This second edition is updated and improved from the out-of-print first edition. It has much of interest for telescope buffs and collectors of optical instruments. (It should be noted that the book is still available from the publisher as of January 2003 at the original price.)

Warner and Ariail have done an outstanding job of presenting a history of Alvan Clark & Sons, America's premier 19th century telescope maker. They trace the lineage of nearly all extant Clark telescopes, illustrate the characteristics of each model of Clark refractor, describe the history of the firm (including manufacturing), and include an appendix on all known portraits painted by Alvan Clark (he was a portrait painter prior to making telescopes). It does lack some warmth and might have benefited from personal accounts of owners describing their scopes and the views through them or experiences using different Clark telescopes. However, it is still an inspirational work and made me want to own an antique refractor.

Neil Anderson and Timothy Warner write this book from the perspective that all Christians are learners when it comes to spiritual battle. I think they are right. The battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness affects every one of us. Unfortunately Christians tend to make the mistake of polarizing good and evil, especially when it comes to understanding demons. The authors give clear teaching on where the truth actually lies - somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. They also warn of the danger of mental passivity and how lies believed in the mind can negatively affect our actions. Wrong information, lack of knowledge, and a faulty belief system can lead to undesirable or destructive behavior. This is also true of truth not clearly comprehended such as in the area of knowing one's identity in Christ- something most believers give lip-service to but which is not clearly understood. As the authors say; "Truth that does not transform is truth that is not believed."
The authors also offer informative discussion of various worldviews and then contrast these with the Biblical view.
I thought the book was informative, balanced in perspective, and Biblically sound. Although described as a guide for beginners, I think this book contains much insight that every Christian will find helpful.

The book presents a good perspective but I found it to be more than just "A beginners guide..." Many deeper truths are presented in a manner that requires much discernment.

Concerns of doctrine appear to be introduced as an attempt to balance the spectrum of doctrinal thinking rather than to take a "no holds barred" approach to discussing the intervention of God's Holy Spirit in this spiritual warfare discussion.

Overall good, but not excellent...

If your landlord is a jerk and you want to know what he (or she) can legally do or not do, this book will help. It will also give you some idea of when to go for professional help. It is of less help in figuring out what to do before you have to bring in the lawyers. I found it very helpfull to leave this book on the coffee table when my nosy landlord was snooping around my apartment. Apparently bad landlords don't like it when tenants know their rights.

Roof leaking? Sure, you can repair the problem and deduct it from your rent, but what if the landlord responds with an eviction notice? There is a lot of bad advice out there. Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD do something. Know your rights! This book will keep you on the right side of the law.

Despite warnings and threats from a woman named Angela, the Boxcar Children set out on a canoe trip with Aunt Jane and become involved in a case involving a mysterious riddle and a stolen coin collection. Can they find the culprit before they get away?

When Henry, Jessie, Violet, & Benny go on a canoe trip with Aunt Jane, a valuable coin collection has been stolen. The kids have many clues-a riddle on a rock, a mysterious man, a suspicious woman, fake park rangers. Who stole Mr. Withington's coins? Sean Ryan, age 1

Marina Warner is an amazing scholar and teacher. In this book, she begins with the Metamorphoses of Ovid, and continues with other changes in the human spirit, in both literary and natural history. The chapter on zombies is particularly relevant to her novel Indigo; the explication of the Greek psyche is familiar ground, but well done. The only flaw in this brilliant work is the continual return to Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights as an allegory of life. Her enthusiasm for the painting does not match her vast knowledge of classical and popular literature. However, I recommend this book highly as a helpful tool to any student of the humanities.

The book tackles the idea of metamorphoses as a theme in art and literature. Stirred into the mix are mythology, encounters between Europeans and tribal peoples in the New World and how those encounters affected art and literature produced in the Western tradition, meanwhile relating all these to the idea of personal identity. Among the works discussed in detail are Ovid's Metamorphoses, Apuleis' The Golden Ass, Hieronymous Bosch's painting The Garden of Earthly Delights, some Renaissance-era graphic sexual depictions of Leda and the Swan, Maria Merian's late 17th century natural history studies of butterflies, and then onto a discussion of zombies, Coleridge, Jean Rhys, Kafka, Nabokov, photography, Lewis Carroll and more. This may all sound like heavy going, but Warner writes for the layperson, and you need not have read the primary sources to follow her reasoning. (But her discussion and excerpts made me want to check out a copy of Ovid and read it for myself!) The artwork is illustrated by plates, some in color.

The book is an ambitious attempt to raise issues more than come to sweeping conclusions, with chapters titled Mutating, Hatching, Splitting, Doubling. Those interested in Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, and other writers on comparative mythology should find it interesting. The chapters on Mutating and Hatching were more compelling to me as someone with a special interest in art and mythology. Fans of 19th century literature, especially Gothic literature, may prefer Splitting and Doubling. And it is blessedly free of any type of academic jargon. Indeed, Warner also conveys the sheer enjoyment of reading or looking at the material she discusses.

As a fan of northern New Mexico as well as our nation's atomic history, I was expecting a bit more than this superficial look at the life of Edith Warner and her impact on the Los Alamas/San Ildefanso areas. While it's pretty good at conjuring up mental imagery, the writing is not terribly smooth. This is probably because Ms. Warner didn't appear to leave a very large diary, so the rest is filled in by the personal commentary of Ms. Pond Church who was a sporadic visitor to the "house" at best during the period and writes in a very different style than Ms. Warner. All in all, I just didn't feel it ever got to the heart of Ms. Warner's story, but it was a nice "read" nevertheless.

This last weekend I delighted in this book left behind by a guest at my B&B. It is without a doubt one of the most joyful and inspiring books that I have read in a long time. Beautifully told by Peggy Pond Church, it is the story of Edith Warner and her life near Los Alamos during the thirties and forties. How she created a simple home from nothing and how it became a mecca for her neighbors the world famous physicists of Los Alanos and also the local Indians. They came to her house for dinner, to take a respite from their secluded work at the Lab and in coming to enjoy her good food came to enjoy her friendship and serentiy. She live in close proximity to the Indians of San Ildefonso, and also became their friend, loving them, their children, watching them grow and enjoy with them their ceremonies and rituals. It is a poetic book of simple life and a good one and the great beauty of northern New Mexico. We need more Edith Warners in this world

This book was arranged in 3 age groups. Tha's really helpful, so you can zoom in on your child's party and find just the right activities. Each section includes lots of traditional games as well as innovative ones and other party activities, like face painting. Also included are trip parties and theme parties for each age group.

Each game or activity includes creative suggestions for adapting the game, ideas for prizes and troubleshooting common problems ahead of time. The game directions are complete and easy to follow.

This book will offer ideas for many parties to come. The games may be dropped into your theme. The theme parties offered here are easy and fun and offer the inspiration to add your own ideas.

I think I may just like the ideas from this author, because I liked another one of her books. This book will help you with games, invitations, tips,etc. I think it's a good book to keep around and pass around. I was stuck with no ideas and it lifted alot of stress from my party planning.

This is a good book for reading aloud and also for eight year olds because the main charter in this book is a first grader and is written in the first person,Lilly. Something that wasen't too appealing to me was that in the story Lilly's old friend Daisy seems to be perfect in all of the books I've read on Lilly Hill. Sometimes in the arguments that she has with her friends you should have Lilly win. In this book she should have won the argument because she has a hard enought time at home because she shears a room with her mom, her father is in jail fo stealing something, she lives in an appartment in the city, and at school in the book everyone thought that Lilly pushed Daisy on the playground.

I would rate this book a four star because this is like for second graders but this aouthor is awsom and her books have good plots.

When the Aldens go riding to the site of their old boxcar they come across two men taking pictures. Soon they find out that they are taping for a new movie for Tate Radison. Tate has recently been having a bad luck jinx. Coming to Greenfield has made no difference. A mysterious lady following him around . . . a fire in an ice-cream parlor . . . a crash at dinner. What could this all mean? Follow the Aldens in this Hollywood caper!

The Boxcar Children used to live alone in a box car. Now theyhave a home with their grandfather, and they have become friends witha famous movie star! While Tate Radison (the movie star)and his body-gaurd:Courtney. Are trying to hide from everbody. Until the boxcar children find him and he says his name is Jonathan. But his real name is Tate. They become friends and Tate gets weird letters in his mailbox. Is somebody watching Tate?

READ THE BOOK AND FIND OUT

This book was very boring the most of the time.if you buy this book it is a wast of your money when you could buy a better Boxcar Children books

This book is absolutely horrible. I wasted over a week on this book. I just kept thinking "The climax MUST be coming soon." but to tell you the truth, it never came! HORRIBLE book!