5 comments about Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists.

1. Morgan,in a very interesting manner succeeds in telling the untold story about Muslims cultural and intellectual history and there numerous contributions in math,numbers,algebra,medicine,public health,aviation,designs, leadership. These contributions helped seed the European Renaissance and enabled many aspects of modern Western and global civilization.
   I particularly liked the manner in which the author connects the present with the past, the book is well referenced both from religious and history texts. I highly recommend this book for all interested in gaining better understanding regarding Islam and Muslims.



2. If you want to read a book that gives you a glimpse of the achievements of the Muslim world at the peak of the Islamic civilization, than this is the book to read.
   
   It's a book about Muslim intellectuals, scientists, inventors, leaders and the significant achievements they made in the areas of astronomy, mathematics and medicine. The book also describes cities that were the centers of learning and intellectual thought in the world at the time such as Baghdad (Yes, the same Baghdad), Cordoba and Cairo.
   
   My favorite account in the book is that of ibn Firnas, the inventor, who in the year 875 builds a glider and flew for 10 minutes, but did not consider the mechanics of landing.
   
   It is a well written book and easy to read.



3. This book is an exploration into the fascinating period in history when the Islamic World was a wellspring of intellectual flourishing. The second half of the 8th century to the 12th century in the Near East is a keystone of the intellectual history of human civilization, as the many great thinkers of this time period are responsible for translating, preserving and adding to the wealth of knowledge accumulated during the heyday of Classical Greece and Classical Rome. During this time period, there were countless advancements in medicine, astronomy, mathematics, optics, engineering and surgery while the Western world intellectually decayed during the Dark Ages. Actually, because these great thinkers kept the Aristotelian tradition of recognizing the power of the reasoning human mind and understanding that we all live in a knowable universe, it was possible for the Western world to eventually rediscover these values (by gaining access to the Islamic works) and to ignite the Renaissance.
   
   Unlike many other books that touch upon this subject, this book recognizes the *individuals* who made specific intellectual achievements. Unfortunately, most other books typically credit much of the accomplishments to the Muslims in general. Needless to say, this is as uninformative and misleading as stating that 19th and 20th century Americans invented the light bulb, the telephone or the transistor.
   
   In this book, amongst many other things, you will learn about:
   
   * al-Haytham and his seminal work on optics
   * Omar Khayyam, and his written eloquent and insightful attacks on religious mysticism that were ahead of his time
   * Ibn Firnas and his designing and testing of a flying contraption
   * Ibn Sina's (Avicenna) impressive list of accomplishments in medicine, including his extensive study of human anatomy, of various infectious diseases, of bone fractures, of cancers, his introduction of over 700 drugs and a rudimentary understanding of a scientific approach to clinical trials.
   * Al-Zahrawi's advancements in suture, antiseptics, and obstetrics
   * And many more, including the great mathematician al-Khwarzimi, the chemist Jabir ibn Haiyan, the physician Maimonides, the staunch Aristotelian Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and the prolific translator of the classical works Al-Kindi.
   
   Unfortunately, this book has a number of salient flaws. First of all, the style of presentation is very unpleasing for those who enjoy reading history to accumulate facts. Each chapter begins with several pages of a contemporary fictional account that intends to serve as a lead in, but, in my opinion, is uninteresting and detracts from the book. More importantly, the author provides no citations. This blurs the divide between fact and speculation, which is in particular very bad here, since the author warns the reader that he dressed up the factual content with "imaginary recreations."
   
   Second of all, the author intentionally does not attempt to answer the most important questions: "What caused the deluge of intellectual achievement in the Muslim world of the Middle Ages?" and "What brought this brilliant era to a halt?". In fact, the author indicated that he did not wish to "settle any academic debates" but instead sought to incorporate elements from each of many competing and contradictory viewpoints. Unfortunately, this leaves the reader with a sense of incompleteness and suggests that while the author sought to present the truth when it came to individuals and their accomplishments, he was not interested in presenting the truth behind the causal, intellectual forces that drove history.
   
   This book gets four stars because an accessible book on the Golden Age of the Near East is such a rare commodity. I think a much better book (one that lacks the meek, non-judgmental multiculturalist tone) can be written. If other such books existed, then I surely would have rated this book much lower. But until then, this is all that is available.



4. I had to read this for my class in College and didn't think it would be good but it does a great job talking about the history as well as comparing it to recent times. Certainly made the class much more enjoyable having to reference a good book such as this time.



5. I was extremely disappointed in this book because of it's lack of sophistication. The author seemed to feel the need to write in a fictitious style and in the present tense. This book is intended for people with very little or no background in history or Islamic civilization. It is not at all academic and it is VERY easy to read.

2 comments about Digital Art Masters, Volume 3: Volume 3 (3d Total.Com) (3d Total.Com).

1. I bought volumes 2 and 3 of these, and found both excellent, I love studying the images to see how the people that can do it, well do it.
   
   The descriptions of thier work flow are short but i work alone doing renderings and i found it good to get the tips no matter how short and sweet



2. WOW! I just purchased Digital Art Masters Volume 2 & 3 from Amazon, let me start by saying these books are incredible, the amount of talent, the quality of the images and the overall look and print of the book make it a fantastic MUST HAVE for any aspiring artist or anyone involved in the creation of digital images.
   
   Bare in mind though, that these books will not go deep into technical explanation of any particular software but rather will detail each of the 60 selected artist's techniques and their methods for sketching, inventing and creating these extaordinary elements and taking them out of their heads and putting them on the screen.
   
   From characters to vehicles, backgrounds to robots, the masterpieces found in this book will inspire anyone who reaches its pages with an incentive for creation and a will to let your imagination take you places you thought you couldn't draw but after seeing what these people all around the world are doing, you just can't wait to give it a go.
   
   Great purchase!

5 comments about The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris.

1. I Bought this book in January... (with another 2 books)
   
   AND SINCE THIS DAY AMAZON SAY TO ME THAT HAD SENT MY PACK 5 TIMES,
   
   BUT NEVER ARRIVED...
   
   So, a book, and a website NEVER stressed me so MUCH....



2. One of the best historical fashion books on the market. Although YSL & Lagerfield both deny portions of the dispute, the storytelling is compelling, provocative and provides sound perspective on conservative France, the 1970's revolution and the gay movement.



3. This account of the period could seem overly complex and, no doubt, somewhat dry--lost to time. If you had been there, it almost scores a bull's eye--albeit without the energy/urgency of the era (which might be totally impossible). Kudos to Alicia Drake for coming so close!



4. I was glued to this book and found it absolutely fascinating and informative.
   
   I enjoyed reliving those heady days of fashion, parties, sex, drugs and Disco. It was an eye-opener and I wish I was there then.
   
   Highly recommended if you're into all that wonderful hedonism of the 70's. Loved it!



5. Alicia Drakes' book "The Beautful Fall" shows the rise of the designer as celebrity star rather than the clothes which he designs. It shows that there could only be one designer on top, for either one of them to succeed in their own mind. It shows a human side - both positive and negative in their personalities and actions throughout the 1970's. Both were ego-maniacs but brilliant in their opposite directions. I knew all about Lagerfeld's dismissal of people but not the scale of it and the book tries to explain it. Yves was not any better with his need for people. But, Lagerfeld is curently sueing the author for what she wrote in her book, which i think will make the book sell better.

3 comments about The Artist's Guide to Human Anatomy.

1. paperback book, some useful information on anatomy. Not as concise as I thought it would be.



2. I'd have to say this book isn't another "How To" in terms of the basics of learning anatomy. This book is best described as a "Coursework Guide to Anatomy" the misleading title may make you think this is yet another basic how to draw that you see in other books. What this book does is something I really haven't see much in other books and puts it together in a really good outline that if you were a student studying the human form in a year, these are the projects you do to learn the figure through and through.
   
   The first section shows first semester students studying proportion. It is done in a combination of cut outs and paint strokes. Sketches were done to get the student familiar with the proportion rather than anatomic details.
   
   The focus turns to contrapposto, the physics of how the body shifts the pelvis and weight to regain its center of gravity while standing.
   
   The book then shifts on focusing on individual parts of the anatomy before working the body as a whole.
   
   Favorite parts of this book has to do with making various bone structures into geometric shapes and planes. It gives a better understanding on how to construct the skull and the planes of the face, and the shoulder and pelvis.
   
   This book is a MUST have with any anatomy book that is usually recommended. The various course guides really are inspirational and ingenious as to how to learn the figure.
   
   I really love the print quality of the book as well. Nice glossy paper and great demonstrations from other students in how to learn the figure.
   
   The drawback is that the author seems to have picked up the thesaurus a bit much and could have offered more clear writing for the beginner since the book says this is good for beginners too.
   
   This book will probably become one of my "Tier 3" books I'd say one has to get to learn figure drawing. 1. Constructive Anatomy 2. (A good artistic guide to Anatomy and Figure drawing) 3. This book.
   
   This was definitely worth the purchase!



3. I bought this book for the study of the different styles of human anatomy. This book is a great complement to Constructive Anatomy or Artistic Anatomy. Excellent!

5 comments about Dictee.

1. I read this book for my Asian American lit class and found it excruciating painful to read. It's certainly inventive, but that's the only positive thing I can say about it. It's difficult to read, there are no characters to love. The French side by side is misleading since the translations are not exact. I would not call this a book, but rather a piece of contemporary art: It has a great concept but isn't actually very nice to read.



2. Dictee is a seminal work that has strongly influenced those poets lucky enough to have read it in the decades since it first appeared. It has had an underground reputation for decades, and now is beginning to be known to the mainstream. Yes, Dictee is rooted in the specifics of her family's immigrant experience, in the specifics of Korea and of America, in the specifics of gender, but it explodes across time, space and cultures, it transcends form, and ultimately it transforms the reader's consciousness of what can be done with writing and how you can perceive your life. I am tempted to say "if Cha had lived longer she would have been one of our major writers" but in fact she *is* one of the major writers of the second half of the 20th century, on the strength of this one work alone. I am delighted that Dictee is soon to appear in an addition with more of Cha's work.



3. This book is certainly written in a surprising format, and some of the passages are interesting. However, in attempting to follow Cha's thought from one part to the next, the thought itself disappears, leaving only a form.
   
   This book is clearly written for a very narrow range of readers: recent female Korean emigres to America who also know French, as well as extremely knowledgeable scholars. Those who do identify in some way with Cha's biography do find a way into the text. The two articles I read as part of a study of this book were written by Korean American women, who did find something meaningful in Dictee.
   
   I, however, was lost and confused most of the time by the often minimalist use of words, their repeating, and the sudden jumps in theme and style.
   
   Buy this book only if you fit into the above mentioned category, or if you have much time and desire to struggle through a confusing work for a questionable reward.



4. This book is confusing, frustrating, consuming and utterly breathtaking. It is a shattered mirror w/ pieces of riddles, poetry, cold photos of mothers and unsung heroines & nonsense; a true reflection of a woman. And like a woman, it takes work to truly understand its essence. Discovering what is hidden within Cha's deliberate chaos is like discovering the most sacred thoughts a woman possess. What makes this book unique is not so much the unconventional style but its dominating force to be absolutely nonconforming, such as the wildness that goes on in a woman's mind. It's not meant to be dissected and place into some kind of scientific formula of understanding. It's meant to be subjective, delicate and complex. Digest its intricacy and savor each page with delight. -Scribbling Ibis, 3/17/05



5. This has to be one of the most unusual books I have read. The layout of the whole book is a peice of art by itself. I bought it using a coupon from UnderTag.com, so it was almost free for me.

3 comments about Plants and Their Application to Ornament: A Nineteenth-Century Design Primer.

1. This is absolutely beautiful. The illustrations are on a creamy base paper, and it's just like looking through a volume of original art nouveaux designs painted in gouache.
   
   It's a fabulous resource for designers and design students of all kinds, as it explores how to stretch out a theme (in this case each variety of plant) into a range of different pattern and motif ideas and applications. There are lots of motifs and inspirations for new work to be found within!
   
   Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book....love it.



2. The use of natural elements in art and design probably reached it's zenith during the Arts and Crafts movement. This reproduction of an original 1897 guide to the use of plants in ornamental design is a wonderful example of that time! Although not nearly as extensive as Owen Jones' famous ornamental tome. This release focuses on just the natural aspects of design in reference to plants. However, like Jones' book, this focuses lightly on text and is heavy on letting the graphics speak for themselves. (as they should!)
   Beautifully reproduced images in a fine binding make this a wonderful addition to any collection.



3. Although this book is beautiful (the cover is better than what is inside) it is not of the print quality I'd hoped. It looks as though it was slapped together rather hastily with little regard for creating a quality book. However, it looks good on the table in the living room of my 1929 bungalow.

5 comments about Beautiful Losers.

1. ok- this book is pretty brilliant... despite the fact that the artwork included is a catalogue of some of the most important, interesting and (previously- time will tell??) underground /fringe dwelling artists and contemporary contributors in the last 25 or so years and that in itself is reason enough to love this book, you would be CRAZY not to read the essays... they are insane- so brilliant and you are not even touching the surface of this book unless you read them..
   if you have any interest in graf/ skating/ contempory artists / beautiful things / whats going down then youll love beautiful losers and regret very badly that you didnt get to see the exhibition...like i am now.



2. If you like street and pop art... I kindly raccomend this book to you!
   
   Peace and 420!



3. I ordered this book from Amazon as a graduation gift and it says that it will ship in 1-4 weeks. BEWARE! I placed my order in mid-May and received a third delay notice today saying that it will not ship until mid-August. BOLLOCKS!! I finally canceled my order, as my "happy graduation" note is no longer applicable and my guy will likely be in school for the fall semester by the time the book actually arrives.



4. Beautiful Losers exhibition is a document of an epoch centered on the twenty year history of street art and culture from the walls of urban landscapes across America to the walls of the dopest west and east coast galleries. Really great essays. Read the one by McCormick, its especially good. Well printed and designed. Everything in this book is imperative to know about if you are an artist, especially young artists in their formative years.



5. Its definately worth $25.17, or whatever price theyve stuck on it by now. Its includes pictures of, and interesting stories about a few of the Beautiful Losers aswell as full pages of artwork (in color). Its no picture book either, in addition to the stories, its got the histories of various subcultures that influenced the artists (skateboarding, graffiti, etc.) So it'll keep you busy for a minute.

5 comments about Fruits.

1. I got this book after seeing the live exhibition of the same name in Sydney years ago and I just adored it!
   Even if you don't like the particular styles shown in the book, it is just such a different and creative take on fashion!
   I find the styles inspirational, happy and fun!
   It is also interesting to see how the styles have morphed from different eras in history and from certain sub-cultures both native and foreign to Japan.
   After seeing this book, studying it and just absorbing it madly, I developed a hankering for all things lolita, and have been wearing the fasahion on and off for about 3 years now.



2. I used to see this book all the time at the nearby music store, and one day I received it as a gift. I'm not going to suggest that everyone should dress like the people in this book, but I will say that I loved how they were able to put together something different and interesting, completely unlike what I've seen here in the U.S. Even the most outrageous outfits I've seen at clubs in LA can't hold a candle to what's in this book. Very creative stuff here.



3. This is an interesting book. The author/photographer documents street fashion in the Harajuku district of Japan. Each page is a photo of an individual and a brief description of their outfit. If you are into this style of fashion, this is a book worth owning. The only short-coming is that the descriptions are printed in colored ink and sometimes get lost in the background color of the photographs.



4. My high school art class, Costume Design, LOVE this book. It's fun to see teenagers in another culture taking western fashion and personalizing it. Every time I pick up the book I see something new. We've only had the book a couple of weeks and it is already dog-eared.



5. Great book, made my girlfriend quite happy. She is very into Japanese street fashion and this book just captivated her, she looked through it about 20 times the day i gave it to her.

5 comments about The Art of Faux: The Complete Sourcebook of Decorative Painted Finishes (Crafts Highlights).

1. The most in-depth reference book I could have asked for. Exactly what I wanted and needed.



2. I purchased this for my daughter who is a faux painter. She loves the book. She says there are many techniques in here that are new to her and she is enjoying doing them.



3. Pierre's book is considered the bible of Faux and is a must have reference guide for the experienced faux finisher!
   
   A great example of the marbles he is so famous for can be found in the Morrocan mural he co-painted with Sean Crosby in the hot new book benefiting charity "The House that Faux Built" Transform Your Home with Paint, Plaster and Creativity The House That Faux Built check out the search inside feature.



4. This book contains excellent descritions of equipment and techniques used for decorative painting. It is well inllustrated and easy to read.
   
   GM



5. Great resource book. Cool techniques...a bit intimidating for a beginner but full of information.

1 comments about SKULLS.

1. This book is a series of examples from the author's blog where he creates a skull a day out of various materials. He's incredibly creative using such items as computer keys, bubble wrap, petroleum jelly, army guys and more to create skulls. I bought the book two days ago and I've already gone through it three times, and it's inspired me to start a daily art project of my own.