Mathematics Books

I approached Stephenson's new novel with moderate expectations, considering it likely that Anathem would prove to be less imaginative and engrossing than his earlier work because, well, how could he keep it up?! Foolish of me.

Once again, Neal Stephenson has brought us a fascinating world in astonishing detail, lovingly rendered and filled with characters we come to care for greatly. I hated to close the book, but know that it will reward additional readings.

Thank you, Mr. Stephenson. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us next.

I love reading Neal Stephenson. I think that in general he manages to make complex ideas understandable to his readership & essential to the stories that he tells. The Baroque Cycle and Cryptonomicon are two of my absolute favorite works of speculative fiction literature.

That said, I was a touch disappointed by Anathem. I felt there was a little too much invented language & culture. At times it feels like Neal's making up words because he can, not because he needs to or because it helps to communicate something that readers wouldn't have gotten from standard English terminology. Though Stephenson is willing to create all of this new language & devotes quite a lot of pages to making this understandable to us, at other times I can't help but feeling that the characters talk too much like modern college students or younger adults. If these characters are cloistered for over a decade, it seems odd to me that they are concerned about looking "cool". Some of the characters' values seem too close to what we'd expect from members of the outside world for ultra-bright monastic students of scientific theory.

I also felt that some of the speculative technology & theory were left quite vague. Details are glossed over where they would have been interesting to the reader. This leaves me feeling like I'm being kept in the dark in order to make something seem mystical. This approach feels lazy to me. It's not like there aren't 20+ page sections of the book devoted to the explanation of an idea or technology. It's just that the ideas that move the crucial portions of the plot in the second half of the book aren't given this treatment.

Perhaps I was just disappointed not to find the ideas that have been mined in the last two books, but I think there's another factor at work here. This is such a huge project of world creation that I think it was impossible to refine this book as much as recent works. Because all of the characters & situations had to be created from whole cloth there was less time spent on the details. The end result, though is that this book has a less finished feeling.

The book is good & well worth the time it takes. Just don't go into it expecting the clarity of thought & language that you're used to. This is in some ways sort of a trip back to books like The Diamond Age, Snow Crash & even The Big U. It's a little clumsier than what dedicated readers of Stephenson have grown used to, though it is an exciting tale of adventure, told through the lens of science & technology in an alternate world.

My verdict: not the first book I'd recommend to new Stephenson readers (that will probably always be Cryptonomicon), but if you like his other books you should pick this one up too.

Stir together geek culture, quantum mechanics, steam-punk, and cyber-punk; mix in a dash of classic kung fu and a bit of Aristotle/Descartes/Heidegger (but not in any real punishing way), then pour it all into a tall glass of string theory. That's Anathem.

This is Stephenson's best book since Snow Crash. Like what Snow Crash did for cyber-punk, Anathem does for speculative fiction: it turns the present on it's head through envisioning a radical, alternative near-present.

Possibly the best science/speculative fiction book I've ever read!

Anathem reads like a historical novel and a lot of the history is only implied within the story. This creates mystery and when the mysteries are explained, or when you are granted an insight, it's extremely satisfying, in the same sort of way that Lost. Stephenson, as always, does some very, very clever things with this narrative. He creates a unique, interest world, full of characters that make me smirk. The concepts are brilliant, in that I think about them when I'm not reading the book. He makes you invest a lot in the book, and then he gives you a good return on the investment.

This is a book of big ideas and high concepts. I loved A Canticle for Leibowitz and I loved In The Name of the Rose, and Anathem feels like a Neal Stephenson engineered mash-up of those two books. For me, it was a page-turner, but it's not Michael Crichton. I wouldn't recommend it to my aunt's book club.

I'm a huge Stephenson fan. Not so much of the early cyberpunk, but Cryptnomicon and the Baroque Cycle are also in my top ten list. If you loved those, you will love Anathem. If you like Neal Stephenson, buy this now!

It's interesting looking through the wide range of reviews already here for this book. It appears some readers want to be "spoon fed" and can't accept why, for instance, Stephenson would say "jeejah" instead of PDA or mobile phone. Partly because the concept is not properly captured by either term and partly because there is an explanation coming in a couple of hundred pages as to _why_ things on Arbre are _like_ Earth but not the same. It's important to the plot that we have an ongoing sense that this is "like" Earth but not "identical" to Earth. If the reader isn't able to mentally substitute "mobile communication/computing device" for "jeejah" after the first few occurrences then they shouldn't be reading speculative fiction.

Like Stephenson's previous work, Anathem expects the reader to bring an open, attentive mind to the process. This is not a novel to be lightly dipped into and read like some throwaway pulp adventure. It contains some quite detailed discourse on areas of philosophy and cosmology (amongst many other things). It is driven more by ideas than by people or situations.

Anathem is highly recommended for the reader who wants to have their mind exercised by what they're reading. It is definitely not recommended for readers who wish to simply sit back and be entertained - they should go see a mindless action film or equivalent.

The books was well written, but I'm not really sure how much I've learned from it.

This is an entertaining look at economics and gave valid views on how our systems works.

First of all I totally agree that stupid, promiscuous, nasty girls (henceforth referred to as SPNG) are liable to have criminal sons and more SPNG daughters (all things being genetic). So that making abortion available to such women would decrease crime in the long term (by preventing the birth of criminal boys). However, other studies show that Clever, Virtuous and Kind girls (henceforth referred to as CVKG are (and my own observations of my peers reinforces) are more likely to use contraceptives (although they have sex at a later age and with more thought) and upon the failure of contraceptives are most likely to have abortions. Whilst SPNGs are more likely to have the child, go on government welfare, and have a huge number of children to various Criminal men. So pro choice=fewer ambitious/CVKG type children being born. In conjunction with government welfare this means that many SPNG type mothers having criminal sons.

To really reduce crime would not be pro choice-after all every human instinct is towards reproduction and if your life is empty because you are a stupid SPNG you will have more children than a highly ambitious CVKG.

Proposal:

Offer plasma televisions, DVD players etc with greater incentives per repeat abortion amongst SPNG type women. After enough abortions the cervix becomes incontinent and they will no longer be able to carry a baby to term thus decreasing the SPNG's ability to reproduce in the future.

And when a CVKG seeks an abortions give them educational type benefits (or incentives that are of no value to a SPNG) to give the child up for adoption. Obviously we don't want the CVKG to keep the baby as this would harm her education and career, so adoption is the best possible solution. This increases the number CVKG type children being born and thus increases the number of intelligent people. Whilst decreasing crime by discouraging reproduction amongst SPNG.

Sadly in the western world the characteristics that make someone a SPNG are the characteristic that make someone poor-who wants to work with someone or employ someone who is stupid, Promiscuous and Nasty?

This book has gotten heated reviews from highly focused economic centric minds. Taken for what it is... a very entertaining series of articles with shocking facts and conclusions, the book makes you think about the motivators of human behavior.

Themes: Cheating, Crime, Poverty, Incentives, Testing and finally Causality.

The Chapter Titles grab you. The Chapters can be read in smaller increments.

Very entertaining and enjoyable.

I am pregnant and loved the section on choosing a child names.
I liked the Head Start and Public School perspectives...

Very neat... but approach it as a "fluffy" read, not a book to be cited in your PhD or Master thesis.

Author Steven Levitt is a recently graduated chef from the Culinary Institute of Elitist Capitalism, AKA The University of Chicago. Freakonomics is a kind of nouvelle cuisine version of economic modeling and game-theory as practiced by the disciples of Milty Friedman, but rather little of the book is spent on economic recipes per se, once the basic assertion has been made that "incentives' are the yeast that cause all human behavior to rise. Rather, Levitt puts everything from soup kitchens to swimming pools through the blender of statistics -- the very sort of statistical analysis used by the authors of The Bell Curve and discredited by Stephen Jay Gould in the book The Mismeasurement of Man, the very sort of statistics that can be used to prove that the older you get in Miami, the more likely you are to be Jewish.

Levitt's basic dough: Start with John Stuart Mill and every other 19th C liberal social theorist. Knead thoroughly into a sticky paste. Add a handful of candied fruit in the form of the more radical 19th C postulators - Fourier, Henry George, Bellamy, and Karl Marx as understood before the Russian Revolution. Soften the dough with as much Thorstein Veblen as you can remember. Spice it with generous amounts of scorn for "them" - anthropologists, psychologists, and others who think that human behavior is shaped by more impulses than acquisition and that specific cultural 'memes' play a role. Half-bake the dough in a journalistic oven with the temperature set on SELL. Frost the loaf with an icing of Ayn Rand super-individualism. But don't expect the finished cake to be much different from cakes you've eaten before. There's nothing new in Freakonomics except the smirky style.

Honestly, many readers might find this book stimulating, or over-stimulating, depending on their prior convictions. Go on! Read it! But read it with the same skepticism you'd apply to the gospel of any other religion than your own - Shinto, Islam, Swedenborgian, Leninist, Maoist. This is a book where the reader will be easily tricked into mistaking polemics for proof.

Probably a book about interesting topics. I say "probably" beasuse I was unable to read it. Book is written in childishly infantile style that is appropriate for kindergarden kids. I made many attempts to read this book - from the beginning, form the end, from the middle. Sorry. Facts are hidden in jumble-mumble

In this informative book we are introduced to a new breed of mathematicians, "the numerati", who are responsible for gathering loads of private information individuals provide when they use a credit card, donate to a cause, surf the Internet, or even make a phone call.

The book's chapters include:

1. Intro
2. The Worker
3. The Shopper
4. The Voter
5. The Blogger
6. The Terrorist
7. The Patient
8. The Lover
9. Conclusion

This book is so so interesting. I especially enjoyed the chapters on Shoppers and Bloggers. One firm in New York analyzes data from web searches, and gathers some 20 billion behavioral clues on internet users each day. I also learned about an interesting Blog search engine, how political consultants target particular voters, and so much more. This non fiction book is highly recommended.

Steve Baker has written a page-turner that illuminates a world invisible to all but a few who understand the depths to which the digital world is shaping every aspect of our society. The "Numerati" -- those mathematical wizards and computer engineers to whom I paid little notice 30 years ago when I was in college -- are now the entrepreneurs and visionaries whose expertise is at work deciphering everything we do and even think. The Numerati's complex search methods known to those who took calculus in high school as "algorithms" are used every day by public and private sector entities to intrepret the vast amounts of data we all voluntarily put in the public domain every time we use our phones, credit cards and go "on-line." The story Baker tells of how the "Numerati" have insinuated themselves into every aspect of our economic and national life is compelling and and at times frightening. Every cell and land-line phone call, on-line communication, credit card purchase and daily email we send is part of an exponentially growing data base that's harvested not just for benign social and economic research, but highly targeted consumer marketing, politcal persuasion and outreach, business management and oversight of employees, as well as for govermernmental scrutiny of potentially suspicious activity. Baker's groundbreaking book tells in layman terms how the "Numerati" mine our data to determine who we are and what we do with our lives. Every single action we take using every day technology adds to a vast data base of information that is ripe for interperation not remotely imaginable in the analog world -- the four-TV channel and dial-phone universe in which I grew up as a kid in the 1960's and 1970's. As one of the "Numerati" notes in this book, this vast data base of information we voluntarily give up about ourselves is going to expand inexorably. Nothing will stop this juggernaut of information and the growing technological capacity to mine it. The genie is out of the bottle. Drawing on his skills as a journalist covering technology for more than two decades for Business Week Magazine, Baker introduces us to a Brave New World with great possibilities as well as potential perils. This is a gripping read: The three chapters covering politics, terrorism and medicine alone are worth the price of the book. There is much that is good and exciting about this new world, as it is putting information to use for us that expands our choices and improves our quality of life. But at the same time, the Numerati have the power and capacity to manipulate and reinforce our behavior as well as peer into our private lives. While this technological wizardry may well identify dangerous activity and potential terrorist threats, it also may invade our privacy in fundamental ways. "The Numerati" captures the dawn of a new era in which information is not simply power, but possibly all-controlling and potentially at odds with the values of a democratic society. Baker's ability to describe the new "search" technology and the experts that harness it makes for a compelling read, but it leaves the reader with more questions than answers. Is this technology and its accelerating capacity to scrutinize our daily activities outpacing our ability to regulate this new world so that our democratic and constitutional values are protected? The challenge of this new era, not so subtly raised by this extraordinary book, is whether this new technological revolution is going to control us or whether we will control it. To invoke a well worn book cover cliché: Run don't walk, to buy this book" -- and pay with cash if you want to keep your purchase private -- so you can decide for yourself.

I would highly recommend reading Baker's book immediately before or after reading How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of "Intangibles" in Business by Douglas Hubbard. Baker would probably consider Hubbard one of the "numerati". Both authors talk about some of the specifics of the analysis methods (but moreso Hubbard) and both talk about the general trends and impacts (but moreso Baker).

Like his table of contents (which is simply worker, shopper, voter, blogger, terrorist, patient, lover), Baker's book is sweeping if a bit terse in places. As a quant, I find Numerati an easy read with virtually no math but still enlightening even for the most quantitatively adept reader. There were several examples in Baker's book where I already knew of the mathod but had not heard of that application. He did some great research and covered a lot of topics in this giant and elaborate field of work.

My main concern for many management-level readers of this book is that in some cases Baker gives a reader just enough information to think they can apply it to a similar problem they have, falling into the "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" trap. Again, this can be offset with a read of Hubbard's book. It might also have been helpful to talk about the rise of "crackpot rigour" in a world with lots of data and relatively few competent mathematical analysts (various "data mining" experts come to mind).

In all, its one of my favorite reads of the year. I felt like someone was finally casting light on my own obscure field.

"The Numerati" features a number of interviews between Baker and various individuals leading research efforts into analyzing consumer data. Readers would easily be led into believing that a New Age is around the corner.

I can testify from experience (health care, education, prisoners, construction) that it's not so simple. There are just too many side issues that complicate situations (Baker does point out some of them) and/or negate/limit the value of findings. In addition, in some areas there is active resistance to such findings - education is the most glaring example.

Education priorities are now set according to making life easier and more profitable for educators, not improving pupil outcomes; educators are dead set against undermining their "gold mine." Similarly, physicians generally do not accept outcomes data - partly for good reasons (the data inputs are not as accurate as desirable), but mostly because they don't want light shown on their fiefdoms.

Meanwhile, simpler methods exist - eg. focus groups. Further, I was disappointed the Baker did not cover the Internet's existing powerful ability to guide pricing decisions by randomly/decision-aided quoting of different prices.

Bottom Line: "The Numerati" does provide an overview of current thinking in the areas of grocery shopping, possible crime and terrorist prevention, etc. However, NO information on the current value/usefulness of these techniques is provided - thus, potential practitioners receive little of value.

As an A&P teacher, I find that students who use this anatomy coloring book get it faster and retain the info longer than any other. It is much more accurate than other anatomy coloring books. Highly recommended!

Good selection for me. I need it for class. It came promptly and what I could afford. Thank you.

I am still reading the book but overall the information given is good academically. I am preparing for ACSM examination & I feel this book will really help men in my studies. The detail info with diagram really help you to understand each part of the human body, this way no one will forget what he/she is reading.

I purchased both this and the Physiology Coloring Book and they are great! Not only does coloring in the images reinforce what I'm studying, but the text portion (explanations) are added bonuses. I highly recommend both.

I bought this book because I give massages and find it a very helpful guide in therapeutic massage. I refer to it all the time for more than massage-- understanding injuries and health conditions in general. A must for the curious.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805350861/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title

I couldn't have prepped for the GMAT without this guide. It is a "must have" for anyone who actually wants to study for the GMAT with real GMAT questions. Kaplan's questions are too hard, Barron's are just bizarre - you can rely on these questions.

most of the stuff in this book is already in the GMAT official guide(OG 11) except the practice problems. buy this book if you want more math practice...it has good amount of practice problems: Problem Solving(176), Data Sufficiency(118)
and these problems are different from the ones in OG 11.

It has been seven years since I have been out of college. My math skills are very rusty. The Quanative Review is the best book to get because it is written by the GMAT Staff. Each question comes with an explanation of how the problem is solved. The book is broken down into sections with complete explanations.

I am not good at math at all and there are over 300 problems to solve from basic arthimatic, algebra, geometry, and Data Sufficienty. all have multiple choice answers and at the end of each section.

The book is much cheaper than getting it through the mba.

I also recommend the GMAT Verbal Review as well

This book is a must if you are about to take the GMAT and need lots of practice on Math it contains a lot of good exercies and how to solve them...

I have been studying for GMAT for a few weeks now and I think the OG is a great source for a good practice on real GMAT questions. But having said that, use the OG only once you grasp all the basics and when you are almost ready to take the GMAT. The OG does not contain any math conceptual content, so use it only for practice towards the end.

In order to get a real GMAT prep - I would recommend you buy the set of 9 books of "EZ Solutions," or whichever book(s) you think you need most help with. These books are very detailed oriented and cover everything on the GMAT math. First use the review modules to get the concepts and then use the workbooks for practice. Some of the most challenging topics in GMAT math, such as permutation/combination, probability, geometry problems, complex word problems, etc., are brilliantly explained in these books. Also, the EZ Advanced Workbook is a "must have" if you are aiming for a high score. It may be a good idea to buy Barron's without the CD (don't waste money on the CD version for any book). After doing all this, use the OG and you will see a dramatic difference in your scores. If you still need more practice, you may consider buying the Kaplan book (but really not needed). Save your money by not buying anything else. You don't even have to take any of those pricy courses. I followed this process and my scores have jumped from the 500-range to the 700-range. Good luck!

My daughter loves this book. I love that she loves math. Thanks, Danica!

I am an elementary school teacher. I love the ideas in theis book, but wonder why the title has to be what it is. I cannot share it with students because I teach them not to use the word suck.

This book, Math Doesn't Suck, is written in plain language for girls from 10 - 12 yrs old. My granddaughter loves it. She read it all right away and is now keeping it as a reference. There are practical applications that make math fun. I was so happy I bought it.

This book makes mathematics fun and easy. it is the only book for maths that i am not getting tired of despite having English as a second language. As a teacher I am inspired by the humorous and smart way of introducing maths to students. i am planning to buy the second book as well. I hope Danica writes more books explaining algebra and other difficult math concepts.

Great book. This makes math seem much less intimidating to students AND their teachers.
I bought it to show to my grad students who are going to be teachers. One bought her own copy after borrowing my copy and another student promptly borrowed the returned book.

As a teacher of high school mathematics and statistics, I have read many such books on the subject at hand. Few of them are as readable and enjoyable as The Drunkard's Walk.

What Mlodinow's brings to the table is a great sense of humor and a writing style that is entertaining and engaging, with great stories to go along with the mathematical ideas he shares. He brings in historical anecdotes and psychological research to highlight how mathematical truth and human perception clash. I found myself very impressed by his ability to bring in the perfect study or story to illustrate a point.

Essentially, the book is a course in Statistics 101, but reading it, you'd never know. It is geared to the average intelligent reader, but there are few mathematical formulas or abstractions. Enjoy!

Other related books and how they compare:
Against the Gods- The Remarkable Story of Risk: Much drier. More detail, less fun.

Fooled By Randomness: Arrogant writing style, too philosophical for my taste. Focus on the markets.

Damn Lies and Statistics: Narrow focus on how Statistics can mislead. Good examples, though not as entertaining.

Chances Are: A good read, similar content, though this is more engaging.

Innumeracy: A must read classic by Paulos.

Predictably Irrational: Fun book, similar style but more about behavioral economics (overlaps last chapter of this book)

Sway: Pretty good, but not as overarching as Predictably Irrational

SuperCrunchers: Unimpressive book that I thought didn't prove thesis well.

This is an excellent background to the concepts behind statistics, randomness and probability, all without any of those nasty equations, or a single mathematical symbol in sight.

Well written and easy to understand. This is an excellent primer for anyone wondering about what statistics is good for or how randomness works.

Should be compulsory for every uni student who procrastinates about stats homework because it all seems pointless and just maths....

This book reminded me quite a lot of The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki, another popular science/math book that I enjoyed and got some insights out of. This one, though maybe not as well written as Surowiecki's book, offered me even more insight and interest; not only did I love reading it, I feel like it has given me an opportunity to change much about my outlook on life, and only in good ways.

A lot of the book is taken up with the history of the study of randomness and chance, starting with an Italian physician and scientist named Gerolamo Cardano, who made a fortune by learning how to gamble intelligently, in a time when people believed games of chance were controlled by the fates, or by God. Cardano paid attention to what rolls of the dice came up more often than others, and used the information to make better bets; he wrote a book about what he learned after it paid his way through medical school and carried him past a bitter feud with the other doctors of Milan -- who didn't like Cardano because he had written another book that pointed out that they were a bunch of quacks. The most interesting part of the history, to me, was the new knowledge that most of the great mathematicians of the past were, well, pretty messed up. I wonder if it has something to do with having a mathematical mind in a disorganized and messy world, especially in the European Middle Ages, a society so focused on determinism and fatalism that they believed that attempting to understand the world was basically blasphemy, as it implied that you could understand the mind of God. But whatever the reason, the list of mathematicians who contributed to the study of randomness include religious zealots, liars, thieves, and madmen; it was most entertaining to read about.

My favorite part of the book, though, was the conclusions that Mlodinow drew from this history, and from what we have learned about randomness in the last few centuries. The biggest ones for me were these: first, that random chance influences the outcomes of every chain of events, everywhere in the universe, and every second of our lives, and second, that we don't understand this truth. Because of this, we believe that we can control things that we can't, and we see patterns where there are none; I've never read a better explanation of hindsight's apparent clarity, and it's something I plan to spend quite a bit of time pondering. The other inspirational conclusion Mlodinow drew was the idea that failure, and success, are both influenced far more by random chance than we normally believe. He says that our failures do not represent a lack of ability, but show the inevitability of chance's influence on the world; we do not fail for a reason, not always. More importantly, we do not succeed for a reason, either, and so the key to success, and to overcoming failure, is truly just to keep trying, to never lose faith -- because if there's one thing we can have faith in, it is this: random chance will sometimes put us under the bar, and sometimes, it will put us over. We will win, we will succeed, as long as we keep putting ourselves out there. Knowing that the reason we fail is often no reason at all, but merely dumb luck, should help us to overcome the agony of defeat and keep trying until the dice fall our way.

I liked that message more than I can say, and I'm extremely glad I got to read it.

This book is a lot of fun. It's an eye-opening jaunt through the surprisingly colorful world of randomness. Interspersed are the vivid stories of those who discovered some of the most powerful mathematical tools ever conceived: Cardano the gambler, the Bernouilli clan (including the villainous Jakob!) and Blaise Pascal (who conceived a wager on the existence of God).

The insights from probability and statistics have a direct impact on our lives whether it is assessing the real chance you have a life-threatening disease, to deciding how and where to invest your money. They also account for some of the strange coincidences you read and wonder about in the paper. How was it that a German 6/49 lottery in 1995 drew the very same 6 numbers in two consecutive draws?

Then there is the tragic misuse of numbers: Sally Clark in Britain who was convicted of murdering her children by a prosecutor using bad statistics; and the OJ Simpson case where the acquittal was partly based on an erroneous probability argument.

I would give this book 5 stars if not for one quibble. Some of the explanatory language for the mathematical concepts could have been made clearer. For example the section on Bayes theorem and false positives could have benefited from diagrams. Visualizing the different sample subsets would help make this easier to understand. The explanation of the classic 'Let's Make A Deal' has been done before but here there is no extra attempt to make it accessible.

Despite this concern, this book is well worth the effort for the educated layperson.

I originally checked this book out from the library, but it was so good that I had to buy it. It is an amazing look at chance, randomness, probability and how all those things factor into daily life.

This book explains probabilities and chance better than anything else I have ever read. While he explains mathematical concepts, he keeps the book grounded with practical and engaging anecdotes. For example, he explains the counterintuitive reality that though he tested postive for HIV in a test that had a 1 in 1000 rate of false positives, he actually had only a 9% chance of actually having HIV.

This book should be required reading for everyone--especially public policy makers, who routinely display a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of randomness in life.

You won't be disappointed with The Drunkard's Walk.

This book explains math in a way that is easy for young girls (and boys) to get a more thorough understanding of Algebra. It builds off of the fundamentals learned in her first book. My daughter loves it and I do, too! Danica, you rock!!!

My 13-yr-old daughter struggles with math and doesn't apply herself. With this book, she enjoys learning and it sticks with her. Great job, Danica!

This book is written in an incredibly easy and fun format that will engage teenagers and provide lots of creative ideas for anyone trying to take the fear and mystery out of algebra. Even the most math phobic person will understand the concepts and probably even discover that math truly is fun. I use it for both my own children and my students. Well worth every penny and so is the companion book "Math Doesn't Suck"!!

Both of Danica's books are incredible! My daughter absolutely loves them! She's always had a hard time with math but with these books it's amazing how much they help!! If your girl has a hard time with math, don't wait, just buy these books!:-)

I'm reading this book with my 12 year old daughter and it's as fun as a fiction book. She is learning (and it's a good review for me). I highly recommend it.

Great book, in perfect condition and as I saw on screen that s how i received at home.

For those to are ecologically minded, a key part of creating any new product is to produce a life cycle assessment (LCA), which is also known as a cradle-to-grave analysis, working from manufacture (`cradle') to use and disposal (`grave'). The LCA investigates all of the environmental impacts of that product and attempts to minimise that damage. One of the key premises of McDonough & Brangart's book, is that minimising damage just isn't good enough. Instead, the authors propose that we change our entire design processes so that reuse and nourishment are built right into the process. Instead of minimising waste, we create value. Cradle to Cradle goes beyond the notion of having recycling as the final step in a process flow, and instead builds on the idea that waste need not exist at all. We can design our lives and products around the notion of nourishment - from the way we live to (primarily) how we design and produce goods. The natural world provides the template for what the authors suggest, from the regenerative world of the insect, to the cherry tree, to the use of natural nutrients such as solar and wind power. They suggest that the key to working within, rather than against, nature is to respect biodiversity, respect the elegance and abundance of what is around us, and begin our design process with the notion of there is no such thing as waste.

The writing style itself is clear, simple, and suitable for all ages and knowledge levels. Different readers will take different things from the book. It is addressed to those that do design for a living, and for those who are professionals in industry, this book will serve as a manual for development. But all of us are engaged in creation and consumption in one way or another (the machine I'm using to type this on, or the reams of paper my kids draw on to take two general examples) and the choices we make on how we will conduct those activities, and seeing ourselves as all being part of the great cradle to cradle cycle is an important step forward.

The book spends some time discussing the whole notion of dangerous design principles, including the way in which "downcycling" only defers the problem as products become more and more unstable (and environmental problematic) as they are recycled. Although I've yet to see plastic books become a trend, the book itself is an example of how a product can be manufactured in a way that will be infinitely valuable. It's made out of synthetic paper which doesn't use wood pulp or any dangerous inks or substances, and is both waterproof and pleasurable to read, with nice thick pages and clear ink. The book goes into quite a lot of detail about what it would mean to design products that weren't less bad, but rather 100% good. The authors look at architecture and how we can design buildings that take into account the diversity of their settings, and the natural needs of their inhabitants.

The book concludes with "Five Steps to Eco-Effectiveness", a neat summary of how to put the philosophical principles discussed in the book into practice. Some of these, such as "Step 2: Follow informed personal preferences" may seem a little unusual, advocating that we use our aesthetic sense, our observations and our own sense of pleasure (yes, pleasure) to guide our design decisions. While others, such as "Step 4: Reinvent" may seem almost too broad for the average reader. However, the book is full of so many specific examples, primarily from industry, that it's easy to picture what they are advocating working in practice. After all, the book itself is not only beautifully and safely designed to fit the "cradle-to-cradle" philosophy, it is also written in a way that is easily read, linguistically elegant and appealing, and sound in its advice. As a writer, I can see the sense in taking on this wholistic approach to environmentalism, ditching the hysteria and the mass of finger-pointing practices which look green but which don't actually make much of a difference, and taking on this approach in a whole body sense. It's powerful stuff and the impact is starting to happen, perhaps a little too slowly, but, as the authors say, "it's going to take forever...that's the point."

Magdalena Ball is the author of Sleep Before Evening.

This book was in perfect condition when I received it and the really cool thing about it is that its WATERPROOF which means you can read it pretty much anywhere-in the shower, underwater, at the beach or even in a fish tank! The book gives you scary insight on how we are destroying our earth and killing ourselves slowly and simultaneously!!!

Apparently corporations are all going green. Even Ford will become perfectly sustainable. Now they abuse their employees & produce thousands of fossil-fuel-burning cars out of a "green" facility built with materials extracted from where, a green, sustainable mining operation?

This book has some good points & quotes, but in the end it's another propaganda piece for greenwashing corporations.

Such an inspiring book! McDonough and Braungart offer much more than just passion for creating a green world--they tell us how to do it. Through their experience innovating new systems with companies like Ford, Herman Miller, DuPont, and many more, they bring serious intelligence to a movement that often feels like another fad. Current enthusiasm aside, Green is here to stay, and we need to start understanding the things we talk about.

Put on your creativity hat and prepare to be dazzled.

Why spend a few good evenings re-discovering life through the eyes of an autistic boy? The answer to that lies in this intriguing novel. While most fifteen-year-olds spend their time playing basketball or crunching popcorn at the movies, Christopher Boone - our protagonist - prefers cracking difficult maths puzzles and investigating the death of his neighbour's poodle. The latter event eventually leads him on an adventure that forms the bulk of the plot - a discovery of the untold back-story to his parents' troubled marriage.

The main selling point of the book, however, lies not so much in the story per se as having the story rendered through Christopher's eyes. And what he brings is a wholly refreshing perspective on life - from the details he picks out with his unbelievably photographic memory to his manic obsession with order. How many people actually can - or will bother to - remember the number (and colour and size and disposition) of cows they've just seen on a random field? This raises serious questions about the things we `normal people' choose to see and not to see. The language too is perfect - methodical, matter-of-fact and well-suited to the subject matter and how our protagonist relates to it.

A truly refreshing and thought-provoking read.

What an awesome idea. This book is unlike any other I have read. Telling a story from the persepctive of an autistic boy's point of view is brilliant. You will follow this boy's plight step by step as he struggles to come to terms with an "event" about which he knows very little. Great book.

I know this book has garnered a large and varied response, ranging from disdain for its unconventional structure and use of vulgar words to an admiration for how it views real life from a detached point of view. However, I found that I rather liked this book, and found it a genuinely touching book.

I won't dwell into how Haddon constructs the story, but Haddon's story is thought-provoking and touching at the same time. Haddon's plot questions the disdain we have towards people who are not of our thinking, and his drawing of the characters is so real that you feel as if you could reach out to touch them. I am struck by the way that Haddon draws the character of Christopher, because in some ways he shares many of our frustrations but yet he is still a loveable character. His untangling of the vicissitudes of everyday people is what propels the story forward. I know the plot may not be the best in how it moves abruptly to the investigation of the murder of a dog to the conflict between his parents. However, once you find that the parental disagreement is the heart of the novel and the dog incident is the key to it, the plot begins to make sense.

I know some people have raised concerns about the vulgarities peppered throughout the book. As such I see that it isn't suitable for children. I'm aware that such words, especially the F-word, are offensive but even so the expletives aren't the essence of the book and don't detract from Christopher's dealings with his predicaments.

In short, I heartily recommend this book to all, as one of the most interesting, and accessible, novels of recent years.

"This book was so terrific that, when I read a passage of it to my teenage son, he said, "I want to read that when you get finished." Well, I finished quickly (it's short) and gave it to him. He read it!

Why is that so amazing? Well, my son reads about one book every 2 years. He loved it.

I have a friend who has an autistic son. While reading this, I could imagine that, yes, my friend's son seems to quite possibly think this way.

It's amazing how Mark Haddon was able to tell this story from the viewpoint of someone that is autistic. Autistic people cannot truly communicate how they think and feel to us. but Mr. Haddon seems to have hit it on the head.

You don't really read this book for the story, which is interesting, but not terrific, you read it for the WRITING."

I often worry that these books with a lot of buzz won't live up to the hype by the time I get around to reading them. In this case, I shouldn't have worried. From his prime-numbered chapters to his reasons why he doesn't like the colors yellow and brown, Haddon's autistic narrator is full of his own charm, even if he couldn't tell you what charm was. You can't help but feel for this boy who wants to find out who killed his neighbor's dog, thinks his mother is dead, and lacks the filter we take for granted to see and hear only that which is important to us. From time to time you may get bogged down in Christopher's factual digressions and descriptions, but it's not long before you're caught back up in his story.