Useful as a reference book
923319
If you are a advanced user like myself you will learn very little from this book BUT it is incredibly useful as a reference book because it explains everything within the studio max interface (except max-script). For example it will even explain what the phisical scale roll within the radiosity using interface does in a fair amount of detail. It is also useful in explaining the different cahnges within the MAX interface. It is not really usefull however in learning complex modeling techniques and suchlike. The tutorials are also just too easy (e.g. Modelling a shell) and will not satisfy the advanced user. Very good reference book though
4012826
I have a 2002 copy of the book which I brought with me to the Kursk battlefield site.  I found it good for reference while on the tour as did other tour members.  I liked the index and bibliography.  It is not the most comprehensive book on the subject, but had many facts and photos I had not run across before.  I found it very useful.
3801187
Truly, this is a great book to have as a reference to go back to when needed. There is a general explanation for all related topics.
601861
I only read about half of the chapters on the topics that I was interested in and I found them very well written. Mostly, the chapters are written by leading researchers in area of the chapter, which lends much weight to the relevance and credibility. The breadth and depth of coverage fits a wide range of audience. I work in information security and found the concepts and details very very helpful and ones I could relate to in my work. The appendix is very helpful in finding the information you need to look at. Editors have done a commendable job in selecting topics and authors for the chapters from all over the world. Overall a great reference book, but like other reviewer I share the sentiment that it a bit pricey.
3007354
The book is very useful to understand the camera. This book can be use as reference guide for shooting. Examples and photos are excellent information to understand the topic.
574853
This is a good book for additional reference to others I have.  Probably not my first choice but glad I bought it.
476801
This book is basically a reference book for architects, although even non-architects could find it useful. It is pretty typical of  this type of book - it covers the basic elements to a point and also provides a bit more detail for some select topics.

Over the years, I've bought a number of similar books like this one. I'm a draftsman and over the years I have worked at a number of firms in several different engineering disciplines. Books like this one are great for getting up to speed on a discipline new to you and for keeping on hand for when something new to you comes up. One of the things I really liked about this book is that the Author provides overviews for sixteen real-world projects as examples. I don't know about most people, but I feel that I get more out of real-world applications than I do made-up text-book examples.

Some issues that I had with the book.

Number One, is the lack of a glossary.  I was really surprised that the author did not include a glossary. For a reference book such as this, that is a noticeable omission.

Number Two, the poor image quality of some of the architectural details. I know there will be some image degradation from shrinking down details meant for large scale architectural drawings to fit on a 7"x9.5" page in a book, but some of the image compression is worse than others in the book. To the point they are useless.

Number Three, BIM (Building Information Modeling) is barely covered - at most it is mentioned in a single paragraph about design process and expectations. For a book that focuses on the interrelations of different engineering disciplines, I would think there would be at least a chapter dedicated to BIM.

Number Four, which is really an offshoot of number three. All of the information / project examples in the book is from the Author's experience at the one architectural firm (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill). That's good in some ways (you get the perspective of how a successful firm does things), and bad in other ways (probably the reason BIM is not mentioned is that maybe SOM hasn't yet tried to implement it).

One thing I will give the publisher props for,  is the index. Too many times I've seen books like this one where the index did not match the book, where a book was heavily revised during the editing process and then was published with an index from a previous version. I did a number of spot checks with this book's index and found it correct every time.

Review for - Exterior Building Enclosures: Design Process and Composition for Innovative Facades, by C. Keith Baswell
561573
This is a basic reference text for admirers of tropical plants, and was the inspiration for my&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Ornamental-Plants-Flowers-of-Tropical-Mexico/dp/1599712520/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Ornamental Plants & Flowers of Tropical Mexico</a>. Limited to plants grown for their appearance rather than utility, and primarily grown in the tropical regions of the world, this reference guide includes more than 400 ornamentals. Photographs of many of the included plants provide detail, supplementing the informative text, which gives identifying descriptions of leaves, flowers, and fruit, if any, as well as basic cultivation and propagation advice. The book's usefulness for identifying plants would be enhanced, however, with full-size photos, in addition to the flower close-up shots. The utility of the book is greatly aided by the index, which cross-references common names, scientific names, and alternative names for these lovely plants.
3063271
This book has proven quite useful thus far as reference material for the new book I am working on. I would say more, but that might give away too much about what I'm currently working on.
1662511
John Vigor's "The Practical Mariner's Book of Knowledge" is a solid reference book for sailing information.  The book is full of entries (420, arranged alphabetically) about sails, waves, knots, keels, and countless other subjects.

But not all of the entries are that practical and useful: entries on the constituents of ocean water, horsepower generated by humans, the distance of the sun, and "rules for yachting writers" show that this collection of knowledge is often more eclectic than practical.

Overall, this is a worthy addition to a library of sailing books, but it is far from a must-have book.  Most of the information in the book can just as easily be found (without Vigor's occasional humor) with a quick Google search.
3531311
Great book to refer to when you want to get the full list of objects ,  methods, properties and their details when writing code. However, those  wishing to learn JavaScript with little or no previous knowledge should  select another book first. The reason for the five stars is that I believe  its a great REFERENCE book.
2433751
Was not what I was looking for, but it is a nice reference book.
3874444
It's a good reference book. Not what I would call an interesting read like many of Stylus' books but a good reference to own.
1138961
This book is helpful.  Since I have it, I don't use it as much, because I find a lot of information on line.
2242070
I don't use this book as much as I thought I would but find that it is great to have on hand especially for a reference.
1262604
Overall the book is ok as a reference material.  But not a really good as a teaching material. I found it to be not very concise in delivering the intended information.  At times it feels that the authors are wondering aimlessly.  However, the book is packed with good information making it a rather decent source of reference material...
1847129
I have happily used this book for years for a quick reference to the meaning of Hebrew words in a particular context. It is not intended to be, nor could it possibly be, the ultimate guide to Hebrew semantics. That is the province of the major lexica and the vast scholarly literature. But this book can be handy for students learning to read Biblical Hebrew or for those needing a quick gloss of a word in a particular context.