Very good but needs serious UPDATE! / / 2010-07-12
There is much to learn about the science of light in this book and most of it will never change so the basic science of the subject will always be important. However, with all the good information I was surprised at how poor the examples were using line drawings instead of real world shots of camera and light set ups. Since the original was made for film I think much of it can be updated now that the world is digital. While the science of light does not change the tools we do use change and this book needs an update, better pictures and more detailed descriptions of what they were discussing.
I did learn a great deal but finished thinking this could have been so much better with some more detail!
3 1/2 stars would have been my choice if I could figure out how to give half a star!
great resource!!!!!!!!!!! / / 2010-07-11
great tips..well informed and taught me much about studio lighting and painting with light in general..a must have
A must for your reference collection / / 2010-07-06
The combination of theory and practice makes this a totally useful and valuable addition to a photographer's knowledge base. Well worth the money! I highly recommend it.
Kindle version not usable / / 2010-06-30
I have both printed copy and kindle version, to be fair printed version is 5 star the kindle edition is 1 star. The printed copy is great no probs about that. Kindle version has one big problem, all the pictures inside are in B&W. With this kind of book it is essential to see in color, else you would not understand the concept being discussed. I do not mind seeing image in B&W for the Kindle device, but I expect to see images in color in the Kindle PC and other devices. Unless they change this to color getting the Kindle version just does not make sense.
All you need is here. / / 2010-06-22
I'm a photographer of some thirty years experience. While I read this book out of curiosity I came away astounded. What's taken me thirty years to learn is all here. It's given me a clear language to explain what I knew from experience. Most importantly though is that this marvelous book also taught me something new. I'll be giving this to my daughter so she can short cut my learning curve. So good!!
I really don't understand the many negative reviews here. This textbook is for sophomore and junior engineering students, and it serves its function well. The chapter titles are:
1. Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering
2. Atomic Structure
3. Atomic and Ionic Arrangements
4. Imperfections in the Atomic and Ionic Arrangements
5. Atom and Ion Movements in Materials
6. Mechanical Properties: Part One
7. Mechanical Properties: Part Two
8. Strain Hardening and Annealing
9. Principles of Solidification
10. Solid Solutions and Phase Equilibrium
11. Dispersion Strengthening and Eutectic Phase Diagrams
12. Dispersion Strengthening by Phase Transformation and Heat Treatment
13. Heat Treatment of Steels and Cast Irons
14. Nonferrous Alloys
15. Ceramic Materials
16. Polymers
17. Composites: Teamwork and Synergy in Materials
18. Construction Materials
19. Electronic Materials
20. Magnetic Materials
21. Photonic Materials
22. Thermal Properties of Materials
23. Corrosion and Wear
There are many example solved problems, which is good because there is no Schaum's Outline for Materials Science and Engineering. Each chapter has an introduction, glossary of terms, summary, and an extensive problem set, including computer projects. Thankfully, the authors focus on applications, not theory (which is often bogus anyway).
I found relatively few typos: one, a howler, is on p. 788, where the authors say "grain" where they mean "gram", and the symbol for specific heat should be in lower case, not upper case.
There are many tables and diagrams. There are answers to the odd problems, and the index is detailed. One item missing, however, is a list of useful references/bibliography for materials scientists and engineers. I've used the '76 Materials Engineering Selector for many years--I don't know of any more recent publications, and it would be helpful if Askeland and Phule would provide an up-to-date list of sources for materials scientists and engineers.
OK Book / / 2009-10-18
Pretty good coverage of material, but not written in such a manner as to keep my attention.
Painful Read - Poor Presentation / / 2009-01-19
The material is presented as if you already have a strong chemical background. What information is there stops short of explaining it in any type of useful manner. It certainly is not practical information. I purchased it as a Supplier Quality Engineer of Gray Iron Castings and walked away with little that I could use in the REAL world. Metallurgists that I work with confirmed this. The professor of the college course in Material Science discontinued using this book because his student were walking away with very little and he was only referring to this $180 book sporadically as to not confuse the students. Save your money.
great condition and came next day! / / 2008-02-08
I ordered this from Amazon because of the next day shipping option, and it was worth it because it really did come the day after I ordered it (just in time for class!). The book was brand new and still in shrink wrap.
Indications of Poor Quality / / 2007-05-17
Inside Front Cover: The characteristic exponent of ten for the speed of light, c, should be +8 or 8 and not -8. For the Fe-C phase diagram the labels of 'steel'and 'cast iron' on the %carbon-x-axis are reversed in position from what they should be. Polymer Chapter: 'PET' usually stands for poly-ethylene-terephthalate and not poly-ester although the first is maybe a type of the second. This might be a matter of different diciplines but 'PAN' here is said to mean poly-acrylic-nitrile while in the environmental field it means peroxy-acetyl-nitrate.
The book is perfect but I also want to mention that the DVD (double layer) that cames with it is also fantastic. It actualy has compositing scenes from feature films like Star Wars !!! Must buy !
Buy this book if you want to lose your sleep and loved ones. / / 2010-07-25
I read this book front to back in 7 days. Not that I'm an avid reader or I can read 1000s of words a minute. The content is so exceptionally good that I just could not stop letting go off the book. I think I finally found something that can replace sex. There are many masters in compositing but very few are good teachers. Ron is one of those rare Zen master's who not only realized nirvana but can also teach the ways to achieve it. Try explaining light to a blind man and you will know how difficult it becomes with words.
The patience and accuracy with which Ron has laid out the nuts and bolts of the whole process of digital compositing is rare and for loss of a better word I will call it "Excellent". I also think that amazon should incorporate another rating system that calls "SuperHero stuff" or something. There are lots of books that say push this button and select that option and fall in love with the resulting image. But when the next version of the software is released those buttons are either gone or the options have been changed completely and what not.
Anyway, if you want to go underneath the hood, and I think you should, of any modern compositing software be it nuke or after effects or fusion or katana (i heard that nuke will incorporate some of katana into their software) please look no further. Real world compositing problems are not as simple as pushing this button or that. There will be no button in any software for that matter that says "Ladies! push this button if you have an uneven greenscreen with a flickering foreground element that is heavy in motion blur". Wallah, the problem is solved, your boss is ecstatic that you won an academy award for visual effects just because of that single lovable, darling, push me again and again - button.
There is a particular way in which I use this book. Courtesy Ron again. He made a software resistant book. What I mean by that is that he will not talk about nuke or after effects in particular. Anyway, I read the book, Ron sets out to put a concept in place. Then I dig out the option or options that would lend themselves to solve that Ron's concept from the particular software Im using and give the options a good spanking, punishing or a good squeeze to; you know "Bruce Lee's Fist Of Fury" style squeeze and make them give me the codes to the zion's mainframe. And even before you know it, everything falls in place like a Brian De Palma's movie.
Goodness God I already am feeling tired writing this simple review and wondering how Ron must have squeezed the juice of digital compositing with such elegance. I need a vacation(Terminator 2).
In short "BUY THIS BOOK YOU FOOL!!!!!!".
Rajneesh.
A bible for Digital compositing / / 2010-06-16
This book is a bible for digital compositing that starts from the basics to advanced techniques used. I love examples of compositing from many popular movies and I wish more of the book was about case studies from different films and showed more detailed steps of the techniques used rather than spending the first chapters explaining the basics of visual graphics and etc. But overall this is a must have book for those who want to learn all the basics of CGI and compositing. Users of compositing programs like Adobe after effects can benefit from the the included DVD that has videos/pictures and use those in the program to practice the techniques explained in the book.
The definitive book on compositing. / / 2010-05-29
I've heard this book referred to as being "the bible" for digital compositing and I see why. It's incredibly complete, well written, easy to read and the case studies section of the book is fantastic. Along with the included DVD, the book walks you through actual composites from major motion pictures. Great book.
great book for beginners and for the one's who wants to review the basics and learn more / / 2010-05-02
I have already started to read this huge book and I really like it. I've been working with post-production for almost 10 years and there are some things that you do even if you don't know exactly how you did that. This book brings to you a hole knowledge about Digital Compositing in great level.
Dr. Sternberg makes an excellent case for the powerful role of the mind in promoting healing. I gifted this book to a dear friend who has Multiple Sclerosis and who struggles on a daily basis to cope with her disease. There is no doubt that a positive attitude is foremost in coping with any chronic health problem. Equally important is creating an environment where that positive force can thrive. Enabling ourselves to return to a functioning level depends on our ability to comprehend the advances in research on mind-body-environment integration. To that extent the author has successfully taken complicated research discoveries and simplified them through example and discourse in layman's terms. When we acquire this knowledge and use it in our daily lives, we enhance our ability to rise above being victimized and defined by a disease process. I highly recommend this for people who are living with any chronic disease process and for their caretakers as well. The average healthy individual will find this book useful in building an environment that promotes health in their daily lives. There's no magic or superstition in this book. It's based on solid science. Read it and get on with living a good life.
New studies back old ideas / / 2009-11-27
After listening to a fascinating CBC radio interview with Dr. Sternberg, I bought the book for additional information and was not disappointed. It is interesting to read about new studies that provide empirical evidence supporting both old and new theories.
A great glimpse into evidence based design in healthcare facilities.
Wonderful and Important Reading / / 2009-07-06
Dr. Sternberg's new book is a delight to read. It's one thing to demand of a competent science writer that she decipher and distill complex research and tell lay readers what the findings mean. It's quite another to demand that the writer entertains and inspires her readers at the same time. But Dr. Sternberg does both. I hope its accessibility gains the book wide readership, not only among casually interested readers, but among architects, engineers, builders and building owners. The concepts it puts forth are important--at least as important, in my opinion, as those advocated by followers of the "green building" movement, which seems all the rage right now.
Important lessons will be learned from this book / / 2009-06-02
The world around us has an influence on the quality of our mental and physical health. Being calm, happy, and finding joy in what we do will increase the quality of our health. This book provides a wonderful insight into the influence of what we see and hear on our health. Dr. Sternberg writes in a manner that is not only easy to read and understand but is highly motivating. Adults should share her insight and with children to increase the likelihood that they will grow up being aware of their environment on their health. This book provides important insights and is an important contribution not only for the quality of health of current generations, but for future generations. I recommend it highly for all who are concerned about promoting healthy lifestyles.
Author : Charles S. Johnson Jr. Publisher : A K Peters Ltd / 2010-07-01 Binding : Paperback / 200 Pages Rating : ISBN 10 : 1568815816 ISBN 13 : ISBN13: 9781568815817
Science for the curious Photoghapher / / 2010-07-30
I have found this little book to be a gem. It touches on most of the detailed science/technology underpinning contemporary digital photography. It is not a textbook, rather it is something of a handbook of basic information. There isn't much in it that I hadn't learned about at some earlier time, but it helped me to knit together those bits and pieces of important information or concepts in an enjoyable way.
The author has chosen carefully what to include and what not to include, based on his own considerable knowledge. The result is a tight little volume that I am very pleased to have acquired, because it was just what I was looking for. I'm sure that some readers may find it inadequate in some ways, but I didn't. I understood exactly what the author set out to do, and in my opinion he fully succeeded. I am reminded of the apology offered by the author of a very long letter to a friend... I'm sorry that this is so very long, I just didn't have time to write a shorter version.
Bridges the gap betwen science & architecture / / 2004-09-15
This is a real good buy. Prof. Szokolay is one of the prominent experts in the field. I was waiting for this book to be published .... to use it as the required textbook for a course I teach. It is a perfect content for an Architectural Engineering course on environmental control. Sadly, I couldn't require it for the course because it is all IS units. Still, I use it for my personal use.
It covers everyone's body perfectly. I bought this because I aspire to be a fashion designer and I want to cater to every woman's body. Very helpful.
Not a perfect 10 but I'll take the rule of 80/20! / / 2010-03-15
I felt this book was helpful. As with most fashion books/articles/videos I've sought out, the information isn't ground breaking. In fashion there truly isn't anything new under the sun. Different "experts" within this field often have different advice and "rules" on how to execute looking/feeling your best.
What I like is that this book offers illustrations that help the reader see visual examples of the advice given. For someone who is clueless (on rules/terms/body shapes) this is VERY helpful. And even if you know a little something, to see a picture is truly worth a thousand words.
My overall advice is to take the basics of this book combined with everything else you've learned and make it your own! I do feel it is SUPER important to learn your body shape though! In my opinion this is something that should NOT be skipped!
However, some things may not apply to you (even once you've learned your shape)... Example I am an apple at my current weight but in many ways I mimic an hourglass (except for my larger bust and tendency to gain weight around the middle). So with the right undergarments, and neckline I can wear some "vava voom" dresses created for an hourglass. Ohh! And because my legs and thighs aren't that much smaller than my top half, I look $#@! good in skinny jeans! LOL! Though he feels skinny jeans are a no no for apples.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to better dress for her body shape. He also has some other practical advice on shopping and choosing better pieces. It gave the know how to 'visually' look for symmetry in my body and clothing and to actually SEE what shopping mistakes I was making. I've been dressing better ever since!
The right fit for your frame / / 2010-03-11
This book was one of the greatest purchases I've made in a long time. It goes through everything for your size step by step. From your height and your shape,waist,size, and weight. It is a must have for every woman.
OK BOOK / / 2010-02-25
Not enough for each shape. Not really my shape in it. Did not like style of clothes.
Best Fashion Book EVER / / 2010-02-23
I got this book from our public library, because I was teaching a class to some ladies at my church on how to be the best that you can be. We must love ourselves as GOD loves us, so I used some parts of the book to show women how to dress. I helped them pick the colors that are best for them,taught some tips for makeup application, and how to buy clothes from consignment, Goodwill, and other similar places. This book is one of the best tools that I have seen to help a woman be her best. It is simple and straight forward. It is a science as the title says. It teaches a four step process that is fool proof. I purchased it, because I wanted to have it at my disposal at any time that a woman approached me with,"How can I be my best on the outside?" God must make them the best on the inside!!!!
i'm a scientist and i really enjoyed this book. beautiful pictures. now i just need GMW to sign it. :-P
Fascinating / / 2010-07-03
My dad is an amateur scientist and photographer and I got this for him for his birthday...he loved it.
Big Matter / / 2009-12-26
This lovely coffee-table book contains 60 full-page illustrations, each accompanied by an explanatory essay. The illustrations came from Felice Frankel, who is on the staff of both MIT and Harvard; the essays are by George Whitesides, a famous chemist at Harvard.
Combining art and science is not an easy task. The Frankel-Whitesides agenda worked most naturally for the pictures numbered 15 (laminar flow), 37, (microreactor) and 40 (Christmas tree mixer). In all three, Frankel photographed a microchemistry gadget and Whitesides explained how it worked. At the other extreme, the essay accompanying illustration number 58 clearly explains how a fuel cell works but the adjacent photograph shows a crumpled-up sample of the proton-selective membrane taken out of a fuel cell. What did we learn from the photo? The membrane is black and crumples easily. If the membrane had been white and stiff, the fuel cell would still have worked in the way that the essay explained.
Illustration 34 is entitled Counting on Two Fingers. It would have been better entitled Counting on One Finger. The word binary refers to two states of one finger: raised and down.
On pages 153 to 163, Frankel describes the techniques she used to produce the illustrations; its a fascinating story. However, I got hung up on her explanation of the carbon nanotube, illustration #7 in the book. On page 158, she says that she placed a rolled transparent picture of a graphite sheet on her flatbed scanner and obtained the image that she processed later into the final illustration. I tried the cross eyed stereo test on her final product, and the carbon nanotube stood up in a beautiful, three-dimensional view. The implication is that her final product has perspective; my guess is that she made a camera photograph of the original tube instead of using a flatbed scanner.
Picking on some minor errors doesnt destroy the value of the book. However, it does raise an interesting question. Years ago, one of my friends authored a textbook on oceanography. After the book appeared, messages came trickling in pointing out minor errors in the book. The disturbing part was that no two messages uncovered the same error. My friend said that he could not reject the hypothesis that there were an infinite number of errors in his oceanography book. Im not saying that No Small Matter contains an infinite number of errors, but when the authors set out to speak for the full range of nanoscale technology they have to beware of the devil that lurks in the details.
A remarkable book on a remarkable topic / / 2009-11-21
This is an exceptionally cool book. It's an eclectic look at how important the things we cannot see are in our daily lives. Have you ever had a pregnancy test? Played a viola? Listened to a vinyl record? Lit a candle? Read this book and learn about what happened at the microscopic level. The pictures are extraordinary, and the text is clear, vibrant and informal. Strongly recommended. Don't miss the section at the end (Five Not-So-Easy Pieces) where the photographer explains how she obtained some of the images. I love the glass apple with the square shadow.
What a great idea for a book - would super heroes powers work in the real world, and if so, how? A well thought out book that covers a wide spectrum of ideas, with a surprising final chapter on the genius of Carl Barks - a comic book/sci-fi geek nerd like myself LOVES getting more comic book trivia to "show off" at the next convention.
Perhaps a bit too much time spent explaining stars and black holes...it was well done, but went a little overboard, taking up room that could have been dedicated to the possibility of Adamantium, or an explanation of how a character could fly, or why super heros seem to have white eyes...
In summary, a really fun read.
Lazy, Inconsistent, Outdated on the Science side / Condescending, Annoying on the Super-hero side / / 2009-03-29
I can only echo what the 2stars or lower reviewers said:
This is a lazily-written book that craps all over an interesting premise. Too much time on origin stories (apparently to bloat the page-count), when 95% of the target audience knows all this stuff.
If you're a comics fan who wants to know what's possible, impossible and if there's "any way these things could happen," you'll come away very dissapointed. The only part that rises above itself is the alternative, more plausible explanation for the Hulk's origins.
The X-Men chapter is awful (for an evolution vs creatonism 'debate,' google it, and any random piece will be better written).
Even the science is off, or at least not followed through. While the Square-Cubed Law is touched on (why Ant Men and Giant Ants will never happen), the same rules/restrictions are not factored into the issue of super-strength. I know why Spider-Man has almost nothign to do with a "six foot spider". But tell me why he (or any human sized living creature) is prohibited from "pressing 10 tons" (Marvel Universe stat). Or are they?
Too much of this book is about why all this is "impossible", using 9th grade physics. But none of it, or virtually none of it, exlores how it _could be_.
How strong could an Iron Man be in reality? If we could somehow alter the genes to strength bones/muscle, how powerful could a Spider-Man type be? Is there any way to circumvent Sqaure-Cube Law, or the restrictions of size-scaling? THAT'S what I wanted to hear about.
Buy it if it's avaialable used for a buck or two, but otherwise you'll be really dissapointed.
Great Popular Sciece Book / / 2009-01-05
I found this to be a great popular science book that uses the interesting angle of "explaining" how there could be scientific explanations to what comic superheroes can do. A great way to learn both about science and about superheroes.
Informative and Entertaining / / 2009-01-03
Fascinating, informative and entertaining book that speculates about
the possibilities that some of the superpowers that superheroes have
may be grounded in possible scientific explanations. A great way to be
entertained, while learning various interesting science and technology.
Highly original and informative book. Fun to read / / 2009-01-01
If you ever wondered if superheroes or supervillains can really exist, the Science of Superheroes and the Science of Supervillains are great books to read. The books are well written and entertaining. The Science of Superheroes was the first of its kind. Other books by other authors dealing with the similar issues, such as the Physics of Superheroes, have copied many of the ideas which were first presented in this classic. This classic and original book still beats all of the other imitations that followed it.
It is great reading.
/ 2010-06-30
/ 2009-01-19
