Defying Gravity: The Making of Newton

Customer Reviews:

An unexpected disappointment.......2005-05-26

I really wanted to recommend this book -- a rare account of engineering efforts undertook to create Apple Newton - but I cannot do it with clear conscience. On the surface, "Defying gravity" should easily repeat the success of many stories of the birth of the Macintosh. But there's something wrong about this book, something that -- excuse the bad pun -- defies description. Maybe it is the strange format? Or plain ugly visual design? Maybe it's the peculiar page numbering scheme? Perhaps the stories are less captivating, and the photos too artistic? Might be all of that. However, the most important complaint is that, save for two little photos, there's absolutely no information about Newton's unique GUI. The book glosses over the countless difficult decisions that must have been faced during its inception, instead focusing on yet another Newton stage presentation during yet another computer trade show. Pity.

What it really takes to try and make a dent in the universe........2000-12-24

I can still remember when I first opened a Newton MessagePad 130 with backlighting for my 13th birthday. I had heard before I received the 130 that the Newton was notorious for its bad handwriting recognition and its frequent crashes but I decided to give it a shot. After I got aquainted with my MessagePad 130, I began to wonder what all the fuss was about. It worked almost flawlessly. I decided to purchase this book to learn about the development of the product that I adored and loved. I was very impressed with the pictures and was equally impressed with the writing to go along with them. If you want to learn about what it takes to become a computer programmer/engineer, this book is for you. It lets you know about the struggles and the rewards of being part of a team and developing a finished product with a corperate deadline. However, the reason I only gave it four stars is that somebody who had no idea about the Newton wouldn't really know how everything turns out. The book leaves you hanging by letting you know that the Newton DID begin to ship, but thats all. Thats not the authors fault though. As many Newton fans know, Steve Jobs discontinued the Newton because of its lack of sales and basically said it was a drain on the company resources, but thats another story. This book was put together almost flawlessly and deserves more recognition than it has.

Sweat and circuits.......2000-11-10

On my shelf in its protective case is an original Newton (actually a MessagePad 100, the "retooled" version of the original). It is big, clumsy, slow, chews through its batteries in 20 minutes of use, and crash-prone. It is also a miracle of organization and intelligent function, especially when compared with my trusty Palm (which nevertheless runs circles around Newton in usefulness and functionality).

DEFYING GRAVITY deepened my appreciation of Newton (even down to the little red wire that seems to be escaping from the case ... a manufacturing boo-boo that makes sense in context). Taking the late-1980s visionary doodles of John Sculley, Apple's Pepsi-bred CEO, and "productizing" them under the pressure of internal competition and external expectations, required a deep-thought-driven development effort that ground down the members of Newton's team. One young engineer committed suicide not long before the launch -- though a Newton connection can't be proven, the 18 hour days and constant frustrations could not have helped him.

In this volume, with an unconventional page numbering scheme based on counting down the days until product launch, the reader experiences with the team the pressures that came from failure; from trying to pull together too many new technologies in a first-ever device; from communicating a totally new paradigm and avoiding the inevitable attempts to have that paradigm "pigeon-holed" into more familiar existing concepts.

The photographs are sometimes grainy and stark, just like the late nights spent with troublesome components and misbehaving code.

They drew me in: I celebrated with the team when Newton had its first successful public demo, after misbehaving right up to the demo time. The authors bring the reader right up the threshold of the new era: product launch.

Fortunately, they don't have to deal with the later market failure of Newton: 30,000 original Newtons bulldozed into a California landfill, incremental improvements but no marketed attempt at a smaller form factor, and the abrupt demise of the platform under the "new Apple"'s Steve Jobs just as a fast-enough MessagePad, an incredibly cute and functional eMate, and a critical mass of software development had been achieved.

Just as well -- this book is unconventional, and much more effective than a dry case study in showing just how much work goes into a new product category. I think it works in that regard, and also doubles as an unusual and attractive "coffee-table" book. Mine is staying with my Newton, to keep some history with this curious device when my grandchildren stumble across it in 40 years.

An engaging glimpse into the glory and mayhem of Apple.......1999-03-18

Follow the Newton from conception to birth. It's a facinating look at how creativity and business clash and merge to form a unique product for profit. Our post-Newton perspective only serves to make the story more poignant.

Excellent look into Computer industry........1999-03-15

This book is an excellent look into how the computer industry operates, from the CEO's time, to product delays, and product design and introduction issues. I only wish the book was 5000 pages. A *MUST* read for a Newton user. A *MUST* read for any Apple Fan.

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Isaac Newton and His Apple: Dead Famous
Kjartan Poskitt
Manufacturer: Apple
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Physics | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0590114069

Newton's Apple: Isaac Newton and the English Scientific Renaissance

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Tasty

Newton's Apple: Isaac Newton and the English Scientific Renaissance
Peter Aughton
Manufacturer: George Weidenfeld & Nicholson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

History of Ideas | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0297843214

Book Description

In the aftermath of the English Civil War, the Restoration overturned England's medieval outlook and a new way of looking at the world allowed the genius of Isaac Newton (b. 1642) and his contemporaries to flourish. Newton had a long and eventful life apart from his scentific discoveries. He was born at the beginnings of the Civil War, his studies were disrupted by the twin disasters of the Great Plague and the Fire of London; a brilliant and enigmatic genius, Newton dabbled in alchemy, wrote over a million words on the Bible, quarrelled with his contemporaries and spent his last years as Master of the Royal Mint as well as President of the Royal Society. This book sets Newton's life and work against this dramatic intellectual rebirth; among his friends and contemporaries were Samuel Pepys, the colourful diarist, John Evelyn, the eccentric antiquarian, the astronomers Edmund Halley and John Flamsteed, and Christopher Wren, the greatest architect of his age. They were all instrumental in the founding of the Royal Society and their aim was nothing less than to examine the whole field of scientific knowledge.

Customer Reviews:

Tasty.......2006-03-14

This is a very nice-looking book, with heavy-duty glossy paper sewn into an equally sturdy binding. Inside are high-quality illustrations of everything from scientists in frighteningly humungous wigs to the face of Jupiter as seen by Voyager, accompanied by readable, interesting text dealing with the English Scientific Revolution of the 16-1700s as seen through the lens of Newton's life. Its portrait of Newton is less negative than those in the recent biographies, but I wouldn't call it reverential--somewhere in the middle, I'd say.

The reading level is college or above, but this book would definitely be accessible to a smart kid of high school age. There's stuff about science, but also a lot of historical miscellanea that non-science types would find interesting. It doesn't go heavy on the math or technical stuff, but instead gives an overview of England at that time and the personalities and interactions of the scientists.

To sum up: it's not a cheap book, but it's a keeper and worth the money.

Calculus without Tears, Vol. 2: Newton's Apple

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Calculus without Tears, Vol. 2: Newton's Apple
William Flannery
Manufacturer: Berkeley Science Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
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ASIN: 0976413817
Release Date: 2005-04-01

Product Description

CWT is a 3 volume series: Vol. 1 - Constant Velocity Motion, Vol. 2 - Newton's Apple, and Vol. 3 - Nature's Favorite Functions. This is the second volume in the series. It builds on the framework established in Vol. 1 to analyze the motion of a falling object, and continues toward the goal of the calculus of polynomials, which is reached in Vol. 3. Vol. 3 also treats the functions that nature favors as evidenced by their appearance in many physical phenomena, the exponential and trigonometric functions.

In 1680 Isaac Newton watched as an apple fell from a tree, and went on to discover the Law of Gravity and the Laws of Motion. Applying these laws to the analysis of a falling apple he wrote a differential equation that characterized the apple's motion. In Chapter 1 we retrace Newton's steps to arrive at this differential equation. The motion of a falling apple, however, is not constant velocity motion, and the techniques we learned in CWT Vol. 1 will not solve the differential equation for its trajectory. In CWT Vol 2, we add to the repertoire of functions we can differentiate and integrate, and differential equations we can solve, to include the differential equation for a falling apple.

One of the unique features of the CWT series is that differential equations are studied from the beginning. Many of the laws of physics are written as differential equations, starting with F = M*A, the equation that launched modern science. One of the reasons that differential equations are delayed for so long, almost indefinitely, in the standard curriculum, is that even an innocuous looking differential equation can be very difficult to solve. Many of the differential equations I encountered as an engineer for twenty years in the aerospace industry were not only difficult, they were impossible to solve. That is, to solve exactly, but, they were easy to solve approximately! In fact, the method of linear approximation will solve any differential equation; it's based o

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The definitive introduction to programming for Newton 2.0.

Programming for the Newton: Using Macintosh
Julie McKeehan , and Neil Rhodes
Manufacturer: Morgan Kaufmann Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Object-Oriented Design | Software Design, Testing & Engineering | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Software Development | Software Design, Testing & Engineering | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Languages & Tools | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Macs | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Mathematics | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books | Applied | Chaos & Systems | Geometry & Topology | Mathematical Analysis | Mathematical Physics | Number Systems | Pure Mathematics | Transformations | Trigonometry
ASIN: 012484832X

Customer Reviews:

The definitive introduction to programming for Newton 2.0........1996-10-08

The first edition of this book led those of us new to Newtonscript by the hand through a sample project. This second edition uses the project approach but is structured in a far more reference-manual manner, emphasizing the concepts over the process.

This edition is Newton 2.0 ONLY, so it won't suit programmers who want to write code for the MessagePad 110, 100, OMP, or ExpertPad. For that, you'll want to track down a copy of the first edition of this book.

The included CD contains a demo of the Newton Toolkit (NTK) programming environment, but there is a newer version of this software on Apple's web site. Note that the demo version creates Newton packages which can't be redistributed, so you'll eventually need to purchase a full copy of NTK.

This book isn't a replacement for the Newton Toolkit documentation, and it doesn't cover much in terms of user interface principles. If you have some background in object oriented programming, this book will put you on the path to writing your own Newtonscript code.

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Newton and the Quasi-Apple
Stanley Schmidt , and Frank Kelly Freas
Manufacturer: Foxacre Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0970971133

Book Description

What if Newton was wrong—or just seemed to be wrong? What if visitors from an advanced civilization accidentally made it seem as if the Three Laws of Motion didn't work as advertised—and thus got Newton in very serious trouble with the authorities?And what if that was just the start of the trouble?

The apple in our eye.(Newton: The Making of Genius)(Book Review) (book review): An article from: New Criterion

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The apple in our eye.(Newton: The Making of Genius)(Book Review) (book review): An article from: New Criterion
John Derbyshire
Manufacturer: Foundation for Cultural Review
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New Criterion, published by Foundation for Cultural Review on May 1, 2003. The length of the article is 2135 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The apple in our eye.(Newton: The Making of Genius)(Book Review) (book review)
Author: John Derbyshire
Publication: New Criterion (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2003
Publisher: Foundation for Cultural Review
Volume: 21 Issue: 9 Page: 73(5)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Apple intros first PDA, Sculley says Newton will define the digital age. (personal digital assistant; John Sculley): An article from: Software Industry Report

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Apple intros first PDA, Sculley says Newton will define the digital age. (personal digital assistant; John Sculley): An article from: Software Industry Report

Manufacturer: Millin Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

E-mail | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Scheduling & E-mail | Apple | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Software Industry Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on August 16, 1993. The length of the article is 992 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Apple intros first PDA, Sculley says Newton will define the digital age. (personal digital assistant; John Sculley)
Publication: Software Industry Report (Newsletter)
Date: August 16, 1993
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: v25 Issue: n16 Page: p1(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Apple miffs developers by keeping tight grip on code for Newton. (Apple Computer Inc., personal digital assistant notebook computer): An article from: Software Industry Report

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Apple miffs developers by keeping tight grip on code for Newton. (Apple Computer Inc., personal digital assistant notebook computer): An article from: Software Industry Report

Manufacturer: Millin Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Software Industry Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on September 21, 1992. The length of the article is 493 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Apple miffs developers by keeping tight grip on code for Newton. (Apple Computer Inc., personal digital assistant notebook computer)
Publication: Software Industry Report (Newsletter)
Date: September 21, 1992
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: v24 Issue: n18 Page: p1(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Apple Newton spreadsheet and math tool shipped by MobileSoft Corp.: An article from: Software Industry Report

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Apple Newton spreadsheet and math tool shipped by MobileSoft Corp.: An article from: Software Industry Report

Manufacturer: Millin Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Software Industry Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on December 20, 1993. The length of the article is 489 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Apple Newton spreadsheet and math tool shipped by MobileSoft Corp.
Publication: Software Industry Report (Newsletter)
Date: December 20, 1993
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: v25 Issue: n24 Page: p8(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

The book examines the theory and practice of foreign exchange risk management. It offers a rigorous set of operational guidelines within which foreign exchange risk can be: Consistently hedged both across different risk situations and over time; Tightly integrated with other types of financial risk such as interest rate and commodity price risk; and Managed consistently with the firm's overall strategic plans so that the technical, financial engineering dimensions of risk management are fully integrated with strategic management. The book starts with an in-depth discussion of the valuation of spot and forward foreign exchange rates, currency futures and options, swaps and other foreign exchange derivative products. Part II provides a framework for generating foreign exchange rate forecasts. Assessment of a multinational corporation's exposure to foreign exchange risk is discussed in Part III. Finally, Part IV reviews how to eliminate or mitigate cash flow losses that may result from transaction exposure to foreign exchange risk. Each chapter is followed by case studies and problem sets. An instructor's manual is available upon request from the publisher.

Customer Reviews:

Terribly written and boring.......2003-09-28

This book stinks. It is very poorly written, has no formatting and is incredibly over-priced.

The international control conundrum with exchange risk (Discussion paper / Strategic Management Research Center, University of Minnesota)

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The international control conundrum with exchange risk (Discussion paper / Strategic Management Research Center, University of Minnesota)
Laurent L Jacque
Manufacturer: Strategic Management Research Center, University of Minnesota
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Foreign Exchange | Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006P2OD0

Management and Control of Currency and Interest Rate Risk

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Management and Control of Currency and Interest Rate Risk

Manufacturer: Probus Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1557381291

Management control systems and foreign exchange risk: A case study of a multinational corporation

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Management control systems and foreign exchange risk: A case study of a multinational corporation
Giuseppe Bardini
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006WY1B6

Book Description

If international law is derived from the consent of States, who should be in a better position to say what has been consented to than the disputing States themselves? It seems that if the doctrine of consent is taken seriously, there would be no room for an 'objective' legal answer to the question `What is law?'. Furthermore, States do not necessarily employ the same criteria for determining the applicable law when engaged in dispute. And the doctrine of sovereignty is of very limited utility, since not all of substantive international law can be explained in terms of the atomic concept of sovereignty. This leaves consent as the mediating concept between the substantive doctrine of international law on the one hand and the actual practice of States (and others whose practice and participation in the global legal order help shape the body of international laws) on the other. Nevertheless, this is not to say that there is nothing `higher' than the actual legal claims forwarded by international actors. International law is no mere superstition, since none argue that there is no (one) legal solution. In that sense, the unity of the international legal order is preserved. The problem is that the solutions actually forwarded in dispute are too numerous and international law too abstract to serve as arbiters between the competing claims. Thus, at the level of substantive doctrine there is a fragmentation of that earlier-mentioned picture of unity. But even here, only consent can mediate between unity and fragmentation, stability and change, order and justice, legislation and revolution. The strength of international law lies in its adaptability to political, strategic and diplomatic necessities. To suggest otherwise is to depart from a picture of international law that presumes the empirical verifiability of international laws. This book has as its principal concern certain orthodoxies of `source thinking' in international law, and is aimed at working out the implications of these. It aims to show how certain theoretical conceptions have shaped the law in action, for good or ill. It will appeal to political theorists, diplomats, global decision-makers, and international lawyers who are interested in the question `What can we do with the international law that we have?', as distinct from the question `What should we do with international law?'.

Customer Reviews:

Extremely Helpful.......2003-11-13

Happened upon this book by chance, and was overjoyed to find it. Its views are not conventional, and it assumes a certain level of familiarity with international law from the reader, so a prior grasp of the basics is helpful. I won't attempt to explain its contents as the introduction does it well enough, but I especially appreciated its exploration of the dichotomy between creating law and interpreting it- consensualism and objectification. Though I didn't agree with parts of the book, it certainly made me think.

This book is well-thought out, deeply-researched, and lucid........1999-02-20

Drs. Elias and Lim show that international law and issues of practical policy will foreseeably continue to depend on the ramifications of statehood. If a contrast with global discourse might be permitted, it is clear that a distinction subsists between global law outwith the state, on the one hand, and law that is of global consequence on the other.

Product Description

An in-depth look at no-till applications through the eyes of Chilean farmer, Carlos Crovetto. Mr. Crovetto was able to renovate his soils and obtain high wheat and corn yields using no-till and adequate fertilizers. The soil not only recuperated, but became far more productive than the original soil. This book combines a thorough treatment of the science of soil management with many personal experiences. An enjoyable read or great for the classroom, it also includes many color photographs and a glossary.

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