time to read, at least for me. On the other hand, Stroock is a star in the field of Probability and I like his style of writing which is why I did not hesitate to invest a small amount of money (by textbook standards) on an obviously excellent, but difficult reference.

Outstanding book! Very informative and easily read format. Best promotional book on the market. Many thanks to the authors.

best promotional book i have ever readJ

For anyone working with proteins for the first time, this is the book. It tells you how to do the basic procedures in a straightforward cookbook way, without alot of theoretical background. Old-school purists may object to this, but just as you don't need to understand Fourier optics to use a microscope, you really don't need to understand how Laemmli gels work in order to be able to use them to resolve proteins. This book just tells you how to do what you need to do, and for that purpose its really perfect. Using this book, you can singlehandedly do each technique without needing to ask anyone or read anything else, it is entirely self-contained. There aren't too many methods books that can compare with this one in terms of ease of use. I have used this book and its earlier edition for years and I highly recommend it to everyone who is starting to work with proteins.

This is a good handbook for starters and students, contains methods that easy to follow and understand, I love this book.

Lacan's seminars are superior to his articles because he clearly is addressing an audience, and needs to make himself understood, but he has already anticipated all of his students questions, as if he could read their minds: "I know what you're thinking." The argument of the third seminar is easy to summarize: the psychotic, because foreclosed from the father, faces a hole in the imaginary that is filled by the symbolic (or is it the other way around?), hence the hallucinations and voices. The psychotic always imagines that somewhere the big Other resides, in this world, like the man who broke into the US capital because there was a time machine inside that was trying to control his mind. The psychotic is in fact unable to distinguish the small from the big other. Lacan is always thought to be a little mad himself, something of a fraud, "il gagne beaucoup d'argent," and even Heidegger gave up reading Ecrits because he couldn't make sense of it, and he does make something of a display of his learning (not so much in this seminar). That said, there is something to Lacan, and eventually he will get his due, and outside the narrow circle of his devotees.

The work of Jacques Lacan is infamous for the often obtuseness of its language and presentation. It is often said that the reader must work hard at Lacan to reach a glimmer of understanding. The work of Dr Russell Grigg as translator to this edition certainly gives the reader a head start. Dr Grigg address the work of Lacan from a new perspective of the 21st century, nolonger happy for the work to remain arcane and cloistered from the reading public, but he throws open the windows of further understanding for those willing to look and read closer the work of this French master. An excellent work.

The popular American view of Puritans is usually something out of Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." That is, a bleak, dreary group of religious fanatics who take themselves entirely too seriously. While they did take their religion very seriously (your life on earth does determine whether you will spend eternity in heaven or hell, after all; it's best not to take chances), they did have fun. Bruce Daniels does an excellent job researching the relationship between Puritans and fun: What did they do?; How much time did they spend doing it?; What DIDN'T they do that might surprise us?; Did some groups have fun one way while others had fun another way?; and the all important question for historians: Why?

Two themes run through Daniels' work: the Puritan ideal with regards to fun is that recreational activities should a) not be sinful b) give one rest so that he or she can serve the Lord more efficiently c) be productive and d) not be an end unto itself. The second theme that runs through "Puritans at Play" is that, while the first generation of Puritans in America came pretty close to this ideal, as the years went on and New England became more heterogeneous, the ideal had great influence, but was viewed more as a guideline for recreation as opposed to a matter so grave as to have long-lasting (read: eternal) implications.

In this amazingly well-researched book, Daniels analyzed how reading (the ideal recreational activity in Puritan America), music, church related activities, public gatherings (such as public hangings or military training days), dancing, eating, sex, bars, gambling, and sports (among others) fit into both the Puritan ideal and the Puritan reality.

The beauty of this book is that Daniels tackles such an all-encompasing subject with apparent ease. I feel he has accomplished the goal he mentions in his preface, to write a book suitable for both the serious scholar and the recreational historian (although my one complaint is that his first chapter made for dry, difficult reading). From Chapter Two on, Daniels introduces the reader to Puritans on their own ground, always making sure to put things in a cultural context. I would definately recommend it to fellow amateur historians.

Of all the groups in American history, the Puritans still have the biggest bum rap of them all. H.L. Mencken articulated this false view perfectly when he defined a Puritan as someone who laid awake at night, fretting that somebody, somewhere, was having a good time. While the Puritans did have strong beliefs over the appropriateness of certain entertainments (such as the theater, which they banned as a place of lies and the breeding ground of crime), they did believe that God intended there to be joy in life as well. One of their greatest joys was sex: so long as it was within marriage, the Puritans believed sex was necessary, wonderful, and to be practiced often. Indeed, when one man refused to have sex with his wife, he was excommunicated from the Church! Bruce Daniels' much-needed volume on leisure and recreation in colonial New England fills up a hole in our historical awareness of this intense group. I loved this book, almost as much as I loved Edmund Morgan's book, "The Puritan Family." This one is not to be missed by history buffs!

Having worked with college students for 17 years (including 7 as an ordained Reformed University Fellowship Campus Minister), I am constantly on the prowl for tools that are theologically sound, yet help the average college student/lay person in this area. Dan's work is everything that I could hope for. The book is an excellent marriage of explaining the Biblical-theological principles to guide our practice of applying the Bible to our lives, as well as the resulting practice to employ. It does not make the error of falling into simplistic rules that don't really get at the heart, or of being so broad as to be meaningless. I HIGHLY recommend it for Pastors, elders, college students, or anyone wanting to really begin to more faithfully, accurately, and deeply apply God's Word to our lives today.

Any preacher or teacher of the Bible who has experienced the frustration of seeking to develop legitimate application of the Bible to life (that would include ALL of us) has wished, hoped, and prayed for a book that would help in this process. Well, our wishes, hopes, and prayers have been answered. In this unique book (I'm aware of no other like it), Dan Doriani does offers excellent insight into both the theory and practice of applying Scripture in a way that is both faithful to the passage being studied and practical in the lives of those who desire for the Bible to change their lives. In this book, Doriani maintains that legitimate Biblical application addresses one or more of the following life issues: Duty, Character, Goals, and Discernment. But he doesn't stop there. In this book, besides developing those life issue applications in enough (but not too much) detail, Doriani addresses concerns about how to develop applications that do more than just moralize, how to deal with narratives, law, and other content in the Bible, how to focus on Christ, and how to apply the grace of God in promoting life change. To be honest, this is the book I believe all Bible teachers/preachers need to read and heed -- if they would see results in the lives of those to whom they communicate the Truth of the Bible. This book is here and ready to be read, re-read, marked, inwardly digested, and of course APPLIED to our personal Bible study, preaching, and teaching. I see this having a significant impact on everyone who gets into it. Well worth the time and money, to be sure!