This is an amazing collection, as most collections on the science of consciousness are, for the exitement the topic arises.
It is at times a bit too technical, like in E. Jones or Steriade's chapters on thalamic neurobiology. Other chapter are too abstract or "dated" (or is it classical?). But there are also jewels, like the clearest introduction to Edelman and Tononis, Crick and Kotchs, and Jeffrey Grays theories of consicousness. This last chapter was specially interesting, as Grays model of the contents of consicousness was used to study schitzofrenia. Gazzaniga and his interpreter seem more plausible solutions to some major troubles in consicousness theorizing every time I read him. Chapters on language and development are also there and great, as well as one on vision, by no other than H.Hubel, along with T. Weasel, one of the most influential neuroscientists of vision. Philosophical introductions by Patricia Churchland and D. Chalmers and other unmentioned contributions were also quite good.
The cream is however, found on the comment sessions after each paper and the general session at the end of the book. Debates at that level are seldom recorded, and are extremely interesting and though-provoking.
A must-have for serious researchers and thinkers on consciousness.

i havent read the book yet but will be very glad if u could send me a review of the book , especially details about competency building through assessment centres. i am writing a researc paper on the mentioned topic and have been unable to get this book by david beard. i will be grateful if i am send the information at the earliest. thanking u , sincerely yours aparna my email address is aparnadhingra@usa.net

This book is the definitive book on the thought behind Art. It states the thought procces, and the Art and Science dualisum of the last 600 years and the reasons behind it all. If you want to be a real artist, this is the way to go. It speaks of truth and genius.

"The natural appetite or tast of the human mind is for Truth"

"Art is a point of view, Genius a way of seeing."

If the artist can grasp the truths in this book they will recieve the keys to the kingdom!

This excellent piece of historical research and narrative, exposes a considerable level of knowledgement on political, religious and philosophycal matters around the time when Occidental Civilization started the economical, social and artistic processes that developed our society of today. The writing, precise and well informed, goes directly to those facts, and the relations between them, that brought European culture of XIV to XVII centuries, reach the brightness of mankind. Not being a palette of beautiful paintings by italian and flemish masters, but a wise linkage of events taken place on the different areas of Europe, this book represents an important reference by any person dedicated to the study of those times.

Visual Anthropology is a fast growing discipline within the domain of social sciences. Since the historical seminal book "Principles of Visual Anthropology" edited by Hockings in mid seventies, more and more writings in this area came to light to explain and put to discussion some theories and practices that both anthropologists and filmmakers did in aproaching various ethnic groups arround the world. "Film as Ethnography" is perhaps the best book ever published as a group of collected papers in this area. His editors, P. I. Crawford and D. Turton made available not only to the specialist but also to the general reader interested in non-ficcion film or ethnography, a range of different approaches to the matter from the practical matters to the more theoretical thinking. In short: a must to read and consult. A landmark to remember.

I loved this book! It gave me such neat ideas that I can use for food experiments. It also was filled with interesting facts...I have learned so much about food and nutrients from this book. Anyone who enjoys learning about the make-up of food will love this book.

Wiggershouse provides, with depth and precision, a chronological account of the history of Institute of Social Research -"The Frankfurt School" - from its founding in 1924 to Adorno's death in 1969 (an Afterword briefly describes that happened to critical theory in Germany then after up to the mid 1980's). Appropriately, the book's emphasis is on the ideas of the Frankfurt School's theoreticians; the inclusion of factual episodes and brief biographies serve mainly to guide the reader through the convergences and divergences between the ideas moving around critical theory. Among the many virtues of the book, the attention given to lesser known theoreticians associated with the Institute, such as Friedrich Pollock, Franz Neumann, and Otto Kirchheimer, stand out. Another virtue is that there no attempt to elect "heroes" within this fascinating group of thinkers. Quite the contrary. Max Horkheimer, though depicted as a creative thinker, also emerges from Wiggershaus' book with dubious character. His claims in favor of an interdisciplinary research program contrast with his attitudes as the Institute's director that ended up expelling some of its most promising collaborators. The episode involving Habermas' exit from the Institute is exemplar of Horkheimer's rather intolerant personality. Theodor Adorno, described with all his intellectual brilliance, appears has the genius who voluntarily chose to stay under Horkheimer's shadow and who, at the heat of the student's movement in the 60's, took an "ivory tower" type of attitude. The book has only one noticeable flaw (if one can regard it as such). Though the emphasis on the ideas is what makes the book extremely interesting, Wiggershaus is not always successful in clarifying them. For instance, for readers not familiar with Adorno's aesthetics theory, Wiggershaus' presentation is not very useful as an introduction to this complex theory. Nevertheless, all in all, Wiggershaus' book is definitely "the" reference book for critical theory students.

John Roemer is an economist who has put some work into translating some ideas of Marx into the language of mainstream economics. His writings are generally very technical, which makes them accessible only to a small audience. Here he has written a book that is readable with minimal math (some linear algebra) and is still able to convey some rather deep ideas.

The main theme of the book is exploitation. Roemer rejects the classical marxist concept of explotation, which is based on the labour value theory, on the grounds that the underlying economic theory is wrong and by showing that one can get perverse results on who-exploits-whom with the classical theory. He proposes a different concept of exploitation, one that traces exploitation not to work relations but to the distribution of productive assets. The way he conceptualizes exploitation doesn't even require a labor market. He also defines classes over the groups that arise in his models (who is a net seller of labor etc.).

Since exploitation, defined in Roemer's way, stems from an unequal distribution of productive assets, the question of the immorality of exploitation can be reduced to questions of distributional justic, a topic Roemer adresses then from several angles. He concludes that a emphasis on exploitation is misplaced and one should discuss distribution of property directly.

Roemer also adresses historical materialism and several "utopias". One could argue that this book fails to deliver what it promises; it is certainly not a introduction to the work of Karl Marx. On the other hand it is an excellent introduction to criticism of capitalism. Wether one agrees or not, the arguments are clear and rigorous. Hence five stars.

Found this book extremely interesting reading about Orthodox, Catholic Christian, Jewish, and Muslim chant.

A knowledge of French is needed in order to read some of the articles therein.

Good bibliography.

Genes In The Field: On-Farm Conservation Of Crop Diversity is a comprehensive collection of papers focusing on agricultural conservation and diversity issues from around the world. Genetic diversity is critically important to individual farmers and farming communities for several reasons, chief of which is to prevent catastrophic disease and pest infestations wiping out agricultural resources and productivity. Regional and local farm seed variety has been reduced in recent decades because of such factors as increased population, agricultural science and technology, and the integration of the many divers cultures of the world. Genes In The Field discuses key conservation strategies, features numerous case studies with an international perspective, and focuses on policy and institutional issues. A benchmark publication, Genes In The Field is an essential and timely contribution to crop science, horticultural, and agricultural policy and practices studies, reading lists, and library reference collections.