Best Mechanical Engineering
Digital technologies—with hardware, software, and networks at their core—will in the near future diagnose diseases more accurately than doctors can, apply enormous data sets to transform retailing, and accomplish many tasks once considered uniquely human. These include revamping education so that it prepares people for the next economy instead of the last one, designing new collaborations that pair brute processing power with human ingenuity, and embracing policies that make sense in a radically transformed landscape. “Offers important insights into how digital technologies are transforming our economy, a process that has only just begun.”. - Reid Hoffman, cofounder/chairman of LinkedIn and coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Start-up of You. I’ll encourage all of our entrepreneurs to read it, and hope their competitors don’t.”. - Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz. Long after the financial crisis and great recession have receded, the issues raised in this important book will be central to our lives and our politics.”. - Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The Second Machine Age gives many examples of specific technologies like robots, AI and autonomous cars, and also lots of data showing how the economy is being transformed. The authors also make a strong argument that the way economists measure things, especially in terms of GDP, no longer does a good job of capturing what prosperity really means in the information age. There are lots of policy suggestions including reforming education to pay teachers more but also make them accountable, jump starting entrepreneurship, better job matching technologies, investing more in basic scientific research, upgrading national infrastructure, expanding skilled immigration, implementing smarter taxes, expanding the earned income tax credit (EITC), etc."
"There'll be nothing earth-shattering here for readers who follow technology trends or even who read WIRED magazine, but the book looks at all these things through a somewhat different lens (its impact on human work) than the tech press usually does, and I didn't find myself skimming even when they were covering developments with which I'm already very familiar. Their short-term prescriptions are sensible enough (basically: take steps to encourage general economic growth) but, as the authors themselves point out, these won't address the underlying problem, identified by Keynes among others, of technological change outpacing the ability of large segments of the workforce to retrain for new jobs."
New York Times Best Seller How will Artificial Intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology—and there’s nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who’s helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial. “Original, accessible, and provocative….Tegmark successfully gives clarity to the many faces of AI, creating a highly readable book that complements The Second Machine Age ’s economic perspective on the near-term implications of recent accomplishments in AI and the more detailed analysis of how we might get from where we are today to AGI and even the superhuman AI in Superintelligence …. Enjoy the ride, and you will come out the other end with a greater appreciation of where people might take technology and themselves in the years ahead.” —Science “This is a compelling guide to the challenges and choices in our quest for a great future of life, intelligence and consciousness—on Earth and beyond.” —Elon Musk, Founder, CEO and CTO of SpaceX and co-founder and CEO of Tesla Motors “All of us—not only scientists, industrialists and generals—should ask ourselves what can we do now to improve the chances of reaping the benefits of future AI and avoiding the risks. This is the most important conversation of our time, and Tegmark’s thought-provoking book will help you join it.” —Professor Stephen Hawking, Director of Research, Cambridge Centre for Theoretical Cosmology “Tegmark’s new book is a deeply thoughtful guide to the most important conversation of our time, about how to create a benevolent future civilization as we merge our biological thinking with an even greater intelligence of our own creation.” —Ray Kurzweil, Inventor, Author and Futurist, author of The Singularity is Near and How to Create a Mind. “Being an eminent physicist and the leader of the Future of Life Institute has given Max Tegmark a unique vantage point from which to give the reader an inside scoop on the most important issue of our time, in a way that is approachable without being dumbed down.” —Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype “This is an exhilarating book that will change the way we think about AI, intelligence, and the future of humanity.” —Bart Selman, Professor of Computer Science, Cornell University “The unprecedented power unleashed by artificial intelligence means the next decade could be humanity’s best—or worst. Though the topics he covers—AI, cosmology, values, even the nature of conscious experience—can be fairly challenging, he presents them in an unintimidating manner that invites the reader to form her own opinions.” —Nick Bostrom, Founder of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, author of Superintelligence. "Tegmark’s book, along with Nick Bostrom’s Superintelligence, stands out among the current books about our possible AI futures....Tegmark explains brilliantly many concepts in fields from computing to cosmology, writes with intellectual modesty and subtlety, does the reader the important service of defining his terms clearly, and rightly pays homage to the creative minds of science-fiction writers who were, of course, addressing these kinds of questions more than half a century ago.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Much more quickly than many anticipated, machine learning (a subset of AI) systems have defeated the best human Go players, are piloting self-driving cars, usefully if imperfectly translating documents, labeling your photos, understanding your speech, and so on. But he’s also got a lifetime of experience thinking carefully, rigorously, generally (and entertainingly to boot) about the “big picture” of what is possible, and what is not, over long timescales and cosmic distances (see his last book!). Finally, he's played an active and very key role (as you can read about in the book’s epilogue) in actually creating conversation and research about the impacts and safety of AI in the long-term. Chapter 1 lays out why AI is suddenly on everyone’s radar, and very likely to be extremely important over the coming decades, situating present-day as a crucial point within the wider sweep of human and evolutionary history on Earth. This raises a lot of rich, important, and extremely difficult questions that not that many people have thought through carefully (another in-print example is the excellent book by Bostrom). Chapter 6 exhibits Tegmark’s unique talent for tackling the big questions, looking at the *ultimate* limits and promise of intelligent life in the universe, and how stupefyingly high the stakes might be fore getting the next few decades right. (And I should also mention the prologue, which gives an fictional but less *science*fictional depiction of an artificial superintelligence being used by a small group to seize control of human society. It’s possible that real, general artificial intelligence (AGI) is 100 or more years away, a problem for the next generation, with large but manageable effects of “narrow” AI to deal with over a span of decades."
"Tegmark covers the spectrum of physics, cosmology, and artificial intelligence with the clarity and enthusiasm I haven’t witnessed since we were all glued to our televisions in the 1980s watching Carl Sagan unwrap the mysteries of the cosmos. Max Tegmark, a professor at MIT, is brilliant, creative, and rational, giving him that rare ability to explain the complex and mind-boggling to the rest of us. The primary purpose of the book, in Tegmark’s words, is to invite all of us to participate in setting goals for the development of artificial intelligence and, indeed, the future of scientific inquiry. As Tegmark clearly notes, there is no consensus in the AI community as to when, if ever, an intelligent machine capable of both learning and improving it’s own physical structure and performance, his definition of Life 3.0, will be created. Once it comes into existence, however, he makes a very convincing case that it will be too late to start thinking about aligning the machine’s goals with our own. Because language itself is a human convention that we invented, I am naturally skeptical of any written or oral explanation of anything that claims to be final and complete. I do feel, however, that he is sincerely receptive to dialogue—even insistent on it—and that makes him the voice we need to move forward in our pursuit of understanding and the wonders, like AI, that knowledge will put at our doorstep."
A radical and optimistic view of the future course of human development from t. he bestselling author of How to Create a Mind and The Age of Spiritual Machines who Bill Gates calls “the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence”. Humankind, it runs, is at the threshold of an epoch ("the singularity," a reference to the theoretical limitlessness of exponential expansion) that will see the merging of our biology with the staggering achievements of "GNR" (genetics, nanotechnology and robotics) to create a species of unrecognizably high intelligence, durability, comprehension, memory and so on. In less capable hands, this phantasmagoria of speculative extrapolation, which incorporates a bewildering variety of charts, quotations, playful Socratic dialogues and sidebars, would be easier to dismiss. But Kurzweil is a true scientist—a large-minded one at that—and gives due space both to "the panoply of existential risks" as he sees them and the many presumed lines of attack others might bring to bear. Even if one were to embrace his techno-optimism, which he backs up with fascinating details, Kurzweil leaves some important questions relating to politics, economics, and morality unanswered.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great Book, by an incredible thinker, much to think about and philosophise over, and whether the means of creating a true AI machine will justify the end, or whether it will be the end of humanity as a superior/more intellectual intelligence which can pass the Turing test will decide that we as a species needs to be eliminated."
"Quite credible predictions considering current technological trends!"
"Mind-opening glimpse of the current merging of man & machine."
"This book explores some very interesting themes, but there are pages and pages of data and supposition vs thought."
"After reading Ray Kurzweil's previous book, "The Age of Spiritual Machines", I decided he is possibly the smartest person I know of in the critically important category of making useful predictions, because, unlike in any similar sweeping and bold book on the future, I didn't find any major argument I could refute because of some error in his facts, science, logic, induction, unreasonable extrapolation, or because he had ignored some major event or trend which would belie some of his conclusions, despite many of these conclusions being extremely imaginative, and postulating a world astoundingly different from anything in the past or present."
"Being an avid thinker of the future and living in this exponential time, I find Ray's ability to systematically compose a view of the future to be on strong foundations."
"this book is probably most insightful book on this subject, it expounds on mostly the positive aspects of this matter and i will definitely be referencing this in the years to come."
"While this is really great insight, it feels altogether too long and the author repeats himself frequently."
Best Automation Engineering
Top Business Book of 2015 at Forbes. One of NBCNews.com 12 Notable Science and Technology Books of 2015 What are the jobs of the future? A careful and courageous examination of automation and its possible impact on society.” Kirkus Reviews In Rise of the Robots , Ford coolly and clearly considers what work is under threat from automation.” New Scientist. Compelling and well-written In his conception, the answer is a combination of short-term policies and longer-term initiatives, one of which is a radical idea that may gain some purchase among gloomier techno-profits: a guaranteed income for all citizens. The book is both lucid and bold, and certainly a starting point for robust debate about the future of all workers in an age of advancing robotics and looming artificial intelligence systems.” ZDNet. Ford's analysis, in a somewhat crowded field of similar books, offers a sobering assessment of how technology (robotics, machine learning, AI, etc.). is reshaping labor markets, the composition of growth, and the distribution of income and wealth, and calls for enlightened political and policy leadership to address coming, accelerating disruptions and dislocations.” Bloomberg Business , Timothy Adams. Martin Ford's Rise of the Robots captures why these shifts are related and what challenges this might pose to our conventional economic and social infrastructures.” Bloomberg Business , Andy Haldane. Few captured the mood as well as Martin Ford in The Rise of the Robots , the winner of the FT and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award, which painted a bleak picture of the upheavals that would come as ever-greater numbers of even highly skilled workers were displaced by machines.” Financial Times. Lucid, comprehensive and unafraid to grapple fairly with those who dispute Ford's basic thesis, Rise of the Robots is an indispensable contribution to a long-running argument.” Los Angeles Times. Ford lucidly sets out myriad examples of how focused applications of versatile machines (coupled with human helpers where necessary) could displace or de-skill many jobs His answer to a sharp decline in employment is a guaranteed basic income, a safety net that he suggests would both cushion the effect on the newly unemployable and encourage entrepreneurship among those creative enough to make a new way for themselves. Martin Ford has thrust himself into the center of the debate over AI, big data, and the future of the economy with a shrewd look at the forces shaping our lives and work. Rise of the Robots goes far beyond the usual fear-mongering punditry to suggest an action plan for a better future.” Cathy N. Davidson, Distinguished Professor and Director, The Futures Initiative, The Graduate Center, CUNY and author of Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I realized that, as the technology of AI advanced, a point would be reached in which intelligent software and general-purpose robots could perform all tasks (both mental and physical) that are currently achievable only by highly educated humans. At one time I toyed with writing a book about my concerns regarding intelligent automation and its future effect on political and economic systems but Martin Ford has a done a 100-times better job that I could have ever done. I only have two complaints about Ford's book: (a) the title sounds a bit too much like a title for a pulp-fiction work and so I fear that not enough people will read it and (b) the first 75 pages consist of a standard summary of current economic facts and principles and so I fear that some readers may quit reading his book before they get to the really interesting parts, which in my opinion, start after page 75."
"I can't finish most books because it so long winded."
"Amazing Economics book."
"Mr. Ford clearly expands on a evolving threat of technology changing how supply and demand define society."
"The author brings to the table the realities and inevitable rise of technology replacing manual labor force."
"The job, the life style, the socialization type- everything is changing and I never thought to connect automatization of everyday life with robots."
"Good book."
"This is a very comprehensive account of the advances being made in the field of robotics."
Best Drafting & Mechanical Drawing
The classic visual guide to the basics of building construction, now with a 3D digital building model for interactive learning For over three decades, Building Construction Illustrated has offered an outstanding introduction to the principles of building construction. With rich illustrations and detailed discussions of building concepts, this book gives you the knowledge you need to succeed in residential and commercial construction, architecture, and structural engineering. Whether you are brushing up on the basics or looking for inspiring new construction ideas, Ching’s Building Construction Illustrated is an essential reference guide. He is the bestselling author and coauthor of numerous architecture and design books, including Architectural Graphics; Building Codes Illustrated; Architecture: Form, Space, and Order; A Visual Dictionary of Architecture; A Global History of Architecture; Building Structures Illustrated; and Design Drawing .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book provides many details and illustrations for easier understanding and reference."
"Great product, on time shipping."
"This is a very good reference book."
"A wealth of visual information."
"Very useful but leaves out some important details for the homeowner who is having a house built."
"it seemed like scanned book, there are many noises of ink."
Best Fracture Mechanics
We guide you through choosing an IDE, as well as the various elements of coding in JavaScript. Introduction to JavaScript For newcomers to JavaScript we look at what the language has to offer, its origin and design goals, features and capabilities, as well as JavaScript based frameworks, before stepping into more in-depth topics. Basics of JavaScript Writing Your First Program, Step-By-Step Basic Program Structure Which IDE to Choose Features and Uses of JavaScript Sample Applications Data Types Variables Operators Type Conversions Numbers Strings Booleans Working with Dates.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I can definitively recommend it to anyone who wants to learn javascript and programming."
"There are a lot of terms and ideas in this book that are new to me, as I am just a beginner, but I feel like I have a much better understanding of the process now."
"If you think you might want to gain expertise with this important computer tool, this is an easy (and inexpensive) way to test your aptitude."
"I have read another of Nathan's books and found he has a great talent for teaching new things with easy to follow examples."
"Nathan has created a series of books dedicated to helping beginners learn programing."
"A spelling correction and the addition of hyphens would improve the narrative portions."
"Excellent book!"
"Lots of information here, but no real writing."
Best Hydraulics
In The Insulin-Resistance Diet , Cheryle R. Hart and Mary Kay Grossman show you how to control insulin resistance and lose weight without sacrificing all of your favorite foods. She completed her specialty training at the Mayo Clinic and is now in private practice at the Women's Wellness Workshop in Spokane, Washington.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'll definitely be sticking with the Insulin Resistance Diet."
"This is not really a diet; it’s a guide for learning to balance any food so you can eat for the rest of your life. The Insulin Resistance Diet explains why it’s necessary to eat protein with carbohydrates and what amounts work best for balance."
"hyper exercise 30 day diets. Now with this program I lost 4 lbs the first week without trying. I sleep soundly at night and need a 30 min nap every day."
"Worked great for me and my wife."
"Contained the information I was needing."
"Bit more difficult to follow than I expected."
"Very informative."
"Recipes were terrible."
Best Robotic Engineering
Digital technologies—with hardware, software, and networks at their core—will in the near future diagnose diseases more accurately than doctors can, apply enormous data sets to transform retailing, and accomplish many tasks once considered uniquely human. These include revamping education so that it prepares people for the next economy instead of the last one, designing new collaborations that pair brute processing power with human ingenuity, and embracing policies that make sense in a radically transformed landscape. “Offers important insights into how digital technologies are transforming our economy, a process that has only just begun.”. - Reid Hoffman, cofounder/chairman of LinkedIn and coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Start-up of You. I’ll encourage all of our entrepreneurs to read it, and hope their competitors don’t.”. - Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz. Long after the financial crisis and great recession have receded, the issues raised in this important book will be central to our lives and our politics.”. - Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The Second Machine Age gives many examples of specific technologies like robots, AI and autonomous cars, and also lots of data showing how the economy is being transformed. The authors also make a strong argument that the way economists measure things, especially in terms of GDP, no longer does a good job of capturing what prosperity really means in the information age. There are lots of policy suggestions including reforming education to pay teachers more but also make them accountable, jump starting entrepreneurship, better job matching technologies, investing more in basic scientific research, upgrading national infrastructure, expanding skilled immigration, implementing smarter taxes, expanding the earned income tax credit (EITC), etc."
"There'll be nothing earth-shattering here for readers who follow technology trends or even who read WIRED magazine, but the book looks at all these things through a somewhat different lens (its impact on human work) than the tech press usually does, and I didn't find myself skimming even when they were covering developments with which I'm already very familiar. Their short-term prescriptions are sensible enough (basically: take steps to encourage general economic growth) but, as the authors themselves point out, these won't address the underlying problem, identified by Keynes among others, of technological change outpacing the ability of large segments of the workforce to retrain for new jobs."
Best Chemical Engineering
Deemed "the best history of oil ever written" by Business Week and with more than 300,000 copies in print, Daniel Yergin’s Pulitzer Prize–winning account of the global pursuit of oil, money, and power has been extensively updated to address the current energy crisis. Following on from there, The Prize , winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, is a comprehensive history of one of the commodities that powers the world--oil. Energy consultant Yergin limns oil's central role in most of the wars and many international crises of the 20th century.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It focuses on the effects of oil on the economies of both consuming and producing nations as well how access to oil affects the political power of nations."
"It makes no sense to export a precious finite resource, and it makes a lot of sense to use our enemy's supply first."
"This is the third copy of this book that I have purchased."
"The sentiments of various people and groups towards oil (good or bad) were negligible in the book which gave it almost a sterile feel. I now have a much stronger understanding of just how oil plays its enormous role in the global society. I can't say enough about how well this book informs its reader in an enjoyable and insightful way. It may at points be dry material, but in no way did i feel like this book was written over my head."
"Fascinating story from the time of ancient people using oil, oil tar, to drilling in Pennsylvania, drilling in the Near and Far East, etc."
"This is a long book, but if you want to write a comprehensive story of oil and its impact on the economy spanning more than a century, it's going to be long."
"This is one of the best histories of the Oil Business."
Best Industrial Engineering
The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. "Kate Moore's new book will move, shock and anger you" -- The Big Issue Kate Moore is a Sunday Times bestselling writer with more than a decade's experience in writing across varying genres, including memoir and biography and history.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"In The Radium Girls Kate Moore tells the story of these young women, seemingly so fortunate, who were poisoned by the jobs they felt so lucky to have. After some of the women died and more became ill the companies making large profits on radium rushed to dismiss any hint that the work was unsafe. Eventually publicity stemming from lawsuits filed by some of the victims (using their own scanty resources) focused enough attention on the problem that governments felt compelled to set safety standards and regulations. The safety regulations and restrictions which were finally put into place hardly seem adequate, and the Epilogue and Postscript giving details of the women's later lives, as well as an account of another industry that made careless use of radium as late as the 1970s, are especially harrowing."
"This is one these books that will stay with you long after you finished reading it."
"One of the best books I have read in a long time!"
"I learned so much from this book."
"This was such a heartfelt story bringing to life the stories of such brave women and their suffering."
"This a book that should be read by people of all ages and occupation."
"Awesome book could not stop thinking about it for weeks such a long fight these woman had n some did not make it sadly."
"I have not read many of these types of books about real life stories about history and I found this fascinating."
Best Civil Engineering
Vance spent over 40 hours in conversation with Musk and interviewed close to 300 people to tell the tumultuous stories of Musk's world-changing companies: PayPal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX and SolarCity, and to characterize a man who has renewed American industry and sparked new levels of innovation while making plenty of enemies along the way. "Ashlee Vance's new book, 'Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future,' is a tremendous look into arguably the world's most important entrepreneur. Vance paints an unforgettable picture of Musk's unique personality, insatiable drive and ability to thrive through hardship." "Vance's lively book yields all manner of fascinating insights about Musk's companies, his vision, and his personal life." - Whitney Tilson Founder, Kase Capital Management There are few industrialists in history who could match Elon Musk's relentless drive and ingenious vision. A modern alloy of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, and Steve Jobs, Musk is the man behind PayPal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and SolarCity, each of which has sent shock waves throughout American business and industry. More than any other executive today, Musk has dedicated his energies and his own vast fortune to inventing a future that is as rich and far-reaching as a science fiction fantasy. In this lively, investigative account, veteran technology journalist Ashlee Vance offers an unprecedented look into the remarkable life and times of Silicon Valley's most audacious businessman. Written with exclusive access to Musk, his family, and his friends, the book traces his journey from his difficult upbringing in South Africa to his ascent to the pinnacle of the global business world. In 1992, Elon Musk arrived in the United States as a ferociously driven immigrant bent on realizing his wildest dreams. After being forced out of PayPal, fending off a life-threatening case of malaria, and dealing with the death of his infant son, Musk abandoned Silicon Valley for Los Angeles. At a time when many American companies are more interested in chasing easy money than in taking bold risks on radical new technology, Musk stands out as the only businessman with enough dynamism and vision to tackle--and even revolutionize--three industries at once. Vance makes the case that Musk's success heralds a return to the original ambition and invention that made America an economic and intellectual powerhouse.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"2 pages in, I decided I was in this for the long haul and sat on the floor, right there in the middle of the store. Because as you experience the story, as you see the challenges Musk went through to reach the pinnacle he's at today, the question nags at you. Musk isn't soft-spoken, or easy on his employees, or a man who kicks his legs up on his desk and snoozes while his companies mill around him. Vance shows how Musk is both the CEO and an employee of his companies, simultaneously the teacher and student. Vance takes you deep into the details, from Musk's childhood and lineage in South Africa, all the way to Canada and the United States, where the bulk of the story unfolds. When Musk looks at big businesses, he sees unmovable behemoths that refuse to change their methodologies. So we follow Musk's journey from his small start-ups, Zip2 and X.com, and move into his larger, more permanent ventures, namely SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity. Did you know SpaceX tested these rockets on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and would fix problems they encountered in a matter of days, as compared to months by standard companies? I'm going to reread this book in a few weeks (probably after the scheduled June 19th third Falcon 9 landing attempt, this time on solid ground, as opposed to a barge). Anyone who wants a ridiculously thorough insight into Elon Musk's life and companies should read this book. This is an incredibly inspiring book, a important look into a game-changing business strategy, and a valuable lesson to the world."
"I loved the insight into Musk and how he operates, and you get a very broad and complete picture of Musk as a driven visionary that is absolutely set on delivering some of the most aspirational goals of any human in history. You also get some great insight into the overall ecosystem around Musk - his companies (SpaceX and Tesla primarily), relationships with other companies and gov entities, as well as the important people around him."
"Solid, well researched book about Musk's early life, early companies (Zip2 and PayPal), and current companies (Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity). Throughout the book, Vance doesn't just let a startling assertion or quote stand still, he researches events to give the reader a balanced view of what transpired."
Best Nuclear Engineering
Mahaffey, a long-time advocate of continued nuclear research and nuclear energy, looks at each incident in turn and analyzes what happened and why, often discovering where scientists went wrong when analyzing past meltdowns. Although his latest work focuses mostly on radioactivity’s dark side, from its discovery in 1896 to its role in the recent Fukushima meltdown, Mahaffey nonetheless does argue persuasively that, by closely investigating its shortcomings, nuclear power can be made safer. Mahaffey guides us through more than a century of atomic research, includingmisadventures with radioactive elixirs ("The radium water worked fine until hisjaw came off," reads a 1932 headline) and long-forgotten accidents atenrichment plants...The compelling tales unravel like slow-motion horror stories,spiraling towards disasters we know are coming.PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (Starred Review) - 13 January 2014. Mahaffey, a former senior researchscientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, employs his extensiveknowledge of nuclear engineering to produce a volume that is by turns alarming,thought-provoking, humorous, and always fascinating.KIRKUS (Starred Review) - 6 February 2014.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I think the biggest general takeaway from this is the surprisingly small impact from these accidents relative to other industrial accidents and the public perception of nuclear power."
"Public concerns are considered simplistic, but nothing critical is said about these high-tech dangerous systems sometimes being run as casually as a local car repair shop. Then after the spill Bob and I had to think fast, so we mopped up the nuclear waste and dumped it out back where it won't bother anybody."
"Really great read; lots of info, well written."
"This book is a better read than Chuck Hansen's Us Nuclear Weapons the Secret History which was way to technical and not for the laymen."
"A good, if technical, overview of the history of nuclear power and reactor design flaws and accidents."
"One learns a lot about nuclear physics."
"The author managed to explain the complex chains of events that lead to each of the failures detailed within quite clearly, I never felt this book was talking down to the audience or dumbing things down excessively."
"Finally, the author wraps up with a discussion on the future of the nuclear industry and what he believes are smart choices on nuclear alternatives (not non-nuclear alternatives, but alternate approaches to nuclear fission/fusion)."
Best Reference Engineering
Upgrading to a General license--which conveys extensive HF privileges—only requires passing a written examination. Procedures and Practices. Rules and Regulations. Components and Circuits. Radio Signals and Equipment. Digital Modes. Antennas. Propagation. Electrical and RF Safety. ARRL's mission is based on five pillars: Public Service, Advocacy, Education, Technology, and Membership.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Using this process with a clean copy of the pool questions I got to mostly "blue" and a couple of "greens"...and easily passed the three test."
"Great information laid out in a plain to understand method that logically moves you through the subject matter in a way that you actually learn."
"I already have the Tech book and I used that and the practice exams on line to pass my Tech exam."
"Hypertext jumps from the subject to questions and answers was flawless."
"Excellent book."
"The book was so simple and easy to follow. This book will go over various topics and then at the end of the chapter it will just say, "Please review questions in section etc, etc, etc before continuing to the next chapter" I hate flipping back and forth between reading material and question pools in the back of the book. In the end this book will work and some of you might just say I have a different way of learning than others which is true."
"Very comprehensive and clear."
"Brand new and is current..."
Best Automotive Engineering
Over the last twenty years Life in the Fast Lane has become a staple of Formula 1 literature. In essence a monthly diary of a Benetton grand prix mechanic, this essential book gives a behind-the-scenes account of daily life in the trenches of F1, each page written throughout the tragic and turbulent 1994 season.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's like receiving a tour of a great art museum not from a weary docent but a renowned painter who goes on to reveal the secret techniques of brushstroke and color choice over a couple of pints at your favorite local."
"It's written from an often forgotten perspective of the F1 mechanics, ironic in that they are the ones closest to the action after the driver. A particularly poignant passage involves the great Michael Schumacher leading the Spanish GP while he is managing the race strategy via radio transmission so that his team, Benetton, can get their second driver in the points, all while fending off a hard charging Williams challenging for second."
"I enjoy Steve Matchett’s books very much, if you like Formula 1, motorsports he is a must read."
"From pre season testing through an intensely personal perspective of the terrible events at Imola on through the end of Michael Schumacher's 1st World Championship, it was riveting."
"After hearing much insightful information from Steve over his years of Formula 1 televisión broadcasting, it was refreshing to read this insider’s view of the 1994 season."
"Insightful look at Formula one and the dedicated people not behind the wheel."
"Great insight into the behind the scenes aspect of F1."
"BTW, my wife has the Amazon acct and purchased them for me, for Christmas, and she did a damn fine job..lol."
Best Engineering Measurement
What is Kodi and some history of this open-sourced program Description and information for the Amazon Fire TV devices Installing Kodi Media Center on the Amazon Fire TV devices (using the wizards and manually) Navigating the Kodi website Common Kodi features and how they are used Popular Kodi add-ons Using XML files to customize certain Kodi features Content Sources available to load content into Kodi Troubleshooting, Tips and Suggestions for using the media center with the Fire TV devices, as well as other devices. Kodi, Kindle OwnersAmazon Prime, how to install to Kodi, Amazon fire tv stick, free TV Series,Fire Stick, tips and tricks, streaming, Amazon Fire TV Stick User Guide, smart device, beginners guide, main functions, personal control, step-by-step guide, quick guide, Fire Stick benefits, Fire Stick functions, Fire TV, Movies, TV, Apps, Games & More, install Kodi with ES File Explorer, from Newbie to Expert, Best Kindle Fire HD Apps, free Movie.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I like this book this book has proper guidence about how to install kodi on firestick.I have not proper knowledge before reading this about kodi.This book help me so much about getting the proper knowledge about the service.Very informative book for me to maintain my tv services."
"Very interesting book."
"Lots of very useful and helpful info re Kodi, but to do the install I had to go to a couple of Kodi websites to get up-to-date detailed instructions, so deducted one star."
"Good information."
"it is just what i needed."
"Easy to understand and works great."
Best Electrical & Electronics
Use with ARRL s online Exam Review for Ham Radio. Welcome to Amateur Radio. Radio and Signals Fundamentals. Electricity, Components, and Circuits. Propagation, Antennas, and Feed Lines. Amateur Radio Equipment. Communicating With Other Hams. Licensing Regulations. Operating Regulations. Safety. As you complete each chapter of this book, use ARRL's online Exam Review for Ham Radio to help prepare you for exam day. Once you've finished this book, use the online service to take practice exams with the same number and variety of questions that you'll encounter on exam day.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Some of the other books that I see concentrate more on passing the test by learning the test questions than actually teaching the material."
"After the training material, there is an excellent glossary, the complete exam question pool (with correct answers indicated), as well as a supplementary chapter on choosing a ham radio. Excellent graphics -- lots of tables, charts, photographs, and line drawings. As much as I love my e-Ink Kindle, this is the sort of book that is better in paper and in a large format. Table of Contents for the course material -- Radio and Signals Fundamentals; Electricity, Components, and Circuits; Propagation, Antennas, and Feed Lines; Amateur Radio Equipment; Communicating With Other Hams; Licensing Regulations; Operating Regulations; and Safety."
"Even though you could simply memorize the questions from the FCC test bank, you'll be missing out on a great amount of information that's useful to the new ham operator."
"As a test preparation guide and desktop reference, its a good book to own."
"I passed my license after going through the multiple choice questions in the back.."
"I'm new to this HAM radio but am confident that this will be the reference that stays on my shelf as I get my first license level."
"This is a nicely laid out book that takes you through all of the material for the license exam."
"My only issue with the electronic format is that the images could be more readable inline with the text. This results in needing to zoom almost every image, where most of them could be otherwise read inline with the text."
Best Materials Science
Miodownik studies objects as ordinary as an envelope and as unexpected as concrete cloth, uncovering the fascinating secrets that hold together our physical world. " Stuff Matters is about hidden wonders, the astonishing properties of materials we think boring, banal, and unworthy of attention...It's possible this science and these stories have been told elsewhere, but like the best chocolatiers, Miodownik gets the blend right." University professor Miodownik accomplishes a bit of a miracle here by making a discussion of materials science not only accessible but witty as well.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I purchased this book because it's my first year teaching 5th-grade science and I wanted to flesh out my curriculum with some interesting facts. The chapter on chocolate is nothing short of a love letter to one of mankind's most sophisticated and delicious engineering achievements (make sure you have some on hand while you're reading—trust me)."
"The author has the ability to use simple language and illustrations to explain the incredible complexity of the materials aound us with which we interact on a daily basis."
"I'm rounding up perhaps half a star."
"Author Mark Miodownik has written an enjoyable, clear, and very informative book on a potentially very dry subject - material science."
"The reason is that sunlight does not have enough energy to dislocate the atoms in glass but ultra violet light does. That is the reason can't get a tan thru a window."
"It gave me a whole to appreciation for the things around me, so much so that I later bought The Elements by Theodore Gray which does an exceptional job of visually exploring all the atoms in the universe so you can better appreciate the Periodic Table as a layperson."
"A amazing tale of materials that have shaped our modern world."
"Lots of stuff happened since my college years. This book provides some of the new stuff I missed or misunderstood reading the Science Section of the New York Times."
Best Telecommunications
Use with ARRL s online Exam Review for Ham Radio. Welcome to Amateur Radio. Radio and Signals Fundamentals. Electricity, Components, and Circuits. Propagation, Antennas, and Feed Lines. Amateur Radio Equipment. Communicating With Other Hams. Licensing Regulations. Operating Regulations. Safety. As you complete each chapter of this book, use ARRL's online Exam Review for Ham Radio to help prepare you for exam day. Once you've finished this book, use the online service to take practice exams with the same number and variety of questions that you'll encounter on exam day.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Some of the other books that I see concentrate more on passing the test by learning the test questions than actually teaching the material."
"After the training material, there is an excellent glossary, the complete exam question pool (with correct answers indicated), as well as a supplementary chapter on choosing a ham radio. Excellent graphics -- lots of tables, charts, photographs, and line drawings. As much as I love my e-Ink Kindle, this is the sort of book that is better in paper and in a large format. Table of Contents for the course material -- Radio and Signals Fundamentals; Electricity, Components, and Circuits; Propagation, Antennas, and Feed Lines; Amateur Radio Equipment; Communicating With Other Hams; Licensing Regulations; Operating Regulations; and Safety."
"Even though you could simply memorize the questions from the FCC test bank, you'll be missing out on a great amount of information that's useful to the new ham operator."
"As a test preparation guide and desktop reference, its a good book to own."
"I'm new to this HAM radio but am confident that this will be the reference that stays on my shelf as I get my first license level."
"This is a nicely laid out book that takes you through all of the material for the license exam."
"My only issue with the electronic format is that the images could be more readable inline with the text. This results in needing to zoom almost every image, where most of them could be otherwise read inline with the text."
"This manual takes a complex and fascinating hobby and renders it boring."
Best Computer Technology
Digital technologies—with hardware, software, and networks at their core—will in the near future diagnose diseases more accurately than doctors can, apply enormous data sets to transform retailing, and accomplish many tasks once considered uniquely human. These include revamping education so that it prepares people for the next economy instead of the last one, designing new collaborations that pair brute processing power with human ingenuity, and embracing policies that make sense in a radically transformed landscape. “Offers important insights into how digital technologies are transforming our economy, a process that has only just begun.”. - Reid Hoffman, cofounder/chairman of LinkedIn and coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Start-up of You. I’ll encourage all of our entrepreneurs to read it, and hope their competitors don’t.”. - Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz. Long after the financial crisis and great recession have receded, the issues raised in this important book will be central to our lives and our politics.”. - Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The Second Machine Age gives many examples of specific technologies like robots, AI and autonomous cars, and also lots of data showing how the economy is being transformed. The authors also make a strong argument that the way economists measure things, especially in terms of GDP, no longer does a good job of capturing what prosperity really means in the information age. There are lots of policy suggestions including reforming education to pay teachers more but also make them accountable, jump starting entrepreneurship, better job matching technologies, investing more in basic scientific research, upgrading national infrastructure, expanding skilled immigration, implementing smarter taxes, expanding the earned income tax credit (EITC), etc."
"There'll be nothing earth-shattering here for readers who follow technology trends or even who read WIRED magazine, but the book looks at all these things through a somewhat different lens (its impact on human work) than the tech press usually does, and I didn't find myself skimming even when they were covering developments with which I'm already very familiar. Their short-term prescriptions are sensible enough (basically: take steps to encourage general economic growth) but, as the authors themselves point out, these won't address the underlying problem, identified by Keynes among others, of technological change outpacing the ability of large segments of the workforce to retrain for new jobs."
"That said if you have never read "Race" this book is just as good as the other."
Best Petroleum
Deemed "the best history of oil ever written" by Business Week and with more than 300,000 copies in print, Daniel Yergin’s Pulitzer Prize–winning account of the global pursuit of oil, money, and power has been extensively updated to address the current energy crisis. Following on from there, The Prize , winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, is a comprehensive history of one of the commodities that powers the world--oil. Energy consultant Yergin limns oil's central role in most of the wars and many international crises of the 20th century.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It focuses on the effects of oil on the economies of both consuming and producing nations as well how access to oil affects the political power of nations."
"It makes no sense to export a precious finite resource, and it makes a lot of sense to use our enemy's supply first."
"This is the third copy of this book that I have purchased."
"The sentiments of various people and groups towards oil (good or bad) were negligible in the book which gave it almost a sterile feel. I now have a much stronger understanding of just how oil plays its enormous role in the global society. I can't say enough about how well this book informs its reader in an enjoyable and insightful way. It may at points be dry material, but in no way did i feel like this book was written over my head."
"Although concentrated on the oil industry, this book is really an incredible history of the twentieth century, which makes a lot of sense considering the paramount of oil to that era and now."
"This is a long book, but if you want to write a comprehensive story of oil and its impact on the economy spanning more than a century, it's going to be long."
"This is one of the best histories of the Oil Business."