Book Description

In How to Get Ideas, Jack Foster draws on three decades of experience as an advertising writer and creative director to take the mystery and anxiety out of getting ideas. Describing eight ways to condition your mind to produce ideas and five subsequent steps for creating and implementing ideas on command, he makes it easy, fun, and understandable. ... Read more

Reviews (37)

An unexpected motivational tool...
I bought this book, along with others, as an easy read for my trip to Australia/New Zealand and read it cover to cover twice on the plane to Sydney. I then found myself so motivated by the book, I couldn't wait to get back home to put my ideas into action. It's nice to see that Jack and Larry still have their remarkable spirit! Thank you for your words and pics.

How to Get Ideas
It is my favorite book on creativity. Easy to read. Jack Foster make me laugh with his examples. I have applied sucessly its recommendations to my daily life.

If You Need to Come Up with Ideas and Solutions, Read This
I won't write a long review about this small but powerful book. But if you are looking at this review and this book, you need ideas.

I'm a professional copywriter with years of experience and ideas are sometimes hard to come by. Yet it is a must in my business. I bought this book to see if it would give me some ideas or some ways to get them.

Well, about half way through, I had an entire campaign written for a client --- a really brilliant campaign that was no doubt better than one I might have come up with had I not read the book.

So get it. Just get it.

Susanna K. Hutcheson
Creative Director
Powerwriting.com LLC

Highly recommended
A fantastic book that I know will help me create ideas and put them into action.

A valve to open up your flow of creative juice.
Ideas. Ideas are the foundation of any successful project. It doesn't matter whether you're working on project at work or on a project at home -- if you can't come up with good ideas to help it along, it won't turn out very well. As a professional personal coach, I always assume that my clients are naturally creative. Yet, sometimes they need a boost to get the creative juices flowing. This easy to read book from an advertising wizard will inspire you to do just that. Read it, and you'll become more idea-prone everyday. ... Read more

Book Description

Movado is one of the world's most recognized watch brands. This lavishly illustrated book, certain to delight collectors, presents the evolution of Movado from its roots in the Jura Mountains in 1881 through more than a century of tradition and technological advancement. Over the years, Movado earned a reputation for pioneering the art of the wristwatches, high precision movements, and watches with complications, as well as water-resistant watches. Through 250 color illustrations, the book presents the most compelling designs introduced by Movado, many of which have become coveted collectors' items commanding high prices at worldwide auctions. Movado watches have been favored gifts for heads of state because they possess and reflect the best in precision technology. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

magical movado
The magical world of movado comes to light in this exceptional work on "the history of time". Very informative work with nice illustrations is all that the true movado enthusiast really needs. I strongly suggest that if you already own, or if you are considering a movado classic timepiece, that you pick up this book and spend some time on learning about the making of time. ... Read more

Book Description

‘Since Maxwell’s time, physical reality has been thought of as represented by continuous fields, and not capable of any mechanical interpretation. This change in the conception of reality is the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton.’

Albert Einstein

‘He is easily, to physicists, the most magical figure of the nineteenth century.’

Times Literary Supplement ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Wonderful Tribute to a Truly Great Man
The scientific accomplishments of James Clerk Maxwell are astounding! To think that he was able to accomplish so much in electromagnetism, optics, thermodynamics, etc., in so short a life boggles the mind. This biography is well done. The writing is clear and engaging. The various scientific explanations give a good indication of how Maxwell the scientist approached and solved physical problems. His charming personality and his wittiness stand out to give one a good overall impression of Maxwell the man. Notes at the end of the book provide added information on some issues discussed in the main text. Complete with an index and a bibliography, this book should be read by anyone interested in knowing more about one of the greatest, yet less known, all-time giants of the scientific world. ... Read more

Book Description

Praise for Fourth Generation R&D "A sweeping and insightful analysis of an architecture for innovation in the knowledge economy. Technologists, strategists, and organizational architects will all find this book worth reading, as will students of the modern organization." —John Seely Brown Chief Scientist, Xerox Corporation "The new realities of competition beg a new approach to innovation and R&D; Fourth Generation R&D answers that challenge. With lucid arguments and detailed case studies, Fourth Generation R&D sketches a powerful new paradigm for planning and managing innovation. Every manager concerned with innovation and its role as a strategic resource—that’s to say, every manager—will profit from this new understanding." Lawrence Wilkinson President, Global Business Network "Fourth Generation R&D is a tour de force. Its sweep, depth, and use of graphics are all truly remarkable (not to mention its command of the literature on innovation). The distinctions it draws between continuous and discontinuous innovation—and between tacit and explicit knowledge—are fundamental." —John Yochelson President, The Council on Competitiveness ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Strategic management of innovation
You might be curious about what the title of this book refers to. It¡¯s rather simpler than you might guess. In a common vocabulary in business, it refers to the ¡®radical innovation¡¯. Then, you might infer that the 3rd generation R&D should be the incremental innovation. Yep. You¡¯re right. But those conventional terms don¡¯t fit completely into what authors argues. There is sufficient reason to coin such neologisms. The argument of this book goes like this. Traditional market research tends to deal with explicit knowledge. Focus group, survey, structured interview, all tackle what is pre-definable or expressible in word. But could such approaches spot the next generation product? authors question. No. customers can¡¯t put into words their gut feeling needs. They could spot it only when it appears on the market. The real breakthrough in product development, more often than not, comes in unexpected way. Thus, authors pose the question, ¡®How we should manage the uncertainty?¡¯ Put in other way, ¡®how we should manage the innovation?¡¯ R&D or product development must include incremental innovation. But in this turbulent environment, it¡¯s not enough. To be the leader in the market, not follower, one should ride ahead the tide. Then the question of R&D should be the radical innovation. Break with the identifiable trend. Then what product should be devised? All R&D begins with the product concept. But now the concept should be based on what customer¡¯s gut feeling or their tacit needs. Don¡¯t make what customer wants today. Make what they want tomorrow. At this point, you might retort: ¡®Yep. You¡¯re right. But it¡¯s easier to be told than to be done. How I could do so?¡¯ Here comes the knowledge management. Customers¡¯ tacit needs tend to be buried in noise of day-to-day information flow. There are numerous reasons for such filtering out. But all in all, to be sensitive to that kind of info, the authors maintain, is to manage the organization innovative. Knowing is not doing. Doing needs the capability to do. Then innovation requires the capability building. But it¡¯s not that simple to build up. It must face resistance inside the firm itself. Radical innovation tends to be the capability-destroying one. so developing innovative product usually comes with organizational innovation.
Above is the problem authors pose to us. I think the better title of the book is ¡®Strategic management of innovation¡¯. This book is not about the specificity of R&D, but about how to manage the firm innovative. Overall tenet of the book is so close to Nonaka & Takeuchi¡¯s ¡®The Knowledge-Creating Company¡¯. But this book is written not for academic researcher but for managers in the field. Points are made in graphic way with various case studies by authors. Nonetheless, it lacks the depth of Nonaka & Takeuchi¡¯s book. I recommend to read this book with Nonaka & Takeuchi¡¯s.

great content, not so great style
The book starts out with theoretical constucts and eventually uses examples to show their relevance. I found the authors' style of writing rather awkward. The organization of the material also makes the book somewhat difficult to follow. However, the well researched material presented is worth buying the book.

Sustainable Innovation!
Authors Miller and Morris have nailed the impending transformation of R&D from its historical, product-centric past to its emerging knowledge-centric future. In addition, their focus on 'discontinuous' and 'fusion' innovation promises to lead the way for industry, in general, whose R&D functions typically produce less than one new product innovation per decade and whose new products, when they are produced, tend to fail in under four years. The authors' explicit embrace of knowledge management is also welcome, as the value of most companies now tends to rest more on the weight of their intellectual assets than on so-called 'hard' assets. Finally, this book's focus on distributed, enterprise-wide innovation signals the tearing down of R&D's overly centralized and compartmentalized profile in most firms, and offers strong support for the view that innovation should be structured as a distributed, whole-firm social process, not an administrative one. I highly recommend this book to readers interested in R&D, innovation, knowledge management, intellectual capital, organizational learning, and sustainable innovation.

Provocative Analysis of Innovation
Fourth Generation R&D makes explicit many of the concepts and processes of innovation that often seem mysterious and complex. The author's framework for innovation applies to organizations competing in accelerated and dynamic markets.

Innovation algorithm
Most business leaders today understand that innovation is survival. This book gets beyond the usual trivial pablum about *being more creative* to show the kinds of mechanisms and methods that give R&D traction. If you want to stop wasting your R&D dollars and get better ROI, this book offers clear, actionable, and reliable insights. ... Read more

Book Description

Single sourcing is more than mechanical document conversion. It is an information development strategy. Although it is often confused with the process of converting paper-based documents into online formats, single sourcing is a writing strategy that enables technical writers to develop centralized information modules, then map them to distinct audiences and media.

For technical writers, single sourcing means modular writing and information mapping. Rather than developing information for a given format, such as a user guide or online help, technical writers develop information modules at the element (section, paragraph, and sentence) level. They then map these information modules to preselected audiences and media.

This guide explains in plain language and by example how to develop single source documents. It shows technical writers how to develop standalone information modules, then map these modules to a variety of audiences and formats using proven information mapping techniques. In essence, the guide provides a flexible framework for modular technical writing that can be applied to any audience in any medium. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Effective and proven method
The entire approach given in this book is consistent enough with Information Mapping® that it can serve as a guide to learning that highly effective technique on your own.

I was trained in Information Mapping® in 2000 and have used the principles to excellent advantage since then. More importantly, those techniques - called 'single sourcing' in this book - foster the ability to create coherent documentation using geographically distributed teams. This is because the single sourcing technique described in this book is concerned with document design, which is based on a process that identifies requirements and bases the initial draft on procedures and knowledge instead of the more common approach of writing an ad hoc outline.

At the heart of the author's single sourcing approach is a concept called 'chunking' - grouping information into manageable chunks - and factors such as relevance and consistency. When these are employed the cost-effectiveness of the method becomes apparent for two reasons:

(1) Documents written by teams are consistent and developed using a set process.
(2) Components within the documents - blocks - can be reused in other documents because they will address a specific, relevant topic (a chunk).

What I like about this book is the fact that it makes Information Mapping® available to anyone who will take the time to read this book and apply the principles. I also like way it offers an off-the-shelf solution to any company that wants to implement a cost-effective, highly efficient documentation standard that supports readable documentation that can be used instead of 'shelfware'.

The best way to learn about this book is to visit the official Information Mapping® site (ASIN B0000B01VZ) upon which many of the principles in this book are based. What you will discover there will give you a reasonable idea about what to expect from the approach in this book. If you are a technical writer who works with software architecture I also recommend that you read "Documenting Software Architectures: Views and Beyond" (ISBN 0201703726) because the approach in that book is consistent with both the "Single Sourcing" approach, as well as Information Mapping®.

re: not what I expected review
Ament's book does not delve into the details of tools implementation. However, writing modular documentation that can be chunked and reused is a necessary prerequisite to single sourcing.

It's a good idea to understand the stylistic and writing requirements before getting into tools. Ament's book should be used in conjunction with tool-specific information.

not what I expected
This book is a style guide, with guidance like, "When introducing small sections that contain subsections, use itemized lists rather than sentences"; "Begin optional steps with a clear visual and verbal indication that they are not mandatory"; and "When listing commands, follow the capitalization rules on which your product is based." The beginning and end of the book provide a shallow discussion of single sourcing, but much of the book is style guidance like this. Maybe I'm missing something, but what does that have to do with single sourcing? I sure don't understand these 5-star reviews and encourage you to flip through the pages of this book before buying so you know what you're getting.

From E-Streams: Electronic Reviews of Science & Technology
Every now and then, you come across a book that makes you stop and think. This is one such book. The timing of the release of Single Sourcing could not be better, for it draws together many of the ideas being presented today at online content development, web publishing and online learning conferences. There is a consensus building that early online web-based learning systems generally failed to satisfy their objectives due to bad information design and a lack of adherence to accepted pedagogical principles. This book masterfully addresses the information design part of the problem. Although aimed at technical documentation writers, editors, professors and students, the methodology is being adopted by non-technical educators involved in developing online learning content. "Single sourcing is a method for developing re-usable information." The methodology delivers "modular content that works anywhere, anytime, anyhow." Information that by design can be both migrated to other communication mediums and cognitively repurposed to address specific audiences or learning objectives. The book presents an overview of the single source technical documentation development method used by large defense, software and multimedia companies.The book is a well-executed example of modular documentation. Even before reading the content of the book, the efficiency of single sourcing is evident by just browsing through the pages. Concepts being presented are easily identified, defined and connected to related concepts. Each chapter in the book begins with an introduction followed by an annotated table of contents for the chapter. The ten steps of the single source methodology to building documents are laid out in the second chapter of the book. The third chapter, the largest of the book, covers layout guidelines for structuring content. Lastly, writing guidelines are presented in chapter four. Rules for using abbreviations, sentence construction, punctuation, and other "language configurations" are covered. The last chapter of the book, "leveraging technology" is the weakest part of the work. The chapter almost seems like an afterthought as it lacks the depth of treatment the other areas of the book receive. The chapter presents technology considerations requiring attention in writing guidelines for content development. Overall, the book is strongly recommended for professionals involved in developing online information and corporate and academic library collections supporting technical communication and e-learning development activities. --Information Services Librarian

Good introduction to designing modular single source content
The concept of modular content is central to single sourcing, but until now there was very little information available on how to actually design and create effective modular documentation. Now Kurt Ament has created the book that helps you do just that.

"Single Sourcing: Building Modular Documentation" provides a clear and concise introduction to building modular documentation. The book is divided into five parts.

Chapter 1 "About single sourcing" introduces the concepts of single sourcing including the reasons, benefits, types, and what makes single sourcing successful.

Chapter 2 "Building documents" gets right into the heart of the subject by providing a 10 step process for building modular documentation including how to identify, label, organize, build, and edit modules then build documents from your modules. He also emphasizes the importance of developing guidelines for authors to follow.

Chapter 3 "Structuring content" provides guidelines on creating structured content. Guidelines are provided for such common content types as procedures, glossaries, examples, indexes, notes, troubleshooting scenarios, and many more.

Chapter 4, "Configuring Language" emphasizes that good modular content is more than just "chunks" of information; it is well written content. This chapter provides guidelines for developing consistent standards for writing content such as abbreviations, capitalization, punctuation, tense, and voice.

Chapter 5, "Leveraging technology" provides an introduction to how you can use technology to support your single sourcing effort.

What I like best about "Single Sourcing: Building Modular Documentation" is that Ament practices what he preaches; the content is highly modular, consistently structured, and full of examples. He provides examples of common content and how the content could be changed to reflect the concepts he presents. The book is an easy read and is chock full of tips and guidelines.

"Single Sourcing: Building Modular Documentation" provides an excellent resource for creators of single source technical documentation. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (11)

Excellent Handbook
As the title implies this is a handbook to be used to supplement another text or for reference when writing. While it is slanted towards technical/business writing, it is an excellent reference for any writer's shelf.

Handbook of Technical Writing
This volume contains sample letters, sentence structure and
grammatical presentations. The singular, plural, subject,
objective and possessive forms are set forth simply with ample
examples. Even proofreader's markings are set forth. The presentation would be extremely valuable for students, writers,
teachers, businesspeople and a wide constituency of the general
public. It is a good value for the price charged.

Teacher & Engineering
This is a useful reference to have on the shelf of the university's library.

Indispensable
As a technical writer, I've found this book to be just that. While it definitely is not a "how to write technical manuals" type of book, the topics and material covered make it well worth having on any writer's bookshelf. And in this latest edition, not only have the editors done another great job, the book's page layout is wonderful. In previous editions, all text and type was in black. In this edition, headings, paragraph titles and diagrams are framed in blue. This seemingly minor change makes the book's material easier to read and refer to.

The book continues to have extensive information about writing-related topics. Everything from proper grammar, to writing reports, to interviewing subject matter experts, how to do Internet research for a writing project, writing newsletters and/or abstracts, interviewing for a job and interviewing a subject matter expert for more information about a subject, writing proposals, and so forth is covered in this book. There's even a companion web site to the book that provides links to online resources for further information.

The book's preface contains what the editors consider their "Five Steps to Successful Writing," and also a "Checklist of the Writing Process," complete with subsections containing listings for (in order) Preparation, Research, Organization, Writing a Draft, and Revision. In fact, a few of the book's numerous entries contain their own "writer's checklist" of things to do. Some subjects have not only a heading, but cross-references to other pages of related topics. For example, if I was interested in learning how to write a proposal, I could go to that listing, and also find reference information on internal and external proposals. There seems to be at times an endless wealth of information about whatever writing topic you are looking for. This book's main strength obviously is how all the book's material is organized.

This is one book every writer should have. Even though it isn't a "how-to-write" book, it's still a "tools for writing" book. I find myself referring to it often when I'm
working on any kind of writing project.

As with past editions, the book's editors have done a wonderful job with this handbook.

Excellent resource
I have the 5th edition of the book and it's one of the better resources I've found for technical writing and general writing.The entries are concise and to the point. ... Read more

Book Description

Designed as the core textbook for the required physical pharmacy or pharmaceutics course within the pharmacy school curriculum. With a focus on examples from pharmacy practice, this book presents the chemical and physical chemical principles fundamental to the development of medication dosage forms. Numerous case studies present relevant examples of physical chemical principles in current pharmacy practice. ... Read more

Book Description

Undesirable outcomes, chronic failure, incidents, and accidents… The cost of such events to corporations is high, generally adding up to tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in "accepted" losses. Why accept these losses? What if you could understand why these errors occur and eliminate chronic events from occurring altogether?Root Cause Analysis: Improving Performance for Bottom-Line Results, Second Edition shows how to identify, understand, and prevent chronic problems that hinder the attainment of organizational goals using Root Cause Analysis (RCA). The PROACT software, voted "Product of the Year" by Plant Engineering Magazine, and the steps outlined in this text teach you how to automate the RCA process. Used effectively, the information in Root Cause Analysis will improve the reliability of your plant assets and save your company precious time and money. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A unique and efective approach
During the past ten years I have worked with a nunber of methodologies in the area of Root cause analysis. During this time I have seen none as effective and cost efficient as the PROACT methodologies showcased in this book.

Bob has written a classic RCA manual for all people in all industries. I personally have used both the methodology and software to great effect and would recommend them to anyone.

If you are serious about a reliability growth program in your site, then you need this book!

A very readable book detailing an excellent system
I co-ordinate a root cause troubleshooting clinic at a major engine manufacturer. We have had moderate success with our investigations and have developed several powerful methodologies. This book has taken our procedures one large step further with a coherent, effective method to analyse and document a problem to root cause. The combination of system diagram, logic tree and verification log described in the book is exactly the kind of methodology we needed and is proving very useful. The book is well written and is filled with useful guidelines for such required activities as information gathering and selection of the most productive analyses to perform. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in root cause analysis.

Plant Engineering Magazine Senior Editor
Closing the gap between the goals companies set and their actual situations is the overall focus of this book. Written by two experienced executives from the Reliability Center, Inc., the book helps readers identify, resolve, and eliminate the chronic plant floor issues, such as repeated equipment or system failures, that hinder the attainment of organizational goals.

Specialists in root cause analysis methodology, the authors discuss the roles of management and a root cause analysis team in prioritizing the problems to analyze, automationg the process, and helping to uncover the physical, human, and latent causes of undesirable workplace events. They point out that the gap between goals and reality that exists in virtually every industry leads to undesirable outcomes, failures, and incidents that siphon profits from the corporate coffers. To close the gap, they explain, companies must reinvent the way they work, understanding why errors occur and how to prevent them.

The book explains root cause analysis, which is a structured process designed to uncover the cause of any undesirable workplace event. The PROACT steps outlined in the book teach companies how to preserve event data, order the analysis team, analyze the data using logic trees, communicate findings and recommendations, and track for bottom-line results.

Case studies are used to illustrate the potential of root cause analysis, showing its effectiveness in particular in steelmaking, customer service, and manufacturing. Software for automating root cause analysis is also discussed. Informative, well-illustrated and well-organized text is worthwhile reading for any plant engineer seeking to understand why errors occur and to eliminate them, and have a direct positive impact on his company's bottom line.

RCA the way to go
I have now been involved with RCA for several years and it's the way to go in the future. This book is a good example of what Root Cause Analysis is all about. The book focuses on the use of the PROACT system and I imagine would they would work very well together. I am looking at trying PROACT as well, not just yet! Good book easy to read and gives good definitions to those foggy terms. I enjoyed the book and I use it for my job which speaks for it's self, it doesn't hide in a cupboard or on a shelf. I get the feeling this book is one of the better ones in the bunch, not just someone who has jumped on the RCA bandwagon because it's a flavour of the month.

Excellent book for industry to survive in the 21st century.
This book gives you the tools to develop a strong reliability program. In my 35 years as a mechanical engineer (P.E.) in the chemical industry, I have seen several "programs" come and go. Reliability, when proactive as taught by RCI, is the one program that consistently documents very large savings to cost ratios. In order to survive in the 21st century, industry must have a strong reliability program. RCI is a pioneer (since the 1950's) in reliability and in particular teaching and training industry in using this valuable tool. ... Read more

Book Description

One Nobel Prize-winning physicist called Edward Teller, "A great man of vast imagination...[one of the] most thoughtful statesmen of science." Another called him, "A danger to all that is important...It would have been a better world without [him]." That both opinions about Teller were commonly held and equally true is one of the enduring mysteries about the man dubbed "the father of the H-bomb." In the story of Teller's life and career, told here in greater depth and detail than ever before, Peter Goodchild unravels the complex web of harsh early experiences, character flaws, and personal and professional frustrations that lay behind the paradox of "the real Dr. Strangelove."

Goodchild's biography draws on interviews with more than fifty of Teller's colleagues and friends. Their voices echo through the book, expressing admiration and contempt, affection and hatred, as we observe Teller's involvement in every stage of building the atomic bomb, and his subsequent pursuit of causes that drew the world deeper into the Cold War--alienating many of his scientific colleagues even as he provided the intellectual lead for politicians, the military, and presidents as they shaped Western policy. Goodchild interviewed Teller himself at the end of his life, and what emerges from this interview, as well as from Teller's Memoirs and recently unearthed correspondence, is a clearer view of the contradictions and controversies that riddled the man's life. Most of all, though, this absorbing biography rescues Edward Teller from the caricatures that have served to describe him until now. In their place, Goodchild shows us one of the most powerful scientists of the twentieth century in all his enigmatic humanity.

Book Description

This book is the leading how-to resource for electric car conversions.It combines Brown's years of professional automotive experience with down-to-earth language even an automotive beginner can understand.It is not written for the engineer in the laboratory, but for the home mechanic building his own car, and for the average person behind the wheel.Brown speaks to the reader as if talking to a friend in his garage.Before lifting a wrench, Brown answers the most frequently asked questions about electric cars: how fast will it go, how far will it go, how long will the batteries last, how pollution-free is it really, and many more.The conversion process itself begins with choosing an appropriate donor chassis, and stripping it of internal combustion components.Here Brown's experience provide numerous tips and tricks to make the later conversion process easier and more successful.Step by step, Brown leads the reader through the conversion.As each component comes up, Brown gives a little background on the different types available, and the pros and cons of each.He includes tips on layout, design and fabrication at each step, and discusses different approaches for different chassis, such as front wheel drive vs. rear wheel drive.By the end of the book, every part of the conversion process has been discussed.Brown wraps up with a procedure for testing and troubleshooting, and guidelines for normal driving, charging, and maintenance.The book is salted heavily throughout with photos and diagrams to illustrate its topics, and it includes a very thorough index.CONVERT IT has been chosen by the Department of Energy and by numerous schools across the country as the textbook for high school electric car conversion projects. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

If you are going to build an electric vehicle...start with
If you want to build an electric vehicle, start with this reference. Clearlly the writter show that he built this stuffs and give us good proccedures and building hints.

Convert it is a must before any conversion
Convert it does not make to long process of car conversion a breeze, but it is an excelent resource. The book is full of excelent pictures that bring the informative writing to life. The information in this book can be easily appiled to every car conversion and is of great help. ... Read more

Book Description

Expert Trevor Kletz examines the causes and aftermaths of numerous plant disasters--almost every one of which could have been prevented. Case histories illustrate what went wrong, why it went wrong, and then guide you in how to circumvent similar tragedies.
Learn from the mistakes of others. This invaluable and respected book examines the causes and aftermaths of numerous plant disasters - almost every one of which could have been prevented. Case histories illustrate what went wrong and why it went wrong, and then guide you in how to circumvent similar tragedies. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good for engineers, not-good for non-engineers
From a Safety Manager perspective, I found the descriptions of the incidents too brief. If you are looking for something with detailed incident information and corrective actions, presented in the form of a story, look somewhere else.

The standard in process safety incident case reviews.
We have made this book part of a required reading program for all engineers, as part of our company's process safety program. Anyone involved in chemical or petroleum operations, will benefit greatly from the wisdom that can be gained by learning from other's mistakes. As my old boss used to say, "You can accumulate about 50 years of knowledge in your work life-time. What you need is 100 years of wisdom." By reading this book you can accumulate 100 years of wisdom. The book is a collection of short summaries arranged by topic. This allows for easy short term reading periods appropriate for training classes or casual reading.

ejb ... Read more

Book Description

You cannot improve your organization's safety performance to enviable levels without addressing human behavior and attitude effectively. The only comprehensive reference on the psychology of the human dynamics of safety, The Psychology of Safety Handbook shows you how to apply psychology to improve safety and health in your organization. Dr. Geller provides theory, procedures, and tools to guide your organization's long-term continuous improvement. Based on Dr. Geller's bestselling The Psychology of Safety, this new and expanded Handbook gives you everything you need to decrease the frequency and severity of accidental injuries in your organization. He covers all areas of psychology directly relevant to understanding and influencing safety-related behaviors. Engineering interventions and government policy have made their mark on injury reduction. Now it is time to work with the human dynamics of injury prevention. The cause of most injuries can be attributed to at-risk behavior or insufficient safe behavior. The Psychology of Safety Handbook not only teaches principles and practical procedures for improving safety-related behaviors, but also illustrates how to increase people's willingness to use these techniques to create a Total Safety Culture.For more than three decades, Professor E. Scott Geller has taught and conducted research as a faculty member of Virginia Tech's Department of Psychology. In this capacity he has authored more than 250 research articles and over 50 books or chapters addressing the development and evaluation of behavior-change interventions to improve quality of life. He has authored seven books on managing behaviors and attitudes for occupational health and safety, including The Psychology of Safety and Working Safe. Dr. Geller is Senior Partner of Safety Performance Solutions, a leading training and consulting firm helping companies empower their employees to achieve a Total Safety Culture. He has been awarded Fellow status by the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the World Academy of Productivity and Quality. Moreover, Scott Geller has been honored with three university-wide teaching awards - every one offered by Virginia Tech. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Using Psychology to Enhance Safety Performance
The focus of The Psychology of Safety Handbook is improving safety performance through psychology and methods of applied behavior analysis. Dr. Geller published the Psychology of Safety in 1996, and this Handbook is an extensive revision of that book.

The Handbook presents new approaches to improving safety performance based on research in applied behavior analysis. These approaches can enhance traditional approaches to workplace safety, or even replace many of the safety program traditions that are commonly ineffective.

Dr. Geller presents academic information in an entertaining and easy-to-read manner. He reviews ten paradigm shifts needed in safety including shifting from government regulation to corporate responsibility, from failure-oriented to achievement oriented mindsets, and from top-down control to bottom-up involvement.

The book covers basic principles of behavioral safety, principles based on years of research as well as "real world" experience. Relevant examples, illustrations, and brief case studies are provided for the reader. Some of the principles include the primacy of behavior, reducing at-risk behaviors, and methods of learning and conditioning.

The author goes into great detail explaining human barriers to safety and effective intervention methods. ABC Analysis is presented as a tool to analyze safety related behaviors, and various intervention methods are described in detail. There are great chapters on intervening as a behavior-change agent (Safety coaching) and intervening with supportive conversation.

There is also a great section about "Actively Caring," which is a concept coined by the author and refers to planned and purposeful behavior directed at improving safety performance. When people actively care for safety, they go beyond the call of duty on behalf of their safety and others. Dr. Geller describes the importance of this behavior, and includes a chapter on how to increase actively caring behavior.

Anyone concerned with safety also wants to maintain and sustain any gains they make. The final chapters of the book detail how to promote high-performance teamwork for safety, how to evaluate for continuous improvement, and how to obtain and maintain involvement in safety. The final chapter of the book reviews 50 principles to follow in making a difference in safety.

In my opinion, Dr. Geller is the world's foremost authority on the psychology of safety. The Psychology of Safety Handbook is a comprehensive, practical, and state-of-the-art study of a complex subject. The methods and approaches described in the book do work when clearly understood and properly applied. This book is useful for students, safety professionals, managers, supervisors, safety committee members, employees and union workers, and is highly recommended for anyone who sincerely desires to make a difference in health and safety. ... Read more

Book Description

The emergence of nanoscience portends a revolution in technology that will soon impact virtually every facet of our technological lives. Yet there is little understanding of what it is among the educated public and often among scientists and engineers in other disciplines. Furthermore, despite the emergence of undergraduate courses on the subject, no basic textbooks exist.Nanotechnology: Basic Science and Emerging Technologies bridges the gap between detailed technical publications that are beyond the grasp of nonspecialists and popular science books, which may be more science fiction than fact. It provides a fascinating, scientifically sound treatment, accessible to engineers and scientists outside the field and even to students at the undergraduate level. After a basic introduction to the field, the authors explore topics that include molecular nanotechnology, nanomaterials and nanopowders, nanoelectronics, optics and photonics, and nanobiomimetrics. The book concludes with a look at some cutting-edge applications and prophecies for the future.Nanoscience will bring to the world technologies that today we can only imagine and others of which we have not yet dreamt. This book lays the groundwork for that future by introducing the subject to those outside the field, sparking the imaginations of tomorrow's scientists, and challenging them all to participate in the advances that will bring nanotechnology's potential to fruition. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Nanotechnology: Basic Science and Emergining Technologies
An excellent comprehensive introduction. Very good index and usefull references for deeper study. This book will serve as handy general reference. ... Read more

Book Description

This book draws practical examples from functioning programs to demonstrate the most prevalent approaches to system safety today. Readers can quickly familiarize themselves with the essentials of everyday system safety in such vital areas as the interaction between occupational and system safety, integrating system safety into equipment design, OSHA compliance, and hazard analysis. ... Read more

Book Description

Safety and Health for Engineers Roger L. Brauer Today’s engineer faces a moral and legal responsibility to build safety into products and environments. Today’s engineer also works in an economic system that requires enterprises to be competitive. Here’s a guide to help engineers reconcile these safety and economic concerns, using the latest cost-effective methods of ensuring safety in all facets of their work. Safety and Health for Engineers addresses the fundamentals of safety, the legal aspects, hazard recognition, the human element of safety, and techniques for managing safety in engineering decisions. The book provides you with a broad range of topics and examples, as well as detailed references to information and standards. Here you’ll find in-depth coverage of the many aspects of achieving safety through engineering-

• the duties and legal responsibilities for which engineers are accountable
• an exploration of all types of hazards, and engineering controls for them
• the latest safety regulations, and agencies responsible for their enforcement
• an enlightening discussion of human behavior, capabilities, and limitations
• instruction on how to analyze equipment and processes, identify hazards, and present the need for controls to managers

Reviews (3)

Safety and Health for Engineers
I just passed my ASP and this book was an excellent introductory text. While it is understood that many other reference have to be used, I recommend this book as one of the first you review.

Good idea, but flawed execution
Although this text does cover a wide range of safety topics, it is somewhat dated and contains a farly large number of typos. Therefore, the reader has to be careful. The book needs to be updated and the typographical errors corrected. If that were to be done, it would definitely be a five star book.

Essential for preparing for the CSP exam.
If you're going to purchase one book to prepare for the Certified safety Proferssional (CSP) exam this is it. ... Read more

Book Description

In Beyond Civilization, Daniel Quinn thinks the unthinkable. We all know there's no one right way to build a bicycle, no one right way to design an automobile, no one right way to make a pair of shoes, but we're convinced that there must be only one right way to live -- and the one we have is it, no matter what.

Beyond Civilization makes practical sense of the vision of Daniel Quinn's best-selling novel Ishmael. Examining ancient civilizations such as the Maya and the Olmec, as well as modern-day microcosms of alternative living like circus societies, Quinn guides us on a quest for a new model for society, one that is forward-thinking and encourages diversity instead of suppressing it. Beyond Civilization is not about a "New World Order" but a "New Personal World Order" that would allow people to assert control over their own destiny and grant them the freedom to create their own way of life right now -- not in some distant utopian future.

... Read more

Reviews (86)

The Novelty of Self-Restraint
Quinn's writings are tremendously powerful in their ability to explain the evolution of human society, the development of Taker culture and ideology, etc. I believe his prescriptive writings, however (e.g. in Beyond Civilization) suffer from a fundamental flaw: his apparent assumption that Taker Culture can or will exercise self-restraint. Throughout his writings Quinn rightly admonishes us to look to the rest of the Community of Life for guidance on how to live as members of that Community, not overlords of it. Yet nowhere can we find any evidence that any other species has ever "Walked Away," as Quinn challenges Takers to now do. "Walking Away" (at least as I understand it) fundamentally means exercising self-restraint, consciously refraining from exercising available power to "convert the biomass of the planet to human biomass" as Quinn discusses in his video "Food Production and Population Growth." Throughout his writings Quinn contrasts this "totalitarian" approach to food (agriculture) and life with that of other species and non-Taker cultures, species and cultures more in "balance" with the Community of Life. Do you seriously believe that this "balance" is achieved and maintained by their choice, rather than being unwillingly imposed upon them by other members of the Community or other controls (e.g. climate, competitors, soil types, etc.)? That is, do you believe for a minute that the Sioux would not have tried to convert all earth biomass to Sioux biomass if they had the tools to do so? Or that the coyote would not try to convert all earth biomass to coyote biomass if they had the tools to do so? Or the dragonfly? Or the Russian Thistle? Or the fire ant? Can you seriously argue that any other member of the Community of Life would (or has) willingly "Walk(ed) Away" as Quinn admonishes Takers to do? Nonsense. Give brother coyote the tools to minimize his enemies, enhance his food supplies, reduce his diseases and minimize the impact of adverse climate on him and he will certainly not "Walk Away." He will overwhelm us, just as we now (largely) overwhelm him. Consider exotic invasive species around the world, species transplanted from their "balanced" Communities of Life of their native lands to new Communities of Life far away. These "new" Communities lack the "balancing tools" necessary to restrain their growth and expansion, and they expand dramatically at the expense of the rest of the Community, creating monocultures. I see absolutely no willingness of Cheatgrass to "Walk Away" in the intermountain West of the United States, or of the Cane Toad to do so in Australia, or of the Zebra Mussel to do so in the Great Lakes, or of the Brown Tree Snake to do so in Guam. Each of these species, lacking the "balancing tools" of its native land that kept it in check, is now rapidly converting its new Community's biomass to its own. There is no self-restraint, no "Walking Away." When I do as Quinn suggests and look to the rest of Community of Life for guidance, I see absolutely no evidence that any other species has, or would, "Walk Away," and Quinn provides no evidence to the contrary. Quinn does suggest that several New World cultures "Walked Away" (e.g. the Hohokam and the Anasazi), but I have found no anthropologists, archeologists, etc. who agree with him. Instead, they point to necessity (changing climate patterns, attack from other cultures, etc.)--not choice--as the factors driving these cultures away from their early Taker paths. Taker Culture enjoys the dubious distinction of being perhaps the first member of the Community of Life who will need to demonstrate something that is unprecedented in life on earth: the exercise of species self-restraint. I have absolutely no confidence that this will ever be done, and certainly the brief glimpses of life "Beyond Civilization" Quinn has offered thus far (e.g. the barely coherent, drug-induced ramblings of Michael Time on Quinn's website, the ridiculous, barely-explored idea of a Utopian Houston in Quinn's video) do little to dissuade me from this view. Using the metaphor of one of Quinn's other readers on his website, I think Quinn has done an amazing job of explaining why the car has driven (or is about to drive) off the cliff. As for veering off that course by "Walking Away," I see no precedent for it in the past, and no reasonable basis to expect it in the future-for us or for any other species.

PS The 3 stars is because even bad Quinn is better than 99% of the other drivel out there...

beyond civilization
Beyond Civilization
Alexandria Kebede

Daniel Quinn is a good writer. He's book was reader friendly so I enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed his teaching. The book was about civilization. He talked about the life we live and the life humans used to live in. There's a big deference between the city life and the life lived by bushmen in Africa.
Although a lot of people might not want to accept it. Daniel stresses that we were all bushmen at one point and we have to accept it, whether we like it or not. Although I don't have a problem with It others might. (Just the same as some people have problems with evolution).
Daniel named the book beyond civilization, because he wants humans to erase civilization. When a lot of people hear that argument they think the person saying it is implying we should live in caves and feed via spears.
Actually Daniel is implying that people should open their minds. Meaning that people should think on their own and think of way to live without civilization. Of course that is unfathomable because we live in only cities. What is naked to the human eyes is that memes are engraved into our heads at birth. A meme is a theme, kind of like a motivational phrase that keeps you in line. For example, "up your game" meaning practice and do better in your game. If you are told this at an early age, and it is used in ever aspect of your life "upping your game" would be an instinct in everything you do. You would be precisely a perfect person always to the best of your abilities.
To keep a civilization in line, people have to stay in line. To keep people in line you need a meme like, "civilization is essential for life". If this is drummed into the heads of people, of course we would think there is no escaping civilization.
If we began to accept civilization as one way of living; and not the only way of living we can make living better. Or as so the book explains. People who object to this are people afraid, and completly brain washed by societies memes.
Like Marx explains, a man is not truly free minded until civilization is destroyed. Daniel explains that a man is not truly free minded until memes are destroyed. Some might say, "why live without society it brings us the luxuries we have". But in reading the book you might think twice about your luxuries and for the first time glance at the hungry man next to you. Is a civilization worth the thirst of thousands of children. I would think not. Of course you can juggle both, right? Time after time we tell ourselves this, and time after time what answer do we get, no. To get a different answer we need to run in a different mind set. Daniel Quinn explains, the mind set that we are given is the river that we flow in. to flow down a different stream we need to erase memes that are crucial for an obedient river that stays in one flowing path.
Reading the book won't get you out of the continuous river, but it will acknowledge its ways. Making it knowledgeable to you might help you avoid it, and stop you from teaching it to your children. Therefore your children we'll be free minded and will make their own decisions.
A world with nature and no society is hard to comprehend for us. To other cultures who decided to try societies it wasn't that deep, infact it was right across the street. They had a clear view on what life outside civilization was like. The decision between civilization and freedom was a clear one to make without memes getting in the way. And most rookie civilizations chose the free life. Of course they "vanished", but they did live outside of chains.
That's what I got from the book. When you read it you might have a completely different perspective on life afterwards. You might completely disagree with him. At least you have the right away; and don't have to live a life in ignorance of what could have been or what could be.

REread.
This book consists largely of brief reiterations of the ideas Quinn has presented in his first books. It is also designed as a "practical handbook", unlike his previous philosophical journeys. Beyond Civilization thus doesn't inspire the sense of profound and shocking revelation that Ishmael and the other books do in many of their readers. This in itself is a big disappointment to many.

Quinn writes in the first pages that the most common response he got to his first books was a feeling of, "I understand the problem we are facing now and its urgency, but I have NO idea what I can do." He wrote Beyond Civilization in response, as an attempt to take readers from an abstract thought level to a realistic approach. The book works very well as that response but doesn't stand on its own.

Quinn also, more than any author I've read, simplifies his ideas to no end and constantly uses the most basic analogies to communicate them. The apparent intent and result is to make the concepts widely and easily available to understand - to make them "obvious." Quinn is peerless in achieving this, and it it is the defining characteristic of his writing. In B.C., a common side-effect is frustration, when minds made hungry by the earlier books and expecting more of the same are instead offered further simplified reiterations. People new to Quinn's ideas see only the simplest premises with no explanation at all, leading to label the ideas and the book as tripe.

Upon rereading Ishmael I noticed that the unique ecological ideas in it about agriculture had taken precedence in my memory, and that the book was actually about human cultural philosophies, or "the story we are enacting." Quinn's ideas for practical solutions in Beyond Civilization are therefor not about ecology but about how to enact a different story within civilization. The proposed actions are definitely unlike widely accepted "environmental" solutions. Anyone expecting ideas that are similar to or advancements of already existing approaches could be disappointed. In reality the tribal business idea is quite revolutionary in it's effect on how people would live and think; certainly much more so than recycling is.

The most common thing that is done with Quinn's ideas is restating them inaccurately (and in the case of objections, then going on explain why he is wrong.) In almost all cases this is because some point Quinn made is forgotten and left out, which is probably a result of his writing style, since it is so common. I think it is necessary to reread the books and read the others to get all the ideas down before proposing a flaw in thinking or declaring some lack in realization. It might be something as simple as when Quinn states that third world population explosions can only be created by first world increases in food production. He repeatedly says that he doesn't propose reverting to hunter-gathering and primitive technology, which he says is impossible at thie point, but that the only way to save anything is to surpass the invention of civilization, to invent a better and more advanced social organization (not more complicated; further evolved). The Q and A section on his website is really useful for clarifying as well. As usual Quinn tries to anticipate the readers' questions and respond, clarifying differences between communes and tribal businesses and defining partial agriculture.

The other feature of most Quinn readers, that's noticed in supporters and dissenters alike, is their reluctance to be creative in applying his ideas. Maybe this is because almost no ecological thinkers demand this in their proposed solutions. Quinn has few examples of tribal businesses because few people in the world have consciously and actually ventured Beyond Civilization at this point. Quinn is also very careful never to suggest any "Programs" - doing would make him very popular, but would also mean failure in what he is working to achieve. Instead he only gives principles which can be applied in an endless possible number of ways.

Changing the World through changing people's Minds
Daniel Quinn is truly the man with his pulse on humanity's future; his realistic mindset is what sets him apart from other thinkers in the anti-civilization vein. Yes, I said "realistic," because DQ doesn't want us to abandon civilization, he wants us to abandon hierarchical power stuctures within our civilization. The man has stated that he himself is a great lover of civilization; he is not, however a lover of self-annihilation--nor am I.

This book is a collection of aphorisms collecting in one place the ideas scattered into the so-called 'Ishmael Trilogy' comprising the books "Ishmael" "The Story of B" and "My Ishmael." One of the most useful things in this book is the index at the end that give page references to all of the thematic concepts put forward in the other three books.

In all, this is a worthy companion to the 'Ishmael' books, but on it's own wouldn't be very approachable to most readers. Still, for the reason that it is out there with ideas that, if we start changing how we think about the world we can save it, and ourselves, is the kind of hopeful message that rates 5 stars.

WONDERFUL alternative...
Sorry I got my fill of all this anarcho-primitivist crap when I was an avid punk scenester. Sure let's all go live in subsistence communes while regressing away technology. Sounds wonderful ya'll. I am tired of hearing how this book changes people's lives. This old fart has to have some of the worse prose I have ever read.

Daniel Quinn a futurist? I bet Umberto Boccioni would roll over in his grave if he were ever hear that absurd claim.

Don't read this book, even if your girlfriend forces you too. Actually do read it in that case, so you can realize what a moron she is and then dump her.

Pure garbage... ... Read more

Book Description

The Craft of Scientific Writing is designed to help scientists and engineers--both professionals already active in the disciplines as well as students preparing to enter the professions--write about their work clearly and effectively. The author, who is both a writer and an applied physicist, approaches the subject in a fresh way. Using scores of examples from a wide variety of authors and disciplines (including such well-known figures as Einstein, Bohr, and Freud), the book demonstrates the difference between strong scientific writing and weak scientific writing. In essence, this book shows you how to bring your ideas across to your intended audience. In addition, it contains advice on how to start writing, and how to revise your drafts.Written for use as a text in courses on scientific writing, the book includes many useful suggestions about approaching a wide variety of writing tasks--from laboratory reports to grant proposals, from internal communications to press releases--as well as a concise guide to style and usage appropriate for scientific writing. The book will also be useful for self-study and it will be an important reference for all scientists and engineers who need to write about their work. Topics covered include: - Deciding Where to Begin - Structure: Organizing Your Documents; Providing Depth, Transitions, and Emphasis - Language: Being Precise, Clear, and Concise; Being Forthright, Familiar, and Fluid - Illustration: Making the Right Choices; Creating the Best Designs- Handling Special Situations - Actually Sitting Down to Write: Drafting; Revising; Finishing

SOME PRAISE FOR MICHAEL ALLEY'S "THE CRAFT OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING":

"A refreshing addition to a genre dominated by English teacher-style textbooks. Instead of listing rules that constrain writers, the book uses examples to lay out the path to successful communication . . . Especially helpful (and entertaining) is the chapter on the writing process. Anyone who has spent more time avoiding a writing task than actually doing it will appreciate Alley's tips." -DR. ELLEN OCHOA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, FLIGHT CREW OPERATIONS, JOHNSON SPACE CENTER

"This book offers effective methods for improving writing efficiency and overcoming difficulties during the preparation of technical information." -ROBERT L. SCHMITT, DOCTORAL CANDIDATE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

FROM THE REVIEWS:

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION "THE CRAFT OF SCIENTIFIC WRITING is worthwhile reading for technical writers and writers of generic prose as well as scientific writers...Although most of its examples come from science and engineering, most of the content applies to all domains of technical and professional writing. I'd hate to see the book overlooked by technical writers because of the word 'scientific' in its title. The book is straightforward, clear, thoroughly accessible, and easily read, with a simple style...It is extremely well organized...lots of fascinating examples, many drawn