Social Sciences Books

I could not finish reading this book. Boring, without much substance, full of gross stereotypes and generalizations, this is at best an article. Somehow authors managed to stretch it into a book. Way too long, fails to engage the reader. They run courses on this topic, if they talk about the same stuff in the same way, I can imagine what that must be like ... I'd prefer a root canal job, thank you! Pass.

I saw David Stillman speak and was fascinated by his insight on how the generations are struggling to work together. It really gave me a greater understanding of my 20 year old son, what influenced him and where some of his priorities came from. The theories are spot on and the examples are amazing. This is a great read for an open-minded parent who really cares what his/her child is really thinking about. Also helps with understanding and appreciating our parents. Not just about workplace issues, incorporates life experiences and insights.

An excellent and easy read with plenty of real-life examples that demonstrate the writers' experiences while lecturing, mentoring and
consulting with businesses.

Anyone who has managed people from different generations can relate to the notion that different generations prompt people to have different ideas about how the world works. That may be a given, but when it rests on a manager's shoulders to keep the team productive or on course with corporate goals, having insight into the component members' behaviors is a very useful tool. I've managed the generation born during World War Two, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and my kids represent the Millenial generation. Believe me, there are distinct differences.

This book attempts to catagorize generations, not to promote stereotypes and to put people in boxes, but to highlight how common experiences can mold people. True, there are socio-economic differences (I am in the same generation as Caroline Kennedy, but aside from that our experiences are vastly different), but being in the same age group does create bonds among people. Values change over time and those values are what shapes people's ways of thinking.

The manager's job is to manage; to get the work done given the employees at hand. If we could pick our own teams we may not select those people we have on staff, but aside from professional sports teams, most managers can be more or less stuck with what they got. The manager is expected to make the best of things. If the manager can't do this, it's easier for the company to find one who can.

Lancaster and Stillman present an interesting argument in how generations are defined, and what their expectations of careers are. The savvy manager will read a book like this with an open mind and use the information presented herein to learn to work with staff for the mutual benefit of all involved. Of course not all managers are savvy, or even very intelligent. Those who could benefit most from a book like this will probably never read it. But then again not all companies are successful in developing people and market strategies. These companies may not be around to get a second chance at success.

This book is well thought out and well presented. Some of the chapters, such as the chapter on rewarding employees may be a bit off the mark, but that doesn't hurt the overall message coming from this book: understand your staff and learn what makes them tick. Your company will benefit.

This has been very enlightning to look outside one's own generation. Awareness is half the battle. Excellent resource.

The chapter on the antikythera mechanism alone is worth buying the book. The whole Earth Crhonicles series makes sense of what accepted history cannot explain, along with evolution. A must read for those who are not afraid to learn the facts even if it shakes their world from the nonsense they were taught in school. Yes it is upsetting to think of spending money tolearn rubbish in learning institutions but better to know and leave that behind than stay in the dark one's whole life.

All I could muster to make any of this book fit my reality. A good job of historical ancient history.

Zecharia has a vivid imagination, and a genius for manipulating history fragments - a science fiction Jim Jones. What will be next? I for one, refuse to accept that I was genetically engineered from female apes by aliens during ancient times. Ruled by aliens gods who governed the human race with a lust for power and by the navigation of the stars (sounds like Ronald Reagan).

Personally, I rather remained an ape then to be ruled by aliens who lived on a planet which is warmed by radioactive decay.

Christians, we have another false prophet .... Sitchin. Someone sould tap Sitchin on the shoulder and tell him "Christianity is about a spiritual realm; not alien and a rogue planet."

Having read several of Sitchin's books before I read this one, I am amazed and so grateful that he has put all the elements of his work together into this one beautiful summary. Since the whole is greater than the parts, the book just brings our comprehension up to a new level. To my way of thinking, one cannot understand modern Middle Eastern politics without reading this book. In my own book, I praise Sitchin for his wonderful contributions to our knowledge of early world history.Seraphim Blueprint: The Power of Angel Healing

Don't let the bad publicity against Mr. Sitchin influence your mind.
Many jealous people and especially failed writers hate him.
We all understand that.
There is a person in America who asked the authorities to put him in jail.
Crazy!
Only in America people massacre others with dirty words,
personality assassination and personal hatred. What they do?
They are incapable of writing successful books
so they began to throw dirt from their mouth
and snake-style criticism.

Mr. Sitchin is a remarkable writer.

Respected all over the world.

I collect all his books.

S. Mahdi, Cairo, Egypt.

This book contains Mr. Wise's wonderfully cogent essays on race going back 7 or 8 years. The essays are well written in a calm, logical manner.

White people are 70 percent of drug users yet are only about 10 percent of persons imprisoned for drug possession in this country. At the same time black and latino folks are 25 percent of the drug users in this country yet make up close to 90 percent of the people imprisoned for the crime. Wise notes that in spite of spite of such a reality, citing a Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education study, around 95 percent of white people believe a typical drug user to be black. It is true, he notes, that African Americans commit a higher rate of some street crimes than their percentage of the total population of this country. That is to be expected for folks who grow up in the terrible conditions of the inner city. But blacks only commit about 3 percent of the violent crimes each year, according to Wise. On the other hand white people commit a disproportionate share of the serial killing, child molestation and drunk driving in this country. Young white college students disproportionately make up our country's binge drinkers. White men are two thirds of our rapists.

Wise talks a little about the crimes of white collar white folks. It was old white dudes who deliberately bombed Iraq's electrical grids in 1991, knowing full well that such actions would shut off electricity to Iraq's water and sewage treatment plants and so cause tens of thousands of deaths from epidemics. It was white Republicans who oversaw US aid to the death squad democracies in Central America in the 1980's, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths. It was white men who cut funding for the levees in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina or diverted such funds to build freeway off-ramps for casinos. It was white guys who caused the Bhopal horror. It was white guys who used the sexual organs of Native Americans they murdered as souvenirs as our brave troops did at Sand Creek Colorado in 1864.

One of my favorite points that Wise makes is that while many white folks tend to picture blacks as dangerous criminals, they don't similarly racially categorize crime when white kids from "good families" go on rampages. Almost all school shootings have been conducted by white kids. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage have been caused by beer riots at universities. During a riot at Michigan State University in the late 90's, white students were seen trying to pry a rifle from a police car and at Washington state University in the same period, 23 cops had to be sent to the hospital. Now if these youth trying to steal the rifle were black, you can imagine that police would have shot and killed them. At Michigan State in 2002, white students launched a premeditated riot, threw rocks and bricks and bottles at cops and chanted "f--- the police." At Woodstock 1999 young white people trashed the place, looted ATM machines and young white ladies were raped by some of the young white fellows in attendance.

Wise argues that this is still very much a racist society. He cites academic studies to show that well qualified blacks with no criminal records have trouble getting well paying jobs, housing, home loans, etc. Black people are being ethnically cleansed out of New Orleans, as their housing is demolished under the guise of Katrina reconstruction. He cites a Journal of Public Health study which showed that from 1991 to 2000, close to 900,000 black people died because physicians chose not to provide them with proper care.

Wise argues that whites tend to be oblivious to their own privilege. Much of this country's wealth was originally produced on the backs of black slaves. Beginning with the New Deal, federal programs built up the wealth of white people. This is especially true of the education and housing assistance provided by the GI Bill, which played a leading role in establishing the middle class of the Baby Boom years. Of course, African Americans, including black WWII veterans, were largely excluded from such programs. Even today, blacks who earn good income still tend to have a very small amount of wealth. The assets acquired through such New Deal programs have been handed down through the generations to the point where an impoverished white family today still often has more wealth than a black family that earns a middle class income.

Wise finds it interesting that the plaintiffs in the University of Michigan affirmative action case before the Supreme Court only objected to the special points awarded in University admissions processes to students of color. People have ignored the fact that white people also effectively get special preferences in college admissions that have nothing to do with pure and simple academic achievement. For example, applicants from the almost exclusively white working class Upper Peninsula of Michigan are given special points during application reviews (at the University of Michigan). The school gives out other points during admissions processes that also effectively give preference to white kids.

Wise weighs other issues in the book, including the Duke Rape case, Ronald Reagan, the confederate flag, illegal immigration, hate speech codes at universities, and the case of a white girl who was the victim of racial taunts by black people during her childhood. . He attacks Senator Obama, which is interesting in light of his association with the "Progressives for Obama" group. He dismembers the "What About Oprah?" argument that white people often use to counter charges about racism hindering African Americans. He notes that most white people have historically believed, for example according to polls in the early 60's, that African Americans have no less chance than white Americans to be successful in American society. Thus the present day dismissal of black claims of racism by most of white America is nothing new.

Tim Wise is a brilliant author, and this is priceless collection of his essays. Informative, Thought provoking, and Fun to read. You will not regret reading this book.

Tim Wise, a white southerner, takes on all the shibboleths about race, and jousts with all the chimerical contenders. His insight, and his challenges, will move this country to a better comprehension of SELF and the OTHER, as we wade into the murkiness of race relations today.

I've read most of Tim Wise's essays before, so it's not as if this collection was new. But it is nice to have a collection of his "best" pieces on racism and white privilege, compiled in one place. Some of these, in fact, I had missed, so they were new to me, and even the ones I had read previously seemed to pop off the page this time around. Perhaps it's something about reading them in a non-internet setting, but whatever the case, this collection covers pretty much every race issue I can think of, and better than pretty much any collection out there. Wise doesn't flinch from addressing the controversies raging out there, from immigration, to affirmative action, to the Duke Lacrosse case and even Barry Bonds. His analysis is sharp, his facts incontrovertible, and his prose is crisp, and often stunning.

The only criticism I would offer is that I wish he had provided footnotes for the references in his essays. I know that many of these essays had footnotes in their original form online, and I am not sure why he decided not to include them in the book. In many cases he does give the full citation of the fact he's about to mention, but other times he doesn't. I just worry that people who are inclined to disbelieve the statistical evidence presented in this book will use the lack of footnotes as a reason to dismiss it. Of course, they don't mind the lack of footnotes when their right wing heroes fail to use them, and they'd probably ignore them even if they were in here, but it's one thing I'd love to see changed in a future edition of this book.

All in all though, this is a must read for people interested in racism and white privilege issues.

Teenage rebellion seems to be a natural part of growing up - but there's a point where it goes too far and raises concern. "Your Defiant Teen: 10 Steps To Resolve Conflict and Rebuild Your Relationship" is a guide for parents to help them establish their authority without the need for a messy and hurtful power struggle. 10 steps to encourage better behavior and a mutual respect between yourself and your teen. Authors Dr. Russell A. Barkley & Dr. Arthur L. Robin are skilled in this department and pass on their expertise to you. Soundly recommended to any parent who has a teenager or community library parenting shelves in general.

This is an excellent book for all parents who are stuggling with discipline issues with their children. I recommend this book in my practice for parents of teenagers. The authors have extensive experience and they do not treat the subject simplistically.

JHK puts together an excellent overview of the forces and personalities that defined today's American lifestyle and culture. It condenses four centuries of history, architecture, and science to create a sort of family tree of who we are as a nation and draws the map of how we got here. Not everything is perfect -- IMO he disparages Walt Disney unfairly -- but overall it is a good read that puts many of today's events in perspective.

I've only read a few chapters of this book but I can already get a sense of the author's left wing political leanings. He seems to think that cars are the root of all evil. (Just like author Jared Diamond seems to blame everything on deforestation--see his books).

Kunstler's book is also filled with bits of meaningless prose which seem to reflect some sort of personal ax to grind. Here's an example from page 219:

"Even after he became a showbiz mogul, Walt Disney's world view remained that of a provincial midwesterner, whether it was his idea of the jungle (ooga booga), or of space travel (gee whiz), or of U.S. history (I pledge allegiance...)."

I don't understand Kunstler's point here. There's a vaguely critical tone towards people from the midwest in this sentence but what is his point? What purpose does the gibberish "ooga booga" serve in this sentence? What does "gee whiz" mean? Is Kunstler trying to mock people who are impressed by the achievement of space travel as somehow being provincial? That's just silly. Being in awe of space travel is obviously not restricted to people born in midwest. What exactly is Kunstler's point? What is the purpose of putting "I pledge allegiance" in brackets in this sentence? Is this some sort of criticism of the pledge of allegiance as somehow being "provincial"?.

I find this sort of meaningless prose annoying. I'll probably skim read the rest of the book just for the interesting tidbits.

Fantastic book about modern American society. One of the best. Specifically addresses what's wrong with our living spaces, and how our ideas of Americanism lead to the zoning codes that define housing development. Well told in Kunstler's sharp and descriptive style of American prose.

This is the diagnosis and the companion book, Home From Nowhere, is the cure. People who want to take positive social action to improve their neighborhoods must read these books.

One of the few flaws in this book, however, is the short shrift that Kunstler gives to urban crime as a motivation for the masses fleeing to the suburbs. The matter is touched upon, but inadequately so. To some extent this is a problem of the whole movement known as "the New Urbanism--" a certain reluctance to speak frankly about the reality of crime and widely held perceptions about racial conflict in society. However perhaps this flaw is understandable in light of the thought-controlling fashions of "political correctness" and, at a deeper level, how the voices of developers, architects, lawyers, and other social commentators have been chilled by the overzealous enforcement of the 1965 Fair Housing Act.

Besides that one weakness, this is the strongest book on the topic I know of for the general public. It surpassed my expectations and I've picked it up again and again.

I thank the author for this work.

This book still stays with me vividly after first reading it in college more than a decade ago. There are so many insidious ways our landscape and city planning shape us, for better or worse, and this beautiful book is a plea for a saner way to build, or rebuild, our cities. Makes me all the more grateful to live in Portland, Oregon, possibly the most incredibly laid out city this country has ever seen or will ever.

This is the first book I have read dealing with urban planning and development, and it has opened my eyes to a lot of things that could be done better. My wife and I have talked before about how much we would like to live in a city with good public transportation where we wouldn't need a car, and Kunstler helps me understand why we have those kinds of feelings deep down. We all enjoy being in places that are built on a human scale, where you can actually accomplish something as a person rather than flying by everything in your car.

My main criticism of this book is that he makes some very strong, negative statements about Christianity that in my opinion have nothing to do with his argument, and which are mostly incorrect. In particular, he says several times that various Christian people or groups of people have helped cause the decline of the American landscape because of their beliefs relating to the end times. He makes this accusation against everyone from the Puritan settlers to Ronald Reagan. As an ordained Southern Baptist minister, I know a lot about evangelical eschatology and I haven't got a clue why it would drive anyone to build freeways and shopping malls. I think the real spiritual problems involved in destroying American towns and cities are greed and pride, not faith in Christ.

Still, a reader with half a brain will be able to look past Kunstler's occasional baseless rants and see that he makes a lot of really helpful points. I wish that every mayor and city zoning commissioner in America would read this book and take to heart the idea of building meaningful places on a human scale.

"It is written on the limitless constellations of the celestial heavens, on the depths of the emerald seas and on every grain of sand in the vast desert that the world which we see is an outward and visible dream of an inward and invisible reality." - Sufi saying.

This book is a beautiful re-introduction to the "Sacred Geometry", the study of the simple mathematical patterns that dominate the universe. At the same time this practice both argues for a creator and also one who is unlike the standard "Holy book" picture for his basic engines of creation unfold like a lotus flower into infinity.

Unlike most stuff found in a "New Age" store, this book is not arguing you to believe anything, it shows you and teaches you and lets your own mind do the work. If I ever become a teacher I'll use bits of this book to try to get students to actually think and hopefully enjoy math, arts, the sciences.

Artfully done with many interesting side notes. Easy to read, the book raises many deep questions. Well worth the price!

Colleague Michael Schneider (who I had the pleasure of interviewing on community radio/TV a few years ago) wrote this outstanding book that has wonderful little illustrations and photographs showing how geometry and number remind us universal archetypes every where we turn in nature, art and architecture. For over a decade I've recommended this book as a perfect complement to my Sacred Geometry Design Sourcebook which you can also find here on Amazon or on my website at www.GeometryCode.com. If you want a great place to begin exploring sacred geometry (even though he doesn't call it that :-), A Beginner's Guide... and SGDS make a great pair of references.

A Beginners Guide to Constructing the Universe shows the mathematical underpinnings of nature by explaining how nature makes use of the numbers 1 - 10 and also 12 and 13. For example number six is used by nature in the construction of many things including walls of cells as the six sided hexagon is a very stable geometric object. There is some focus on mystical aspects of math but not too much so that there ends up being a lot of practical knowledge to be found here. The Fibonacci sequence is presented along with the use it is put to by nature. There is a presentation of the golden mean also. I highly recommend this book to those who have had interest in math drilled out of them by the drudgery of unfocused arithmetic and algebra lessons. This book is a peak into the fascinating world of mathematics and should whet your appetite for more. One book to consider after reading this book is "Fascinating Fibonacci's" as it contains more detailed information on the material found in chapter 5 of this book.

First I bought two copies. Sent one to my 90 year old mother who read it cover to cover. Then gave away the other as an emergency gift. Then bought two more. Now I have to buy more because I read my own copy and have three people to whom I would like to give the remaining copy. Let's see, that is 2 + 2 = 4 + 2 or 3 = 6 or 7. Now I know what those numbers "are". This book is precious. It allows one to see the magic and the mystery in common objects and relationships around us. Nicely written. A lot of fun. The whole book is worth the price just for the fantastic quotes in the margins, let alone the chapters. I love this book. I am glad to know more about the radiant essence of my apples, bowls, desks, steering wheel, hands - and everything around me. Thank you Michael Schneider.

It was everything i ever wanted. thanks.
and it came very fast. i appreciate that

The book came really fast and I was really pleased with it's condition hope to do more business!!!

The workbook is like the excercises inside the book. Well they are the excercises in the book just on paper so you can write on it.

A great asset to the Tonal Harmony book. The workbook makes the lessons come alive. Far more experiential than just reading the book.

The tonal harmony workbook contains exemplary exercises to provide efficient practice of the material covered in the text. The audio CD are definitely helpful in supplying aural guidance, and the Final Workbook CD-ROM is perfect for the Theory student (not yet in need of the complete, and extremely costly, version of Finale). Overall, the Tonal Harmony text and workbook are a great asset to any student of Music Theory over the lifetime of his/her musical career.

The text is exactly as described and promised. A very practical tool for the bachelor's or master's student.

the shipping for this item took forever! book is in nice condition though.

It's interesting that books on fieldwork tend to exclude extended discussions of note-taking as a part of fieldwork. The focus of many guides on fieldwork methods usually is on completing audio or video interviews and on the use of photography in fieldwork. This book fills this gap in research methodology. The writers show good, practical techniques for taking notes during ethnographic and oral history field research. More importantly, they convincingly demonstrate how creating good fieldnotes is essential to completing good ethnographic studies. Each section of the book blends practical ideas with theoretical generalizations in ways that not only show readers how to complete field research, but the discussion also reveals why these techniques are useful. The chapter that provides ways to turn fieldnotes into written ethnographies is an especially helpful discussion of a challenging task. In this particular chapter, and in the book in general, readers can find ideas that can also be applied to the use of other field-generated resources such as structured audio/video interviews and photo sessions. This book is also valuable as a resource for understanding and examining various written ethnographic studies. In this respect, the insights offered by Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw give readers good ideas for evaluating written ethnographies and useful perspectives for understanding the process of completing ethnographically-grounded research and how ethnographic study contributes to the representation of culture.

I had checked out several research methodology books to find out 'how' to keep fieldnotes. I had been looking for very 'practical' and 'down to earth' reference which can offer me the real examples and approaches of fieldsnotes. Although there were good research methodology books, I could hardly find the reference for 'fieldnotes'.



The content of this practical and theoretical guide to fieldnotes is quite satisfactory and now I think I know how to keep my own fieldnotes. The text size, however, is so small that I got tired of reading it. On the whole, I am satisfied with this little booklet (small in size but big in quality) and I would love to recommend this book to those who are interested in writing qualitative research articles.

Jimmy Lee, PhD Student, mmed, Florida State University

Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw have put together not only an excellent handbook for writing ethnographic fieldnotes, but an insightful study of the practical issues confronting anyone doing interpretative writing about culture.

The book's primary focus is on how to effectively take and maintain fieldnotes. They appropriately begin at the ground by discussing how to take jottings and other quick notes, providing memory cues for the later write up of complete fieldnotes. Always keeping the focus on the task of writing, while balancing that with the task of honest and rigorous reporting, they give excellent advice for how to create a clear record of your field experience. While their focus is primarily on an ethnographic style of careful observation of interactions, their ideas remain useful to those with other theoretical concerns. Because they are always keeping an eye toward the end product of a finished, written document, this book also provides and excellent resource for how to use your fieldnotes in order to write a finished ethnography.

But this is not just an excellent book for ethnographic fieldworkers. Reading the book not only gave me solid ideas for my fieldwork, but also for the task of reading and note-taking around text-based and image-based culture. Additionally, I see this as an invaluable tool for someone engaged in more journalistic research, and for those of us who teach and tutor writing.

This book is strange.
I don't understand how I'm supposed to LEARN and remember new words while I'm still trying to catch old ones (listening to the dialogues online).
I just could not hear the word "frech" to save my life. lol. Their conversations were super fast. But then sometimes the dialogues totally baby you and you're waiting for the next question!

It feels like the book is trying to teach you new stuff in your written exercises too, but they never "formerly introduce" them and it gets so confusing and obnoxious and it's driving me crazy.

That's probably the most scattered review I've ever left but I'm so frazzled and I have a huge exam on this stuff in a couple hours and I can't even form German sentences. I don't know if it's the book or if it's German itself but it makes the German language seem really wacky.
I have studied many languages. I tried to teach myself German before with the German Made Simple book which was great. I didn't get very far because German is tough and I decided I needed a teacher but I just got lazy more than anything, because that book was great. I got pretty good at Latin without a teacher's help so it's all about the book. And this book sucks.

The book's teaching method is different from other language books I have had. The book has an intuitive learning style which makes the vocabulary relatively easy to learn. The book is split up into several different sections and includes a vocabulary list and grammar section after each chapter. These pages are a different color than the other pages making them easy to find.

My only complaint would be the lack of examples for some of the exercises. Overall this is not a problem but sometimes it is an issue. Also, this book can be bought with a book key included. It is cheaper to buy the text without the key and get the book key (assuming your class requires it) from the publisher.

This information about this product stated that it was "brand new" and included everything. This book came with no interactive CD and verification code for the online supplement. I would recommend that you don't buy from this vendor because you don't get what you pay for.

Make sure you see what edition you're getting. I got stuck with the Second edition, and had to buy a new fifth edition. I'm kinda mad about it because the seller didn't make it clear, and I had to spend twice as much on a new book, plus the price for the old one. I'm never getting books from Amazon again.

This book set was used for my most recent German class. I found it helpful, but I was the only one in my class with any background in the language. Most of my classmates found it confusing. I wouldn't recommend it for someone just starting to learn German, but it's certainly a good "review" for speakers who need to brush up on their skills. Side note: the spoken examples on the cassette tape supplements are very fast, and have an odd accent, but are necessary to complete all work in the Arbeitsbuch.