To highlight the wide range of publications reviewed in Choice, each month Choice editors feature some noteworthy reviews from the current issue.
  
Bronski, Michael.  A queer history of the United States.  Beacon Press, 2011.  287p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780807044391, $27.95.
49-1649  HQ76   2010-50225 CIP
 
Gender studies professor Bronski (Dartmouth) takes an interesting approach to solving the problem of integrating gay history into a mainstream survey. Deliberately avoiding the “add a gay person and stir” approach, the author instead focuses on the many ways in which gay individuals, and the culture they created for themselves, have influenced larger US social trends. The result is a highly readable monograph. Bronski begins with the first European explorers and their contact with those Native American tribes for whom cross-dressing was an acceptable practice. He demonstrates that the colonizers saw this social peculiarity as an indication of the Natives’ barbarism. He moves on through the intense single-sex friendships of the Colonial era and the 19th century and includes a thorough discussion of the pitfalls of trying to define sexuality in an era that did not understand the term as such. The author then considers the impact of 20th-century industrialization and urbanization on the evolution of a newly self-aware gay community that was both decimated and politically charged by the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Bronski’s book provides an excellent overview for readers new to the field of gay history. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. — R. A. Standish, San Joaquin Delta College
 
Chen, Francis F.  An indispensable truth: how fusion power can save the planet.  Springer, 2011.  433p bibl index afp ISBN 1-4419-7819-4, $49.95; ISBN 9781441978196, $49.95.
49-1526  QC303   MARC
 
The “indispensable truth” is that Chen (emer., UCLA) has written what may well be recognized as the definitive retrospective on the promise of endless supplies of cheap, clean nuclear energy from fusion, offering the prospect of realizing the promise at last. But is it true? Now in the autumn of a long, successful career that began when Lyman Spitzer’s stellarator was all the rage, this erudite elder statesman of plasma physics says this time it is different, and this 400-page opus makes readers want to believe him. It is stylishly written, designed, and illustrated to appeal to general readers, yet it offers lessons Spitzer’s peers can learn from. In effect, it is two books in one. First, it is the general story of climate change and the need for renewable, sustainable, alternative energy strategies in the face of the convenience of fossil fuels; second, it is the story of fusion energy–how it works, what it can deliver, and why it is important and perhaps the best and greenest way of meeting world energy needs. Consummate teacher/researcher that he is, Chen is in his comfort zone as he tells his story, and the indispensable truth is that it is just that–indispensable! Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — L. W. Fine, Columbia University  
 
Clark, Robert L.  State and local retirement plans in the United States, by Robert L. Clark, Lee A. Craig, and John Sabelhaus.  E. Elgar, 2011.  230p bibl index ISBN 1-84844-755-8, $99.95; ISBN 9781848447554, $99.95.
49-1576  JK2474  2010-939200 MARC
 
State and local government employee pension programs, including separate plans for teachers, have been a controversial topic in recent state legislative sessions, with concerns about pension generosity, the cost, and the extent to which systems hold sufficient funds to meet promised benefits. Economists Clark and Craig (both, North Carolina State Univ.) and Sabelhaus (Univ. of Maryland) provide useful, important insights into each concern. They provide a history of the development and expansion of these programs, which is important for understanding the issues involved in any program restructuring. They detail the major distinguishing features among state plans, analyze influences on plan generosity (replacement rates), and compare public plans with private-sector plans. They consider possible changes in plans, especially toward defined contribution plans and less generous plans. Of particular significance for current policy discussions, they examine the financial status of the pension plans, a status dramatically harmed by the great recession. Unfortunately, they do not provide individual state analysis of funding ratios, but they do give important insights into the recent debate concerning the size of aggregate national underfunding. This book provides a fine source for further research and public discussions about state and local government pension programs. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections. — J. L. Mikesell, Indiana University—Bloomington

A Companion to the literature and culture of the American West, ed. by Nicolas S. Witschi.  Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.  563p bibl index  (Blackwell companions to literature and culture, 74); ISBN 9781405187336, $199.95.
49-1318  PS169   2011-566 CIP
 
Wonders abound in this indispensable book, the widest survey of the new scholarship of the multiple American Wests yet produced. Scholarship revising the Turner thesis has been crucial to American studies since Patricia Nelson Limerick’s The Legacy of Conquest (CH, Dec’87), and it has grown into a scholarly industry. That scholarship now encompasses the study of many different western frontiers–Native American, African American, Asian American; those located on the Great Plains, in the Northern Rockies, in the Southwest and California; and those pertinent to the development of western art, cinema, cowboy poetry, folklore, autobiography, and, of course, the popular Western novel. This collection comprises 33 essays by major critic-commentators, including Susan Naramore Maher (on mapping the plains), Neil Campbell (on “post-western” cinema), and Nina Baym (on a century of western books by women). The volume belongs among such titles as Campbell’s The Cultures of the American New West (CH, Feb’01, 38-3489), Michael Johnson’s Black Masculinity and the Frontier Myth in American Literature (CH, Mar’03, 40-3869), True West: Authenticity and the American West, ed. by William Handley and Nathaniel Lewis (CH, Nov’04, 42-1433), and Hsuan L. Hsu’s Geography and the Production of Space in Nineteenth-Century American Literature (2010). Includes copious references. Summing Up: Essential. All readers. — J. J. Wydeven, emeritus, Bellevue University 
  
Courbage, Youssef.  A convergence of civilizations: the transformation of Muslim societies around the world, by Youssef Courbage and Emmanuel Todd; tr. by George Holoch.  Columbia, 2011.  134p afp; ISBN 9780231150026, $35.00; ISBN 9780231527460 e-book e-book, contact publisher for price.
49-1577  HB3660  2010-42554 CIP
 
Courbage and Todd (both, French National Institute for Demographic Studies) display a remarkably deep command of social dynamics in a large number of countries. They explain complicated demographic developments clearly, making A Convergence of Civilizations engaging for a general reader and rewarding for a specialist. The main theme is that overall, Muslim-majority countries have undergone the same demographic transition as Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Confucian societies, with sharp declines in fertility occurring as women’s literacy rises. Successive chapters explore the particular dynamics in Arab countries: Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, sometimes called the “northern tier”; Eastern Europe; sub-Saharan Africa; and Southeast Asia. The authors zero in on the main distinguishing characteristics of each area, such as polygamy in Africa, endogamy in Arabia, and abortions in Eastern Europe. Courbage and Todd show that societies in which fertility remains well above the replacement level even as female literacy rises are societies with national or ethnic tension, such as Malaysia and Palestine. While acknowledging that the evidence is not yet in, they speculate that Muslim societies will undergo the same massive weakening of traditional beliefs that has de-Christianized Europe and caused Buddhism to fade in Asia. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. — P. Clawson, Washington Institute for Near East Policy  
 
Davis, Richard.  Justices and journalists: the U.S. Supreme Court and the media.  Cambridge, 2011.  241p index; ISBN 9780521879255, $90.00; ISBN 9780521704663 pbk, $28.99.
49-1743  K487   2010-31683 CIP
 
Davis (Brigham Young Univ.) provides his readers with a fascinating discussion of the history of “going public” by members of this nation’s highest judicial body. Davis’s volume transports the reader back to the early years of the Court, and includes a discussion of the activities of members of the Roberts Court. Davis isolates a number of general reasons, institutional and individual, why members of the Court have tried to shape press coverage and public opinion. His book is also filled with examples of the various means that justices have used to shape perceptions of themselves and the institution; these include opinions, interviews, and speeches. While Davis’s work is historically broad in its scope, a content analysis of stories from the New York Times and NBC Nightly News provides particular insight into the years from 1968 to 2007. This book will appeal to individuals interested in the Court, and students of the media will also find this book most interesting. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, undergraduate students, graduate students, and research faculty. — P. Watkins, Saint Joseph’s College  
 
Earl, Jennifer.  Digitally enabled social change: activism in the Internet age, by Jennifer Earl and Katrina Kimport.  MIT, 2011.  258p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780262015103, $32.00.
49-1776  HM851  2010-21113 CIP
 
In this book about how the global reach and blazing speed of the Internet affects the essential character and/or dynamics of online political protest, sociologists Earl (Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) and Kimport (Univ. of California, San Francisco) examine key characteristics of Web activism and investigate their impact on organizing and participating in e-movements. The authors examine the emergence of “Internet activism” and analyze how e-activism is changing the nature of contentious politics with e-movements and e-mobilization. They discuss how activists use the Web for organizing social movements. Based on thorough research, the book presents exactly how online political activity is different from more traditional forms of activism and discusses e-tactics and the two key affordances relevant to activism: sharply reduced costs for organizing and the decreased need for activists to be physically together in order to act together. In the last chapter, the authors discuss what the future holds; e.g., social networking sites will most likely encourage new uses and dynamics of online protest. A must read for those who wish to know how Web-based mobilizations, movements, and tactics have irrevocably redefined activism, as well as anyone interested in grassroots organizing and social change. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.
— M. Y. Rynn, emerita, University of Scranton
 
Ethnographic Video Online.  Alexander Street. Annual academic subscription (unlimited users): $1,220 – $2,495; one-time purchase: $12,500 – $50,000 with annual access fee.  Internet Resource.
49-1229

http://alexanderstreet.com/ 
[Visited Aug’11] Since the advent of still and moving pictures, the ethnographic record has been captured visually. Contemporary visual anthropologists continue to record and interpret aspects of cultures, subcultures, and cultural elements. Ethnographic Video Online (EVO) currently brings together nearly 690 such films that total 470-plus hours of streaming video. Films span nine decades–from the 1922 classic Nanook of the North to newly released films–and represent hundreds of cultures worldwide. The collection is expected to grow to over 1,000 films; publishers include the highly respected Documentary Educational Resources, the BBC, and Ethnoscope. Site navigation and indexing are excellent. Users may browse by Cultural Group, Ethnographer, Geographic Location, Date, Content Type (documentary, field recording, etc.), People, and broad subject groupings. The EVO home page contains a simple search box with a link to an elegant advanced search with pop-up limiters for series, publisher, ethnographer, cultural group, and more; a drop-down language menu; and boxes to select content type.

Full-text transcripts, synchronized to video, accompany each film. The results screen is split with video on the left and the transcript on the right. Viewers may skim transcripts, locate footage of interest, click, and move to this point. Transcripts are not without errors, perhaps due to the sound recognition software used. Films are also accompanied by study guides, release notes, thumbnails, and embeddable “permalinks.” Outstanding interactive capabilities allow viewers to create, annotate, and share film clips and personalized playlists. Streaming video loads quickly at two rates; standard video is streamed at 400 kilobits per second, and large screen at 800 kilobits per second. Well-organized, useful help files, including MARC records and an Excel listing of title, publisher, date, duration, language, durable URL, abstract, and more, round out this product. Though expensive, this high-quality, one-of-a-kind resource is invaluable for most programs in the social sciences and specifically for film studies and anthropology. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general audience. — M. Cedar Face, Southern Oregon University

Fallingwater, ed. by Lynda Waggoner; essays by Rick Drake et al.; photographed by Christopher Little.  Rizzoli, 2011.  328p index; ISBN 9780847835997, $60.00.
49-1273  NA737   MARC
 
To commemorate the 75th year of Fallingwater House, Waggoner, the director of this house by Frank Lloyd Wright, has masterminded this impressive tribute. Arrayed in splendid photographs by Little, Fallingwater is presented as a series of journeys and meditations by seven contributors. These commence with Waggoner’s own “Director’s Tour,” which takes the form of descriptive captions that accompany 150 images (often double-page-width) by Little. But this is more than a picture book. David De Long follows with tantalizing insights into Edgar and Liliane Kaufmanns’ personal lives from some 2,000 letters yet to be fully catalogued. Neil Levine considers Fallingwater phenomenologically with special concern for the senses of sound and time in the experience of the house. Justin Gunther examines Fallingwater’s interiors with the eye of a decorative arts specialist. John Reynolds evokes Heidegger, opposes Fallingwater to houses by Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, and sees Fallingwater as an early model of sustainable design. Robert Silman provides a thrilling account of saving Fallingwater from almost certain disaster, and Rick Darke pays eloquent homage to the surrounding forest landscape. Concluding are essays commissioned from each of the Kaufmanns by the Museum of Modern Art in 1940. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. — J. Quinan, University at Buffalo, SUNY 
 
Foley, Elizabeth Price.  The law of life and death.  Harvard, 2011.  304p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780674051041, $29.95.
49-1744  KF3827  2010-47701 CIP
 
“Are you alive?” Thus begins this intriguing book that examines the legal relationship between life and death. Through vivid examples ranging from embryo research to organ transplantation to assisted suicide, Foley (Florida International Univ. College of Law) demonstrates the complications that belie her seemingly simple opening question. She argues convincingly that even the attempts to define life and death as antonyms cannot dispel the gray areas of public policy such as the legal status of partial birth abortions, the treatment of patients in persistent vegetative states, or whether death should be defined as irreversible cessation of cardiopulmonary or brain function. Chapters illuminate disparate (even desperate) attempts by state statutes, common law, and constitutional law to govern life and death practices amid the complicating factors of ethics, science, medicine, economics, and cultural diversity. But rather than argue for clarity and uniformity, Foley maintains that such ambiguity and diversity may be necessary. Even more provocative is her final assessment that concern for a right to life is being overshadowed by a right to die–and indeed, an obligation to die. Her engaging, accessible writing style highly recommends the book for classroom use and library collections. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. — S. Behuniak, Le Moyne College  
   
Ghaemi, Nassir.  A first-rate madness: uncovering the links between leadership and mental illness.  Penguin Press, 2011.  340p bibl index; ISBN 9781594202957, $27.95.
49-1764  RC537  2011-10232 CIP
 
In a time of crisis, who should run the show? Surprisingly, Ghaemi (Tufts Univ. School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and a practicing physician) argues the best choice might be someone with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or some degree of either of these mental illnesses. A psychiatrist who has specialized in the study and treatment of mood disorders, Ghaemi makes a fairly strong case for his thesis, which is that features of mood disorders can be advantageous to leaders during critical situations. He does this by comparing the lives of present and past leaders–in politics and industry, with or without some form of mood disorder. However, he includes more examples of those on the mental-illness spectrum than those not on it, which weakens his argument. In general, he tends to use stigmatizing language, which reduces the humanity of those who live with a mental disorder. Still, one can see his desire to start a philosophical dialogue on the subject. An interesting, thought-provoking read that challenges societal ideas about mental illness in life and in leadership. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.
— A. L. Bizub, Elmira College  
 
Hay, Deltina.  The social media survival guide: strategies, tactics, and tools for succeeding in the social Web.  2nd ed.  Quill Driver Books, 2011.  454p index afp CD-ROM ISBN 1884995705 pbk, $24.95; ISBN 9781884995705 pbk, $24.95.
49-1562  TK5105  2010-44071 CIP
 
Whether one embraces it or not, social media is a driving force in society today. Recent world events showcase the power of the medium as a tool to build support and influence global perspective, as well as educate and inform. Hay, a Web developer, educator, and business owner with extensive experience with social media, outlines a plan to strategically develop and grow a strong, successful presence on the social Web. This substantial revision of A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization (2009) includes expanded discussions on document sharing and cloud computing as well as new reflections on Web 3.0 and optimizing social media initiatives for the mobile Web. The book includes a detailed examination of a plethora of social media tools, newsrooms, and communities, and provides guidance on blogging, pod/Webcasting, and setting up a Web page using WordPress. In addition, Hay offers qualitative and quantitative suggestions for measuring the success of a social media initiative based on initial objectives. The companion CD-ROM provides a linkable list of online resources and templates for forms and spreadsheets seen throughout the book. This well-organized work will be useful to anyone interested in harnessing the power of the social Web. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. — R. J. Erlandson, University of Nebraska Omaha 
 
Martínez, Alberto A.  Science secrets: the truth about Darwin’s finches, Einstein’s wife, and other myths.  Pittsburgh, 2011.  324p index afp ISBN 0-8229-4407-3, $24.95; ISBN 9780822944072, $24.95.
49-1425  Q173   2011-3484 CIP
 
“Layers of conjecture have caked stories about dead scientists like plaster, paint, and acrylic gloss,” says Martínez (Univ. of Texas, Austin; Kinematics, CH, Dec’09, 47-2063; Negative Math, CH, May’06, 43-5332) in his introduction. In this work, he carefully chips away at some venerable myths of science history to find the underlying facts. The fictitious nature of some of these stories is not surprising. Newton’s apple just sounds like a myth. And would someone as intelligent as Benjamin Franklin really risk a crispy death by flying a kite in a thunderstorm? Other myths have managed to survive in relative respectability. Darwin’s finches still appear in textbooks, despite their negligible role in the formation of his theories. But Martínez is not solely concerned with myth busting–he also wants his readers to understand the truths, both human and scientific, behind these myths. He does not shy away from difficult concepts, explaining such phenomena as Coulomb’s experiments with electrostatic force in plain, accessible language. This book combines the best qualities of popular science writing with the thorough documentation that one would expect from a professional historian. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic, general, and professional libraries.
— R. Gilmour, Ithaca College 
 
Nixon, Rob.  Slow violence and the environmentalism of the poor.  Harvard, 2011.  353p index afp ISBN 0-674-04930-6, $45.00; ISBN 9780674049307, $45.00.
49-1302  PR9080  2010-49797 CIP
 
Scholarly, activist, journalistic, environmental, and postcolonial goals converge in this well-written appeal to the academy to unite in the pursuit of global environmental justice. Looking at literature about the environment of the poor, Nixon (English, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison) provides scholarly insights on heterogeneous texts that reveal and protest the oppression and subjugation of life and the environment under colonial culture and politics: Wangari Maathai’s Unbowed (2006), a memoir of her life, politics, and environmental activism with the Green Belt Movement in Kenya; Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Nigerian detention diary A Month and a Day (1995); Abdelrahman Munif’s novel Cities of Salt (Eng. tr., 1987), which is set in 1930s Persia. Nixon’s urgency heightens when he looks at glaring “lethal repercussions” of slow violence and their silent “sprawl across space and time.” Merging ecocriticism, environmentalism, and postcolonialism, Nixon intends this book to offset continuing neoliberal marginalization and strengthen activist bonds between disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. This passionate presentation of protest literature exposes the ubiquity of colonial ecologies present and past and joins the new wave of ecocritical studies that eschew some of the American origins of the genre (cf. Postcolonial Ecologies: Literatures of the Environment, ed. by Elizabeth DeLoughrey and George Handley, CH, Oct’11, 49-0691). Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.
— L. L. Johnson, Lewis & Clark College 

The Oxford handbook of world philosophy, ed. by Jay L. Garfield and William Edelglass.  Oxford, 2011.  633p index afp; ISBN 9780195328998, $150.00.
49-1390  BD21   2010-9164 CIP
 
In the spirit of today’s multicultural world, this volume’s overall aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of non-European philosophical traditions. Filling the role of a carefully crafted handbook of basic summaries by authoritative experts, it is intended not only for students but also for scholars who, though advanced in their own areas of specialization, are seeking a straightforward source to broaden their philosophical insights. Here readers may explore global sources–Chinese, Buddhist, non-Buddhist Indian, Japanese, Korean, Islamic, and African intellectual traditions–along with other recent trends in global philosophy. The object is to facilitate scholarship, reading, thinking, and connecting, not only with the past history of philosophy but also with the current state of philosophical affairs. This is a much-needed, progressive source promoting a more holistic and inclusive cross-cultural dialogue. It should lead what, in the past, have been seen as disparate philosophical traditions to engage in what could truly become world philosophy, or “doing philosophy” on a global scale. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers. — J. M. Boyle, emerita, Dowling College  
 
Soliman, Samer.  The autumn of dictatorship: fiscal crisis and political change in Egypt under Mubarak, tr. by Peter Daniel.  Stanford, 2011.  206p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780804760003, $80.00; ISBN 9780804778466 pbk, $22.95.
49-1714  HJ1456  2011-3140 CIP
 
This English version of a book previously published in French and Arabic is an incisive work in political economy. Already in press when the revolt against the Mubarak regime erupted in 2011 (a brief epilogue was added), it provides remarkable insight into what has happened. Distinguishing between Egypt’s regime and its state, Soliman (American Univ., Cairo) points to fundamental inadequacies in the latter that might have led a less cautious writer to explicitly forecast the earthquake. Soliman demonstrates the quasi-rentier nature of the Egyptian state, that is, its heavy reliance on external sources of revenue, including oil, aid, remittances, and Suez Canal tolls. The sources have become increasingly inadequate, leaving the state running on half its former revenues and the regime with reduced capacity to reward its supporters as well as to maintain public services. While no adequate and enforceable system of taxation emerged, the regime resorted to such methods as printing more money–a disguised tax, as it produced inflation. This is an important contribution to understanding not just contemporary Egypt but also numerous important broader topics (e.g., weak states and authoritarianism) in the field of comparative politics. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections. — G. E. Perry, emeritus, Indiana State University  
 
Tully, John.  The devil’s milk: a social history of rubber.  Monthly Review, 2011.  480p bibl index; ISBN 9781583672327, $87.00; ISBN 9781583672310 pbk, $24.95.
49-1617  HD9161  2010-42687 CIP
 
Tully (politics and history, Victoria Univ., Australia) narrates the unhappy story of rubber’s incorporation into the industrializing world, ranging across the centuries of sacrifices of life and spirit in extracting and processing “the devil’s milk.” Predictably, his work exposes an all-too-human record of avarice, cruelty, and suffering against a background of environmental degradation. Focusing on the economically motivated enslavement of indigenous peoples in Asia, Africa, and the Americas who gathered the raw material and on the brutal conditions of the industrial workers who processed it, Tully tells how tycoons, taskmasters, and consumers joined in creating a global demand for rubber products: insulation, belts, and hoses; devices for intimate human relationships; and, ubiquitously, tires for transportation. Imperialistic warring economies of necessity struggled to control rubber or create suitable alternatives. Particularly sharp-edged is the author’s description of the horrendous slave-labor camps that supplied synthetic rubber for the Nazi military juggernaut. Less the product of Tully’s own archival research than of his wide-ranging accumulation of detailed secondary accounts from anthropologists, economists, and historians (although the text is sprinkled with gems drawn from primary sources), this informative, lively synthesis demonstrates the cruel impact of this indispensible commodity within the globalized economy. Strongly recommended for general readers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — D. R. Skopp, emeritus, Plattsburgh SUNY  
 
Victor, David G.  Global warming gridlock: creating more effective strategies for protecting the planet.  Cambridge, 2011.  358p bibl index; ISBN 9780521865012, $40.00.
49-1484  TD885  2010-45748 CIP
 
Victor’s assessment of global warming justifies Nobel Prize-winning economist Thomas Schelling’s endorsement of the book as the best he has seen on the topic in 30 years. Fifteen pages of acknowledgments describe the author’s extensive associations with pioneering experts and institutions involved in climate science. An outstanding feature is the author’s intense focus on realism in identifying weaknesses in existing international strategies for countering global climate change. Victor (international relations and Pacific studies, Univ. of California, San Diego) offers creative alternatives that could work, rather than just sound good. For example, he argues that grand international agreements with national targets for reducing carbon emissions have too few carrots and not enough sticks to be effective. Instead of top-down approaches, he recommends coordinated, bottom-up groups or clubs with incentivized, enforceable commitments similar to GATT/WTO trade agreements. He doubts that optimistic targets for global greenhouse gas reduction will be met, and urges initiation of quantitative assessments of the effectiveness of geoengineering to offset warming. Unusual among political scientists, Victor avoids technical jargon and focuses on application rather than theory. The text is uninterrupted by references, but is supported by 40 pages of page-indexed notes and 20 pages of carefully selected references. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. — F. T. Manheim, George Mason University  
 
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