5 comments about Structural Wood Design: A Practice-Oriented Approach.

1. In 2007, I used this text for a timber design class. As an engineering student with a background in residential construction, I found the text to be very practical in its presentation of the design process for wood-framed structures. Following the examples and working through the problems at the end of each chapter, I became comfortable finding and using relevant codes, especially NDS codes. The progression of the text to the building design case study helped me to apply the design examples for individual members to a complete structure, more relevant to construction or engineering practice.
   
   Since I remain interested in carpentry and residential construction, this text will continue to be a valuable reference for me. I would not hesitate to use it as a guide for the design of simple wood-framed structures not requiring a professional designer.



2. I wish more text book authors would write their text in a way befitting that for students and not cryptic nor elusive. Over four years of school, and I have never until now used a text that encourages my enthusiasm and stimulated my learning interest. I can guarantee that this is not one of those text that will be used for my PC monitor height adjuster.... It is "plainly absurd" to have read and use this text and "discern" otherwise...



3. This book is exceptionally informative and easy to navigate. This text has been very useful in teaching/training our office engineering staff. Highly recommend.



4. I just recently took a Timber Design class and this book really helped me grasp the overall concept of Timber Design. With having no experience with timber design, the book's sequence is excellent with helping the reader develop and understand the reasoning behind this type of structural design.
   
   The examples in this book are great. They are not standard textbook examples, which lack real design concepts. This book goes above and beyond with applying the examples to real world scenarios. I have just graduated and found myself going back to this book to reference examples and also sharing it with my fellow co-workers.
   
   I highly encourage people at all levels in their engineering career to buy this book to use, it is highly helpful.
   
   Jennie Wilson
   Structural Engineer



5. I read and used this text for a Timber Design course last year and must say that it is excellent. The authors do a superb job of providing very detailed explanations and many worked examples throughout for all of the components and processes involved with building construction. There are many references to the IBC and ASCE as applicable with actual values taken from them, which are used in the problems. Finally, the end of the text has a case study to "put all of the pieces together" and serves as the perfect "go - by" for building construction. I would highly recommend this text to anyone working in this field or interested in doing so.
   
   Mark Bordelon, PE

1 comments about Pioneers of American Landscape Design (Professional Architecture).

1. Birnbaum and Karson have produced a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the specific individual contributions towards American landscape architecture. The encyclopedic entries are well written AND include additional references. WELL DONE.

No comments about Window Systems for High-Performance Buildings.

5 comments about Charter of The New Urbanism.

1. This book presents urban design ideas which are useful, sustainable, and proven by time. Many of the cities that are so loved, for example, Paris, Budapest, Prague, Rome, etc., are built on principles of design that are similar to those that are presented in this book. While this form of urbansim may now seem new in America, it is found in America's past, throughout Europe, and other areas of the world. I really enjoyed reading this book.



2. The Charter of the New Urbanism not only sets forth a manifesto of what future generations of town planners and residential developers may deem the most significant architectural movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, but it does so with clarity, precision, and economy.

   This volume is an essential text in an essential field, and should be considered so by municipal planners, developers, builders, architects, and citizens who care about the quality of life in their cities, towns, suburbs, and hamlets.

   In addition to rendering their own analyses in compelling and thoughtful prose, McCormick and Leccese have displayed the deftness of master cat herders by wrangling a passel of leading New Urbanists -- by no means the most egregiously agreeable of architectural types -- into presenting their thoughts in a thorough-going and satisfying manner.

   The reader who delves into this book and rides it to its conclusion will come away understanding a great deal about how we live today, and how we could -- and perhaps should -- be living.




3. This is a very dry and disjointed work. If you are interested in the topic, have a blast and read Suburban Nation and The Geography of Nowhere. Then if you want more, buy Christopher Alexander's works--and savor them.



4. "An important work that defines the tenets of New Urbanism, this book serves as the group's manifesto. The charter illustrates the 27 principles of New Urbanism, from the scale of regions to neighborhoods and buildings, and pairs each with an essay by a different author. Now followers of the movement can use the charter to define their work and detractors can refer to it when presenting their side of the debate. ... Graphically pleasing, the book reads well ... When defining the problems of today's development patterns, the text is clear and seductive. ... The test of the Charter of New Urbanism will be its timeless quality. ..."



5. The Charter of the New Urbanism is an absolutely fantastic book. It should be required reading for all planners, architects, public officials, engineers, and citizen activists. It brings together in one book essays from some of today's brightest minds. Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Peter Calthorpe, Walter Kulash, John Norquist and others describe the Congress for the New Urbanism's (CNU) positions on many important issues, such and traffic congestion, regional planning, environmental issues, affordable housing, civic art, and of course, curbing urban sprawl. New Urbanism is a highly organized and diverse branch of the "Smart Growth" family tree. They have brought a broad range of people together in forming this book, which shows that the problems of sprawl, environmental degregation, inner city decay, and increasing separation by race and income are "one interrelated community-building challenge."

2 comments about Building Your Dream House.

1. I thought this book was absolutely fantastic with the loads of information it provided. It is also LOADED with COLOR pictures. What I liked about it is that it taught me how to go about figuring out a layout for my new home and provided me with measurements for everything (i.e. how much space you need to provide in certain areas, etc.). I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is planning on building their own home.



2. This book presents a lot of information that is helpful during the early planning/design stages. Its easy to read layout and good use of pictures/diagrams brings out points that were either missing or hidden in some other books I have used.
   I ended up using this book extensively, both for ideas and as a reference.

   Note that the title of the book is something of a misnomer, less than 1/3 the book
   is on 'building'. However the other 2/3 more than compensates for this.

No comments about Curtain Walls: Recent Developments by Cesar Pelli & Associates.

4 comments about Harnessing AutoCAD Land Development Desktop Release 2.

1. I have 14 years of part time 3rd party ACAD apps. It gets the out of the box program configured for use, teaches you basics. The LDD help is not very good for this (i.e I spent 5 hours going down dead ends, looking for menus not loaded etc). The book guides you through set up and creating lines, lots, surfaces, alignments and grading, tied into surveying. It is not a civil engineering text book, hence be prepared to spend a lot of time working on engineering problems to do small things in the program (yes, your bridge may end up 4 inches above the road alignemnt if you are not on your toes). I really wish LDD had engineering tools built in like terra model. Go get an ACAD class if you have the $1500(I do not work for them either), at least buy the coursware for $60 on amazon.



2. I did not care for the book. I did not feel it was written very well. It does not "read" well and is difficult to understand and follow the examples. I suppose, it is better than nothing and I keep it around as a reference only. Also, hardly and time is spent on the survey module only 1 example is given on runnning traverses.



3. I have more than five years using third party Acad applications for land development and I found this material systematic, well organized and easy to follow. The examples provided ( CD included) are sequential to the lectures which makes it an excellent didactic tool. On the other hand, the text does not cover the possible, or most common, types of reports that can be generated with the program in its differents applications.

   If you are looking for a self-training course in LDD, the price for this book Vs. what you get out of it is worth every penny.




4. The overall organization is quite good..., however, if you have been using LDD for a while and have accessed the online help to learn the program, you may find much similarity in syntax. If you are new to using LDD, then it is worth the price of the book. Keep in mind though, if you need to pick up the overall working mechanism of this LDD software and civil design in general in a rather short period of time, you best bet may be going to an authorized learning center. (No, I don't work for anyone of them.)

2 comments about Introducing and Implementing Revit Architecture 2008.

1. I used this book to do some training at my office. I had hoped it would be a good book and it seemed like it had good potential but in the end I have to give it a poor rating.
   
   The biggest complaint was that it was missing files for Chapters 3 and 5 that were needed to complete the exercise. We tried going to the publisher web site to see if the files were there as missing files are often placed there but found the publisher site to be difficult to navigate or find information. It took several attempts to even find the book on the site. We were unable to find any information about the missing files.
   
   Additional complaints would be that after the first introductory chapter, much of the basics and most used features Revit were only loosely addressed. I would have preferred that there would have been more practice given inserting walls, doors, windows, etc. so that the user could get more practice with those basic functions. Objects such as stairs weren't covered until the very last chapter which I would argue that stairs should have been introduced sooner in the book.
   
   I did like the effort to teach Worksets and other work sharing techniques however this was thrown out early in the book when I feel my users didn't yet have a good grasp of the basics.



2. Worked out great. Service and shipping was excellent. The only obstacle was that were only able to ship it to the billing address, not the mailing address. Aside from that, it was great.

2 comments about Programming ASP.NET for ArcGIS Server.

1. The book is okay. It's a good intro with some good ASP examples for newbies. The sad part is that much of it relates to ArcGIS Server 9.1 and 9.2 is drastically different. It needs to be updated by the authors, to truly be helpful.



2. If you already have *any* experience in programming asp.net then you can disregard over half of this book. Three out of nine chapters deal only with asp.net code that you can pick up from any book and many websites.
   
   Chapter 2: ASP.Net
   Chapter 3: Programming in Visual Basic .NET
   Chapter 5: Web Forms, Web Controls, and Web Templates
   
   As for the ArcGIS Server parts of this book, the only topics they cover are using basic templates that ESRI provides in its Developer's help. One of their examples comes straight from ESRI documentation.
   
   You can teach yourself a ton more just by exploring the forums on ESRI's website, the developer help, and playing with the sample web apps that come with the software.
   
   Don't waste your money on this book. In fact, if you are an EDN subscriber (ESRI Developer's Network) then you will get an electronic copy of a book that is over 700 pages long that will cover everything in this book and tons more.

1 comments about Building Type Basics for Recreational Facilities (Building Type Basics).

1. "Building Type Basics for Recreational Facilities" is an essential guide for anyone contemplating the design and construction of recreation facilities, be they owner, developer or architect. Although, as stated in Stephen Kliment's excellent preface, it is "not a coffee table book", it does have a section containing 26 color plates of some of the more interesting projects.
   
   
   
   It is a utilitarian book --- an architect's contemporary "Graphic Standards" for recreation facilities. It makes easier the programming and planning of every conceivable type of recreation project, plus some this reviewer had never heard of! The majority of projects are complete with sketches, floor plans and photographs. There are numerous charts and design standards. Every area of concern is covered from basic programming through design, engineering systems, interiors, operation and maintenance to costing/financing and sustainability issues.
   
   
   
   "Building Type Basics for Recreational Facilities" is a well designed book, with text that spells out clearly and simply guidelines for the design of a myriad of recreational project types ---a vital tool for the experienced and as well first time owner, developer and architect.