The earth is continuously changing and evolving yet it is unclear how environmental changes will affect us in years to come. What changes are inevitable? What changes, if any, are beneficial? And what can we do as citizens of this planet to protect it and our future generations? Larry Slobodkin, one of the leading pioneers of modern ecology, offers compelling answers to these questions in A Citizen's Guide to Ecology. He provides many insights into ecology and the processes that keep the world functioning.

This book contains pretty much nothing beyond common sense truths that are obvious to any graduate student who has thought about becoming a researcher and who has been part of a lab. For example, if you have written and succeeded in publishing at least one paper, you know everything that is written in this book about writing papers. Perhaps, I bought this book with the wrong expectation that the authors would uncover some things about being a scientists that are not obvious but nevertheless important. At least this was the impression that I got from reading a positive review of this book in Nature. This is not the case: they discuss things that are important but obvious. So, in my opinion this book may be good for undergraduate or 1st year graduate students who have just begun thinking about a scientific career and have not yet been exposed to the research environment at all.

Tackles the complex environmental issue of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) for industrial hygienists, HVAC engineers, architects and anyone else concerned with the air quality of interiors
* Infused with charts, tables, and all the major formulas and calculations necessary to monitor and characterize a particular environment
* Includes all relevant codes, standards and guidelines

conceptual modeling has always been one of the cornerstones for information systems engineering as it describes the general knowledge of the system in the so-called conceptual schema.Krogstie, Opdahl and Brinkkemper compiled 20 contributions from renowned researchers covering all aspects of conceptual modeling on the occasion of Arne Sølvberg’s 67th birthday. Many friends of this information systems modeling pioneer happily contributed their latest research results from fields like data modeling, goal-oriented modeling, agent-oriented modeling, and process-oriented modeling. Overall, the contributions reflect the most important developments and application areas of conceptual modeling in recent years, and they also pinpoint trends in conceptual modeling for the next decade.
This wide selection corresponds to the broad spectrum of Arne’s activities and long-term responsibilities with the VLDB Endowment, IFIP, and ERCIM. Arne was presented with this book at CAiSE 2007, when the event which he cofounded in 1989 returned to his hometown of Trondheim.

Today's marketplace demands product reliability. At the same time, it places ever-increasing demands on products that push the limits of their performance and their functional life, and it does so with the expectation of lower per-unit product costs. To meet these demands, product design now requires a focused, streamlined, concurrent engineering process that will produce a product at the lowest possible cost in the least amount of time. Design for Reliability provides a systematic approach to the design process that is sharply focused on reliability and firmly based on the physics of failure. It imparts an understanding of how, why, and when to use the wide variety of reliability engineering tools available and offers fundamental insight into the total design cycle. Applicable from the idea phase of the product development cycle through product obsolescence, Design for Reliability (DfR) concepts integrated with reliability verification and analytical physics form a coherent stage gate/phase design process that helps ensure that a product will meet customers' reliability objectives. Whether you are a high-volume manufacturer of consumer items or a low volume producer of military commodities, your goal is the same: to bring a product to market using a process focused on designing out or mitigating potential failure modes prior to production release. Readers of Design for Reliability will learn to meet that goal and move beyond solidifying a basic offering to the marketplace to creating a true competitive advantage.

Why are so few companies blogging? The phenomenon has been mainstream for a few years already, so many have probably considered it. Obviously, this has not yet spurred them to action.

]Springer | 504 pages | 1991-11-30 | 0792315049 | PDF | 8,24MB
This is a well written book on engineering optimization in general and on structural optimization particularly. Although the book requires basic structures' analysis background (e.g., FEA and strength of materials) the optimization concepts are written in a clear and concise manner. Plenty of practical examples are given in each chapter to present the "application" of various optimization methods. Optimization of both constrained and unconstrained problems are shown with emphasis on the variable types involved (i.e. continous, discreet) A good book for someone getting started on structural optimization and a good quick reference book afterwards.

If one has a learning style of big picture first small details later like I do, this book is the prerequisite for learning C++. One will be benefited from author's explanation on how he designed C++ as well as implementation examples of key C++ features.

Microsoft SharePoint: Building Office 2007 Solutions in VB 2005 is the third edition of Scot Hillier's market-leading SharePoint book. The new version includes extensive updates from the previous editions, with a complete focus on SharePoint 2007 and its integration with the 2007 Microsoft Office System. This edition also features new approaches for using SharePoint to improve business efficiency, plus new workflow solutions for SharePoint and BizTalk, as well as a brand new chapter on building a SharePoint solution from start to finish.

Birds, by their very existence, enhance our daily lives. For many of us, it is a thrill to see the splash of a Brown Thrasher in a birdbath, or the flash of red in green woods as a tanager darts past. It is a gift of nature that such birds – which play an important role in healthy ecosystems by controlling pests, dispersing seeds, and pollinating plants – are also so beautiful and such a joy to watch. More than sixty-three million Americans are birdwatchers, injecting billions of dollars into local economies throughout the nation as they purchase birdseed, binoculars, and guidebooks and venture into outdoor environments that are made so much more welcoming by the sights and songs of birds. But, as nature’s indicators, birds are also showing signs that our environment is changing.

Jay Ansill, "Mythical Beings (Origami Today)"
Origami USA | 96 pages | 1992-04 | ISBN: 0060968664 | PDF | 7.2 MB

Beautiful, but difficult - not for beginners. The patterns contained here are: Ouroboros, Wizard and Witch, Winged Dragon, Gargoyle, Daedalus, Pegasus, Flapping Dragon, Woodland Elf, Centaur, Rearing Dragon, Shiva, Unicorn, Long-tailed Dragon and Cererus. Each of these designs is a beautiful conversation piece. Each is also frustrating and difficult to fold. These are for advanced folders. Many of these designs are for animals that have four legs. If you have folded a four legged animal before then you know what I am talking about. Its tricky. If you have never attempted a four legged animal then you are probably not at the level to use this book. I thought that the difficulty I had folding these was because of the complexity of the pieces. Reading other comments here about the inaccurate diagrams has inspired me to try and reattempt some of these intuitively. Whatever my problem was it is likely to be a problem for you too, so be careful unless you are the origami champ.

Everything a novice investor needs to know about getting started in stocks. While dozens of books purport to be for the beginning investor, most "beginner" books assume a level of knowledge that true novices just don't have. Understanding Stocks is targeted to the beginning investor, providing a concise yet comprehensive overview of the stock market without subjecting readers to terms and ideas they can't understand and frankly, will probably never use.

Every student needs to be able to write essays. How to Write Great Essays stresses the importance of clarity, word choice, and organization in essay writing. This book also helps readers build their knowledge of correct grammar and punctuation and familiarize them with editing, revising, and proofreading essays. Sample writing prompts and essays reinforce what students learn in this book.

Writing is my most time-consuming hobby and I have found that this book is a great introduction to the basic skills involved in writing. Whether you are a professional or a beginner, it's helpful to have this guide to establish a basic foundation for writing effectively. It is also a great reference tool in case you happen to forget one of the basic techniques.