The book is not bad considering the total lack of existence of intelligible literature in this supposedly vast field.

The content is really a collection of quickie crib-sheets on a sundry of topics with nominally common theme: Finance.

A lot of the actually useful stuff is the author's previously published papers on price-return distributions.

Aside from his own previously published work, he has a good tutorial on the GARCH scheme though with precious little follow up reading resources for delving in deeper (or even sideways).

This book is priced far too high given its content and depth.
Look for a used copy, and do not count on the author to answer questions by email.

I found several parts of this book useful while preparing lectures for an introductory econophysics course in Fall, 2001. The discussions of convolutions of distributions, Levy distributions and scaling are well-written and easy to follow. In the brief discussion of the St. Petersburg Paradox I missed a critical discussion of expected utility, which was invented by Bernoullli to 'resolve' that paradox. Spurred by von Neumann and Morgenstern, neo-classical economics relies on the idea of expected utility, which seems empirically to be wrong. The chapter on time correlations is also very readable (although Wiener processes are not 1/f^2 noise!). ARCH and GARCH methods are discussed, saving the student from the pain of reading badly-written papers by mathematically-minded economists, but the chapters on options are too brief with nothing new. The best introduction to options is still the original Black-Scholes paper (excepting their erroneous claim that CAPM and the delta-hedge strategy produce option pricing pdes that agree with each other). Also, it would have been nice to have seen a discussion of CAPM. The discussion of algorithmic complexity left me cold (see my earlier books and papers on nonlinear dynamics), and I would like to have seen a critical discussion of the EMH. These criticisms are ok, though, the gaps leave something for the rest of us to work on.

SINCE the last decade, physicists have been trying to cope with the issues traditionally approached by economics using their own tools and methodologies. This research has been dubbed 'econophysics'. One reason why this incursion should be welcomed is the failure of mainstream economics to recognise financial systems as complex systems. Take mainstream international finance, for instance. In the most respectable workhorse model--so-called 'new open economy macroeconomics model'--foreign exchange rates always reach some sort of stable equilibrium. To put it bluntly, this means that currencies do not exhibit complex behaviour.

However, financial markets do demonstrate several of the properties that characterise complex systems. What is more, they are highly complex, open systems in which many subunits interact nonlinearly in the presence of feedback and stable governing rules. Earlier attempts to find chaos in financial data, for instance, have been disappointing exactly because the phenomenon is likely to emerge in systems which are only moderately complex. Although it cannot be ruled out that financial markets follow chaotic dynamics, econophysics assumes that asset price dynamics are stochastic processes.

A fundamental commitment of the mainline model of international finance is to theory itself, and not to data. Modelling is devoted to equipping the discipline with an underlying rational behaviour at the individual level. Yet this is at odds with the fact that financial markets are prone to collective 'irrational exuberance'. Instead, econophysics attemps to build up stochastic models that encompass essential features observed in the financial data. Now that the time evolution of many financial markets is continually monitored, it is possible to test the accuracy and predictive power of the developed models using available data. One common objection to such a practice is that it is impossible to perform large-scale experiments in economics that could falsify any given theory. The authors note that this limitation is not specific to economics, but also affects such well developed areas of physics as astrophysics, atmospheric physics, and geophysics. By analogy with the activity in these more established areas, we are able to test and falsify any theories associated with the current available sets of financial data.

Complex systems can sometimes behave in remarkable simple ways. These are reflected in power law distributions and scaling. The authors illustrate these concepts and others, and apply them to the financial time series. The book is thus useful not only for physicists but also for economists and people in the financial world. Some familiarity with probability theory or statistical physics is required, though. Economists dissatisfied with the mainline approach of their discipline will find the book opportune. The others might end up welcoming econophysics as well. After all, economists implicitly see physics as nature's economics. What is then wrong with physicists thinking of economics as social physics?

Debs played a role in American history, however, the study of his ideas is primarily of antiquarian interest. The editors might note that socialism has failed everywhere on the planet.

No it has not. It remakes itself a great deal, though. This is a good book.

P.S.
Are you paranoid? Are you an insecure plutocrat? I'm not gonna waste my time debating with you, so here's a reading list if you still believe socialism is dead:

Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich
by Kevin Phillips

The Politics of Social Solidarity : Class Bases of the European Welfare State, 1875-1975 by Peter Baldwin,

Welfare States in Transition : National Adaptations in Global Economies by Gosta Esping-Andersen,

Small States in World Markets: Industrial Policy in Europe (Cornell Studies in Political Economy) by Peter J. Katzenstein,

The Global Third Way Debate by Anthony Giddens,

Subversive Institutions: The Design and the Destruction of Socialism and the State (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics) by Valerie Bunce.

Creating Social Democracy: A Century of the Social Democratic Labor Party in Sweden
by Klaus Misgeld (Editor), et al

The Editors don't need your commentary, (cowards tend to identify themselves as "reader").

This is a well thought-out, modern compilation of the writings of Eugene Debs, the militant unionist and Socialist Party founder. Thanks to Prof. Pelz and Howard Zinn, the words of Debs ring out true even today.

Major disappointment. This book offered little in the way of "insider" insights, but read primarily an attempt by the author to present himself as a political "player."

Interns typically don't make much money, so I'd recommend you save yours for something other than this book.

I teach students in political science, and I have had several of them read this book and remark that it is very useful on several levels. First, it helps them conceptualize about the purpose and meaning of their internships. Second, the book helps them understand some of the details of the internships they are likely to secure. It also helps them to get a jump-start on the types of skills and tasks they need in their internships.

With internships becoming increasingly important to career-minded students (and their parents), this book is a nice way for students to balance their practical ambitions with their political science education. It is a welcome addition to internships, which too often occur serendipitously and absent any academic perspective. With this book, students are able to think about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and what the internship means for their studies and career interests.

The Insider's Guide has been favorably profiled in a number of publications, including Roll Call, Capitol Hill's leading newspaper. Our students have found the book extremely useful in helping them to get the most out of their political internship experiences. College faculty and internship supervisors have also found the book helpful. --G. Reeher and M. Mariani

My British girl-friend is presently taking a German course, as I am German. We are currently living in North America, where her German teacher uses the above book.

Being German and a German teacher and linguist for 13 years I was interested in the book my partner is learning the language with. So I went through the book and was appalled at the amount of grammatical mistakes and usage errors used in the book. The book was apparently not written by a German person, based on the type of errors I assume it was written and revised by a native English speaker.

Countless expressions and phrases are completely outdated, many have never been used and/or are simply wrong. Students learning German with this book will be ridiculed when speaking German in any German speaking country. I could not believe that a book like this does even exist for official language courses.

It has even been revised by a Mr. Robert D. Vanderslice and according to its cover "over 1/2 million copies" have been sold or issued.

To be very honest, apart from the wasted money and time people spend on a course and this book (I am sure a lot use it for self-instruction), I think it is even irresponsible to use, publish and sell this book. I will be more than happy to provide you with a list of examples of such linguistic errors and misuses of the German language.

I am presently working as a German language specialist with an international American company, and I am herewith offering you to completely revise this book for you to make it fit for the market. The way it is I can only advise you to please not distribute it any further.

I have not actually read this edition of the German Made Simple books, but I wore out my first book and bought a second one a few years later. It was identical. The last time I looked at these books the content hadn't changed noticeably. But I consider this to be a great book for getting started in German and progressing to an intermediate level. As for me, I have been studying German as a hobby for over 20 years and am in the process of working on my undergraduate degree in education for the purpose of teaching German. Considering the low price at which these books sell, most people could easily buy this book, a German-English/English-German dictionary, and a phrase book (if you plan to travel) or two and be well on their way to learning the language. My only complaint about the book I had was that the binding didn't hold up--pages started falling out after a couple of years of use.

I've searched for some time to find a quality self-teaching German language program. This is the first to make learning German fun and easy. Each skill is analyzed into small, manageable steps, followed by adequate application. I highly recommend the book.

Spanish made simple gave me a very solid foundation in Spanish. It helped me to read Spanish in a short while, and to pronounce clearly.

However, it did not help me to construct sentences and speak fluently.

Certainly not a one-star book. It can be very helpful, but you have to be willling to devote time for memorization. It is not for everyone. This book is very dense in information and will give you a solid background in Spanish, but you must devote time to studying it like you would any textbook, and limit yourself to one lesson a day, or it will frustrate you with all you cannot remember. Also, I do not like the 8-1/2 x 11 format.

Spanish Made Simple is the absolutely best book for learning to speak and read contemporary Spanish. The book is written in the form of a interesting novel with the vocabulary and grammar seeded into the captivating narrative. Beginning with absolutely no knowledge of Spanish, I was able to converse on everyday topics within a few months. After two years of self-study, I tested out of 8 hours Spanish at the local community college. If you want to learn Spanish, this is the book to get. It worked for me. It will work for you.

This book was such a waste of my time and money that I'd strongly recommend you waste neither.

Flowers' emotional tone sounds about as interesting as if she were reciting the alphabet. A synopsis of this book might run thus: "He picked her up hitchiking. Then he stabbed her. Then he dumped the body. Two days later, hikers found the body. Then...the next day...he picked her up hitchiking. Then he stabbed her. Then he dumped the body. Two days later, hunters found the body." You get the picture.

Absolutely the worst true crime I've ever read. WHO IS ANN FLOWERS?

BLIND FURY,published by Pinnacle, NY in 1993, was a lead title for Doubleday's True Crime Book Club and has been widely read through five mass media printings. It is a comprehensive study of the case of serial killer Gerald Stano, who was executed in Florida in 1997 for the murder of Cathy Lee Scharf - one of his known 41 victims. Stano is believed to be the most prolific killer of the last century. It vividly chronicles the homicides while giving insight into the criminal mind and criminal justice system.

When the prolific serial killer Gerald Eugene Stano was recently executed in Florida, I was inspired to find out more about this man and his crimes. Flowers book is an incredibly detailed and thorough study of Stano's extended killing spree, and his eventual capture and conviction. Anyone who enjoys a good crime story will love this book. While I do not believe in the death penalty, Flowers gives the reader a strong and well-presented argument for limiting the long appeals process that is part of capital cases in Florida. This is a thought-provoking and entertaining book.

I'd looked forward to reading this book, hoping that it would describe the resesarch and actual experiences in some detail. Instead it was a hotch-potch of assumptions and generalisations that ultimately add nothing to our understanding of these states. The writers started off with the opinion that the states weren't real and set out to prove that this was so, rather than weighing up the evidence and then drawing a conclusion.

On the whole, the researchers make exactly the same mistake about what meditation is as every other researcher does, Persinger in particular. Meditation in the way that most think of it is only a tool to calm the mind, not meditation itself. No practitioner will sit staring for hours at religious images, nor is there a trance state that is the platform for such experiences. In meditation (and in spontaneous events) the perfect 'ground' for enightenment experiences is a perfectly natural awareness of the moment, not a 'locked in' state of not thinking.

Anyone who wants to seriously examine how meditators create a ground for these experiences should read books covering Mahamudra and Dzongchen rather than misinformed nonsense like this.

Ian Harling

Given the title of the book, and the author's pioneering research background, I had expected some in depth discussion of the author's research and results. Instead, we are presented with pedantic background material having to do with religion and biology which is widely available in thousands of other books, and perhaps 5 pages altogether of research reports. And those 5 pages are not even contiguous! As a result, I find myself quite skeptical of the author's hypothetical framework that he labors so hard to present in this work.

There is at least one glaring omission as well - there is no discussion of the commonality of the kundalini experience among the major mystics, nor any background on the chakra system and its relation to the endocrine system. To have ignored these topics in a book dedicated to 'probing' mysticism, is to be presented with a very shallow probe indeed.

This book is evidently intended as an undergraduate text for a narrowly focused survey class, and not for the general reader.

The text of this book is difficult to work through. It is not designed for the light reader or the quick student. Taking twice as long to read this book was a drain, but the payoff was excellent.

He does not simply give facts, but works to tie them together into a specific working hypothesis, which is yet to be proven. Yet he has asked the correct questions and cannot be faulted in not having all the answers.

Highly recommended.

That should be the title of this book. The author makes the same mistake many have made: to them Havana=Cuba. If it happened in Havana, it must be so in the rest of the island. From the beginning of the book he attributes to all Cubans what really applies to the upper class of Havana: travelling to the U.S. on vacation; sending their children to be educated on the U.S.; shopping sprees in New York; conducting their businesses on the American model, etc.
I was born in Camagüey and lived in Oriente and still have family in Cuba and I never heard of, much less witnessed many of the "facts" he gives. I've checked with several other Cubans, older than I from all over the island, about some of the authors assertions and everyone assures me Cubans did not celebrate Thanksgiving; kids did not get toys on December 25 (it was January 6); few Cubans spoke English, many Americans spoke Spanish; men did not stop flirting with "mulatas" in favor of blondes; and American supermarkets did not obliterate the neighborhood bodega. Perhaps that's the way it was in the Americanized Vedado neighborhood.
The author quotes from many novels and short stories. The writings of Cuban revolutionaries, the constitution written for the formation of the Cuban nation during the 10-year war, the effects of that 10-year war, and the effects of the war of independence on Cubans' idea of nationality are practically ignored. It seems we Cubans obtained all notion of who we are from the U.S.
Sociologist-like, he ascribes deeper meaning to all kinds of things; for example: the Cubans' enthusiastic adoption of baseball becomes an anti-Spanish, pro-feminist protest and a condemnation of Bullfighting as a bloody, colonial sport. How about this: baseball was fun and was not only a spectator sport, even kids could play it pretty much anywhere. Can't do that with a bull fight. As for rebelling against bloody, primitive sports: cockfighting has been part of Cuba's "sports" life from the colonial period.
It goes on and on. True there are neat facts in there: the early adoption of technology in Cuba, the symbiotic relationship between the U.S. and Cuba and a few other interesting tid bits. But his interpretation of the American influence in the notion of what it means to be Cuban is skewed. I must admit it got to me: I couldn't finish the book. I stopped at Chapter 6 because I anticipated what was coming: Fidel's revolution puts a stop to all that and now Cubans have a more real view of who they are. Am I right? Is that the punch line?
No one can deny the influence of the U.S. on Cuba. Its proximity, and its intervention in Cuban affairs garanteed that, but this book is replete with misinterpretations or are they misrepresentations?.
Can't recommend it.

This book helped me very much as a source of data on events that happened way before my time, mainly because in Castro's Cuba most of this has been distorted, or in many cases, access has been totally impossible. I found the book very interesting and educational at the same time, very helpful also in making me understand better our influences and roots, as well as that tremendous link, for good or bad, that always existed with the United States and that Castro always persisted and portrayed as something not important and besides , very negative. However I have my problems with this book , especially on the last chapters, the revolution era, which is the one I lived, and know the most. I'm 36 now, and lived 25 years in Cuba, so I have a pretty clear knowledge of how things were and are during this years of "revolution". As many other non-cuban authors, Perez seem to have a problem criticizing the regime for what it's been responsible and on the other hand puts most of the blame on the United states, I think than from a fear point of view we got more positive things than negative ones from them. Corruption and mishandling of the government is constantly mentioned during the republic period; but very little is said about castro's failures. Nothing is said about the assassination and abuses that took place during those first years of revolution, practice that has continued during all these years. Unfortunately it was during these years that many liberals and idealist turned a blind eye to what was happening in the island. Nobody wanted to talk about what was really happening and preferred to accept the idea that the US were to blame for the rupture in the relationships between both countries. Still today not many people know about the darkest years of the revolution, a good example is that Ernesto"che" Guevara is still considered by many as a modern Quixote, a romanticized revolutionary that fought the imperialism in order to built a better world, when in reality he was nothing but a selfish murderer who committed all kind of atrocities, mostly in my country, and played a leading role in the process that turned the revolution into that aberrant regime that has ruled the country for more than four decades. So what I found negative about this book is that not giving a fair and balanced analysis on this part of the Cuban history affects the credibility of what was said about the rest of it. A good book for those who would like to read a least detailed but very fair analysis is" journey to the heart of Cuba" by Carlos A. Montaner.

The trouble with scholars and academics is their middle-class presumption that the world is middle-class. This book suffers from this presumption.
I married a Cuban, have been to Cuba five times, and know that there are both rich and poor in that country--just as there are in the U.S. There are Cubans in government and baseball stars and artists with access to dollars who are chauffered in their Benzes, live in gated mansions with electric fences, and swim in their backyard pools. In the meantime, my relatives live without running water or a phone. They have an extension cord leading from the neighbor's house to get electricity. When the annual hurricane hits, they live in the local secondary school's gymnasium, along with everyone else in their neighborhood in Cerro who lives in a plywood house.
Let's decide not to idealize the Revolution.
I'm not on the side of the anti-Castro supporters in Miami (I'm not Cuban)--I think free quality healthcare and education is an amazing achievement. And despite the last ten years of intense lack of material help since the Soviet Union dissolved, Cubans have an amazing stamina and love of life that gives them the hope to survive.
But let's not--especially for the academics who travel to Cuba and see only the middle class Cubans living there--idealize the country. Reader: check out "Afro-Cuban Voices" to get another side of the story.

After giving up on Robert Slade's incomprehensible "Guide to Computer Viruses," I was hoping for a better read on the subject with his new tome. No such luck. Slade is an amateur writer in every sense, and his sticky fingerprints (i.e., poorly constructed sentences and self-serving essays) are all over this wood pulp. The three authors (yeah, Slade must've realized that he couldn't hack out another alone) couldn't decide whether to target this how-to manual for would-be hackers toward the novice or the pro. They wanted it both ways and, in the process, manage to offend both audiences with their dense technical ramblings interwoven with condescending explanations for the grade-schoolers. YAWN! Skip this one, my friends. For a much more informative -- and practical -- look at viruses, worms, etc., check out Roger Grimes' "Malicious Mobile Code."

I really had trouble reading this book. It isn't very well written and it felt that most of it had been gleaned from the internet, edited, bound and published. The book sensationalizes viruses and other malicious code, while the actual threat from viruses has decreased significantly.

Fewer sophisticated viruses are released every year. The average worm or email virus that is written by some disgruntled teenager just isn't sophisticated enough to be worried about, and fewer proficient programmers are producing malicious code (the stakes are too high).

As a technically proficient person, I found the book boring and, condescending. The authors went on and on, were not concise, and didn't "reveal" anything that even a computer savvy 16 year old wouldn't already know. At the same time the confused writing, will only serve to baffle novices.
In short, I doubt the experience and expertise of the writers, and the book is poorly written. Save your money, install virus protection on your computer and keep it updated. That will protect you, this book will not.

If you want reliable information about malicious code then try:

1) Malicious Mobile Code: Virus Protection for Windows,
2) Know Your Enemy: Revealing the Security Tools, Tactics, and Motives of the Blackhat Community
3) E-mail Virus Protection Handbook : Protect your E-mail from Viruses, Tojan Horses, and Mobile Code Attacks

Viruses Revealed

Viruses Revealed is one of the best computer books I have seen on the market to date. The book possess a vast array of knowledge regarding the destructive world of computers not to mention the anatomy of Computer viruses and how they work. If you are looking to protect your computer from just these destructive things (i.e. Viruses). I say, get this book. I would of gave it a 5-star rating if they only had more source code of viruses to view. Those of us out there who are Computer Programmer's would love to view the source code. Anyway, a great book to have in any computer user's library! (JC)

This book has a bad index, unuseful quotes, and is to expensive. I would only recomend this to somone who is stupid and wants to waste their money.

There are two kinds of quotation books-- those organized by alphabetically by subject and those organized by alphabetically or Chronologically by Author.

This is one of the best of the subject organized ones, with loads of subject headings (some Quote books only offer 100 or a few hundred. This one is much better and also offers suggestions for other related headings.) I've found the quality of the quotes to be excellent, with a nice mix of contemporary and classic sources.

As an avid quotation and quotation book collector, with over 400 books, some dating back over 400 years, (as well as a website of 1000-- a small fraction of the quotations I've collected) I have to say that this is one I keep handy, along with about 15 or 20 others. If you are a writer, speaker, teacher, etc., or if you are looking for a gift for someone who loves ideas, then this book is a very worthwhile investment.

One useful way to enjoy this book is to read specific topics to get an idea how a lot of different people think about that subject. This can often give you a first introduction to a writer you may want to get to know better. Then, you'll want to, perhaps, next look at a quotation book organized by author, or-- go directly to the works of the author.

Since another reviewer described this book so well, suffice it to say that if you frequently use quotes in your writing or research, this will be a gold mine. Highly recommend. However, I've only used the 1970 version - am looking forward to seeing what new quotes await in the updated version.