Average customer rating:
|
Aromaticity and Antiaromaticity: Electronic and Structural Aspects
Vladimir I. Minkin ,
Mikhail N. Glukhovtsev , and
Boris Ya. Simkin
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General & Reference
| Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Organic
| Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Aromatic Compounds
| Organic
| Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General & Reference
| Chemistry
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Organic
| Chemistry
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0471593826 |
Book Description
Designed to assist chemists in integrating the results of calculations on molecules and ions into their general body of chemical knowledge. Contains recent contributions from theoretical and computational chemistry to the development of the concept of aromaticity (antiaromaticity) and its expansion into new areas such as organometallic and cluster compounds and three-dimensional structures. Updates the modern status of aromaticity and covers basic principles and experimental applications.
Average customer rating:
- A great reference and resource guide for artists
|
The Parsimonious Universe: Shape and Form in the Natural World
Stefan Hildebrandt , and
Anthony Tromba
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Aesthetics
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Metaphysics
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
| Anatomy
| Animals
| Bacteriology
| Biochemistry
| Bioelectricity
| Bioinformatics
| Biology
| Biophysics
| Biorhythms
| Biostatistics
| Biotechnology
| Botany
| Collection & Preservation
| Ecology
| Ecotoxicology
| Fungi
| General
| Genetics
| Microscopy & Techniques
| Paleontology
| Plants
| Population Biology
| Research
| Taxonomic Classification
| Zoology
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| History & Philosophy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Mathematics in Nature: Modeling Patterns in the Natural World
ASIN: 0387979913 |
Book Description
The variety of sizes, shapes, and irregularities in nature is endless. Through illustrations and text, the authors of The Parsimonious Universe describe the efforts by scientists and mathematicians since the Renaissance to identify and describe the basic laws underlying the shape of natural forms. Can one set of laws account for both the symmetry and irregularity as well as the infinite variety of nature's designs? Complete answers to these questions are likely novel to be discovered. Still, down through the ages, the investigation of form and pattern in nature has yielded some fascinating and surprising insights. Out of this inquiry comes a specific branch of mathematics - the calculus of variations - which explores questions of optimization (finding designs that maximize or minimize a particular quantity).
Customer Reviews:
A great reference and resource guide for artists.......1996-09-12
If any artists are exploring reference material on shape, form and
design in nature, this book explains why nature does 'create' it's
unique self.
It does tend to explain and breakdown natural shapes into mathematical
equations and theorims. Still the photos they provide and
the line drawings help you to understand why things are the
way they are. Useful if you want to create hybrids of these
forms. A intelligent imagination is useful.
My applications for this are from a 3D fine arts point of
view. The info in the book has provided me with inspiration
in my 3D artwork.
Sincerely
Andre Ribuoli
dreko@aol.com
Book Description
The astonishing novel
Brave New World, originally published in 1932, presents Aldous Huxley's vision of the future -- of a world utterly transformed. Through the most efficient scientific and psychological engineering, people are genetically designed to be passive and therefore consistently useful to the ruling class. This powerful work of speculative fiction sheds a blazing critical light on the present and is considered to be Huxley's most enduring masterpiece.
Following
Brave New World is the nonfiction work
Brave New World Revisited, first published in 1958. It is a fascinating work in which Huxley uses his tremendous knowledge of human relations to compare the modern-day world with the prophetic fantasy envisioned in
Brave New World, including threats to humanity, such as overpopulation, propaganda, and chemical persuasion.
Customer Reviews:
I kind of expected it to be different.......2007-08-01
but this was a pretty good book I read an article in a magazine that peaked my interest and then went to the library and read some more articles, I got this edition because I wanted all the other stuff too, this book I really enjoyed
Great Social Commentary.......2007-06-26
Brave New World is a fascinating read, in which Aldous Huxley satirizes society (society in 1932, but still to a certain extent, society in 20-07) by portraying a world steeped in dystopia and a people repressed, though not repressed in the common sense. In Huxley's novel, people's desires are pandered to by the government; all of their greatest longings are fulfilled in a society that offers unlimited sexual pleasure without the idea of marriage or monogamy and unlimited "soma," a drug used to alleviate stress and send the user into a euphoric state of ecstasy.
People are geared from an early age to accept the state of the world through hypnopædia, a sleep-teaching technique, and a manipulative genetic procedure that allows the government to extract multiple embryos from one to make thousands of the same looking individual. A hierarchy is created by further manipulating individual embryos into producing either scrawny, short humans (Epsilons) or strong intellectuals (Alphas). Huxley's vision (as opposed to Orwell's vision of a society kept in submission through fear and physical force) is one in which the government does not repress the people overtly; rather, it allows them the freedom of abandoning old moral values, such as marriage, commitment, and intellectual curiosity, for more pleasurable values, such as promiscuity and drug addiction.
The book as a piece of literature is not so much plot driven or driven by its characters; rather, it is a book of ideas. So, if you're looking to read something that's going to appeal to you from a literary standpoint, then this probably isn't the best book since Huxley's characters are simply there to accentuate his ideas. Overall, in regards to the validity of this piece, I don't really see many parallels to contemporary society: yet. For example, the genetics discussed in the book are not really plausible at this point and I'm skeptical as to the capabilities of hypnopædia.
Brave New World Revisited is another fascinating work, in which Huxley tackles subjects like over-population (a phenomenon he believes will allow leadership to become more manipulative due to the increasing distance between representatives and constituents) and propaganda. While I don't really subscribe to the ideas expressed in works such as We, Brave New World, and 1984, I'm always awe stricken by the social and political prowess of these books, and I would wholeheartedly recommend Brave New World.
Brave New World Review.......2007-06-09
An interesting and insightful book, of which some of the predictions seem to be coming true. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but would have liked it to have been longer
As relevant today as it was in 1932........2007-06-01
Not reading this book is the biggest regret you will ever have. It amazing to me how something written so long ago as a social commentary and a warning of "potential" evils to come, could have so accurately predicted the development of society 70 years later.
The most interesting sections of the book were the first few chapters and the final few. It was there that we see Huxley's future world fully visualized and rationalized for all to see. The early dialogue on mass produced people, pre-natal conditioning and government control will leave most readers with an eerie feeling of familiarity (Fertilization drugs, Gene therapy). The final chapters will certainly leave most asking serious questions about their religious beliefs.
Huxley's future world is similar in some ways to the ideal society as described by Plato in "The Republic". A society in which "everyone belongs to everyone else", where no child has a father, nor a mother. Plato would be proud.
This book will appeal to people from all walks of life (particularly those with backgrounds in philosophy, psychology and organizational behavior).
If you liked this book, you'll also like "1984", by George Orwell. This edition of the book contains a very interesting letter from Huxley to Orwell on the last few pages. Another gem that makes this edition stand out from the others is the inclusion of "Brave New World Revisited". You'll really get an idea of how far ahead of his time Huxley was as he wrote this in 1958. His warnings about rampant overpopulation and resource exaustion may not have been concerns during his lifetime but are ever relevant topics of concersation today.
You'll also like "I am Legend", by Richard Matheson. Though the Savage isn't the last man alive, the comparison to Matheson's last man standing
is easy to make.
!932.......2007-05-05
It's spooky how relevent this story is to the world today. I read this book in high school and it was like okay...the scary thing is that everything Huxley describes I feel so relates to the world today. I was so impressed by this story that I called up my 82 year old grandmother to discuss this book and see if she had read it and I mentioned to her how inciteful I felt Huxley was and how when I read it at 16 It didn't seem so relevent.
My Grandmother told me that's because life was fantastic when I was growing up.
I'm not sure of that either. But I think it was easier to grow up than it is today.
I'm sooo impressed by this guys incite to the future. What a legend.
Book Description
The astonishing novel Brave New World, originally published in 1932, presents Aldous Huxley's vision of the future -- of a world utterly transformed. Through the most efficient scientific and psychological engineering, people are genetically designed to be passive and therefore consistently useful to the ruling class. This powerful work of speculative fiction sheds a blazing critical light on the present and is considered to be Aldous Huxley's most enduring masterpiece.
The nonfiction work Brave New World Revisited, first published in 1958, is a fascinating work in which Huxley uses his tremendous knowledge of human relations to compare the modern-day world with his prophetic fantasy envisioned in Brave New World, including the threats to humanity, such as overpopulation, propaganda, and chemical persuasion.
Customer Reviews:
THIS WAS A BIRTHDAY GIFT.......2007-02-07
MY FRIEND STARTED THE B OOK AND OF COURSE LIKED IT. WHO WOULDN'T LIKE ALDOUS HUXLEY.
Brave New World by Huxley.......2007-01-04
Shining Brave New World turns into nightmare gradually... page after page... And it is a reality of our days... When you see crowds during Bull Race in Spain or during any European football game... all taking SOMA (oh, sorry, beer or cheap wine...) and happy after it... millions playing LOTTERY with the only desire to become rich for free... the only desire of entertainment.. computer games even on cellar phones... and free cannabis in Holland... excited people in supermarkets buying a lot of unnecessary goods... cheap Chinese goods everywhere uselessly processing not-renewable raw materials... You understand that nightmare is around... I don't call for primitive live like in Reservations of Brave New World, but recommend to read this book with one's own conclusions...
The edition to savor and keep for the next generation.......2006-11-10
Impressively high quality edition with an excellent intro by Hitchens and complete with both crucial works by Huxley for an excellent price. If only all hardcover books were of this physical and visual quality as well as being so comfortable in the hands.
WOW..........2005-12-24
The future, Brave new world written by Aldous Huxley is the most mind provoking crazy but seems possible book I ever read. People are mass produce; sex is a child's plaything, drugs are considered a vacation, the clones are color coded by how genetically perfect they are, clones are also brain washed using electric shock to fear flowers so they cant escape into nature and to hate books so they don't ever try and have a free thought or opinion. And having sex with only one partner is frowned upon there are neither marriages nor couples just friends and acquaints.
Basically the book is about control of the masses, control of the working class, control of the mind, in a world were free thought has been banished few character like Bernard the main character start to wonder why, they start to think, they start to learn, they start to ask questions about their freedom these people are forced to live in a perfect society of happiness and ignorance and just because these clones don't know what the problem is doesn't mean they don't have one or need one a life of no challenges, a life of no discomfort I life of lies, is what they live in and who wouldn't wish for more.
If you want a book that will not want to put down read brave new world. It should blow your mind away.
Brave New World.......2004-05-29
Nothing about this book really caught or held my attention. The premise of the novel is of course very original and a thought provoking idea, but the novel just didn't live up to the ever-present hype that surrounds it. I gave it three stars for the originality of ideas and detailed descriptions of future distopia, but in the end this novel did nothing for me. "1984" was much more effective and interesting in my opinion.
Book Description
When the novel Brave New World first appeared in 1932, its shocking analysis of a scientific dictatorship seemed a projection into the remote future. Here, in one of the most important and fascinating books of his career, Aldous Huxley uses his tremendous knowledge of human relations to compare the modern-day world with his prophetic fantasy. He scrutinizes threats to humanity, such as overpopulation, propaganda, and chemical persuasion, and explains why we have found it virtually impossible to avoid them. Brave New World Revisited is a trenchant plea that humankind should educate itself for freedom before it is too late.
Download Description
Huxley looks backward and forward in this brilliant extended essay published a quarter of a century after his controversial, dark visionary novel. Analyzing America at mid-century against the tomorrow of the BRAVE NEW WORLD, Huxley finds some answers and
Customer Reviews:
An essential reading for mankind.......2007-08-05
Huxley's work of nonfiction here is superbly presented and very well-thought with an undeniable amount of research to support all of his thoughts and grim prophecies. Albeit not long, its volume in information lends much support to its considerable importance and potency to the intellectual reader. There were times where i was audibly saying "wow" and times when i was so immersed i couldn't contain my excitement. Ironically this very excitement distracted me at times, where i was deep in thought and contemplation of previous passages that i was actually missing out of what i was reading at the moment. Thankfully those instances were few and i was able to comprehend the majority of it. The outlining problems, he explains, come from over-population and over-organization. Each can be summarized as an internal and external dilemma that we as individuals and a society must face. From propaganda to mind-manipulation, he covers all that human society is currently struggling with and will undoubtedly continue to deal with as the situation worsens.
Profound, both in its horrifying connection made and it's enlightening message given, this book is definitely worth looking into for anyone that is even somewhat interested in Huxley's work.
Lucas.
The best book you can read. period........2006-02-24
If you haven't read Brave New World and 1984, I suggest you read both of those first. Then you can truly appreciate this work of staggering insight into the world of today.
This is the book (or collection of essays) written by Huxley in 1958, 27 years after he wrote Brave New World. He begins by reevaluating his previous work and Orwell's 1984. Then he will open your eyes to some of the biggest problems we face today. It has been almost 50 years since this book was written and many of the things Huxley predicted are happening all around us. It floors me that so few people have read this amazing work. So quit reading this review and read the book already!
Excellent.......2005-12-07
A brilliant look back at Huxley's "Brave New World" by the author along with an insightful analysis of foreshadowed conditions up to 1965. This book is even more important reading today. The birth control pill had not even been invented when this book was written, and yet Huxley refers to its importance. Scholars of historical science can see the writing on the wall. We should all be reading it.
Beware the Enemies of INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM!!.......2005-07-30
+++++
This non-fiction book of essays, by author Aldous Huxley (1894 to 1963), examines the predictions he made in his fascinating science fiction novel written over a quarter of a century from the time he wrote this book. Huxley explains:
"When [my science fiction novel] `Brave New World' [1932] was being written, I was convinced that there was plenty of time. The completely organized society, the...caste [or class] system, the abolition of free will by methodical conditioning, the servitude made acceptable by regular doses of chemically induced happiness, the orthodoxies drummed in by...sleep-teaching--these [threats to individual freedom] were coming all right, but not in my time...I feel a good deal less optimistic than I did when I was writing [my science fiction novel]. The prophecies made in [my science fiction novel] are coming true much sooner than I thought they would...Impersonal forces over which we have almost no control seem to be pushing us all in the direction of the Brave New Worldian nightmare...impersonal forces which are now making the world so extremely unsafe for democracy [and] individual freedom."
This is what this book does. It looks in depth at the above threats or forces to or "enemies of" individual freedom and others mentioned in Huxley's science fiction novel and applies them to the modern world. The author examines in depth the following six threats or forces:
(1) overpopulation
(2) over-organization (or bureaucracy)
(3) propaganda (in a democratic society and under a dictatorship)
(4) brainwashing
(5) persuasion (chemical and subconscious or subliminal)
(6) hypnopaedia (sleep-teaching)
His analysis made over a quarter century ago (from the year of this review) is amazingly accurate. I'll give one perfect example:
"Our contemporary Western society, in spite of its material, intellectual, and material progress, is increasingly less conducive to mental health, and tends to undermine the inner security, happiness, reason, and the capacity for love in the individual; it tends to turn him into an automaton who pays for his human failure with increasing mental sickness, and with despair hidden under a frantic drive for work and so-called pleasure...Man [and woman are] not made to be an automaton, and if he [or she] becomes one, the basis for mental health is destroyed...People are related to one another, not as total personalities but as embodiments of economic functions or, when they are not at work, as irresponsible seekers of entertainment."
The above example is the kind of insight you'll find throughout this well-written book. There are a few (very few!) times Huxley seems to be wrong, but the majority of time he is spot-on.
In the last chapter of his book, Huxley attempts amongst other things to answer the following question:
"How can we control the vast impersonal forces that now menace our hard-one freedoms?" He does a good job coming to grips with this difficult question.
Do you have to read Huxley's previous science fiction novel to understand this book? NO. When he refers to his science fiction novel in this book he does not make any assumptions that the reader has read his science fiction novel. However, as a person who has read his previous novel, I can say that this book had more impact on me than if I had not read the previous novel.
Finally, the only problem I had with this non-fiction book is that it has no references and footnotes (or notes). Huxley to be sure uses information and statistics from other sources but no credit is given to them. Huxley, in his main narrative, does sometimes give informal credit to his sources but many times, he does not even do this. All information sources should have been properly referenced.
In conclusion, this is an insightful, prophetic, fascinating book that makes the case that our society may be heading in the wrong direction due to forces attempting to take away our individual freedoms!
(first published 1958; forward by author; 12 chapters; main narrative 185 pages)
+++++
The Sharp Social Analysis behind the Novel .......2005-05-07
In this book, Aldous Huxley examines modern society and shows how elements of his fictional dystopia in "Brave New World" (BNW) became real even faster than he imagined. In a dozen pithy chapters, he examines the "modern" world of 1958, and discusses the rise of huge organizations, the methods of modern propaganda, the role of the mass media, over-conformity, over-specialization, salesmanship & commercial society, brainwashing, and drug-induced happiness - all of which appeared in "Brave New World." Overall, I found this to be a pithy, insightful, and prescient analysis of society. In fact, I thought it was as good or better than "Brave New World" itself.
Here's a sampling of some points he covers:
BNW depicted the non-violent manipulation of people through pleasures rather than violent oppression. In BNW, for example, the "system" creates people who are psychologically conditioned from birth to have the "correct" views on the world; the government sponsored drug use to keep people happy, and social interactions were ritualized and controlled. All this provided social stability.
Huxley also writes that today's world has also become similarly over-organized, and people are manipulated by pleasures. We've created a vast commercial machine for the mass production of goods and entertainment. As cogs in the machine, people can become highly specialized automatons who subsume themselves into their organizations, making it's goals their own, suffocating their independent human spirit. Although highly productive & peaceful, Huxley claims the resulting social harmony is superficial, and doesn't fulfill us as human beings. People interact with each other from a distance, merely as workers or pleasure seekers, never as total personalities.
Huxley's thoughts on propaganda also fill many of the chapters. He shows that the large organizations of the modern world (governments, corporations, the military, political parties, churches, etc.) have all become very savvy in using propaganda to control "their" masses. As Hitler knew, the masses hate reason; so his key is to create simple, repetitive, emotional appeals that spoke to them and appealed to their secret desires. Not coincidently, advertising uses this same formula; find a common desire or widespread unconscious fear or anxiety, then relate it to the product you sell, then build verbal or pictorial bridge from their dream to your product, and repeat the ad over and over.
So, what can we do to improve the world? Huxley offers few solutions, but one key point is that we must be aware of propaganda. To do so, we must learn the proper use of language, and learn how to dissect and critically analyze the messages aimed at us. Also, we should try to reconnect with our neighbors & communities fully as people, without intervening organizations. Finally, we should try to decentralize economic and political power as much as possible, since what is good for the economic or political "machine" isn't necessarily good for us as human beings.
As I mentioned, this book was packed with insights, and a quick, enjoyable read. It's also a superb follow-up to Huxley's famous novel. Recommended.
Average customer rating:
|
Brave New World Revisited
Manufacturer: Harper & Brothers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000DN6NX2 |
Customer Reviews:
A very usefull helper.......2003-01-15
This cliff notes helped understand this book.(I am a high school senior). And I would tell anyone who has read this book, if they need help to pick this book up.
Good Review, but Needs a Few More Pieces of Information.......2000-05-08
In this Cliff's Notes booklet, the reviewer, Warren Paul of Columbia University, provides the following (in order): a brief biography of Aldous Huxley, a 6-page history of utopian/dystopian novels, 1-and-a-half pages containing the general plot, one or two lines describing each of the characters, a detailed description of each chapter (each with a few paragraphs of commentary), a critical analysis of the novel as a whole and of the characters, definitions of the terms (e.g., Malthusian Belt, Musical Bridge) used in Brave New World, a chapter-by-chapter summary of Brave New World Revisited, review questions for the student, and a "Selected Biblography." All in all, this Cliff Notes succeeds in providing the details the student of Aldous Huxley needs to do a book report on either of the two books for which it provides commentary. It also serves to stimulate interest in utopian and dystopian novels. The review would have been better if there had been more assessment of how Brave New World Revisited was received by the public compared with the reception of its predecessor, and of the very different treatment of the new world in the two texts (a novel in the first case, and an extended essay in the second). I also would have appreciated a list of all of Aldous Huxley's novels and other literary works in chronological order to help me put Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited in their proper perspective with regard to the author's literary career. Lastly, the Selected Bibliography consisted of only four texts, many of which were old when this Cliff Notes booklet was written. I would have expected at least 20.
Books:
- Atlas of Zeolite Framework Types (formerly: Atlas of Zeolite Structure Types)
- Biopolymers from Renewable Resources (Macromolecular Systems - Materials Approach)
- Bioprocessing and Biotreatment of Coal (Biotechnology & Bioprocessing)
- Catalysis and Surface Properties of Liquid Metals and Alloys (Chemical Industries)
- Chemical Creativity: Ideas from the Work of Woodward, Hückel, Meerwein and Others
- Chemical Engineering Dynamics: Modelling with PC Simulation, 2nd Edition
- Chemical Modeling: From Atoms to Liquids
- Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry)
- Chiral Auxiliaries in Cycloadditions
- Chromatographic Analysis of Environmental and Food Toxicants (Chromatographic Science, V. 77.)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Balanchine: Celebrating a Life in Dance
- Spiral Dynamics Integral: Learn to Master the Memetic Codes of Human Behavior
- Pilgrims Progress in Today's English
- Liquidacion / Liquidation
- Robert Capa: The Definitive Collection
- Student Study Guide for Biology
- Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman
- Palaces in the Night: Whistler in Venice
- Plant Intoxicants: A Classic Text on the Use of Mind-Altering Plants
- A Warrior for Freedom: Admiral Robert B. Carney
