change Books

I love the cover of the book. I'm trying to find the illustration that they used. I wrote the publisher but the artwork is not credited and they don't know where it's from either.

If anyone knows the title of the artwork and where I can find it, please leave a note in the comments link below.

Thanks...

The book is way to technical. I need to read it but it is boring as hell. Most of the text is spent on minutia about obscure details. Buy something else. This book bits

Let's see, should we believe the 95% of climate scientists and the IPCC reports on global warming? Or should we believe a man who has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from oil and energy companies?

Source:
Writing in Harpers Magazine in 1995, author Ross Gelbspan noted that "Michaels has received more than $115,000 over the last four years from coal and energy interests."

Wake up people--global warming naysayers paid by oil companies are hardly credible sources of information.

If thousands of astronomers from around the world said that an asteroid would hit Earth in 30 years, would you believe them? Or would you believe a handful of pseudo-astronomers (paid for by special interests) who claim otherwise?

This book is a collection of essays by global warming skeptics. It's pretty much the same old rhetoric that the global warming deniers repeat as often as anyone will listen. As usual, they downplay the green house gas effect on climate change and suggest unproven alternative theories like solar variation. The introduction by Michaels goes over the supposed problems with the consensus. They claim there are misleading statements in the IPCC report. They also knock Mann's "Hockey Stick" graph as being misleading and incorrect but again they only offer their opinion. They dedicate a significant part of the book to undermining Mann's work and playing-up the Hockey Stick routine for full-effect. They also focus on the observational differentials in surface temperatures compared to atmospheric temperatures. There is also considerable time spent on the notion that increases in global temperature have an only a minor effect on weather (Tell that to the people of the gulf coast and south Asia.)

Most of these arguments have already been refuted by several prominent climate scientists. They might gain a following among those who already deny anthropogenic global warming. This book is sure to please them.

They reach the conclusion that there is still much work to be done to fully understand climate change and that policy makers should avoid making hasty decisions that could result in economic problems.

I agree there is still much work to be done to fully understand our changing climate. I strongly disagree with the idea that we shouldn't take preventive measures to reduce the impact of global warming. Not all actions to reduce CO2 emissions will necessarily have a negative impact on the economy. To the contrary, the renewable energy industry could see explosive growth. There is also something to be gained from reducing our dependence on fossil fuels for energy production.

For those of us who really care about the environment and the future of our civilization, this book will have little or no impact on our views of climate change. The only thing it might shatter is the record for the time a book goes to press to the time it goes into the recycling bin. It is a boorish read filled with flawed logic.

A comment on the reviewers here. When I see the word "denier" used as in "Global Warming Denier" it tells me everything I need to know about the person. They are ignorant of scientific method and the difference between hypothosis, theory and fact. And that is a shame, because people like them have been manipulated in the name of one "Great Cause" or another for all of history. (The Crusades, Eugenics, Prohibition - they all worked out so well.)

There is a need in humans to feel guilt about that which they do. A belief in a devine power (a god) handled this need for millenia. Since god has fallen out of favor with the masses, some new form of mythos was needed. The sane concern for clean water and air has morphed into a new religion. Like all religions, it needs leaders who live as they like while chastising their followers to live austerly (and send them money and gifts to pay for their guilt). It needs masses who feel guilty about (fill in the blank) and seek forgiveness from (fill in the blank). They receive it by donating money to the cause and giving up things that make them happy. In past religions it was slaughtering a sheep or giving a daughter to the temple, more recently it was giving up sex, drugs or alcohol. In the new religion of "Global Warming"....oh wait..."Climate Change", the congregation gives up big cars and houses or they salve their guilt by buying solor-powered patio lights and sending money to Green Peace. If they fly in private jets they save face and buy forgiveness by donating money to plant trees - CO2 offset or sin tax - take your pick. (Nevermind that when the tree dies the decomposition makes CO2 net gain zero - those science facts conflict with doctrine so ignore them). Pope Al Gore the First sits at the top of the hierachy taking up collections to the tune of over 100 million dollars while his followers carefully select the science they believe in order to be consistent with their religion and berate the unbelievers. To question doctrine is to be branded a "denier".

The earth cools for ten solid years? Ignore Occam's Razor. Explain it away with convoluted facts strung together to suit doctrine. All facts must fit into doctrine. Mars warms because of solar activity? It flies in the face of doctrine so pretend (even though it denies scientific method) that what happens on one planet can not happen on another. The ice record shows that CO2 increases AFTER a warming period? Just slide the chart over a little bit to make it fit doctrine. There. Now CO2 is a cause and not an effect. Doctrine is fulfilled. All is well.

I'm all in favor of freedom of religion. If you need it to feel good about yourself please worship in the fashion you choose. But science thrives on constantly questioning, testing and evaluating observations. If you create a religion based on loosely strung together observations, label it "science" and then expect no one to question it, your ignorance of science and history is sorely lacking. The louder you scream at the people questioning your doctrine, the more you prove our point about it being - at best - poor science and at worst - just another religious fad. Good luck with that.

The book? A little dry in places. Says little I have not already heard. Maybe it'll get through to some people on the fence, most likely it's preaching to the choir. Hope it sells a million copies. Maybe then I won't have to use stupid florescent lights in my home in order to satisfy someone else' religious beliefs.

BTW. I drive a Civic Hybrid and a Cadillac. The Caddy because I like a nice car and I am totally guilt free. The Hybrid because even if Global Warming is not real, the economic effects of it are. You won't be seeing $3/gal gas again so remember to thank the people who stopped us from drilling for 30 years in the name of their god/godess.

If you are a Christian of any denomination from Protestant to Roman Catholic, I can hardily recommend this book and this ministry. There is genuine healing for everyone from their teaching and ministry, no matter how long you have been a Christian.

God Bless them,
Lawren

Alcoholism cuts across all divides, afflicting the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the famous, the unknown. In this very absorbing book, author and interviewer Dennis Wholey meets with a few of them and presents their thoughts on how they became alcoholics, how it affected their lives, and what they did in an effort to control their disease.

The book breaks down into several sections. After a short introduction by actor, singer, and alcoholic Gordon MacRae, Wholey describes his own journey--and then launches into sections titled "The Beginning," "The Progression," "Quitting," and "A New Life," in which the likes of Doc Severinson, Shecky Green, Gary Crosby, Bob Welch, and Thomas Tryon describe their personal experiences with the disease at various stages. Other sections include "The Woman Alcoholic," "Alcoholism and Homosexuality," "Wives and Alcoholic Husbands," and "The Families of Alcoholics."

Although the book finishes out with information on Al-Anon and A.A., it does not actually "preach" either organization as a cure-all for every alcoholic, and several of the interview subjects found relief through various other organizations or techniques.

You might suppose this book will be of interest only to other alcoholics, but that is far from the case. With a broad range of personalities involved--Gale Storm, Jason Robarbs, Grace Slick, and Billy Carter to name but four more--it offers a truly fascinating look into both the individual and the disease. It also offers inspiration for any one who has ever faced the need to make substantial life-changes for any reason.

If there is a flaw in the book, it is that it has a slightly dated quality. Although it offers a section on "The Woman Alcoholic," the emphasis is on men, and the "Alcoholism and Homosexuality" section consists of a single interview that has, in many respects, suffered a great deal from changing attitudes and better research. Even so, while an update would be welcome, COURAGE TO CHANGE remains a powerful testament and inspiration.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Great buy, would definately recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with the affects of alcohol in their life.

When I read The Courage to Change the first time (1987, the original edition) it changed my life because it explained alcoholism in a concrete way that was easy to understand. The stories from alcoholic (and some nonalcoholic) celebrities go a long way toward illustrating the damage this disease causes while showing that you don't have to be the proverbial falling-down drunk or daily drinker to be an alcoholic. The stories also, by the way, are entertaining and show the humanity of some of the household names who tell them. Wholey mixes up the rhythm of this book enough that you don't get bored. Something here for everyone--I've personally bought literally more than 12 copies to give away. I recommend it highly. Thanks, Dennis Wholey!

Richard Davis Jr and Duncan Fitzgerald are great researchers of coastal environments. The book Beaches and Coasts is an excellent book, featuring various kinds of environments, their relations and coastal development. Well written and illustrated. Basic Library.

Interesting what you come to if you view data without a political or ideological agenda. This book provides a thoughtful analysis along with fair statistical data. We've given up our right to think clearly to talk show hosts who beat up our schools for ratings. This is an honest and fair look at some of the issues facing schools today.

This is an excellent book that delineates the manufactured crisis that so many people believe is going on in the educational arena today. A companion to this book that I would also recommend would be "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism", which details Milton Friedman's philosophy of unfettered capitalism after times of crisis. The current No Child Left Behind Act and so-called educational crisis create this manufactured crisis through the manufacturing of myths and the misuse of culturally, linguistically, and economically biased tests. The so-called crisis then makes it so much easier to dismantle public schools and replace them with charter schools. This book will delineate all of the myths that have been created surrounding the so-called crisis and offer evidence to contradict each myth. Anyone who is interested in saving the public education, then this is a read for you.

This book reads like the blog of some angry person who ignores evidence to the contrary and embraces anything that agrees with him. It was very hard to take seriously.

Authors Berliner and Biddle take up the subject of how bad our schools really are and pronounce them to be pretty darn good, thank you. From a statistical point of view this may be true and probably is true. This reminds me of Westmoreland's argument that we were winning the Vietnamese War. "We are killing more of them than they are killing us." Yes, well, we all know where statistics can take you. I don't dispute their argument. At one level, they are right. What they can't find a chart for, however, is that fact that our kids can't write. They don't read. They come to college with junior-high school educations. Their counterparts in Asia and Europe, and possibly elsewhere, learn foreign languages, can do math, and are literate in their own languages. It is true that the schools are not to blame for every ill, but they are to blame for much that admittedly cannot be easily measured. Note the lack of manners in our young, their lack of curiosity, their unfiltered adoration of pop culture (rap, TV, commercialism), and their ignorance of fine culture. They have been to school, but curiously remain unschooled. Part of this is surely the degenerate households they come from, but an equal part comes from the low standards to which they are held at schools where they are allowed to cultivate, shall we say, their baser selves. Many teachers condone this vulgarity so as to appear hip and cool to their younger charges. Whatever it is, America's youth are to be avoided at all cost, locked out of malls by appalled shoppers, and shunned if not feared by their own parents. Schools are not to be fully completely blamed, but what have they done to help?

This is an angry book, written by two angry authors. Very difficult to read as a serious work because it seems to have more emotion than fact. The authors present "data", but their interpretation of the plain data seems off at times, and quite twisted at other times. They attack the thoroughly documented "Nation At Risk" as though it was pulp fiction, and belittle other noteworthy studies in a similar manner. Berliner has a tremendous religious bias (blatantly anti-Christian) that is extremely unsavory, if not unscholarly, and seems to have so many "Aha!" moments that one begins to doubt anything he says. His classic "...but IF you read the data carefully, it REALLY means...." just gets old. Facts are facts. SAT scores have been in a serious decline since the 1960s. The ETS people changed the test under dubious pretenses in the 1980s, and did so again this past year. Why ? The reasons vary, but when you find yourself measuring up, get a smaller stick! Berliner's work tries to hypnotize its readers into believing what common sense observations have told us all for years: public schools are violent places; drug havens; mediocre learning institutions full of over-paid and undereducated 'teachers'. Newspaper stories we see nearly every day corroborate this. If the newspapers are guilty of anything, it is under-reporting of these problems.
One final note: I taught at an American public high school last year that was considered quite good by the community, and we had nearly 200 arrests on our campus that year !

Parents: if you had 200 arrests at your place of business last year, what conclusions would YOU have about your place of work ? Is your place of work so prone to outbreaks of violence and illegal drug use that it requires the work of several on and off-site police officers? Would you tolerate this situation yourself ? I didn't think so.

Then why do you tolerate it for your adolescent son or daughter ?

Wow - just try it and it really works! I have lost weight and still losing - just follow the easy directions! A Must Have!!

If your serious about getting yourself healthy and to have more energy, I would highly recommend this book

Great book for learning how to change yourself both inside and out and adopt a healthier eating habits and behaviors. I would use the book as an educational springboard, take what makes sense to you, and modify the program along the way to meet your lifestyle.

I've done the 30-Health Makeover several times, mostly because I miss something along the way, or forget things over time. I first started this program in 1999, lost about 60 lbs. (without much exercise as I was working about 75-90 hrs. a week and my skin, hair and nails became healthier. I've always had people at work asking me what I'm eating because it looks and smells delicious. I sometimes substitute less expensive fish and the program works fine. By the end of the month, you're pretty used to the food combining and it's not hard to come up with simple meals of your own that follow the rules. Also, many maintstream grocery stores now have organic foods and lots of soy and/or rice substitutes, so shopping is easier than it was when I first started the program.

I checked out this book from the library and thought it was great. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because the recipes call for some exotic ingredients. It's hard if you are on a budget. By the way I ordered this book from Amazon almost two months ago and still haven't recieved it. They never returned my money and they stopped responding to my emails. The book is good, but you might want to buy it somewhere else.

I read this book in 1995 and I have never found a better one in analyzing democratization since then. His idea on democracy as a result of "spontaneous compliance" is so powerful that nothing else can actually stimulate more on a research direction for the preconditions of democratization process in countries like China.

It can be read together with his "Democracy and the Rule of Law", which addresses the question of why governments act or do not act according to laws, and interprets the rule of law as a strategic choice of actors with powerful interests (rather than as an exogenous constraint on politicians), and concludes that the rule of law emerges when no group is strong enough to dominate the others and political actors seek to resolve their conflicts by recourse to law.

Unfortunately, Adam Przeworski is later on obsessed with math, statistics, graphs, and aggregate analysis instead going deeper into specific political culture, which is yet another sad example of how mathematical academics continues to ruin more economists and political scientists (States and Markets: A Primer in Political Economy, 2003). The point is, applied mathematics and statistics concern with correlation, social scientists concern with causation. Mathematics and statistics are good tools, but social scientists are not technicians. If all they can do is applying mathematics and statistics without institutional analysis or policy analysis, they are in a wrong career.

Adam Przeworski is one of the top five political scientists of the world. "Democracy and the Market" is amazing and should be read by everybody that wants to know why democracies last (or don't). Przeworski is probably one of the few writers that compare the situation in East Europe with the situation in Latin America. And he does it perfectly. A bit technical at times but a very contemporary work of Political Science. A must buy.

Przeworski's writing is always penetrating. This is the best work that I've ever read in the literature of political economy and comparative politics. Although his approach is too much immersed in rational-choice, he knows the history of political philosophy. Although he is basically a Marx-oriented scholar, he correctly understand what neo-classical theories are lacking. Adam Przeworki is a rare intellectual who combine science with philosophy. is worth buying and worth reading although somehow technical.

If you wonder why smart people with education and experience keep making the same old mistakes you will want to read this book. Let me hasten to add, however, that reading Argyris is often arduous. He is a scholar and writes like one. Having said that, he does have the answers and it is worth the effort to slog through his prose and get them.
Argryis takes the position that organizations actively defend themselves against change, and since the people who mount the defense are intelligent and experienced, the defenses work remarkably well. This book and his Knowledge for Action, are the executive's field manuals for battling this resistance.
Argyris fans know that he presents several recurring themes. One is skilled incompetence. Skilled incompetence is the result of being so good at practiced behaviors that we don't notice ourselves doing them. The practiced behaviors result in outcomes that we deem "safe" even if they make us miserable. We defend ourselves against demands to behave differently out of fear that we will surrender our safety.
Another Argyris staple is the "theory in use." Most of us have a theory of how we should act and a second theory about how we really do act. The real one is the "theory in use." The split between the two creates a dual identity that we are obliged to defend through the use of "fancy footwork" and elaborate "cover ups."
He theorizes that we conceal our dual identities by making their existence "undiscussable." And because we pride ourselves on being open and candid, we make the undiscussability undiscussable.
By now your head may be reeling, and that is just where Argyris always takes his readers. But there are rewards for the persistent reader. Argyris takes us to the heart of our own defenses, to our own denial of our skilled incompetence.
Another Argyris term that is of great significance is the French word malaise. He uses it to describe the pervasive sickish feeling that comes over an organization that is permeated with fancy footwork, double identities, and elaborate defensive routines that cannot be discussed. Once an organization descends into malaise, the road to recovery is highly problematic.
To summarize, this is one of the most insightful and valuable business books ever written, but it's a fairly tough read.

Chris Argyris presents a classic in organizational learning. Some of the concepts explored and researched here form the basis for some of the priciples of the Learning Organization. Argyris discussion of theories-in-use, social virtues and skilled incompetence is a fascinating and eye-opening exercise.

However, the book is written by an academician largely for academicians. If you want 'easy' reading this is not the book for you. If you are, on the other hand, serious about organizational learning, change and human performance, then this book should definitely be on your book-shelf.

The Book is organized into 9 chapters:
1. Puzzles.
2. Human Theories of Control: Skilled Incompetence.
3. Organizational Defensive Routines.
4. Fancy Footwork and Malaise.
5. Sound Advice: It Compounds the Problem.
6. reducing the Organizational Defense Pattern.
7. Making the New Theory of Managing Human Performance Come True.
8. Getting from Here to There.
9. Upping the Ante.

Chris Argyris' work is essential reading for the executive who truly wants to leverage his/her organization's culture and workforce capability into the ultimate long-term competitive advantage.

Like it or not, unsticking "stuck" cultures is what stands between executives who ultimately deliver versus those who merely ride the gravy-train for the first 2 years of a 5 year contract before getting fired. So listen up: with Knowledge Workers the "soft stuff" IS the meat & potatoes!

Also, Argyris is also essential reading for anyone who is considering the use of the 360-Feedback tool. In my book, 360 is a powerful tool that is *dangerous* in the wrong hands; particularly if it's used in an unhealthy culture. The effective manager for the Information Age has to have atleast "some" competence in organizational psychology --in addition to having an external O.D. (Org Development) professional on retainer to get the org initially "unstuck" and keep it that way until things are back on track.

Argyris is an Industrial / Organizational Psychologist (I/O P) and OD guru with heavily sociological and cognitive psychology leanings. Argyris is the "OD person's OD person"; his career goes back to the 1950's. Argyris has devoted his life to these 2 key goals: (1)understanding what is required to integrate the individual into the collective (highly relevant in the era of the Knowledge Worker) and (2)how to monitor & measure progress in this regard in a way that produces "ACTIONABLE knowledge" for continuously improving this integration process. With Argyris -- the rubber meets the road and traction is imminent.

Argyris' later work can be grouped into a "quartet" of books. However the reader should be cautioned because Argyris writes under 2 potentially frustrating assumptions: (1)that the reader is atleast a Master's Degree level person in I/O P; (2)that the reader has read his previous books and is thus ready to tackle the new material at hand. However, I'm delighted to point out that -- with the proper reading approach -- a non-OD everyday-manager-type can read and understand The Argyris Way without too much difficulty. The secret is to read atleast 2 of Argyris' books in the proper order. I prescribe 2 approaches to tackling Argyris: 1 for non-OD people (managers & executives) and 1 for OD people (the propeller-heads who actually know this stuff). Here they are:

(BOOK 1) Argyris "Overcoming Organizational Defenses" c1990. This is a McDonald's drive thru version of the much more involved 1985 release cited as book # 4 below. This is the starting point for everyday managers & executives who are thinking about engaging an OD person for their organizations but do not plan on being I/O P people themselves. The price to understand the Argyris way will be paid here -- and it is a price very much worth paying. If you're new to I/O P, plan on 5 full evenings of reading to get thru this 1st book -- and in the process you will have read the book thru twice. Don't have that kind of time you say? Either MAKE the time or The Law of Darwin will soon be awarding your job to someone else!

(BOOK 2) Martin Seligman's "Learned Optimism 2ed" c1998. Get a high-level understanding of the difference between cognitive versus behavioral psychology. Otherwise, to not read this book in tandem with the Argyris work will leave the reader open to error by assuming outdated behaviorist psychology norms (which is the error that presently pervades Human Resources' thinking in the areas of performance management and compensation). This book can be read in 2 nights.

(BOOK 3) Argyris "Knowledge for Action" c1993. This takes the reader through a complete, comprehensive real-life diagnosis and intervention process using the tenets presented in book #1 above. This book can be read in a couple of afternoons assuming that the price has already been paid by reading book #1. Non-OD people can stop their reading here.

(BOOK 4) Argyris "Action Science" c1985. This is the full scholar's version of his I/O P approach and will take 2 weeks of evenings to get through. For an OD, I recommend reading this 1st before Argyris "Overcoming".

(BOOK 5) Argyris "On Organizational Learning, 2ed" c1998. Note that this is a different book from "On Org Learning 2: Theory, Method & Practice" c1995. Strictly for OD people, this is a comprehensive survey & critique of present literature and approaches in the OD field. Of particular value is his treatise of Edgar Schein's work and re-emphasizing the value of sociology in the science of psychology.

I'll close by paraphrasing the Argyris model here as a teaser. There are 2 states of Human reasoning:
Model 1 = intra-personal BEFORE inter-personal (defensive / independent)
Model 2 = intra-personal .AND. inter-personal (productive / synergistic)

I'll also add in a 3rd state as my own corollary:
Model 3 = intra-personal AFTER inter-personal ( "Divine" )

Model 3 is beyond man's capability, Model 2 would be Stephen Covey's 7 Habits in action at rung 6 on the effectiveness ladder, and Model 1 is the actual/default "selfish" pattern of most people today -- thanks to the psychological conditioning of countless centuries prior to the Information Age.

Borrowing from Seligman, the younger Baby-Boomers and later generations are the 1st in the history of the world to "have the choice" to be knowledge workers. This throws people together into complex social systems that require a new level of communication ability that's new to man as a species and is currently not taught in schools. As a survival mechanism, mankind's default behavior is Model 1 -- even though he will verbally claim Model 2 or even Model 3. Overcoming defensive Model 1 behavior is an effort that requires years of committed work -- BUT IS THE VERY GATEWAY to functioning in the more mature organizational structures that lay beyond command-and-control (such as empowered workgroups); and that offer so much promise to knowledge-intense organizations.

A final caution: moving the organization from Model 1 to Model 2 is a project that should be treated with the seriousness of any other project -- as a set of value-based deliverables that are defined ahead of time and whose ultimate realization is preceeded by the conscientious commitment of resources. And because of the emotional aspects of the project early-on -- for the 1st 1 to 2 years the OD interventionist should be a person completely external to the organization -- or else the project is guaranteed to fail. Executive sponsorship alone will not be enough.

He focuses on what education is all about. The public school system was created in this country for one reason alone: to create better citizens for our democracy. These essays all point to this. It sounds simple, but we're clearly not going about it correctly. Great food for thought and will lead to powerful discussion.