Product Description
In 2003 David Miller, a 41 year-old engineer, quit his job to backpack 2172 miles from Georgia to Maine. His story is told here in Awol on the Appalachian Trail, an outstanding contemporary account of hiking on the A.T. It provides a vivid description of the Appalachian Mountains, the small towns threaded together by the trail, and people met along the way. Abundant photographs complement the book's exacting prose. This book puts the reader into the shoes of the long distance hiker, and draws parallels between lessons learned on the trail and challenges of everyday experience. It is entertaining and funny, insightful and informative. It is about liberation, motivation and perseverance. This book is for anyone who has ever wanted to break free from routine, anyone with a desire for adventure.
Customer Reviews:
There are better books.......2007-09-16
This book is an OK read, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone planning to do a long-distance hike. It gives a very narrow view of one person's way of doing things. As for entertainment value - lackluster at best.
Very enjoyable read.......2007-08-14
I truly enjoyed this book. I am day hiker and am hoping to get onto the AT one day. This book is very inspiring and well written.
AWOL's thru hike speaks to people .......2007-07-20
I've read lots of books and viewed several videos of hiking the AT but, AWOL's account of his thru hike really spoke to me. He spent more time on Why he was hiking, the people he met, and how he changed not only his reason for the trip but, also his outlook on life. Many books spend time telling you how to hike the trail which is great and they are needed...but, this book deals more with the attitude toward hiking this trail, the folks you can meet, and the tireless volunteers who maintain sections of the AT.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has hiked or plans to hike the Appalachian Trail.
GitRdone
Why Do We Do It?.......2007-07-16
As I read David's book, I also "walked" with him. I felt the rocks, roots, mud, rain and black flies. I pushed away the pain in the legs and knees, and I sensed the involuntary moan rising up from a stomach held up only by wooden legs after ascending yet another false summit only to see the mountains beyond mountains still ahead.
But these are the trials, and not the trails. Such trials are nothing more than incidental signposts along the journey to which we dedicate ourselves. By my reckoning, it's all about the journey and not the destination. The journey is about exploration and discovery both from without and from within. It's communing with our real habitat, and with long-suppressed senses and capabilities that only arise when called upon under these conditions. It's getting to know oneself better, determining what's really important in your life, and shedding false notions and pretenses along with the rest of the trash.
David's experiences and accounts of his journey thoughtfully remind us of these essential matters. He does so in a non-intrusive yet compelling way. It's as though you took this journey alongside David. One reviewer laments the ending of the book. Well, take heart. While the book ended, David's journey did not. Just look up the trail ... and you will see David. Well done!
Great Read / Time Well Spent.......2007-06-13
"Awol on the Appalachian Trail" is much better than most AT books. Thank you David for filling a void with quality writing on the AT experience. As I picked up the book I was cautiously optimistic..the thought of it being "another one of those books" certainly entered my mind, but knew after the first few minutes it was from a writer with obvious talent. Thoughful and well written. I wished it didn't end.
Book Description
Military service was once taken for granted as a natural part of good citizenship, and Americans of all classes served during wartime.
Not anymore.
As Kathy Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer assert in this groundbreaking work, there is a glaring disconnect between the "all volunteer military" and the rest of us. And as that gap between the cultural "elite" and military rank-and-file widens, our country faces a dangerous lack of understanding between those in power and those who defend our way of life.
In America, it is increasingly the case that the people who make, support, or protest military policy have no military experience. As a result, the privileged miss the benefits of military service -- leadership, experience helpful to their future roles in public life, and exposure to a broader cross section of citizens -- while the military feels under-supported and morally distanced from the rest of the country. And when only a handful of members of Congress have military experience or a personal link to someone in uniform, perhaps it becomes too easy (or too hard) to send the military into combat.
Based on research and including the voices of many young military members who understand firsthand the value of service, AWOL is also a very personal book. Frank Schaeffer, father of a former enlisted Marine, knows the anguish and pride that millions of American parents feel every day as their children are off fighting a war in a foreign land. Kathy Roth-Douquet, wife of a career officer, has experienced the struggle of trying to keep the family together with a husband at war as well as the often untold satisfaction of raising children in an ethic of service. To the authors and numerous other families who are intimately acquainted with the glory and the sacrifice of military service, America needs a wake-up call before it's too late.
Customer Reviews:
A damning commentary.......2007-07-22
This is a well written, thought provoking book. The authors present a compelling case damning the upper class for turning their backs on military service and examine what this means for our country's future.
An Important Look at a Growing Problem.......2007-07-01
Political Scientists and Sociologists have noted a growing divide in this country between the nation's military and America's civilian population. This book does an excellent job of pointing out how this "Civ-Mil Gap" has hurt us over time. Too many upper-middle-class and wealthy Americans bear no cost or burden for the wars we fight, while the poor carry the overwhelming majority of the load. We can't call ourselves a true democracy when only the poor and the working-class fight the wars of the rich. Beyond basic unfairness and injustice, there is also the problem of the educated elites who move into political staff positions, DoD staffings, government contracting, and foreign service jobs where they must interact with or supervise the military without any first-hand knowledge of war or life in the armed services. It's bad leadership and bad management. Leadership by example is always best.
For those unhappy with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," ask yourself whether we might have developed a better policy regarding gays in the military had Bill Clinton actually served instead of weaseling his way out. Another example...would America have been less reckless about starting a war with Iraq had George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, et al. served in the quagmire of Vietnam? Would the Iraq War be over by now had sons and daughters of Boomer Yuppies been asked to contribute? You can bet the streets would now be filled with a greater number of protesters beyond the trickle of grieving parents like Cindy Sheehan.
This book addresses an enormous flaw in the way our country handles military service. A resurrection of a new national draft may be necessary in the future, if only to force those insulated from the armed services to face the true costs of war. It can't always be someone else's son or daughter.
The military is not a profession for dumb or weak people. Nor is it a profession for people who are prone to violence. I hear friends (mostly liberal) voice polite disdain for the military. They say they want their sons and daughters to do work that is intellectually challenging and creative. They don't want young people simply "taking orders" or being a "cog" in a rigid, hierarchical system. I respect anyone's right to an opinion, but most civilians' comments on the military have been misinformed and just plain ignorant. I spent 5 years as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Nothing I've done since has been as challenging as the Corps, either intellectually or emotionally. Unlike many of the people I saw go into corporate jobs, I found the young people in the Marines to be true individuals with few advantages, courage, savvy humor, and colorful personalities. None of the Marines I worked with were blind patriots. They knew the score. Elitists may refuse to see or admit it, but there is much more soul-deadening conformity and rigidity into today's universities and in blue-chip companies like Goldman-Sachs, McKinsey, IBM, etc. than I ever saw in the Marines. As for war and violence. I've never wanted anything more than peace. I would love to live in a world without armies and navies. My question is this: How do you expect to achieve that world by turning your back and pretending the military doesn't exist? If you want to solve the problem of war (if that is, in fact, possible) then, paradoxically speaking, more of our best minds have to be willing to immerse themselves in first-hand military experience.
A Great Book!.......2007-06-09
This is a great book which should be read by all Americans, especially those not involved with the U. S. Military. It is a fast read but it is one that is very well researched. The authors, with no previous background in military affairs, take a close look at the reasons most Americans choose not to serve our country and how their decision has impacted our nation in a negative way. It is a most timely publication.
Don't be AWOL. Read this book!.......2007-05-24
AWOL is a must read for everyone, regardless of political leanings. The book provides a compelling case for a broad-based military service that includes all classes within our society. Tha backgrounds of the co-authors lends great credibility to main arguements of the book.
It makes you think........2007-05-07
The authors bring a new and interesting perspective to the issue of who is currently serving in the armed forces. Each of them were brought into the debate by someone they loved, it was not of their choosing. Their perspectives are different, as one would expect, one coming from a parent and the other a spouse. As someone who served during the Vietnam War, I appreciate the what they say about the draft and today's volunteer armed forces. The most compelling obervations are those about the elected officials who make decisions and challenge decisions made about our presence in Iraq and the almost complete lack of military experience on a personal basis.
Irrespective of your personal views about the war in Iraq this book is thought provking and well worth the read.
Book Description
On the day of his eighteenth birthday, midshipman cadet Chuck Dugan receives a startling letter, including a treasure map drawn by his late father and news that his mother is about to marry a rogue and scoundrel known as "the Admiral." When the Admiral warns Chuck away from his mother, and the Admiral's sons attack the young cadet, Chuck leaps into action, going AWOL from duty to stop the wedding and find the treasure. So begins this delightful illustrated novel and the thrilling adventures of Chuck Dugan heroic, resourceful, a great swimmer, and master of disguise. In each cliffhanging chapter, Chuck must grapple with a new set of dangers, from sunken ships and buccaneers to survival on open water and a final race to the treasure ahead of the Admiral and his boys. Illuminated throughout with detailed maps of places, people, and things Chuck encounters along the way, and written with an electric sense of derring-do and whimsy, Eric Chase Anderson creates a totally original and captivating hero, and a swashbuckling adventure story for all ages.
Customer Reviews:
Cut from the same cloth.......2006-12-19
Eric Anderson is obviously cut from the same cloth as his brother Wes. I understand that this novel with maps is wholly his creation. I still feel that for any fan of Wes's films this book is a must have. The two have such similar sensibilities that I can easily imagine each one building off what the other has done. Wes's films, especially the well composed static shots found in all 4 films, seem to be directly pulled from Eric's illustrations. Eric's art is in The Royal Tenenbaums and his fun color palette seems to have permeated his brother's films to some degree. As someone who has a brother I know that as alike as brothers can be we can still be very different. Eric and Wes seem to be alike at least where their creative sensibilities are concerned. I am very curious about their childhood. What was it like growing up in their home? Was the father absent? Was the mother re-married? Was creativity encouraged? Were they rich, or well to do?
The thing that appeals to me the most about the Anderson brothers is that they create works where the adult world is slightly skewed towards a child's perspective. It's like what we all imagined what it would be like to be an adult as a child. Of course real adulthood is nothing of the sort. Real adulthood is hard and lacks that secret agent pep that we all imagined it would have when we longingly wished to stay up late, or wondered what work was like for our fathers. Charlie Brown, The Catcher in the Rye, James Bond, Johnny Quest, and Jacques Cousteau all play some part in the works, either directly or indirectly. There are many more, like Kramer VS Kramer, Woody Allen, Devo, Classical music, indoor home made tents under blankets all seem to play some part in the works of these artists. After seeing Life Aquatic I felt for sure that it was an adventure film the way a child would make it. Sure enough Anderson and Baumbach say pretty much just that at one point in the commentary or documentaries. There is also a dark side to their work, a part that shows there is trouble waiting at the end of this imaginary childlike tunnel we all go through into adulthood. Suicide, drugs, sex, divorce, money, and death all loom menacingly here and there, peppered throughout. I think it shows in the fact that Wes's next film is based on the Rohl Dahl book "The Fantastic Mr. Fox", a very violent childhood book that I only recently first read to my son. It is wrought with all sorts of danger, destruction, guns, violence, and the like. This book seems right in line with the childish flirtation with danger that is central to their works.
The Novel Chuck Dugan is AWOL is right in line with all the afore mentioned and although wholly an Eric Anderson creation, it could easily be mistaken to have been created by his brother Wes. To me the two are almost indistinguishable, except for the fact that Wes seems to want to create large works for the masses, and Eric seems more content to create on a smaller scale for a more intimate audience. When I saw the Royal Tenenbaums and how it was imagined as taken from an imaginary Novel I wished such a creation existed.
Chuck Dugan is AWOL is that very such creation. An Amazing novel with maps. I want to camp outside with my son this Friday night and decode secrete messages and burry treasure...
Bravo Eric! I can not wait to read more books by you!
Chuck & Sally's Universe is a pretty cool place.. .......2005-09-11
Chuck Dugan Is Awol is a "novel with maps" - and only when I realized that it's just not to be read like a regular book (or even a graphic novel) did I really understand its significant charms. The difference is that Chuck Dugan isn't so much about following the characters or plot elements. Its about joining Chuck and Sally in a rich and quirky universe that's been created especially for them. I find myself lingering on the illustrations and chapters while the plot sort of materializes at its own pace rather than running at a breathless sprint, which is what I associate with traditional adventure novels. While the drawings locate the reader physically and emotionally, the tendrils of Chuck's world are rules and codes of behavior which run though the narrative. Some rules have to be kept in the strictest manner like the rule of the ocean (of which Chuck of course is a master) and some rules have to be broken (Chuck is, after all, Awol from the Navel Academy in order to save his mother and the family fortune). The villains are the ones who break rules for selfish reasons and do things that just shouldn't be done. What makes this fresh and fun is that Chuck's world is just different enough from our own that the "rules" he lives by feel like a throwback to an alterate-world era that never existed in the first place.
Chuck's been on my bedstand since I bought it back in May, and I'm not finished with it yet; in fact, I'm only on Chapter Ten - "Too Late". If you still haven't "gotten it" take a look at the caption on the illustration of the apple on page 120 -- or the tiny dot that is Rescue Buoy No.49 just noticeable in the right hand corner of the Chapter Eight illustration.
Entertaining.......2005-06-16
E.C. Anderson has written the novel that every 13 year old boy WISHES he could write. This book was a pleasure to read - whimsical, quirky, action-packed, perfect.
I have been enjoying E.C. Anderson's illustrations ever since the Criterion Collection edition of "Rushmore" was released on DVD. His drawings have an innocent charm about them, they really enhance this book. Practically every other page has a nice little diagram carefully illustrating pieces of the story.
My only complaint is that the book is a little light, I would have liked another 100 or 200 pages.
Overall this is a fun read and definately worth picking up. I look forward to many more adventures from Chuck Dugan...as well as E.C. Anderson
A nice light read........2005-05-13
It's interesting, quirky, quick, and funny. Not deep reading by any means, but an enjoyable diversion. And the maps really are interesting.
"Chuck Dugan" Is A Beautifully Perfect Book.......2005-04-15
Is it the the story, written with such care, or the illustrations, very obviously rendered with love, that make "Chuck Dugan Is AWOL" the book that will keep you awake at night thinking about time travel, wishing that you could send it back to your thirteen year-old self?
It's just the thing you've always loved about reading: a hero (who seems like someone you could actually BE if you tried hard enough), a mystery, a life of adventure, stalwart friends, wonderfully sinister villains, maps of secret passages, outlandish devices and inventions...
Details clever enough to catapult any story to instant classic are a dime a dozen in the pages of "Chuck". The illustrations will consume hours of your time as you study every detail.
Some things to consider: "The Thorns", "Fraunces", a fatal observatory fire, a "Deputy Assistant Junior Naval Investigator", a birthday telegram from President Eisenhower, and (my favorite) "U-boat X".
This book is dense enough, deep enough, that you'll lose yourself in it for days. It's one of those stories that you just don't want to finish, because you don't want to leave the place where it takes you while you're reading. Buy it for the young reader in your family, or buy it for the young reader in yourself.
Average customer rating:
- not your average "the world is great" kind of travel book
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AWOL: Tales for Travel-Inspired Minds
Jennifer Barclay , and
Amy Logan
Manufacturer: Vintage Canada
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Women
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Travel
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Travel
| Writing
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0679312153
Release Date: 2003-02-25 |
Book Description
AWOL: absent without leave; absent from one’s post or duty without official permission but without intending to desert. Originally a military term, it gradually entered the vernacular for when someone goes missing unexpectedly. Jennifer Barclay and Amy Logan thought it fit well with the kind of travel pieces they wanted to publish -- irreverent but thoughtful, emotionally honest and opinionated, bold and provocative.
AWOL: Tales for Travel-Inspired Minds would be dedicated to the perspectives we gain when away from our regular circumstances.
They were tired of opening newspaper travel sections to accounts of five-star hotels or hip restaurants, package holidays and cruises, or extreme, death-defying feats. The tales that excited them were more personal. They wanted to bring back a sense of wonder about the world out there. “Rejecting the consumerist attitude of always wanting something better, which seems to go hand in hand with the concept of extreme travel, we wanted to show that there are different kinds of adventures -- the ones that are more by-the-seat-of-your-pants and that all of us can afford. It’s about slowing down the way we travel, learning to observe and to relish all the moments.”
Inviting authors to contribute, they stressed they weren’t looking for detached reportage, but unpublished true tales of pleasure or pain or hilarity that would move and inspire. “Travel has become an important aspect of our lives, and we felt it was important to explore what we get out of it: Whether it makes us better citizens of the planet or enriches our lives. How discovering the world can be about discovering yourself, or help you see life afresh.” They wanted writing that was exciting and creative, that fired the imagination, dazzled with language, captured something emblematic or unique. The stories are full of telling details and do not shirk from emotion. The trips range from a short break close to home, to years living on the other side of the world.
When Rick Maddocks leaves for Mexico, his father says “I hope you find what you’re searching for.” But you don’t always find what you expect. “What was I expecting…?” asks Andrew Pyper on arriving in Brazil. Karen Connelly tries to switch off the chattering of her brain in Burma, so she can just “shut up and see.” After a year in China, Rui Umezawa is utterly disoriented: “The world as I’d known it no longer existed. Neither did the man I believed myself to be.” However far or near you travel, an
AWOL destination is a place where, says Brad Smith, “the usual rules don’t apply.” Myrna Kostash muses, roaming through Greece, “I cannot be further away from the rest of my life.” But when Camilla Gibb comes home from Ethiopia, her own culture seems bleak, “devoid of all colour, all meaning.”
The authors in
AWOL have collectively won or been nominated for practically every literary prize in Canada, making it an extraordinary collection of original writing. The editors also decided to add another dimension to the book, a sense of fun and accessibility, by pasting in trip memorabilia -- tickets, snaps, sketches and odd mementoes -- to divide up the text and draw the reader into the stories. They wanted
AWOL to feel a bit like a magazine: a reader-friendly paperback with big pages and great design, something to read on the bus for inspiration and escape, or to amble through at the cottage.
The Toronto Star called
AWOL a “decidedly quirky collection that follows no obvious theme or point of departure -- except the delicious need to go away.” If travel is about broadening the mind and having fun,
AWOL is to get us through the rest of the year. The Winnipeg Free Press called it “an all-encompassing armchair travel experience … the kind of collection that, once read, will beckon from the bookshelf to fill a particular longing when it strikes.”
For those who dream of having no fixed address, and those happy simply to read about it,
AWOL is filled with entertaining, enriching and edifying stories of people getting away from the familiar.
Customer Reviews:
not your average "the world is great" kind of travel book.......2004-02-20
This book gives us a more realistic view of travel. It is not filled with pretty, glossed pictures, but of stories, and souvenirs.
Each story has it's own style, and that helps in giving a more profound view of the world, and of travelling around the world. This is not a sap-happy kind of travel book, and therefore is for those that don't have that sort of idealistic view of visiting other places.
I found this book to be a wonderful collection of stories. The words on the back give it perfect justice in saying this is for those that are happy living with no fixed address, but also for those that are happy to just read about it.
This is not a coffee-table book.
Average customer rating:
- Reads like fiction
- Great read-can't put it down
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AWOL
Jack Hand
Manufacturer: PublishAmerica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Military & Spies
| Professionals & Academics
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Military
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
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War
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
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General
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 158851398X |
Book Description
A WWII combat soldier finds himself AWOL in the heady atmosphere of recently liberated Europe.
Customer Reviews:
Reads like fiction.......2002-04-30
AWOL, a non-fiction novel by Jack Hand, has all the action and drama of a Best Seller. Incident after incident we are led through crazy schemes, astonishing punishments, and an unbelievable ending. AWOL reads like fiction as Mr. Hand offers us glimpses into the ugliness of war. This well written tale will keep you entertained, page after page.
Beverly J Scott author of Righteous Revenge.
Great read-can't put it down.......2002-02-02
When I started this book I couldn't put it down. From start to finish. Very well written. It's sad, heart-warming, a love story ---it makes you want more. I hope this author writes more.
Denise Sherman, Avid Reader
Average customer rating:
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Awol musters out
Bertrand (Leslie) Shurtleff
Manufacturer: Bobbs-Merrill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B0007ETCW6 |
Average customer rating:
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Awol the courier
Bertrand Leslie Shurtleff
Manufacturer: Bobbs-Merill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
| Classics
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B0007E1ZDU |
Average customer rating:
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AWOL, K-9 commando,
Bertrand Leslie Shurtleff
Manufacturer: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B0007DPG7W |
Amazon.com
In Journey through Genius, author William Dunham strikes an extraordinary balance between the historical and technical. He devotes each chapter to a principal result of mathematics, such as the solution of the cubic series and the divergence of the harmonic series. Not only does this book tell the stories of the people behind the math, but it also includes discussions and rigorous proofs of the relevant mathematical results.
Book Description
Praise for William Dunhams Journey Through Genius The Great Theorems of Mathematics "Dunham deftly guides the reader through the verbal and logical intricacies of major mathematical questions and proofs, conveying a splendid sense of how the greatest mathematicians from ancient to modern times presented their arguments." Ivars Peterson Author, The Mathematical Tourist Mathematics and Physics Editor, Science News
"It is mathematics presented as a series of works of art; a fascinating lingering over individual examples of ingenuity and insight. It is mathematics by lightning flash." Isaac Asimov
"It is a captivating collection of essays of major mathematical achievements brought to life by the personal and historical anecdotes which the author has skillfully woven into the text. This is a book which should find its place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in science and the scientists who create it." R. L. Graham, AT&T Bell Laboratories
"Come on a time-machine tour through 2,300 years in which Dunham drops in on some of the greatest mathematicians in history. Almost as if we chat over tea and crumpets, we get to know them and their ideasideas that ring with eternity and that offer glimpses into the often veiled beauty of mathematics and logic. And all the while we marvel, hoping that the tour will not stop." Jearl Walker, Physics Department, Cleveland State University Author of The Flying Circus of Physics
Customer Reviews:
Great book by William Dunham.......2007-09-29
It seems to me that some mathematicians, though in academic region, they may not achieve much, e.g. take Fields Medal, prove great theorem. However, they possess an ability to enlighten you to a certain subject, or entirely change your view of some subjects. It motivate you. William Dunham is probably the most reprentive one. Others include Ian Stewart, Carl Boyer etc. I think I do not need to give further praise as this has been done by most readers. I just want to say any book by Dunham would not fail you!!!!
A wonderful read for the would be mathematician........2007-05-16
This book is a very good read for the layman. It provides enthrallingly vivid historical images, quick tutorials that enable the reader to handle generous servings of "real" mathematics, but most of all, it paints endearing portraits of many truly great yet truly human giants of mathematics. You feel the toga on your shoulders as you ponder Hippocrates quadrature of the lunes, grow teary-eyed as you witness the beloved Euler's good natured acceptance of blindness, and uneasily consider your own sanity as you contemplate the transfinite numbers that likely drove Georg Cantor mad. I fine gift book for any person with a yet undiscovered talent and passion for mathematics.
Math History with Math.......2007-05-13
Many histories of mathematics emphasis biography rather than mathematics. This book emphasizes the mathematics by showing the proofs used by key thinkers in the history of mathematics. You learn about the thought processes of the great minds of mathematics. Well written and aimed at those who have a good high school mathematics background, the author analyzes how each key thinker derived his famous mathematical proof. A good supplimental reading for students who are required to do proofs.
Superb Book!.......2007-03-25
Journey Through Genius is one of those really superb books that you can read and enjoy over the course of your entire lifetime. It makes some of the difficult concepts of mathematics accessible to us mortals. Each time you go through it, you find that it contains a little more than you had seen before.
Unlike other books about the history of mathematics that merely discuss historical matters, this one actually explains, in clear and understandable terms, the mathematics it discusses. It does not presume that the reader already understands the great theorems - it actually explains them, rather than just waving its arms at them.
For everyone who would like to understand more about mathematics (without having to do homework) this is a must-have book. It does NOT leave the details "to be worked out by the reader"; it explains them.
If all mathematics books were this good, we wouldn't be a nation of mathematical illiterates. This book is a treasure.
Well written view of mathematics at its most creative.......2007-03-20
This book presents some of the most important theorems of mathematics, from the ancient Greeks to approximately 1900. It is a well-written sampling intended to be readable by people whose background in mathematics may be relatively limited and in fact it requires a command of the mathematics of only about halfway through high school to understand.
The only thing that should be understood is that some of the theorems (such as Heron's formula for the area of a triangle) while requiring no more mathematics than a high school sophomore geometry class, require you to follow a rather long chain of reasoning, which may lose some of the less-mathematical readers. But if you're willing to apply yourself, you can get a lot out of this book.
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