Reviews (1)

Essential, Informative, and Invaluable
This is one of the volumes in the new Harvard Business Essentials Series. Each offers authoritative answers to the most important questions concerning its specific subject. The material in this book is drawn from a variety of sources which include the Harvard Business School Press and the Harvard Business Review as well as Harvard ManageMentor�, an online service. Each volume is indeed "a highly practical resource for readers with all levels of experience." And each is by intent and in execution solution-oriented. Although I think those who have only recently embarked on a business career will derive the greatest benefit, the material is well-worth a periodic review by senior-level executives.
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Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Decision Making & Problem Solving    6. Management - General    7. Business & Management   

Reviews (13)

Great refresher!
I love that I can just skim through this book & find the information that I need.It is really basic - clearly written with great examples.After being away from work for 8 years & being out of school for almost 20, it was a great refresher!Besides, Max proves that even geeks can have a sense of humor!

Great book
Considering this book deals with what I consider to be rocket science at best and black magic at worst I think it does a really good job of explaining things. I'm still working through it and it still makes my head hurt but I recommend this for anyone like me who wants to understand this stuff and has zero background to do so.

Irreverent writing, good topics
Maxfield's book is unique, both in format and in content. And I'm not just talking about the gumbo recipe at the end.
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Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Digital Electronics    3. Electronics - Digital    4. Electronics - General    5. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    6. Popular works    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Computer Hardware & Operating Systems    11. Electronics engineering    12. Technology / Electronics / General   

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Computer-aided design    3. Data processing    4. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    5. Integrated circuits    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Technology    8. Technology & Industrial Arts    9. Time-series analysis    10. Timing circuits    11. Very large scale integration    12. Industrial quality control    13. Technology / Electronics / Circuits / General   

Reviews (3)

Terse.

Waste of Trees!
This book is not for anyone.It is such a shame when you spend over $100 for something that will absolutly contribute nothing to you. I really did try to use this book, I just can't seem to find one full paragraph that I feel that I have actually learned something.The author begins his book, like he's already given you 10 previous introduction chapters.He feels he owes no explanation for anything, no real effort to make you understand or learn something. just a story teller with a bunch of equations, diagrams and solutions with no effort to to get anything across. I wonder exactly why this author felt he had to write this book.If it's because he wanted to contribute his knowledge, then he is surely a very bad teacher.I don't mean to cause any harm to the author, but I feel the obligation to warn anyone who is considering to buy this book for the sake of learning anything.Too bad they had to cut down trees to publish this book.

Review of Astrom and Wittenmark
Astrom Wittenmark's book on Computer Control Systems is a good book for intermediate and experienced people in the field of Computer Control Systems. It is excellent in its contents and coverage of the field as awhole. Read more

Subjects:  1. Automatic control    2. Automation    3. Computer Books: Spreadsheets    4. Data processing    5. Digital Control Systems(Computer Science)    6. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    7. Engineering - Mechanical    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Automatic control engineering    11. Technology / Engineering / Electrical   

Reviews (1)

a good book
This is an excellent book to study about Nonlinear Control through the Lyapunov method. There is also much information about various engineering systems like spacecrafts, robots. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Advanced    2. Analytic Mechanics (Mathematical Aspects)    3. Automatic control    4. Automation    5. Control Engineering    6. Engineering - General    7. Engineering - Mechanical    8. Lyapunov functions    9. Nonlinear control theory    10. Robotics    11. Science/Mathematics    12. Technology    13. Technology & Industrial Arts    14. Automatic control engineering    15. Mechanical Engineering    16. Technology / Engineering / Electrical   

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Education    3. General    4. Machine Tools Numerical Control    5. Machine-tools    6. Machinery    7. Numerical control    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Technology / Engineering / Mechanical    11. Tool making   

Reviews (3)

A very important, underpraised book
The infantilism of American culture that started with Reagan appears in many guises.For example, Ron Grossman in the Chicago Tribune pointed out last Sunday that the United States Postal Service has a stamp for BugsBunny but none for John Brown, the rebel of Harper's Ferry. Superlative
I read this book as part for a course in "Philosophy and Technology" when I was an undergraduate.It is a detailed exposition of how the technologies we adopt are not inevitable, but are instead theconsequence of specific choices made by specific people in power (orseeking to be in power).One of the books that fundamentally changed myworldview. Together with his "America By Design," a dull butexacting analysis of engineering education inthe U.S., this book shouldbe read as a cautionary tale for the course higher education is taking inits current romance with corporate sponsorship and collaboration. . .

I endorse Chomsky's recommendation.
I certainly wouldn't have heard of this book if it weren't for Noam Chomsky citing it. David Noble dared to break ranks and suggest that maybe all was not right with machine tool automation. My favoritechapter,entitled "Who's running the shop" describes GE's aircraftdivision's "Pilot Project" in the 60's. It is first of all a damngood tale--rivaling the arabian nights as a never ending fascinating tale.Secondly, it is a sobering tale of labor-management relations. One suspectsthat GE management would rather the incident was forgotten. Here is a roughsummary: The Air Force gave GE super-expensive numerically controlled (i.e.computerized) machining tools and local GE managers used these as a weaponto deskill workers and lower their pay, but it backfired because withoutthe good will and understanding of the workers it produced only scrap metalat a fantastic rate. The "Pilot Project" was a compromise thatenabled the incompetant management to save face, and the workers and unionessentially ran the shop during this time. Understandably the union andworkers wanted the pilot project to go on forever, and equallyunderstandably the higher corporate management wanted this example ofworker control to end as soon as possible even though it worked extremelywell. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. General    3. History Of Technology    4. History: American    5. Machine-tools    6. Numerical control    7. Social aspects    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. United States    11. Non-Classifiable    12. Sociology & social issues   

Reviews (1)

Worst Text Book EVER!
I'm a student at Georgia Tech, and for some reason the professors there think that they know how to write textbooks.I've seen a lot of bad textbooks, but this one takes the cake.I can easily label this the worst textbook I've ever used.The book is full of errors, and the homework problems are poorly designed as most of the times you have to consult third party sources to solve them (my entire class agrees).Gary May, if you're reading this (and I hope you are), I want to thank you for writing the most disgusting textbook I've ever read.You clearly know what you are talking about, but you clearly don't know how to talk about it or how to teach it.I honestly don't understand how you expect students to learn from this garbage.I understand most people looking to buy this don't have an option as it is class material, but if you do have any option in this purchase I highly recommend you look elsewhere.I'd give this 0 stars if I could. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Electronics - Semiconductors    3. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Semiconductors    6. Technology    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Semi-conductors & super-conductors    9. Technology / Electronics / Semiconductors   

Reviews (1)

Very comprehensive and practical treatment of the MPEG-7 standard
MPEG-1,2,and 4 make multimedia content available, while MPEG-7 makes content accessible, retrievable, and filterable. This book is all about the MPEG-7 standard, its implementation, and its applications. The book is divided into six sections which I describe as follows: Read more

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Computers - Desktop Publishing    3. Interactive & Multimedia    4. Multi-Media Hardware & Software    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Technology    7. Telecommunications    8. Television & Video    9. Television Engineering    10. Audio processing    11. Image processing: video    12. Multimedia    13. Technology / Telecommunications   

Reviews (2)

Well written
I am a PLC instructor, I use the book by Lewis, this bookby John is a supplement and may replace my current text for class.I like the way the examples seem so real and easy to follow.
Not a good source for specifics of IEC 61131-3.
This book is more of a general programming guide using IEC 61131-3. That's o.k. except the name implies an emphasis on industrial automation systems yet many of the examples in the book aren't examples of the typical IA system.Read more

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Computer Programming    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Engineering - Industrial    5. Engineering - Mechanical    6. Intelligent Control Systems(Engineering)    7. Programming - General    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Technology    10. Control    11. Systems management    12. Technology / Engineering / Electrical   

Reviews (1)

Making complex issues clear
This book has been a real life saver for me on my first semester at graduate school.The other media books I had to read were overwhelming with never ending details and jargon language.Roberts- Breslin's book explains everything plainly from start to finish.She has an uncanny ability to simplify extremely complex matters.Even with no prior knowledge of the technical aspects of media making I now have a solid foundation.
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Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Computer Books: Desktop Publish    3. Computers    4. Computers - Desktop Publishing    5. Desktop Publishing - General    6. Digital techniques    7. Image processing    8. Interactive & Multimedia    9. Media Studies    10. Multimedia systems    11. Recording and reproducing    12. Sound    13. Audio processing    14. Cinematography, television camerawork    15. Computers / Interactive Media    16. Films, cinema    17. Media, information & communication industries   

Reviews (3)

Poor excuse for a PLC book
This book is intended for the beginner, it has so may misprints and errors in it makes a hard subject for the beginner to an impossible one to understand! This 4th edition has many of the same misprints in it from the first edition! I would never recommend this book to anyone!

A good reference for PLC beginners.
I used this book with great success in the course, Introduction to Programmable Logic Controllers, which I developed for a leading aircraft manufacturer. This book was recommended reading prior to attending other PLC courses offered in my training business.

Clear and concise with practical information for beginners
I used this book to train industrial electricians and recommended it inthe PLC course I designed at Coyne American Institute in Chicago in 1989. They still use the book along with a lab manual and Allen Bradley PLC's inthe electrical maintenance course.I reviewed other books and felt thisone was the right choice for the length of course, training level andcontent.It is clearly written with hardware and instruction set examplesfrom various PLC manufacturers, troubleshooting, number systems, start-uphints and some useful general computer information. Also included is achapter on understanding MS-DOS commands-very handy for people (a lot ofthem around) with no computer background except a point-and-click once in awhile. The soft cover format, number of pages (372) and size make it easyto carry and throw in a brief case. If you are learning PLC's for the firsttime, this is a good place to start. If I was going to add anything to itfor the next edition, I would include things like data highway, serialcommunications, remote displays and PID loop. Maybe a little more aboutprogramming details involving analog I/O would be nice. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Counseling - Vocational Guidance    3. Engineering - Mechanical    4. Microprocessors    5. Programmable Controllers    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Technology    8. Technology & Industrial Arts    9. Automatic control engineering    10. Technology / Technical & Manufacturing Industries & Trades   

Reviews (24)

A fair book, but not really worth the money
This book is not worth the money, in my opinion.The Author rehashes data sheet information, and lists the instruction set, but all that can be gotten for free from Atmel's website.
Alot of fluff in this book wish I spent more time in the book store and looked over it more!
This book is REALLY fluff.. No real substance. I really wished I spent a little bit more time looking over this book at the bookstore. I just spent 1.5 hrs and skimmed through the whole entire book. The author glosses over a lot of things that I would think would be important. In particular I was hopeing for more information on USB and CAN interfaces. Two things that are a major part of the newer AVR devices. Very disapointed.
Feeling stupid for buying
Please, I read the reviews and decided that this book couldn't be as bad as people said it was so I bought it anyway, don't make the same mistake, this book is seriously bad, McGraw-Hill should be ashamed.For instance, the LCD controller part of the book involves the construction of a home-made seven segment numeric display!That isn't even an LCD!This book probably would be good for high schoolers wanting to mess around with the AVR system but if you graduated from HS please buy better book than this one. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Computers    3. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    4. Microprocessor Programming    5. Microprocessors    6. Programmable controllers    7. RISC microprocessors    8. Reference    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Technology / Engineering / Electrical   

Reviews (10)

Indispensible for coaching as well as self-guided study.
If, after twelve years or so of work, you find yourself bringing junior team members along and filling the role of mentor or lead, you are expected to impart your accumulated experience and wisdom onto the newcomers, so that the hard-won lessons need not become a re-nvention of the wheel.The most common problem in doing this is succinctly and effectively communicating the messages.This book does exactly that, for debugging problems.
Buy This Book.
Oh boy, how much easier an engineer's life would be if every tech book was written like this one.Let's face it, nobody likes debugging. The only thing worse is teaching someone else. Now it's easy, just give them this book.Better yet, give them this book, and make them debug your work.They might even enjoy it.

Great for programmers
This book was not written specifically with software in mind, but I was very pleased to find out how it can improve the routine of any programmer. Since I read this book, I debug code in a much more "scientifical" and systematic way, instead of the old empirical, ad-hoc approach I had before (which seemed good enough for me at the time, since I didn't know any better)
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Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Software - General    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer software    6. Computers    7. Debugging in computer science    8. General    9. Hardware - General    10. Programming - General    11. Quality control    12. Computer Programming    13. Systems management   

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Electronics - General    3. Electronics - Microelectronics    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Technology    6. Technology & Industrial Arts    7. Telecommunications    8. Communications engineering / telecommunications    9. Postal & telecommunications industries    10. Technology / Industrial Technology   

Reviews (10)

great for beginners
Although it is becoming out-of-date, it is still a very helpful source for beginners like me. It covers many aspects of robot design around a complete sample robot project. The topics it partially covers are shortly; PCB making, PIC circuit design and PIC programming, legged robots walking gaits, robotic sensors.

Very Impressive robot ever!!!
This book is truly amazing for robot hobbyist like me. I built a different robot using Karl Williams instructions even though it for the robot in his book. I built the robot too and it's real easy to build. I built the main controller board using a solderless breadboard and made the infared sensor board using the radioshacks PCB kits, it was a little different though. For the programs I had to tweak them because i couldn't afford the Picbasic pro, so with my little imagination I got some of the programs to work. This book is a must get and it's one of my favorites too. if you want to built a walking robot this one is worth building. so don't just look and read the book build it and I promise you will have lot's of fun just messing around with it.

Fabulous Book!!!
An excellent book if you want to build a walking robot that really works!! I've been looking for a book like this for years. The details for building the mechanics and electronics are actually very exact and accurate. I had absolutely no problems building two of these robots. This book even gives the printed circuit board design artwork for the microcontroller board circuit and the infrared sensors, which none of the other robotics books do. This book is packed full of great practical knowledge like interfacing a radio remote control system, sonar rangefinding, and an excellent robot gripper - among other things... WELL WORTH THE MONEY. I also bought Amphibionics which is also a great book with plans for four biologically inspired robots - a really cool snake robot, frog, aligator and turtle. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Design and construction    3. Electronics - General    4. Models    5. Robotics    6. Robots    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Technology / Robotics   

Features

• Facsimile

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Engineering - Mechanical    3. Gearing    4. Machinery    5. Mechanical Engineering (Specific Aspects)    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Computer modelling & simulation    9. Electronics & Communications Engineering    10. Mathematics for scientists & engineers    11. Technology / Engineering / Mechanical   

Reviews (1)

Good overview of smartcard technology
An all-in-one book on smartcard and its applications.Covers different aspects of smartcard technology, including payment systems, mobile communication application, card management system and Microsoft's PC/SC.One of the cheapest books around for smartcards which gives good overview of the technology.Some of the ISO and SIM APDU commands are covered at great length.Includes an example applet, for those interested in development.The book also has technical details about Schlumberger's (now Axalto) Cyberflex and Cryptoflex cards. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. CD-DVD Technology    3. CD-ROM Technology    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - General Information    7. Information Technology    8. Networking - General    9. Smart cards    10. Computers / Networking / General   

Reviews (2)

Okay but lacking
This is not bad for a basic overview of hoe SCADA shojuld be used and implemented. It seemed lacking to me since so much of the value in SCADA is in the interactions with the PLC's, RTU's and datbases. I felt this book was weak in that area. Pretty good book
I liked the book. Very informative, especially if you are familiar with some aspects of control systems, but not necessarily SCADA systems. Some of the stuff was a little geared for engineer types, but most of it was geared for the technical types. I would have liked to have seen more on the PLC's and RTU's, but they at least reviewed them pretty well. A LOT of information on communication and network systems. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Electronics - General    5. Engineering - Industrial    6. Information Technology    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Automatic control engineering    9. Engineering: general    10. Technology / Engineering / Electrical   

Reviews (4)

Packed with informaiton
In development on a new feature film, this book has proved to be very helpful.From setting up the production checking accout, to offering a few dozen production forms, it is proving invaluable.

A great window into film production.
This book is written mainly from the point of view of the Production Manager (PM), and since the PM is really at the pivot point of the entire production process,this book gives us a great view into every step of that process. If you want to know what happens when they make movies, read this book.

Production Management
"If you have produced a low-budget independent movie and want to apply for a job with any Hollywood Production Company, this is the book that you MUST read before you go in for the interview. It explains the way that Hollywood Motion Picture Productions are managed." -- RMS ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automation    2. Cinema/Film: Book    3. Film & Video - Direction & Production    4. Film & Video - General    5. General    6. Motion pictures    7. Nonfiction    8. Performing Arts    9. Production and direction    10. Television    11. Fiction/General    12. Films, cinema    13. Performing Arts / Film / General    14. Technology/Automation