Columbia Reviews

This is a good book about Ballard Fuel Cell Company. It tells the story about taking the fuel-cell technology for electricity production from an oddity used in space to mass-market commercialization. The process is still going on so the book cannot conclude that Ballard has reached their goal, but the book does a good job explaining how Ballard reached their current state.
From a technical point of view one can argue that the author focuses too much on fuel cell development and too little on the necessary hydrogen delivery infrastructure, which is required to operate the fuel cells.
The book is also a good study in growing a start-up company. It shows how the founding entrepreneur pushes the idea forward until the company reaches a size where people with other qualities are needed to run the company. It shows how a company with hardly any products on the market can retain the public interest by carefully manage the information flow. Finally the book shows that it is possible for a relative small company to start development relationships with big multinational companies and still retain most of their independence.

This is an excellent history of the Ballard fuel cell and biography of Geoffrey Ballard, the man behind the Ballard fuel cell.
The writing is excellent, and his ability to explain the super technical process of Hydrogen fuel cell technology, in terms that lay people can completly understand, keeps you from putting this book down.
I really hope that Tom Koppel keeps up on this company, and the industry in whole, and writes another book as good as this one, keeping us updated on the supersonic speed of advancement in this Incredible field of energy.
I loved this book.

This book is a great case study in management and innovation. It shows once again that a small group of dedicated individuals can compete successfully against much larger competitors.

Fuel cells have long been successful in space craft. Soon you will be able to use them in your vehicles and buildings. Utility power plants typically discard about 60% of the heat energy from fuel. A fuel cell in your home would provide electricity efficiently. Instead of discarding the heat, you could use the fuel cell to heat your water everyday and provide some winter space heating.

A fuel cell in your vehicle will increase fuel efficiency and eliminate the need for oil changes.

About 40 cubic miles of crude oil remain available for more than six billion people, and we are consuming more than one cubic mile each year. By helping to reduce fuel consumption, fuel cells will help us to delay and reduce the severity of the coming shortages of fossil fuels.

I read and loved Father Elijah, Plague Journal and Eclipse of the Sun. They were wonderful, faith-filled, and action-packed Catholic novels. Then I bought Strangers and Sojourners, hoping to continue the action. It started out with a bang, at a satanic ceremony in the main character's childhood. I thought that it would continue from there with more God versus Satan action. No such luck. The story is very slow and just didn't hold my interest. Twice I took breaks to read more interesting novels before continuing with Strangers and Sojourners, then I finally just gave up. I was over 200 pages into the book and still there was very little happening in the woman;s faith and not much action to speak of. It was just too boring for me. I was disappointed with this novel.

I was reading this book alongside O'Brien's _A Landscape with Dragons_. Doing so might have been a mistake, as the "secret formula" of his storywriting stood out too obviously and awkwardly to me in _Strangers and Sojourners_, making it quite tedious. Or maybe it was just the plain old fact that it was slow! I wonder what happened to the literary device of "showing" rather than "telling" that the author used so masterfully in _Elijah_?

Well, maybe with these three "Delaney" (Children of the Last Days) epics out of his system, O'Brien can get back to writing enjoyable novels.

(By the way, although it is not a novel, his _Landscape with Dragons_ is superbly insightful, and subtly transmits the same genuine, deep mystical spirituality of its author, as did _Elijah_. I recommend THAT one to any parent, teacher or pastor.)

It's fun to wonder what genre O'Brien will decide to use in his next novel. Perhaps an historical novel, with an actual Saint or two as its main characters? I, for one, would love to see more of the Elijah type character. Whatever he decides, I surely hope that he keeps that same sense of mystery and Providential foreshadowing that makes Elijah such an enjoyable, (and spiritually inspiring) read and re-read.

As with his previous novel, Father Elijah, O'Brien's Strangers and Sojournors is an instant classic. It is much different from his best-selling debut, however, for it deals with a woman who comes from England in the early part of the 20th century to live in the wilds of northern British Columbia. It is her story, the story of a human being dealing with the mystery of human existence. Hence it is our story, too, for, as the title belies, we are all strangers and sojournors on this earth. With this book, O'Brien shows his artistic side; one can almost hear the music and poetry behind the prose, which will reach deep into the heart of the reader. Noted writer Peter Kreeft has said that "No novel since Dostoyevsky has nourished my soul like Strangers and Sojournors." I agree. O'Brien is a spiritual storyteller of the most extraordinary calibre and this book is his best so far.

This is a review of "The Family Man" by Michael S. Patterson. I read a short synopsis of the book, the author's first novel, so as someone who likes suspense and mystery novels, I knew I would enjoy it. This book grabs you from the first line and holds onto you until the last word! It's the story of a couple excited about expecting their first baby, when a madman kidnaps the expectant mother with plans to make her and her baby his new family. Her husband is then accused and convicted of killing her because of purely circumstantial evidence - even though there has been no trace of her or her dead body. Through the kindness and resourcefulness of a little girl, proof begins to arrive that not only tells authorities that the woman is alive, but where she might be held. The suspense-filled story takes you chapter-by-chapter between events occurring simultaneously to the woman and her husband. You feel that time is running out for both of them. You worry the rescuers won't arrive in time or understand the urgency for rescuing the woman from her captor, who is becoming even more dangerous as he senses his plan for the future is unraveling. The situation feels real and as though it could happen to your own family! Really scary! I'm glad I found this author and hope he plans to write many more books.

I was surfing through Amazon and ordered this book, almost by accident. I read it in 2 sittings. Intense and fun, a quick read and a must for fans of action-packed susupense novels.

I picked the book up on a Thursday and finished it by the weekend. I would have finished it sooner, but I was savoring every word. Seriously! I don't generally like suspense thrillers, but I was bowled over by how well Patterson crafted the plot lines. Incredible attention to detail. His real places and settings really draws the reader in... as if the author had visited every site in the book. His own knowledge as a trial lawyer adds even more realism to the plot.

A definite contender to become a feature film.

The only flaw is the cover. It does nothing to capture the passion and intrigue in the book. It definitely pays to read the inside pages.

It's a very satisfying, unpredictable ending.
Can't wait to see the next book from this author!!

I think some of the reviews make far too much about the author's comments about Stephen Jay Gould. That these two disagree about certain things is just fine with me and if it gets a little personal at times, so what? Consider that just a little spice in the dish. What is wonderful about this book is its concise expression of ideas and concepts and its use of apt illustrations to help us understand the points it makes. Simon Conway Morris obviously cares very deeply about the subject of the book and his skillful writing helps us catch some of that fervor. Whether you end up believe Dr Gould or Dr Conway Morris or make up some other conclusion isn't really the point. You will be better off having read this book (as well as Gould and other authors). This book is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the implications of the Burgess Shale and what we believe we are learning from it and other sites. There are many valuable concepts discussed in this book and valuable references to other reading so you can take your investigations as deep as you care to go. If you read this book I believe you will enjoy it and learn from it.

Having read and loved Professor Gould's book, Wonderful Life, I have always wanted to read and learn more about the Cambrian fauna.This book was just what I was looking for. It provides information about other organisms from other Cambrian fossil localities and ties these into the Burgess Shale story. I appreciate the way Conway-Morris brings the organisms to life in his time-travel scenario. And the photographs of the fossils are beautiful! Obviously a great deal of care went into taking these unretouched photos. His disagreements with Gould are also illuminating and add depth to the book, providing another way of looking at these organisms. Conway-Morris's account of how Wiwaxia and the halkieriids tie together the Annelids, the Mollusca and the Brachiopods is particularly fascinating.

Morris, one of two contemporary specialists on the Burgess Shale, has produced an exceedingly well-written survey of the Burgess shale fauna and their meaning for evolutionary biology. The book is loaded with scores of B/W photos, 4 color drawings, a 13-page glossary of terms for the uninitiated, an imaginative underwater excursis with time-travelling paleontologists to the middle Cambrian, and a chapter on developmental evolutionary genetics (wherein he argues that many Burgess forms *are* related to contemporary forms). Stephen Jay Gould's view of the significance of the Burgess Shale is that the bizarre life-forms seen then demonstrate the historical contingency of evolution--rewind the tape and let it play out again, and things would turn out differently (a la Jimmy Stewart's "Wonderful Life"). Morris's thesis is that Gould's tape-player metaphor is misleading, overemphasizing contingency at the cost of ignoring the powerful role played by ecology . One need only consider the evolution of convergent traits in insular life-forms (e.g., Australian marsupial cat-like predators) to get the point. (I should point out that I am suspicious of monolithic theories from either pole of the necessity-chance spectrum.) I find it unfortunate that Gould never discussed Bradley Efron's Bootstrap, a technique used widely in evolutionary and population genetics, or cellular automata, a la Stuart Kauffman, which give rise to the same recurrent patterns with astonishing regularity.) Morris is an adaptationist senstive to the power of ecology to shape evolution, who sees Burgess forms not as deviant freaks that accidentally went extinct but as ancestral to contemporary animals. As usual, there is likely to be truth to both positions; indeed, in some ways, their different views turn on different understandings of probability. For anyone with more than a passing interest in evolutionary biology and paleontology, who finds Gould's incessant digressions distracting, or wonders about the hypertrophy of contingency, this book should not be missed.

This is the first book that I read of Steven Jay Gould. I recieved it as a child and never did much more than skim over a few pages. However, I later read through the whole thing and found that Gould describes things in an amazing way. He explains how unpredictable circumstances have had a lot to do with evolution. It hasn't always been a survival of the fittest. It has sometimes been a survival of the most lucky. This book introduces a lot of the fauna of the Burgess Shale, which is pretty wild. A lot more has been learned about these creatures since this book was written, and many of them have been classified. This book allows us a glimpse of the ancient past of life on earth.

Each new Gould book is eagerly awaited by an ever increasing general readership, for he is one of the very few practicing scientists who is also able to write popularly about science. His latest volume is not another collection of essays (although several short pieces on this subject have already appeared) but is, instead, a close look at one of the earliest and strangest collections of fossils known today. The Burgess Shale fauna (a group of animals living together) existed about 530 million years ago in what is now the Canadian Rockies but was then a shallow sea. The Burgess environment preserved soft-bodied animals without shells as well as shelled forms, and most of them do not fit into any of the major phyla known today or in the intervening ages. Gould describes these animals and the paleontologists who have studied them in a historical narrative, examining why the early students tried to classify these unique animals as varieties of known life and how three modern researchers discerned the organisms' distinctiveness. Gould goes one step further to argue that the Burgess fauna are symbolic of the nature of evolutionary "chance": If, instead of the ancestors of vertebrates and mollusks, some of the stranger Burgess species had been successful, the whole history of life on earth would have been strikingly different, and we would not have been here to observe it, nor to read this literate view of science. Highly recommended for all readers

This is exactly what you would expect from the combination of one of the great scientific prose writers of our generation and one of the most important, yet counterintuitive sources of data regarding the history of life. This fascinating, popularly written text focuses on the critters of the early Cambrian and a bold interpretation of their fossils that insinuate a rapid diversification of multicultural life, referred to by some as the "Cambrian explosion". It also becomes a platform from which Gould expands upon several of the general observations on Natural History that emerge as themes from his essay collections. His uncompromising fidelity to the data (interpreting what he sees rather than what he thinks he should see), his gift for weaving a narrative around a bunch of rocks, and the importance of the animals of the early Cambrian combine to make this a truly outstanding text. Far from widely accepted, this rendering has sparked debate in the paleontology community and is often referenced in popular scientific literature. I highly recommend it.

I grew up in the Tri-Cities and spent the first 19 years of my life living just blocks away from the Columbia River and there was a lot of information told in this book that I never knew. Harden does a wonderful job of relating the history of the Columbia River and the effects that the many dams built on the river had on the land, the people, the nation, and the economy. I thoroughly enjoyed his story and felt he handled well the many issues important to preservationists, politicians, and farmers.

I recommend this to anyone who lives in the state of Washington and is interested in man's permanent effects on this land.

Living just 80 miles south of the Columbia, Harden's book gave me an easy, detailed account of the history of the Columbia and the effects of electricity v. the life of beautiful salmon. Although Harden often blames locals for the decline in salmon, and at other times, the government, I found it to be a fair look at both sides of the story. Harden's forte is taking a Paul Harvey approach, telling the rest of the story behind the Columbia River. A great review of the pros and cons of hydroelectrics and the effects it has on not just the West Coast, but the whole nation. I learned that there is a hell of a lot of politics being played on the water. By the way, don't eat salmon, it tastes disgusting.

A full and complete modern history of the Columbia River. At times sad, always intriging. Harden has done an excellent job of combining interviews with research that makes an excellent read.

Highly recommmended.

This book has very good practice tests for the science sections (although there are a few errors here and there. If you know your stuff, you'll be able to pick them out and they won't phase you. For example, in two places they ask you to name an organic compound, and don't name it correctly in any of the choices!!!) Despite these tiny errors, the practice tests are very good and very helpful....EXCEPT THE VERBAL SECTIONS!!! SKIP THE VERBAL SECTIONS - there are MANY questions which have more than one correct answer in the choices, some questions which have no correct answers and the occasional question which asks for your opinion!!!! you'd never see any question without ONE correct answer on the MCAT and these verbal sections will drive you nuts! I'd still get the book and substitute a different verbal for the ones here.

Like others, I found the verbal sections to be near-useless. However, the science sections more than make up for that shortcoming. They're great practice; just a touch harder than the actual sections on the test in my experience. The book isn't perfect, but it's a good buy and worth using.

Excellent book, the three tests were very much like the real MCAT, although some questions are a little off-the-wall overall, the book is excellent, definitely worth getting.

A MUST HAVE book

Ever driven down Highway 84 and been amazed by the scenery of the Columbia River?
Ever curious about how the Columbia became the Columbia?
Ever seen a giant bolder in the Willamette Valley and wondered how it got there.
Can you imagine the sea level four hundred feet above Portland?
You think you know, but you have no idea.
Until you read this book! (Or hear about it from a friend.)

This book excellently explains why the eastern half of the State of Washington and the lower Columbia valley are so curiously carved. It also shows how a truly observant scientist works, even though his vindication may be slow in coming. While some persons might wish for more color photographs, I believe the black and white format, particularly in the Grand Coulee region, better shows the power and scope of the floods that carved these otherworldly channels from bare lava rock. The drawing of a typical Bretz flood has to be seen firsthand to be believed. Another exemplary book on the geology of the West. Don't see Grand Coulee or the Columbia Gorge without reading this book.

I've lived in the Walla Walla River Basin for a little over a year. After reading this book, the surrounding area became more alive. This book tells of fascinating events that took place several thousand years ago that created many of the local landmarks. It makes my travels more interesting and personal as I recognize features described in this book. If your a highly educated geologists searching for some real meat, this book is not for you. For the rest of us, this book is written in easy to understand terms. If you live in the Northwest, it's a must read.

When I was browsing on Amazon, I was surprised to see that this book (In Europe it is called 'The Pimlico History of Western Philosophy, edited by Richard H. Popkin and effectively written by -indeed- a 'small army of connaisseurs') had an average rating of 4.5 stars. To me the largest part of the book is utterly unreadable. Many sections seem like an endless row of quotations connected by lines of interpretative thought from each expert. No doubt that these people are experts in their field, but their capacity to transmit the basic ideas as intended by the philosophers discussed (or at least the interpretations of those ideas), is very poor. Nor do the discussions stimulate philosophical thought in the reader himself. Probably this might not be the purpose of this book, but in my personal opinion every history of philosophy should encourage the interested layman to contemplate on the big questions concerning metaphysics, ontology, epistemology and ethics. Or as Storig formulates it very well in his excellent 'Kleine Weltgeschichte der Philospie':

What can we do? What should we do? What may we believe?

If you are looking for the answers to these questions, do not read this book. The remark Popkin makes in the introduction of this book concerning 'History of Western Philosophy' by Bertrand Russell is really cheap: "Russell wrote his book hastily out of financial desperation while jobless in N.Y.C. at the beginning of WW II. Since Russell was a scholar of very few topics he covered, and uninterested or hostile to others, his opus is most engaging as Russelliana but hardly as history of philosophy". And further: "This work (Popkin's) is not intended to compete with this classic (Russell's)". Well, I read both and the conclusion is easily made. Pimlico doesn't come even close to Russell's. Indeed Bertrand Russell treats the history of philosophy in a very personal style and frankly ventilates his opinion on the great minds of western philosophy. But he does this in such a way, that it is still possible to get a clear picture of the original ideas unbiased by Russell's opinions. Also Russell's book does stimulate the educated reader to think and judge for himself. And, frankly, - but this is my personal opinion - although I do not agree with Russell's judgement in a number of cases, his statement that the philosophic ideas of some great men like Berkeley - who denied the existence of matter; material objects exist only through being perceived - are to be classified as insanity, despite the sometimes ingenuous arguments Berkeley made to support this view.

I would like to spare one section from Pimlico's from my harsh criticism. That is the one written by Avrum Stroll on 'Twentieth Century Analytic Philosphy'. The eleven chapters he wrote give a very accessible introduction to this difficult subject, although I feel he could have spent more words on the Tractatus in the Wittgenstein chapter. Stroll's contribution prevents the rating from dropping to one star.

The Columbia History of Western Philosophy narrates western philosophy in a more collective way than traditional histories of philosophy, and, for related reasons, its editor, Richard H Popkin, has called upon a diverse group of specialists to edit the chapters.

This is both Politically Correct and academically conventional, but it means that the Columbia history is not a good introduction to philosophy for the general reader: instead it is an excellent reference book for someone already versed in philosophy.

In former days, the history of philosophy was biographical, and focused on the thought of the major dead white males. .... Throughout his book, Popkin's authors provide this Politically Correct equal time and the general reader already well-versed in philosophy can learn much. But Popkin, in the selfsame interests of Political Correctness, fails to have his team judge, and for that matter, the judgements of a team are almost guaranteed to be a least common denominator. The sophisticated and academic reader can be left with more questions than answers, but the general reader is, I think, ultimately confused: did Plato mean what Plato said or was Plato messing with our minds? Should Spinoza have gotten married and settled down? Was Theodore Adorno a schnook or a good guy? ....

The Columbia History is destined to become a classic. Richard Popkin assembled a small army of experts to write this history. The result is a text that is useful not only to the scholar, but to the general reader and student as well. Although a book like this suffers the danger that it will be simply a collection of unrelated essays on each philosopher or school of philosophy, Popkin provides notes that connect the separate articles. The thorough bibliography and index make this book particularly useful. Every student of philosophy should own a copy. Highly recommended.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to describe this book. "Alice, I Think" is probably one of the oddest books I have ever read. It is the diary of a home-schooled girl named Alice who wants to accomplish a series of goals, one of them being going to a real high school.

As I read the book, I kept wondering if Alice had a mild mental disability. She just wanders around her town, not able to accomplish much without someone else's help. She is so naieve about everything.

The other characters were also annoying. What was up with Frank's sudden appearence, and equally sudden disappearance? It seemed as if the author had gotten bored with the story and decided to throw something in that may or may not be exciting. The only character I liked was MacGregor. He seemed capable and mature, something his older sister wasn't.

Alice's faux "better-than-you" spiel got boring quickly. She tries to be 'above' everyone else, especially when it comes to the music she listens to.

This book could be funny, in parts. I thought the funniest and all-around best part of the book was the first two pages, when she discusses her first day of school.

All around, this book was less than mediocre. I was annoyed with the characters, and most of the time just wanted the book to be over with already.

Alice has a unique, witty and extremely funny way of looking at everything and anything. Her home town of Smithers BC. Her weirdo parents. The amusing characters inhabiting her life - at school, at her therapy centre, at the new age bookstore.

You will laugh loudly and might embarass yourself if you read it in public. This book is sharper and better than the "Princess Diaries" and "Angus Thongs And Full Frontal Snogging".

Canadians especially will get a kick out of it, but people of all ages, male or female will enjoy it too.

If you liked Adrian Mole you will love Alice. If you like to laugh you will like Alice. If you like to read you will like Alice. Anyone who doesn't is devoid of irony and the ability to laugh at oneself.

This is a great book, for young and old adults alike. Small town life is captured and reflected warts and all. The love hate relationship between kids and their parents is something we all experience. And Alice is a great portrait of someone who is trying to grow up in a community full of wierdos, good guys, bad girls and her mother's frightening freinds.

Read it, and laugh!