I recommend this book to any software person who wants to find out why most software projects that fail, fail.

But my specific interest revolves around writing software in large engineering (hard engineering) companies, in that very peculiar environment. Specifically, the hard engineering environment in which knowledge of the programming language is considered the most advanced software theory needed to produce a product, and in which Electrical Engineers without any formal education in advanced data structures, algorithms to manipulate them, search strategies, and heuristics are writing most of the code.

I am seeing HUGE software projects fall FAR short of their schedulled goals, because those doing the coding have simply used up all their computational cycles (I'm talking about real-time software). In these situations, managers seem to imply
1. they were blindsided
2. there are no ways to forsee such computational box canyons
3. no one could have done better, anyway.

On all 3 points, managers are wrong. And the substance on which they are so badly wrong, would make for another 10 fallacies in Glass' book. For example:

Fallacy N: Hard engineers produce advanced software algorithms.
The average hard engineer is writing Freshman undergraduate code, and making basic errors in design.

Fallacy N+1: Simple code (meaning no Computer Science theory) is much more efficient than highly tailored software algorithms. Actually, it is often orders of magnitude less efficient.

Fallacy N+2: Analytical mathematical solutions are the only ones worthy of respect. Actually, with the incredibly complex problems in modern engineering, closed form mathematical solns may never be found. Many such solns are so computationally expensive, that they never could be practical solutions.

Fallacy N+3: There are no analytical methods for identifying algorithms with prohibitive computational complexity--you must just write the software and try it out. Actually, there is a whole field of C.S. that does this.

Fallacy N+4: Modern Engineering problems are unique. Actually, the tar pits of computational complexity remain pretty stable, and Artificial Intelligence has amply failed in most of them (such as the Frame problem, and Automated Reasoning). Managers are just ignorant of the tar pits.

Fallacy N+5: Next year we'll get a new processor which is 60% faster, and our problems will go away. Actually, the mathheads that keep saying this have still not figured out that the disastrous software algorithms have computational growth rates that are exponential, and linear growth in processor speed does not define a solution to this problem.

Fallacy N+6: We write modular software. Actually, "modular" to a hard engineer and "modular" to a software engineer are radically different things. I regularly see "modular" software that has no defined interface, and no behavioral contract, so does not meet even basic requirements for reuse. Glass does not address the radically different semantics given the same words, by software and hard engineers. "Algorithm" is another word with very different meanings.

Fallacy N+7: Rule-Based software will, of course, solve our problem. Actually, automated reasoning has large undecidable and intractable areas. Engineering companies are just beginning to step in this tar pit, 25 years behind Artificial Intelligence.

Fallacy N+8: Knowledge of the syntax of a computer language, is the most valuable asset in software design. Actually, this is a trivial skill, relatively. The ability to represent symbolically complex reality in code structures, and complex manipulations of those structures efficiently, is orders of magnitude more valuable. Knowledge of just language syntax leads to literalistic algorithms, which tend to be brute force.

To his credit, Glass did mention...
Fallacy: Real-time code optimizers will fix any slowness in execution. Actually, you may gain 10-18% in speed this way, but these failing projects are orders of magnitude slower then needed. Better get rid of the real-time optimizers, and hire highly educated software designers.

I REALLY, REALLY appreciate Glass. But someone with a modern Masters degree in C.S. would realize that there is no reason to be blind-sided by most of these software disasters, and there are proven ways of evaluating these risks of failure while still in the design stage. Most VERY VERY bright hard engineers don't have the basic theory to detect computational risk, and don't even know where they should acquire it, if they wanted to improve their software algorithm design ability.

The problem is not just that (as Glass mentions) managers of software projects are out of touch with the technical people who write software. The disconnect is rather worse: most of the people who write software in big engineering companies are hard engineers, with no theoretical background in software algorithm design. There is an unspoken "amateur ethic" which condemns formal design theory. Technical leads of these "programmers" are often as uneducated, and could not identify sound software designs if their career depended on it. (So they are continually promoting Public Relations designs, and being blind-sided by failures.)

The situation in software design in America remains "tragic," and anti-intellectual, and the amateur (KISS) ethic continues to produce software projects which are computationally orders of magnitude outside of feasibility. Process does not begin to address this problem (Glass alludes to this). Nor does the strategy to redouble expectations toward the 'amateur coding ethic' and stop being such a nay-sayer. The truth remains that most technical leads in engineering companies, cannot even recognize what a software design is, and have no theoretical tools to analyze computational feasibility.

I wish that someone would address this problem in basic "Facts and Fallacies" books.

Stephen Wuest, Raytheon, M.S. in C.S. and A.I., 1999.

Once again, Glass has proven that he belongs in the software engineering pantheon along with Tom DeMarco, Gerry Weinberg, and Steve McConnell.

This book will open your eyes. If you work in the field, you'll never think about your livelihood the same way again.

If you take only one thing away from this book, remember this: don't blindly trust what the advocates of the latest methodology are saying, whether it be OO, XP, RUP, or UML, without some substantive evaluative research backing them up. Glass makes compelling arguments as to why the software industry has fallen easy prey to the hucksters and snake-oil salesmen.

The other reviewers have done a fine job of covering the content of the book. I will comment about its usefulness. In short, this book is truly valuable to the developer who has recently been promoted to team leader. While developers would benefit greatly from this book, the reality is that most developers would rather read books like "Effective C++", "Design Patterns", "Expert One on One Oracle", etc. To the new manager, though, this book is a gem. The book talks about specific management issues as well as the development life cycle and quality. In short, the book focuses exactly on what the team leader does and the team leader's team. In addition to the material presented in the book, the author gives a great number of sources and reference for further reading.

This excellent book has changed my life, helping me to become a happier person and putting me on the road to my first good relationship. As I was reading it, I would come to new chapters and say, "well this certainly doesn't apply to me" (e.g. "Idealization of the Family"), but I quickly learned that those chapters did indeed apply. I now refer to it as my Bible because I so often talk about it to my friends and encourage them to read it. The section on Theoretcial Issues is probably too academic for most readers, and I am skeptical about how much schizophrenics can really be helped by these techniques. But I think the general population would be greatly helped by the ideas in the book.

many books of this nature havebeen revelations for me. however, this is THE one! if i hadto choose for you one book thatsays it all it is this one. thisis the one that through aprocess of reading, digesting andapplication will transform you.this is truly life changing stuff!first time through my mouth wasagape most of the time. virtuallyevery line was a light bulb experience.thank you dr. firestone!!!

One of the best, most powerful books ever writen. Reading this book will be painful, but worth it. It's worth at least 10 years of therapy.

Bob's story of personal challenges and feelings of failure taking Christian Tyler to the brink of giving up, seemed so familiar to me. Bob understands, he's been there, he's a Wounded Healer. Bob shows how to see our importantance to others how to recognize our successes. Bob gives us a real way to see our value to others, a reason to "fight the fight", a belief in ourselves. I believe in me more now because Bob also believes in me. "Ever More!"

WOW - What an inspiration! If there were more prople like Bob Perks, this world would be a much better place. In spite of troubled times, Bob's faith in God and inner strength pulled him through. I've read his book twice - the first time non-stop . . . I couldn't put it down! Thanks, Bob, for sharing your message.

Bob Perks is a true talent! I've been to his seminar, receive his e-mail newsletter and now that I've read his book, I'm convinced! I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for the good in life-It is truly an inspiration.

Even though Mapplethorpe is better known for his controversial black and white nude photos, this book demonstrates his careful delicacy with not only the flowers but also the controlled lighting and the subtle colors. I have loved this book since the first time I leafed through it in studio photo class.

Unbelivable intensity out of such simplicity. Here is Mapplethorpe's ultimate genius, astoundingly powerful from such simple set-ups. The colour, composition, lighting, choice of vases and flowers: All the basics but brilliantly done.
I saw Mapplethorpe's famous exhibition in Philadelphia just before he died,the exhibit that was banned at the Corcoran in D.C., then siezed for a while in Cincinnati. The flower photographs were dye-transfer prints, which made the colour surprisingly intense; some were almost 3' tall. People would stand for a long time in front of those, enraptured, sensing the work on several different levels at once. This book does a good job of bringing that to you. You can look at this book over and over again, put in on a coffe table to start converstaions or, after having not seen it for a while, rediscover it to be awed and inspired anew once again.
The edition I have is a 1990 paperback 12" in height; the pictures are presented one to a spread, so that there is a blank white page accross from the flower, which is a very classy touch, completely the correct way to do it.

This book deserves more than five stars. It is the finest set of flower photography that I have seen before, and presents more dimensions of what a flower can mean that I would have thought possible.

I took a course of creativity from author Dan Wakefield a number of years ago. One of the many excellent exercises we did was to take a flower and write as much as we could about what we observed during an hour. At the end of the time, I was bursting with new ideas for all kinds of things. Try it sometime!

Seeing this marvelous book by Robert Mapplethorpe (that would earn a G rating if it were a motion picture) reminded me of that exercise. I had the same feeling as I examined each image, and had a great desire to start taking notes.

The essay, A Final Flower, by Patti Smith helps put these great works in perspective. Mr. Mapplethorpe found it "as easy to hurl beauty as anything else." "He came, in time, to embrace the flower as the embodiment of all the contradictions reveling within [him]." He was inspired by "their sleekness, their fullness, Humble narcissus, Passionate zen." As such, he found flowers to be "worthy conspirators in the courting and development of conflicting emotions."

The images themselves evoke more complicated views than any others of flowers that I have seen. The closest to his style is that which Georgia O'Keeffe used in her painings. But there are more dimensions to these photographs.

For example, a single flower may evoke a part of a human body, but it will also stimulate an impression of a human emotion contained in the flower image separate from the body part. Further, the shadowed background behind the flower will add movement and context that greatly expand the meaning of the overall image. Mr. Mapplethorpe also displays a genius for using varieties of color together to express complicated rhythms that make looking at the images a lot like listening to a drum beating a distinctive tattoo. He also employs juxtaposition (to make one thing appear to be part of something else), allusions to emerging and receding, and contrasts to great effect.

The technical quality of the images is superb. The lighting, detail, and composition of each image are precisely as must have been intended. Each image is an exquisite gem. Although I liked all of the images, some appealed to me more than others. Here are my favorites:

Irises, 1988; Rose, 1989; Orchid, 1977; White Longstem Flower, 1982; Orchids, 1982; Orchid, 1986; Flowers in a Vase, 1985; Orchids, 1987; and Poppy, 1988 (second one). I would like to specially praise the astonishing Calla Lilies (1985-1988) for their amazing beauty and inspiring qualities.

Where else can something simple display so much important meaning and complexity about nature and the viewer? I suggest that you consider looking at leaves, rocks, and feathers as possible additional sources of inspiration. Try your hand at arranging tableaux that use the vocabulary of Mr. Mapplethorpe's work here.

May your heart and mind be suffused with the wonders around you . . . creating a meditation inspired by nature!

We started our five week tour of India with Let's Go India Nepal, and found the Footprint guide four weeks into our tour. After looking it over, we quickly realized how much detail, clarity, and completeness we were missing. We didn't open Let's Go again, other than to retrieve our bookmark.

Some of the telephone numbers were slightly off, but that is par for the course in India. The correct numbers were easily located via directory assistance, which the book informed us of.

We stayed at two of the highly recommended hotels between US$5 and US$6 a piece and were delighted by the overall quality and cleanliness we found.

Its descriptions of some of the sights surpassed even that of our tour guide.

We liked this guide so much that we now use Footprint guides for our travels wherever they are available and up to date.

WARNING: The guide warns that the prices for many tourist attractions will go up on Jan 1, 2001. They actually went up on October 18, 2000. Now at most major tourist sites in India, foreigners pay the same number of dollars as Indian's pay rupees.

I spent one month travelling all over India with the 1999 edition of the India Handbook and what a life saver it was. The book was fantastic with its information and right on the money everytime with hotel rates, ferry schedules, etc. The brief anecdotes were especially helpful and I really appreciated the open mind the book had quick not to judge a country full of many different aspects. The book was enlightening and in my hand all the time, but my mind was still open to new experiences which were not preconceived by the authors. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to anyone who really wants to experience India in a different light!

The India Handbook is a thoroughly well-researched and detailed guide. The most informative guide on the market, it provides invaluable information which is useful to both the short and long-term visitor to India, particularly by the inclusion of accurate large and small scale maps. It is also strong and compact. However, perhaps the most appealing feature is it's direct and non-chatty text, packing important and need-to-know facts into a notey yet precise format, leaving the reader to form his/her own opinions on people and places.

Warm feelings of visitng my greatgrandmother on hot summer days in Curwensville and Clearfield. The outhouses, the barns, the bear in the big city, brought back those memories of unearned family affection and the mountain views. A joyful book for families in Pennsylvanial, Nevada or any where else in the world.

A fascinating book of photographs of Central Pennsylvania. It brough back many memories of another, gentler time. It also reminded me of just how beautiful my home state is.

By researching the contents and by presenting them as you have, you have given a real feeling of place and time.

It was more then just a murder mystery, it was a deep rooted story of great friends and what they would do to keep that friendship. Stuart's ability to keep you turning the pages was wonderful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who believes that friends are priceless!

Fast Paced, Exciting Action! This novel is thrilling from beginning to end! The suspense was balanced just enough to elicit the appropriate relief responses at various intervals from the reader. The good guys are easy to love; even if they drink too much and are slighty unethical. The bad guys are immediately hated to the point one wants to jump into the action and give a helping hand to the heroes.....From beginning to end the weave of fidelity between the "Garfield House" men is most refreshing; rather a novelty in this modern day and age.

A very entertaining read with several colorful characters. I recently read it while on vacation in only three days and would like to find more of Mr. Stuart's work. He has a real talent for pulling you into a web of intrigue wondering what will happen on the next page.

was left out as a co-author, please remedy this oversight.

Any serious Tai Chi practitioner will know that Tai Chi is more than just movement. This book presents the original Tai Chi texts translated into english, which allow the reader to think and feel each movement in a new, more intense manner.
Each sentence is a lesson in itself. While some are easy to understand, others will not be so clear in the beginning. I am sure that you will read this book more than once, reflecting on the movements and thoughts behind each form.

I recommend this books to any Tai Chi practitioner who wishes to understand the roots of the discipline.

This book is a new translation of a number of classical tai chi texts. The translations are clear, and the language flows well. The translators also included brief explications of difficult terms withing the text itself so as not to disrupt the flow of words. The presentation of the book is well done, with many illustrations and pages of calligraphy. While fairly short, this book is very nice introduction to the classic Chinese texts on tai chi.

As one of the other reviewers pointed out, this is a good introduction to modest, relatively noncontroversial things local governments can do to slow suburban sprawl, such as requiring development and infrastructure to move together. But I wish Freilich had been a little less optimistic, and focused more on how inadequate such steps sometimes are. For example, Portland and Minneapolis both have variations on urban growth boundaries, and Freilich praises the Minneapolis program. However, the Minneapolis program has basically been a failure: the Twin Cities keep losing people because the growth boundary includes far more land than the Portland version. Also, I would have emphasized that sprawl is a result not only of land use but of highway and education policy.

This book provides an excellent introduction to the planning techniques for directing and focusing development available to state and local governments and a critical assessment of how they have been used in a variety of local and regional settings.At a time when state and local competition for available land has become increasingly intense, an understanding of the legal and policy bases of these approaches and the different ways in which they might be used in planning is critical to finding ways to accommodate legitimate public goals to the expectations of property owners.

"From Sprawl To Smart Growth" belongs on the "must read" list of anyone working to combat urban sprawl. Bob Freilich brings 30 years of first-hand experience to this complex topic, and he tackles it with great enthusiasm and a unique historical perspective.

Russ Conway has written a wonderful investigative piece about a man who is truly a disgraceful figure in the history of Canadian hockey. Russ brings forth, with his own agressive style, the wicked ways of a man who calling a crook is an understatement. First, he never backed down to get his answers and his writing is first-rate. Anyone who follows hockey should read about a man who almost destroyed it.

In "Game Misconduct" reporter/author Russ Conway has exposed the scourge of the National Hockey League personified by Alan Eagelson. Initiated by his relationship with the Boston Bruins of the early '70s, including Bobby Orr, Conway became aware of inequities in pension payments to such NHL greats as Brad Park, Gordie Howe and Orr. But perhaps more frightening and vile were the actions taken by Eagelson in disability claims by former players. Innumerable examples of players filing for permanent disability due to injury are chronicled in this book. The tragedy is the way Eagelson manipulated the NHL Players Association, the NHL and the players to gain profit off the backs of the injured. Eagelson "charged" the diability insurance for representing the players. A significant percentage of insurance claims lined Eagelson's pockets before the injured/retired player saw a dime. In addition, such players as Brad Park, whose child suffers from a chronic illness, were stonewalled on insurance and pension claims to support their family.

Conway methodically documents the path Eagelson traveled in his rise from virtual unknown to head of the NHLPA and major sports agent. How one man can succeed in an environment of obvious conflicts of interest is testimony to the ruthlessness of major sports team ownership and the naivete of the young professional athlete. Conway brings the reader to 1996 and the Eagelson indictments in US Feredal Courts in Boston but unfortunately is unable to report on the successful extradition of Eagelson to the US from Canadan proving money has its benefits.

This is a well researched book on the corruption of major sports in Norht America. Conway deserves praise for exposing the cold and calculating Eagelson who profited from the agony and injury of players he represented as agent and NHLPA head. Anyone interested in major sports off the field will be amazed by this book

All hockey fans owe Russ Conway a debt of gratitude for helping rid hockey of the parasite Alan Eagleson. He documents Eagleson's criminal and disgusting behaviour in great detail, helping fans to better understand what hockey players faced in the past, the necessary background information for many of the issues facing pro hockey today. I haven't read such a gripping book since "Net Worth". Eagleson will be back in the courts again before long, no doubt willing to lie about the charges being brought forward by a number of retired hockey players. Read this book and you'll see that the players have justice on their team.