Book Description
The 2d edition of this concise history has been revised to incorporate continuing research in the fast-growing field of Women’s History. Additions to the text include an exploration of women’s experiences and roles in various ethnic groups as well as three new sections: "The Trans-Mississippi West", "Migrants and Immigrants" and "Women and the Law". Woloch’s lucid, lively and thorough survey retains the same comprehensive style that has made it the best-selling narrative text in American Women’s History.
Customer Reviews:
Surprisingly Pleasant Read!.......2005-05-07
I had to read this book for a history course, and I was prepared for another dry, dusty history tome. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book was not dry and dusty! It is packed with incredible information about women from all walks of life, including personal stories about hardship and tragedy. It really gave me a new appreciation for the feminine struggle for equality and civil rights.
Book Description
In the shadows of the city waits an invisible frontier—a wilderness thriving in the deep places, woven through dead storm drains and live subway tunnels, coursing over third rails. This frontier waits in the walls of abandoned tenements, hides on the rooftops, infiltrates the bridges’ steel. It’s a no-man’s-land, fenced off with razor wire, marked by warning signs, persisting in shadow, hidden everywhere as a parallel dimension. Crowds hurry through the bright streets, insulated by pavement, never reflecting that beneath their feet or above their heads lurks a universe.
Led by its two founding agents, L. B. Deyo and David “Lefty” Leibowitz, Jinx is a stylish urban adventure out?t known for its daring—if sometimes ridiculous—forays into the hidden wonders that lurk above and beneath America’s greatest city, New York. In Invisible Frontier L. B. and Lefty chronicle Jinx’s dramatic—if sometimes absurd—exploration of a Dante-esque New York, from the depths of the city’s underground Hell (abandoned aqueducts and subway tunnels) to the pinnacles of its Paradise (rooftops and bridges) and everything in between, capturing the genius of the city’s engineering, the vibrancy of its found art, and the elegiac beauty of its ruins. Here is a true series of wittily narrated adventures into the hidden world beneath a great civilization.
Customer Reviews:
Horrible, horrible book........2006-09-28
As someone very interested in urban exploration (especially in the subways) I wanted to check this book out upon hearing of it. After reading many of these Amazon reviews though, I opted out of a purchase, and took it out of my Bronx library instead. Thank goodness as I only wasted valuable time, and not any money.
This book is a sham. It is obviously mostly fiction. And it's boring fiction at that. The book is divided into chapters, each chapter a new "adventure."
I read the subway one first, where the "explorers" take the 6 train around the loop at the end of the line, to see the City Hall Station, which opened in 1904 (NYC's first station) and closed in 1948. The station is located on the loop of the 6 train, that makes the southbound trains go back up north after the last stop, Brooklyn Bridge. First of all, anyone can go on this "adventure." Just stay on the train at the last stop, Brooklyn Bridge, and that's it. Despite the author's attempt to make this sound risky, no conductors walk through the train to see if anyone is on (like they really care), just sit down. The author created some "European tourists" that inadvertantly stayed on the 6 after the last stop, and the author even tries to create some mystery by saying "are we on the wrong train?" Well, unless all those huge "6" signs that are lit all over the train are difficult to read, then you probably got on the correct train. The author also fails to mention that the MTA used to give public tours all the time through this station (and others like the 18th street on the 6 and more) but stopped after 9-11. This chapter was a joke. (UPDATE: The MTA now gives tours through the original City Hall station again.)
I started reading the other chapters, and saw they were no better. I then started to breeze through the book. One thing that is very obvious - no photographs of the adventures are in the book at all. This, despite the fact that on page 67 the author states, "Josh takes out his camera and snaps away at every pipe and puddle..." But no photos of their "adventures" are in the book. Why? Because it's fiction.
There are photos of what they are supposed to be exploring, sure, that's easy. There's even one pic of one of these clowns hopping some fence somewhere, ooo. Buit no pics of the actual "adventures." I guess "Josh" lost all those pictures when he went to CVS to have them developed.
The funny thing is, you can save yourself a lot of time by just going online and viewing pictures of these things for yourself. Especially the City Hall station, there are tons of pictures of it available from the people that were in there during the tours.
Just stay away from this sham of a book, it's really a huge waste of time.
disappointing.......2005-07-13
If the writing and adventures could match the inflated perceptions that the authors have of themselves, this would be a great read. Unfortunately, the writing is downright pedestrian and the urban adventures are either lackluster and/or poorly described. Also, the flow of each chapter is interrupted with uninteresting asides and juvenile commentaries on a scattershot laundry list of topics.
A typical example of this is the uninspiring breakin of an abandoned Harlem row house. The author starts off with a truncated textbook-like history of Harlem that lasts a few paragraphs. Once that boring bit of exposition is done with the writer and his friends drive around a little bit and then enter an abandoned building. They look around a little bit (not exactly thrilling) and then attempt to leave via the fire escape. Here, we are presented with a another aside about the author's 'love' of fire escapes.. "What, in fire escapes, do I admire?... their constancy... firm as Gibraltar... like Ulysses to his barque.. supporting, as Atlas, the gravid snows of winter". Ugh, at times like this you wish the author would have consulted with an editor.
Not everything is terrible. Things pick up here and there, there are a few interesting tid-bits of history, but overall the book does not live up to it's potential.
Well, there's four hours of my life I'll never get back........2005-02-22
This book was a tremendous disappointment. Many of the "missions" are laughably boring and/or carried out in a stunningly inept fashion, much of the writing is markedly narcissistic in its tone and yet inconsistent in content, and perhaps most disappointing the descriptions of the places where the authors go are remarkably poor.
First, the missions. The mission to the UN mostly involves trying to get inside by asking for an interview. Wow, it's like working for my high school newspaper all over again. Once they're shot down, one member of the team briefly sprints past a barrier and `explores' a plaza outside the building for less than a minute (the main point of which is to hold up the Jinx flag while his friends take his picture). Another involves staying on the subway even after the conductor announces passengers should get off! - oh the bravery and cunning!. This is made all the more ridiculous when two non-English speaking tourists inadvertently do the same thing and when the authors do not even get off the train once it's stopped at the abandoned subway station they had planned to explore. Later, they go into an abandoned house, where they discover that a lot of other people have also done this over the years.
Second, the writing. Much of the text focuses on how cool they look in their "uniforms" (dark suits and sunglasses), how cool they look walking to their missions, how cool they look on their missions, how cool it is when they all get together and how everybody else in New York are mindless zombies who don't appreciate what is around them because they are trapped in their sad, meaningless lives. The whole uniform thing is particularly stupid. There's one throw-away sentence explaining that they wear these uniforms because otherwise "scientists" and "philosophers" will not take their "empirical data" seriously, but you simply can't shake the feeling that they just want to look like they're either in "Reservoir Dogs" or "The Matrix" (particularly when the ridiculous `uniforms' keep attracting attention when they're trying to sneak into some place.) Throughout the book the authors bounce between stressing that they explore places for the scientific, empirical value of doing so and that it is not at all for a sense of adventure, only then to talk later about how much fun the adventure of it all is (including one author's admission that he believes the other has a death wish and that is why he engages in so many dangerous activities while exploring). In addition, much space is taken up with various diatribes on the evils of modern life (including a particularly passionate rant against the United Nations that comes totally out of nowhere), and all the horrible twenty-somethings of the world who spend their lives drinking iced coffees (which is a particularly hollow complaint when - a few pages later - the Jinx crew sits down to iced coffees after having screwed up the UN mission). You almost get the sense that after trying in vain to improve the writing, the publishers finally decided to spin the writing as "witty" and hope that people fell for it.
Finally, the descriptions are no better than what you'd get if you wrote down what you think the locations look like without ever actually going. The Croton Aqueduct is dark and slippery. An abandoned subway station is eerie. When you're on top of the George Washington Bridge, the Hudson River looks a long way away. And that's about as good as the descriptions get.
Don't waste your time or your money.
Urban Exploration Farce.......2004-08-15
I was so excited to receive this book, and can not believe how dissapointing it is!! The people aren't urban explorers (UErs for short) - they are children who dress up in costumes and give each other "gang" names and then proceed to perform daredevil-like stunts which are not very impressive.
The book starts out talking about two of the teams failures - City Hall Place and the Croton Acqueduct, which makes you want to put it down and watch grass grow instead. I've been past City Hall Station many times on the downtown 6 train, even with my Mother, it barely even qualifies as daredevil. Their train stops while looping through the station and they are standing right there, but decide not to jump off - don't write a book about it then!! Croton acqueduct is equally as sad - they walk through the tunnels for hours, then stop before the actual bridge (the goal) because they are tired - go back the next day and do it right, or don't write a book about it!!
Any yes, there are no pictures, although they refer to their pictures all the time.
The writing is pretentious and annoying and pointless for the most part - I want to read about "Exploring the Tunnels, Ruins, and Rooftops of Hidden New York" not about your evening spent in twin donuts looking like freaks and scaring people!!
Do yourself a favor and don't buy this book - there are better books about urban exploration, particularly ones about the NYC area.
Minimal pictures.......2004-08-01
Very interesting subject; wish authors had provided more substance. Very disappointed with lack of photos especially with constant reminder of photographers who were amongst group of explorers. I too also have my doubts regarding editors/publisher of this book.
Would NOT recommend purchasing.
Customer Reviews:
Forgotten No More.......2002-12-02
For everyone who has ever looked at television, you owe it to both yourself and the inventor to read this book!
Written from the perspective of one who knew the Father of Television almost better than he knew himself, his wife, Elma Gardner Farnsworth.
You get a widescreen look at how TV got its start right through production and even into some of Philo Farnsworth's other inventions.
This is a must read book! Why hasn't it been made into a made-for TV-movie yet??
An affectionate bio of a 20th Century American Inventor........1997-05-03
This is a loving biography of television pioneer Philo Farnsworth by his widow. Her affection and admiration for him do not allow for much admission of errors of judgement in technical, personal, or business matters. Still, the man's brilliance is clear, as well as the stubbornness which cost him so much.
This is principally a story of a man's life. There is little in the way of technical information or photographs of the technologies that Farnsworth invented and developed, nor are there references for the interested reader to follow up on. The writing is only fair. But the story and the man are interesting enough to fit this book in the library of popular inventors' biographies.
Book Description
From the spring of 1976 to the fall of 1978, three laboratories competed in a feverish race to clone a human gene for the first time, a feat that ultimately produced the world's first genetically engineered drug--the life-sustaining hormone insulin. Invisible Frontiers gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the three main groups at Harvard University, the University of California-San Francisco, and a team of upstart scientists at Genentech, the first company devoted to the use of genetic engineering in the creation of pharmaceuticals. When the dust had settled, one scientist had won a Nobel Prize, many others had become biotech's first millionaires, and the key technologies were in place that set the stage for the human genome project. Author Stephen Hall weaves together the scientific, social and political threads of this story--the fierce rivalry between labs, the fateful clash of egos within labs, the invasion of academia by commerce, the public fears about genetic engineering, the threat of government regulation, and the ultimate triumph of modern biology--to give us an outstanding tale of scientific research. In this fast-paced, gripping narrative Hall captures the highlights--and high jinks--of one of the greatest eras in recent biological history: the discovery of recombinant DNA and the birth of biotechnology.
Customer Reviews:
A really enjoyable book and a must read for biologists........2004-09-01
Great success comes only after overcoming great difficulties. Basically this fact of life underlies this book. The fascinating point is, it is not an account of life of some great sportsman or some great leader but of a group of those people in society called scientists whose curious minds, hard work and vision helped emergence of Biotechnology as a major branch of science as well as industry in a relatively short time and in turn gave them recognition as great scientists. Were they great industrialists too? You can try to find that out in this book. Their efforts were also a major help for studies on gene function. This is a true exciting account of a thrilling race between three groups interested in cloning the first gene! It impressively shows not only the competition among the scientists but also their struggle with the bureaucracy. In this book one can see the life of scientists who are in true sense dedicated to science (though it doesn't mean that all the laboratories function the same way!). Another interesting aspect, which this book brings about, is the way basic academic research and industry is bridged and choice to walk on that bridge (in either direction) is not always easy for scientists.
Writer Stephen Hall has done a wonderful job in bringing `life in science' in front of a common man.
Book Description
Even before fully finishing his degree, the brilliant young Roland is offered a job in the Center for Cartography of Sodrovno-Voldachia. He climbs the ladder rapidly. Roland, who must, like his colleagues, live almost like a recluse within the huge center, meets a mysterious young woman whose body seems covered with strange lines which he can barely perceive. Soon, the Center is visited by Marshal Radisic, supreme leader of the country, whose expansionist politics leave little doubt as to the goal: all means will be employed to rebuild the "Great Sodrovnia."
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic Indeed.......2004-11-16
This book is pretty much a must for lovers of Euro-comics. The series (LES CITES OBSCURES, here translated as "Cities of the Fantastic"), while regretably not entirely available in English, stands as a classic of sophisticated Euro-comics. But each also stands on its own, so you needn't worry about about ever being lost.
This volume's story focuses on a young, capable but not brilliant character amidst a time and place of historical and cultural turmoil. Be prepared to ask yourself how cartography influences culture and cultures' manifest destiny. If that's not a question you can imagine contemplating, this isn't for you; if it is, this is a delight.
Of course, you can always whip over to amazon.fr and get it in the French original...
-- Julian Darius, Sequart.com (for sophisticated study of comic books and graphic novels)
Book Description
Roland, who has gone up the ranks quickly at the Center for Cartography of Sodrovno-Voldachia, cannot feel but a certain unease as to the renewed emphasis on their work brought about by the ambitious new Marshall of their country. And that girl with what seems to be a map on her lower back... The conclusion to this Cities of the Fantastic story.
Average customer rating:
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Incredibly Far (Frontiers of the Invisible)
Alain Cirou
Manufacturer: New Discovery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
 Astronomy
| Astronomy & Space
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science & Technology
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Astronomy
| Science & Technology
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0027186504 |
Average customer rating:
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Incredibly Fast (Frontiers of the Invisible)
Jacques-Olivier Baruch
Manufacturer: New Discovery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
Photography
| Arts & Music
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
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General
| Science & Technology
| Teens
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ASIN: 0027084353 |
Average customer rating:
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Incredibly Hidden (Frontiers of the Invisible)
Catherine Bousquet
Manufacturer: New Discovery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
Pets
| Animals
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
| Fiction
| Nonfiction
General
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
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History of Technology
| Technology
| Science
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General
| Science & Technology
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ASIN: 0027117375 |
Average customer rating:
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Incredibly Small (Frontiers of the Invisible)
Nina Canault
Manufacturer: New Discovery Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Biology
| Science, Nature & How It Works
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General
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ASIN: 0027164551 |
Book Description
Ginette Paris began her archetypal studies in women's psychology with this book. It has since become a foundation for the study of goddesses and how they imaginitively fit into women's lives today.
Customer Reviews:
Feminist propoganda masquerading as mythology.......2005-12-14
I read this book for part of a mythology class in college and found it very uneven. There are several provocative moments, and Paris must be given credit for criticing traditionally didactic feminist reactions to gender questions, but overall it's a bit lacking.
Basically, Paris takes three goddesses from a *very* patriarchal culture and (mis)interprets them as archetypes of a feminism that I, as well as many classical scholars, just do not see in the old myths.
Her ideas of "new Pagan models of feminism" aren't nearly as earth-shattering as she seems to believe, and she spends a great deal of the book completely misinterpreting Christianity as little more than a conspiracy by men to keep women pregnant and barefooted-- completely overlooking the fact that many female worshippers of these 3 goddesses in Ancient Greece were among the first to convert to Christianity. At times the book seems more like a tirade against the Pope and Christianity than a discussion of feminism, mythology, and psychology.
The book also suffers from some hairbrained digressions, about topics such as why bottled water is superior to debased tap water (most bottled water *is* tap water), getting an abortion is empowering to young women, etc. The Artemis section is especially scatterbrained and comes across as a gross misappropriation of the goddess to fill whatever political and social ends Paris wished to advance but couldn't neatly attach to Aphrodite or Hestia.
The most insightful and amazing book!.......2002-01-13
I had no idea when I began to read this book how it would enter my daily life. I thought I was reading about goddesses of a long time ago, but instead it was as if the author put a mirror in front of me and pointed out each one- Hestia, Aphrodite, Artemis- all inside of me and around me.
This is a book that men and women will find a joy to read, with the reward of discovering aspects of not just one's own self, but of one's home, one's work, one's family/friends, and one's life replete with the gentle touch of each of these goddesses.
I will never again light a fire or cook a meal without connecting with Hestia. This book not only educates and enlightens, but manages to connect one with the wonderful energies of each goddess.
It was not just an excellent raed, it was a life transforming adventure. Ms. Paris is one amazing writer and person to have seen and felt so much, but even more to have been able to put words in print for us all to make that journey, each in our own way.
Thoughtful and well-argued.......2000-04-18
Ginette Paris brings a contempory feminist approach to three very different Greek goddesses. The section devoted to the oft overlooked Hestia is particularly interesting. Ms. Paris brings a social and ecological sensibility to this thoughtful, well-argued text.
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- Working with Precious Metal Clay (Jewelry Crafts) (Jewelry Crafts)
- X-Men: The Jewels of Cyttorak (X-Men)
- Year's Best Science Fiction: Twentieth Annual Collection
- A Bridge of Years
- Akiko and the Alpha Centauri 5000 (Akiko)
- Alternate Generals III (Alternate Generals)
- Ammonites and the Other Cephalopods of the Pierre Seaway: Identification Guide (Fossils & Dinosaurs)
- Banner of Souls
- Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials: Great Aliens from Science Fiction Literature
- Barrayar
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