Tremendous Text, Great for the Layman
588209
A great reviewer, far more knowledgeable than I has already reviewed this text.  Ploni_Almoni's review is exhaustive and he clearly has a great background in archeology.  However, I would like to add a word from a layman who loved this book.
Despite this texts awkward title, Dever does an excellent job giving a window into current conflicts in archeology.  Moreover, he demonstrates how a clique of biblical deconstructionists, with little or no background in archeology or fieldwork, has hijacked popular discourse, despite their substitution of ideology for evidence.  He demonstrates how this group has attacked other more serious scholars and made outlandish claims in an effort to grab attention.  Most interestingly, he writes of how deconstructionist methodology, denying that texts can have any intrinsic meaning or that writers can have any intent, is spilling into other fields undermining the work of serious scholars.  These deconstructionists argue that since parts of the bible are provably ahistorical, than the whole text must have no historical basis.  One might just as well argue that if George Washington never cut down a cherry tree, that proves that there was no historical Washington.  His examination of this movement makes for an excellent case study in the history of ideas and a warming about the current struggle going on in academia.
Dever also gives a wonderful demonstration of the methodology of modern archeologists.  This window into how they try to reconstruct data is fascinating and extremely accessible.
In a world that often elevates ad hominum arguments and poor scholarship, Dever is a noteworthy exception.  If you are at all interested in this topic, I urge you to pick up this book.
1126538
I had a good time reading this very fine textbook on exercise physiology from cover to cover. It was at the level of detail and academic rigor that I was seeking. I understand that this is an introductory text used at the Kinesiology Department of the University of Minnesota. I am not an athlete, but rather an ordinary layperson just wanting to exercise to get fit. While the research cited in the text focuses more on athletes, there was plenty of information for non-athletes.
The book presents a great deal of technical information, but it uses a lot of modern visual techniques to help that information go down easy. The book is full of charts, graphs, diagrams, and pictures which are great help to a visually oriented person such as myself. I found other visual elements very attractive, such as layout, text boxes ("in focus" and "in review" summaries), appropriate typefaces, and so forth.
The authors go to some effort to make the material interesting and manage to convey their excitement about their topics to the reader. I highly recommend this book, whether you are a student or an educated layperson wanting to become even more educated on the most important subject of exercise physiology.
2398396
The previous reviewers have brought out most of the qualities of this wonderful text, and I'd just like to stress again how easy the Latin is to read for a modern person, compared with the Classical authors. It is not Medieval Latin. It is genuine Ancient Latin from the 4th Century, but in a normal everyday style, rather than the literary style, so that it would have the widest readership possible. This is the type of Latin which formed the basis of the modern Romance languages.

This is an excellent scholarly edition, and it's great to have St Jerome's prefaces (which are rather more difficult to understand than the Biblical text!). However someone who just wants a reading edition of the Vulgate might want to use the Clementina, which has punctuation, paragraphing and other modern editorial devices. The edition by the Societa Biblica Cattolica Internazionale (pub. Edizioni San Paolo) has stress accent marks too (as in liturgical texts) which are useful if you want to read aloud (though they are not always 100 per cent accurate).
4226259
Halmos's FDVS is a classic undergraduate text.  The second edition of this text (1958, Van Nostrand) is an excellent text which deserves five stars.

However, the Martino Publishing edition (2012) in question is a reprint of the preliminary 1942 Princeton University Press edition.  While of historical value, the typesetting of this text (done in typewriter) makes it a challenge to decipher.  For instance, the Script and Fraktur letters are written in by hand!

If you are buying this for a class, this is definitely not the edition you are looking for!

On the other hand, the 2nd edition, reprinted by Benediction Classics (2015), with ~200 exercises and beautifully typeset (by 1958 standards) is a true gem.  Linear algebra (despite the almost trivial first impression it might give you) is a difficult and subtle subject.  It's easy to miss these things when most introductory classes treat it as if it is synonymous with the study of matrix algebra and determinants.  Despite having an introductory linear algebra course (semirigorous with some technical definitions and proofs) and graduate matrix computation course under my belt, I didn't understand the true nature of the subject until I studied from this book (as part of a real analysis course).

The emphasis this text places on the coordinate-free (abstract linear algebra) point of view shows you how a mathematician would think about this elementary and classical subject, in light of its modern generalizations (most notably Banach and Hilbert spaces), which form a large part of functional analysis and the theory of linear operators, in particular.  The author's main goal was to draw an analogy between the finite-dimensional theory (the subject of this book) and infinite-dimensional generalizations, of benefit for both novices in terms of their future studies and someone reading the book for review who's already studied the latter.

In spite of these praises, this book is admittedly not the most appropriate exposure to higher-level math, though all the proofs are "elementary".  Without some appreciation of its applications (either in a pure or applied math setting), the beginner won't see importance of studying linear transformations and subspaces.  The most natural setting for learning this material might be during or just before a course in real analysis of several variables. Only then does the importance of linear maps becomes obvious.

Compared to its modern competitor, Axler's Linear Algebra Done Right, FDVS assumes some degree of mathematical maturity, whereas Axler starts by teaching the reader the basics of writing a proof.  The newer editions of Axler cater even more to the complete beginner, with a bunch of colors and pretty pictures.  (If you need colors and pretty pictures, pure math is probably isn't for you!)  Moreover, Axler has this weird obsession against the determinant, a perfectly legitimate coordinate-independent function of a finite-dimensional linear operator, IMHO.  And as stated above, I don't think linear algebra is the best setting to introduce mathematical rigor, since it's not a flashy field: it results often appear trivial, boring, or both to the beginner (even though neither claim is actually justifiable on further study.)

The other textbook of comparable coverage is Hoffman and Kunze, much longer, because it tries to include and give a balanced presentation of both the computational and coordinate-free approaches.  However, it only makes sense to use a long book (>400 pages) covering both approaches when you have the luxury of a year-long course, and there is enough time to do justice to both.

tl; dr, for the student with a moderate undergrad abstract math background, FDVS is an enlightening presentation of linear algebra the way a pure mathematician sees it.  Though on balance better than its modern counterparts, as a word of warning, some notation and terminology are dated, since the text is almost 60 years old!
1576098
This husband and wife team produced an unbeatable text on the subject of plants of the Bible. This is a paperback, a 1986 reprint by Dover Publications, thus it is a good paperback. It is apparently not printed on acid-free paper, nor is it smyth-sewn.
The text is laid out very much like any other serious book on a region's botany. The order of presentation is alphabetic using the Latin names of the species. Each presentation is referenced to other botanical works, alloyed with a fine bibliography. About 230 plants are discussed. The discussions are authoritative and thorough. The authors are well qualified for such an undertaking!
It is accented with a fair number of good line drawings, one map and excellent indexes (including not only the Latin names but the common names as well). It also has a nice "Historical Sketch" showing the peoples and events which enlightened the rest of the world concerning the plants mentioned in the Scriptures. Of course each plant is cross referenced to its Biblical passage(s). The geographical locations of each plant are abundantly made known. Not all papyrus plants came from Egypt!
Sure color photos would have been nice, but then the price would be exceedingly high. This is a great book, very handy, and easy to use. It is packed with useful botanical data about the Holy Land. My only regret was their use of the word "legend" when applied to the account of the creation (on page 20).
The pages measure 6 x 9 inches packed with fine, but legible print. All of this is within about 268 pages. Concluding the work are a number of black and white plates and drawings. This book is dirt cheap, and a real bargain at triple the price!! Highly recommended, and fun to read! courtesy of: Mr. Gary S. Dykes
2781740
I used this text as an undergraduate, and found it to possess and nice combination of clarity, readability, and rigor:  qualities not always combined in a single text.  The text does not cover applications with as much attention, I presume the author expects the text to be followed by a more complete one.  A term paper forced me to use, among other texts, Wald's, which I also found to be clear, and seemingly more comprehensive (I only read a few sections from Wald, though).
109573
This book was purchased as a text for school- I don't believe I would be inclined to pick this one off the shelves and purchase it on my own for pleasure after some perusing. Arnheim has revised this text over the years, and this final version (according to him in the preface) is much more comprehensive. I would say that is a classic understatement by him. His style reminds me more of undergraduate psychology texts I had read. Dense, not a lot of pictures, and a lot of philosophical concepts on the nature of art. However, like all things, rewarding in the depth available in the text. Just don't try to digest it all at once, and don't be distracted. If you are, you'll find yourself reading passages over again.
301223
Bought this for college, a great textbook to read!
3440984
Mr. Arguello's book is an excellent text for those who take their first course on modern physics in an engineering or technology career, or for the practicing engineer or technician who wants to improve his/her knowledge of a wide set of subjects including relativity, quantum mechanics, nuclear technology, solid state, semiconductor devices, lasers, astrophysics, chaos, superconductivity, etc.
The different topics are clearly presented, with the appropriate mix of mathematics and lots of graphics, illustrations and technological sidebars, but what makes it really outstanding are the end of chapter problems, which let you thoroughly excercise each subject, with problems of adequate complexity for an engineering student.
I believe this is one of the very few books written in Spanish that cover such a wide range of topics with adequate depth and conceptually clear presentation.
1866324
This book is best suited for someone who has at least some Sanskrit, but for the student who has the basics, but is weak on vocabulary, this is an excellent text.  The layout is similar to Sargeant's edition of the Bhagavad-Gita, but S gives a more complete syntactic overview and each verse has a prose retelling (in devanagari only), which is quite good for the intermediate student to practice vocabulary, grammar, and reading.
With over 700 verses, this is an extensive text.  There are some typos, but they should not trouble the average student.
588788
This text is the definition of concision. When it first arrived, I was incredulous. With approximately 155 pages (including two appendices), I was concerned that this text would just provide an overview. Set those worries aside!! This is entirely comprehensive ... it simply uses a true economy of words. (This should be most welcome by any reader).

The author is certain to make two points abundantly clear:
1.) This book is about messaging protocols and how software developers can more resilient applications (ix).
AND
2.) This book is NOT about messaging applications like Apple's Messages (x).

Therefore, do purchase with this in-mind and you will not be disappointed.

If you already possess basic programming skills, this text will present little challenge.
683389
This is a great text which is actually geared to what the students need and want. When I was a medical student, we had separate physiology texts for each organ system (all dense, disconnected from eachother, and poorly written). While they may have been written by physiologists, they were clearly not penned by good educators. As both an educator and clinician now, I use this text frequently to refresh my understanding of complicated physiologic concepts. One way to gauge a great teaching text is to see how well it stands as a reference later on-- this meets that benchmark full on.
4866564
This version is truely terrific for a lay person.  The references, notes and articles included are illuminating.  Bravo Zondervan!!!
1911396
When I picked this book up on Amazon recently, I kept wondering how this subject would be viewed and explained to the layman who knows very little about advertising and images of ADS over the years.  Luckily I do, but I tried reading it as a novice and this publication still haunts me.  It's a superbly written text with what most guys need, images to look at that bring many points home.  It's written by an expert in the field but one with the knowledge and respect for his less sophisticated readers like myself to be able to follow his words.  It's very easily understood and very well paced so that the reader can either take his or her time or read it over a weekend, like I did.

I read it once but intend to read it again, as I find this material and the writer very fascinating and interesting.  The author has a magnificent style about his writing and is very well read in this field.  This is a must read for anyone who is fascinated by the subject of homosexuality and the subject of humanity's perseptions of it.

Thanks, Bruce Joffe.  Wonderful read!
4612502
This text is well structured and easy to understand. The authors do a great job of explaining concepts at a level that most beginners can understand. I have two other more advanced texts that don't do as good a job explaining concepts, so I think the authors deserve 5 stars for making this book very easy to understand.
825797
Awesome translation, and a very useful intro. I'm a Classics MA, and I absolutely love it when I find a text that makes me think completely differently about a text I've read before. Definitely would recommend.

A word of caution - the kindle version is formatted a little strangely. It looks like the text is actually presented as images/screenshots on the kindle version, and all the images are different sizes, so finding a zoom setting that works is difficult. Still, totally worth it.
4386201
While some of the examples in the text need to be fleshed out a bit, and the problems at the end the of the chapters are somewhat too oriented toward programming problems, on the whole I am finding this to be an extraordinary text.  I am teaching it to freshman physics majors, and even those who've had significant high school physics (includng AP) have never really seen a physics course like this, and it seems to be keeping them excited.  Unlike the standard freshman college texts, which simply reiterate the high school curriculum at a slightly higher level (and makes them do blocks on planes and pulleys ad nauseum), Matter and Interaction introduces classical mechanics alongside modern, alongside relativity.  I have also found it a useful jumping-off point to discuss oscillators and circuits.  Though the authors will need to do a bit of fine-tuning in future editions, I highly recommend this as an excellent freshman physics curriculum.