Westerns Books

I purchased Anderson's Business Law (18th Edition) for my wife as she is a business owner. The book is a beefy college textbook and made with quality paper. Its use of color throughout the text made it easy to read and find a section within the book. The book provides case examples, sources, and website references for each section of law it covers. This book was actually very interesting to read. I highly recommend this book for the small business owner and those who have an interest in the law.

This book provides an easy to read, plenty of examples look on complex ideas like law, rules and contracts to name a few. Laws does not have to be complicated with this book.

This book is the text for a course I took. Although there is some interesting material, the majority of it is way overdone.

I've been teaching a world music course out of this textbook for a couple years now and will say that there are some positives to it: the CD compilation is great, good variety and interesting and there is some really good, detailed information that students would find interesting-it's good for people who go into world music without knowing much, it can be engaging and intriguing. It was the book I used as a student. But, on the other hand from an academic, teaching point of view there are some flaws. I will admit it's difficult to cover an entire world of music in one book, it must be an editor's nightmare on how to arrange the information. But one problem is that some chapters focus on a country or region within a country, i.e. - Japan, South India, Native America. Whereas other chapters focus too broadly-an entire chapter that covers the whole continent of Africa and one on South America!! It doesn't cover Brazil which is full of various musical traditions and is such a large country. Some of the chosen examples of traditions are highly localized too and not indicative of the general population. My Bosnian student had never heard of Bosnian ganga singing until this class. It's not that the information is at all wrong or presented in a bad way, it just needs clarification for students. You wouldn't want them walking away from a class thinking these musical traditions are known and practiced by the entire population (as with ganga singing). One other problem is that there is no chapter on the Middle East which is really unfortunate. I don't think this is a horrible textbook, of the few out there, this is probably the better one. Students can get a lot out of it, and especially the CDs, but if you teach with it, I highly suggest using supplemental information and even make your students be critical of the information they find in the book as well as how it's arranged.

While the text book is informative and enlightening on many of the aspects of World Music, it is frustrating that he continually puts out newer editions that have minimal changes except for the CD. For the general information gathered from this text, anyone will be able to gain loads of interesting facts about the different cultures and their musical ceremonies/practices.

This book is wonder and a treasure trove of musical ideas from around the planet. For example, how many music historians are aware of how the Native Amercians used song to identify each of their tribes?
Mr. Titon has provided very interesting facts about music making from many world cultures. He has also produced a 3 CD sound compilation of musical examples for this book that is indispensible.
If you're tired of today's bland market of music that has sadly squashed historical music making of any kind, this book is an excellent journey into the world's most basic roots of song and music.

More than what I expected! Every artist should have one - it relates history periods to cultures then units all the arts together so you can have perfect understanding of it as a whole. Really fantastic! Full of information!

This exceptional book is worth reading regardless of readers' specialization. A big surprise for those who don't like probability and statistics! This book could be a good introduction to Probability and Statistics with Bayesian approach. Although I cannot point out bad sections, here are some of the topics that could be improved.

Influence Diagram examples are much fewer than Decision Tree diagrams. I'd love to see more complex and elaborate decision model examples for practitioners implementing their own models.

In probability chapter, the authors implicitly assume that Pr(A,B) means Pr(AB) or Pr(A and B) where Pr() is "probability of" and A and B are some events. This is never mentioned in the book (as far as I recall), so it should be fixed for clarity. Also in the same chapter, chain rules and marginalization are not covered explicitly, yet a reader needs to use these general rules in exercises and in some of main contents. These rules are very important in manipulating probability and conditional probability terms.

Although there are few selected answers for exercises, most of the answers are not too hard and they are self-explanatory. So self-study readers shouldn't worry too much.

A curious person who might wonder what decision science and analysis is about, I recommend reading "Smart Choice" by John Hammond, et al. Less math and more compact exposition.

For further study in Influence Diagrams and Bayesian Belief Nets (BBN), a good introduction is "Bayesian Networks and Decision Graphs" by Finn Jensen, et al. There are numerous good sites for BBN on web so search them online. For probability and statistics, "Probability and Statistics" by Degroot, et al. or Feller's Volume 1 are good, which are mentioned in the textbook.

Note: I recommend this blue cover version rather than green one as the former comes with Palisade Decision Tools Suite and is published later.

There is a software with the book, which has to be used for working on the problems.(The book has no use without the software).
You can register the software only once.
If you buy a used book, you have to pay another $20 to get a new serial # to use the software.
My seller mburns1000 didn't mention about this when I bought the book and I ended up spending another $20.

Used this book in a "Making Decisions under Uncertainty" graduate class at the Business School of the University of São Paulo. This book brings all the basics for decision making theory, specifically quantitative aspects of it and comes along with the Decision Tools software that has some bugs but works ok. Using the book together with the software you will get a very good basic idea of what decision making is all about. If decision theory is important for your studies buy this book!!! I also recommend Max Bazerman's "Judgment in managerial decision making" as a complement to it because this one focuses more on the subjective piece of decision making (decision biases, uncertainty, etc, etc) which is not really covered well by Clemen & Reilly. With both, you have a very good toolset for starting to study Decision Making Theory.

Dr Clemen has provided an excellent text for Decision Analysis instruction. I have continuously surveyed the field and have yet to find a text that comes up to the standard that Dr Clemen set with his first publication "Making Hard Decisions"

I have used "Making Hard Decisions with Decision Tools Suite" as well as the predecessor text "Making Hard Decisions."


Richard D Hofler

Understanding Hard Decisions

So that you know where I am coming from: I found this book while selecting a new text for my senior "Decision & Risk Analysis" course. There are numerous books on this subject, but none are perfect: either the presentation of the subject is hard, talking way above the heads of the audience, or too theoretical, or requiring a high level of math skills, or the presentation is at a too low level, or too narrow in focus, or not covering the whole spectrum of Decision Analysis. I chose this book for various advantages it has. The technical level of math that it requires is low, yet the analysis is high. It is written in a very easy way to read, follow and understand manner. It can be used both as a textbook for a course as well as a reference. It makes use of the most common generic tool for calculating and solving problems, the Excel spreadsheet for the suite of software that comes with the book (Palisades Decision tools) are integrated with it. The book offers a rather complete presentation of decision analysis concepts and techniques: there is a whole chapter on the important topic of sensitivity analysis, another chapter on simulation; and risk and forecasting are also presented.

I find the reference section in each chapter excellent, for it helps the reader tie the literature to the concepts presented. The last chapter which gives an annotated decision analysis reading list is also very helpful. All textbooks need to have these two ingredients. It is true that numerous of the references given in the book are fairly old, but the topic is not in the fast changing computer science field, and many of the original articles and books in the decision analysis area are classics and need to be looked at carefully. (Maybe there is a lesson to learn here for those who give a minus when "old" references are included in a scholarly work.)

The book is very modern for the concepts it presents (influence diagrams - a relatively newcomer in decision analysis, issues of recent interest, such as assessment, ecology and AIDS) and because it also ties with the web. The reader is directed to the web page of the Decision Analysis Society of INFORMS and this gives an important tool for keeping the knowledge presented in the book constantly updateable and broadening the spectrum of the interested reader. Another advantage: the book emphasizes structuring decision problems rather the more traditional approach to stress modeling of uncertainty and preference.

I like both the structure of the book (that follows the decision analysis process) and that of each chapter which consist of an introduction, presentation of concepts and techniques, a summary section, challenging case studies accompanied by questions referring to the concepts just presented, references, and an epilogue.

Best qualities of the book: clarity, good structure, interesting real or realistic fictitious case studies - extremely important to keep the student interested in a topic which other books present in a dry way and with just "toy" problems.

Yes, the book is rather expensive, but do not disregard the fact that it comes with a set of software tools which although a student version (with limited-size problems and expiring after a while) it can be time-unlocked for a cost. Most importantly the software does not represent a separate school-only tool, for there exist commercial standard and professional versions that the student will be able to use on real-life problems without the need to go through an additional learning curve, if willing to pay the larger, but non-prohibitive cost. Clear instructions for how to use the software is given in the appropriate sections of the book.

What I would add? A glossary of decision analysis terms, either for each chapter or, with preference, a global one at the end of the book.

A special touch: most chapters end with an epilogue. Each epilogue has a different flavor (a game, a comment on a debated case, etc.) The epilogue does not directly summarize the main "action" of the chapter. It is more like the conclusion section of a musical composition - it brings some additional intriguing element that will keep the interest of the student aroused. This is as artistic in nature as decision science must be!

Review by Ileana Costea, Ph.D. Professor of Engineering, California State University, Northridge Email: icostea@csun.edu

October 18, 2000 Los Angeles

This book was amazing! I received it almost a month before I was going on a 5 day adventure to Yellowstone. I planned my whole trip using this book and it was amazing the things I saw and learned. Yellowstone has little sign's that will point you in the right direction but this book sent you places that most people have never seen! While out on my adventure I showed and recommended the book to many people. They were all amazed at the things in this book and went right to the Yellowstone bookstore and purchased it. I found that 5 days was not enough to view everything in this book and Yellowstone.

I am one of those people that like to know everything about a place before I go and I'm just sorry that this was not the first book I bought.
If it had been the first book I bought I wouldn't have needed any others.
Great maps. Great descriptions. I can't say enough good things about this book.

I highly recommend this book. This author provides great history along with useful information in enjoying the park. There is a logical division of areas within the park and she references you to the next map(location) at the end of each discussion. It is an easy to use reference. She gives information about the surrounding towns and immediate areas outside of each park entrance which decreases the need for additional guide books. I highly recommend this book.

I brought this book for my family RV trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton last month. It helped us plan our routes, learn bits of history and science, and pick camp sites. The mile markers and corresponding information bits were very useful as we stayed mostly on the grand loop. I highly recommend this book, particularly to first-time visitors.

At first my man thought it was stupid of me to purchase this book. I say at first because after he started to read it he said, "Hey that book you bought is really good!" Anyway we used it quite a bit while we were at Yellowstone and also Grand Teton National park as well. A great purchase and an item we will be sure to use many times in the future.

This is a really horrible textbook, it lacks any obvious method of organization and instead of picking out the most important points every detail is hit making it very hard to focus your attention. Also, if you aren't already familiar with this material you will spend a lot of time doing outside research so that you can clarify terms that are simply presented in this text. I would not recommend this book for anyone looking to learn anything, it simply won't happen.

I used this book here at UNC Charlotte for our Western History and Culture class. It isn't a very good book for actually learning the religions because it is very broad. But when the class only lasts a semester it is fine for hitting all the main points. I still dont like the class though.

This is a horrible text book for university. If you are taking a class using this book, drop it. The book is way too broad. The author seems to get way off topic in most paragraphs. Starts on one subject, talks about three others then concludes on something else. Scattered to say the least. Very difficult to learn from and I spent way too much time researching topics on the internet instead.

The virtue of this book is that it is large enough to carry substantial detail, more than appears in books with more pictures and less text. While it might seem a bit stodgy for someone who wants a light read, there is no escape from considering a lot of facts if one wants to achieve any understanding at all of such a complicated subject as religion.

As far as fairness goes, it is only fair to consider each religion on its own terms according to its own self-description and self-interpretation. Religions change constantly, as shown by the history of Judaism in this book, and no mistake can be bigger than reducing a world religion to some single essence. When done by followers of a particular religion, such reductionism represents an exclusionary sectarianism, when directed against other religions, it simply becomes abuse. This work by Oxtoby, on the other hand, shows these religions to have many different expressions, so that I am pleased to recommend it.

There is no such thing as a completely unbiased and objective text on religious studies. As other commentators on this volume have noted, there are some definite biases in this volume, but one must also allow for biases on the part of the readers, too. This book, edited by Willard Oxtoby of the University of Toronto, is the kind of book often used for introduction to world religions courses. This is part of a two-volume set; this volume deals with the three major religions to come out of the ancient Near/Middle East, as well as a few lesser-prominent traditions, such as Zoroastrianism and the Greek/Roman/Egyptian religious varieties.

In his introduction, Oxtoby addresses the issue of objectivity and the insider/outsider consideration about religious studies writing. The other authors, Alan Segal and Mahmoud Ayoub, write of Judaism and Islam respectively, and Oxtoby is a Christian. We are not given the specifics of denomination or sectarian affiliation here, but given the purpose of writing broadly-useful texts, such classifications might hinder rather than help progress.

Oxtoby has the majority of the writing in this volume, taking not only the task of the Christian section, but also Zoroastrianism, the introduction, and concluding chapters with forward-looking ideas. Segal and Ayoub write on their traditions of Judaism and Islam. Each chapter incorporates history, particularly the beginnings of the religions, and the fundamental belief structures. For each major faith, a description of the current state of affairs is also included.

There are photographs throughout, but not so many for a 500+ page book. There are maps, diagrams and charts relating to the subjects. Perhaps the most useful are the highlighted text boxes, which often draw into greater relief key scriptures, historical events, personalities or ideas -- the Ten Commandments is drawn out, as are pieces of Midrash and Talmud; gospel passages and liturgical prayers are highlighted in the Christian section; portions of the Koran and key terms in Islam are also developed in this manner.

The concluding chapters on New Horizons and Traditions in Contact look at developments at work in the modern West today (Bahai, Native American religions, etc.) as well as key areas of inter-religious contact, conflict and dialogue.

Each major section begins with a timeline of key dates in the development of that tradition. Each section concludes with lists for further reading, references, and useful study questions for those who use this as a text book or conversation partner. The book has a very good index, and is well constructed to stand up to regular student use (and abuse).