Product Description
The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.

The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional--but is it more true?
Amazon.com Review
Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker ("His head was the size and color of the lifebuoy, with teeth"). It sounds like a colorful setup, but these wild beasts don't burst into song as if co-starring in an anthropomorphized Disney feature. After much gore and infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat's sole passengers, drifting for 227 days through shark-infested waters while fighting hunger, the elements, and an overactive imagination. In rich, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the days blur together, elegantly cataloging the endless passage of time and his struggles to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion."

An award winner in Canada, Life of Pi, Yann Martel's second novel, should prove to be a breakout book in the U.S. At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book. --Brad Thomas Parsons ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1998)

A story to contemplate for years to come...
This book takes you on a wild ride.I read this without reading the reviews(I like being surprised!) and just enjoyed the ride.Pi is an endearing character that exudes innocence and optimism. He became a character that I will carry around with me and think about for a long time.You will not be disappointed in taking this journey!

More than meets theeye
It is bold to start a book with the claim that it will make you believe in God and I am not sure if this book will make you believe in God, but it will certainly inspire you to think about Him and more: science and religion, morality in the face of survival, the definition of freedom, and the relative nature of truth. This supposedly true account of boy's survival at sea trapped in a life boat with a Bengal tiger is related by a narrator who while traveling in India in search of a story stumbles upon this one. The story told in flashback centers around a spiritually minded boy called "Pi" and his life growing up as the son of a zookeeper. When the zoo closes his family must move themselves and the animals to a new location, they wind up on a Japanese ship which sinks for mysterious reasons. Pi must deal with the loss of his family, his own survival, and appeasing a giant Bengal tiger. This book is much more than it appears.

"Sacrificing my imagination on the altar of crude reality"
I liked much of "The life of Pi" but it never followed through on the old man's promise that the story would "make me believe in God." Instead the story took the rug from under my feet and left me wondering what if anything to believe of the story's final 200 pages.This is too bad.It's my disposition to believe in the fantastic given the opportunity and instead the story's end offers a crude ultimatum "believe my story because it is unbelievable or you have no imagination."This is the literary equivalent of those silly chain letters I used to get in my inbox all the time.Make a wish and forward this to ten friends within 24 hours and all your dreams will come true, but if you don't then you will be met by a horrible fate, your parents will die and you will never again know anything but the taste of ash. Thanks for making be feel like a jerk for not believing Yann.

An interesting look at the human mind and heart
This is an incredibly colorful novel that takes you away into a fantastic world. It makes for an easy read that will make you smile. It has an amazing ending, which will have you thinking for a while after you finish reading.

Fun Book
This is just a really fun book.It held my attention for several hours and made me smile.The interaction between the boy and the tiger is fascinating, and the description of his life at the zoo before his grand adventure is delightful.Yann Martel is a great writer, and he certainly captivated this reader's imagination. ... Read more

Product Description
Life of Pi, first published in 2002, became an international bestseller and remains one of the most extraordinary and popular works of contemporary fiction.

In 2005 an international competition was held to find the perfect artist to illustrate Yann Martel s Man Booker Prize winning novel. From thousands of entrants, Croatian artist Tomislav Torjanac was chosen. This lavishly produced edition features forty of Torjanac s beautiful four-color illustrations, bringing Life of Pi to splendid, eye-popping life.

Tomislav Torjanac says of his illustrations: My vision of the illustrated edition of Life of Pi is based on paintings from a first person s perspective Pi s perspective. The interpretation of what Pi sees is intermeshed with what he feels and it is shown through [the] use of colors, perspective, symbols, hand gestures, etc.Amazon.com Review
Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker ("His head was the size and color of the lifebuoy, with teeth"). It sounds like a colorful setup, but these wild beasts don't burst into song as if co-starring in an anthropomorphized Disney feature. After much gore and infighting, Pi and Richard Parker remain the boat's sole passengers, drifting for 227 days through shark-infested waters while fighting hunger, the elements, and an overactive imagination. In rich, hallucinatory passages, Pi recounts the harrowing journey as the days blur together, elegantly cataloging the endless passage of time and his struggles to survive: "It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion." At one point in his journey, Pi recounts, "My greatest wish--other than salvation--was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One that I could read again and again, with new eyes and fresh understanding each time." It's safe to say that the fabulous, fablelike Life of Pi is such a book.

First published in 2002, Martel's breathtaking breakout novel became an international bestseller and went on to win the Man Booker Prize, and was also named Amazon.com's Best Book of 2002. In 2005, after an international competition, Croatian artist Tomislav Torjanac was selected to illustrate a special edition of Life of Pi that features 40 stunning illustrations that present a new perspective on this modern classic. --Brad Thomas Parsons

Customer Reviews (55)

Life of Pi
The biggest problem I had while reading this book was my underlying thought that it was supposed to blow me away; everyone I knew had read this book three to eight years ago, so I felt behind the trend. In fact, I read this book predominantly because I felt the need to inhale this wonderful piece of literature I'd been missing. My experience, though, was that it was a 300 page "You had to have been there."

Don't get me wrong; the book was good. But it was not great. There was this lure in the beginning of religious symbolism and parallelism. Before leaving India, Pi had wanted to practice three different religions at the same time; as a teenager he has this earthy, spiritual side that was just begging to have more of a presence. Being trapped on a boat in the middle of the ocean with (depending on the point in the story) one to four zoo animals could have represented much more than being trapped on a boat in the middle of the ocean with one to four zoo animals. The actual acts of survival--learning how to fish, learning how to collect fresh water, learning to assemble a raft, etc.--were described in a very dry, matter-of-fact tone. The emergence of animalistic urges, like tearing into a fish with bare hands and teeth for example, were significantly better-written and much more heart-wrenching to read. However, for a boy who had talked so much before the shipwreck of finding the perfect religious blend, there were shockingly no doubts of faith during this time, no conversations with higher beings, no inner-conflict at all really. In a few instances Pi said he missed his family, or that keeping Richard Parker (the tiger) alive kept him alive, but it was all too little and too random to have that great of an impact. Even the scene on the meerkat island with the nocturnally lethal "land" and the tree with human teeth for fruit--even this was begging to have deeper meaning, instead of just seeming like a bizarre, pointless piece of plot.

The ending tried to reconcile this lack of depth. Up until the ending, Pi had been telling his story including all the animals and side-adventures. Then he quickly retells it replacing all the animals with human beings and deleting some of the side-adventures. He asks his listeners which story is more believable and--more importantly--which story they would rather believe. The two versions so beautifully intertwine that as a reader you suddenly doubt whether or not the previous 300 pages was the "real" story or not. Truly this is the best part of the book, both from a plot perspective as well as from a writing perspective.

One last thing structurally about the book: I had the "Deluxe Illustrated Edition." The illustrations were absolutely breath-taking. The colors at times were more vibrant than the story and it certainly is not a waste of money buying this edition. The artist should be commended for his job; he showed quite a bit of variety and talent in just 40 illustrations.

Overall, this book is "okay." Again, it's by no means a horrible read, and the ending does a great job of redeeming earlier transgressions (though it does not completely eradicate them). It would probably make a "safe" gift for a young teen. It would be a good beach read--though perhaps not great to bring on a cruise. This book may continue to be popular for a few more years, though I will be shocked if it is still considered such a classic in another ten or fifteen years.

Heartbreakingly Beautiful
I read Pi in 2003 and I loved it then...so much. It was one of the best book club discussions we ever had. So imagine my delight when I discovered a new, first edition in my local bookstore where Yann Martel will be visiting later this week for his new book.This new edition is just as lovely as my original Winnie the Pooh book that I received as a gift when it was originally published in 1961 and was only available at Harrods of London.

The paintings are so beautiful... beautiful beyond description. They pop up in all sorts of unexpected places at just the right moment. All of the paintings are of what young Pi might be witnessing, so we get to look through his eyes, his perspective. The story made me laugh, made me anxious all over again, made me cry with both sadness and joy (both feeling were present as Pi, a devout vegetarian kills his first fish) and made me sigh with satisfaction and relief.

This book may not be suitable for very small children, but it does look suspiciously like a children's book. I would recommend it to any child who can deal with the moral life and death issues in Harry Potter, but not to a child who is so young that Winnie would really float their boat.

One can read all over the net what the actual story is about. That's not how I like to review books. But if you like graphic novels and art and adventure, then purchase this book now! It is deeply spiritual, funny, wise and will take you on a voyage impossible to ever forget. I do wish there would have been a bit more from Mr. Martel about the artwork, but you can see the process on the Amazon.com products page. So that is satisfying enough. 5/5 stars.

Great book and beautiful illustrations
When I first read it I enjoyed the story so much and found it so interesting that I did not want to put it down. We shared this book with all of our family members, each person passing it on to the next once they finished it. Everyone had a slightly different take on the story and the ending.
I know that there are many extended reviews of the book but I believe it is best to be your own judge. Read a copy for yourself and see what you think. It is short enough to get through quickly and I'm certain that you won't regret wasting your time. The mingling of religions in the spiritual formation of the title character alone provides plenty of food for thought, not to mention the twist to the narrative at the end of the book.

I bought this book as "Used". It came without delay and I am very satisfied with the condition of this hardback version. I previously owned this book in soft cover.I wanted to buy a copy to keep in our permanent library and this illustrated version serves the purpose very well.

Life of Pi
This book arrived quickly, in excellent condition.It's great to be able to read a large illustrated hardback for such a reasonable price.

Renew your childlike wonder for reading
I had to buy a copy of this book for my husband after checking it out from the library.The story is an unbelievable misadventure that breathes on the pages with the help of Martel's poignant protagonist.The story had me so rapt that I couldn't wait to return to it and felt like a kid discovering the joy of reading.The beautiful illustrations lend to that feeling of being a big kid with an adult picture book.Lose yourself in this fantastic tale. ... Read more

Product Description
Have you ever wondered what makes "seventh heaven" and "cloud nine" so blissful and the number 13 so unlucky? Or why "fourth-dimensional" thinking is really out of this world?

Inside Easy as Pi, you'll find the "4-1-1" on:

Customer Reviews (7)

Easy as Pi
Let me start out by saying that I am not a math person at all. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The book is divided in sections to include: Numbers in Language, Numbers in Fiction, Numbers in Culture, Numbers in Mythology and Religion, and Numbers in Math and Science. Each of these sections has numerous short stories about topics included in each heading. I love trivia and fun facts and this book was stocked full of them. I recommend this to everyone, not just those that like trivia. I think all will find it intriguing and enjoy how phrases with numbers came about.

Not my slice of pie
I'll be honest...you want honesty, right? This book wasn't my cup of tea. Now, please don't misunderstand. It is chock full of information about every numerical saying known to man, including many I have never heard of. On the other hand, it is a book chock full of every numerical saying known to man. You see where I'm going with this?

I am very sure that lots of people love reading that kind of stuff. I personally know several people with fountains of random trivia coming out of their mouths all the time. That is the type of person who would likely enjoy this book. It is definitely full of lots of trivia and some pretty good information. I just wish there was some humor or something to make the material easier on the brain.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from FSB Media. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Taken from [...]

Delightful!
Buchanan's engaging and somewhat playful writing style made this book a pleasure to read. It was also informative, and I didn't find inaccuracies (an amazing thing, these days).

You do not have to be a nerd to enjoy this book. It's not a "math book." The math angle is really a vehicle or theme for presenting various interesting facts. Some of these facts are trivia, and some are more substantive. The author could have presented a different set of facts, under a different theme. But he chose math and thus we have this book.

In keeping with the math motif, the book has a logical structure to it. The book runs 174 pages (in small format). It consists of five chapters, each beginning with "Numbers in..."

1. Language. Do you know the origin of "Three sheets to the wind" or "10-4 good buddy?"

2. Fiction. Why 007, 39 steps, and Room 101? This chapter explains these and more.\

3. Culture. This chapter addresses such things as 555 area codes, 419 scams, and the Golden Number. It's pretty fun reading.

4. Mythology and Religion. Why, for example, is 666 considered extremely evil in one culture, and extremely good in another?

5. Math and Science. This chapter has many practical applications. The part about misleading statistics will be a real game-changer for most readers. I think 4 out of 5 people don't understand statistical misrepresentation, and this section will help 80% of them.

This book is good entertainment and good reading. I laughed aloud in some places, and learned useful facts in some places. I also had fun learning some useless facts that were interesting all the same.

Fun and Interesting (Michelle&Leslie's Book Picks book review)
One of my favorite subjects at school is Math so Easy As Pi was great to read. I really learned a lot of new stuff about numbers and not just in relation to math but also in fiction, culture and religion (the book dedicates a chapter for each of these and all nicely organized) that I heard in passing but don't really know the meaning of. For example, I now know the meaning behind the movie title 8 Mile (it's a road in Detroit that provides a socio-economic divide between rich and the poor of the city). But my favorite part of this book will have to be the "Numbers in Mythology and Religion" section. In particular, I really enjoyed trying out numerology thing. The author explains how numerology is used to make ideas and theorize numbers and he tells how you to assign each letter in the alphabet with the numbers 1-9. Then, you match the letters in your name to the numbers and keep adding them up until you come up with a single digit number. That number's meaning supposedly tells you your personality. I tried this out with my name and I got the number 2 which means "duality, division, cooperation." Hmm... this is true, I guess, because there are times I'm torn between two things and I act in different ways around different sets of people. Anyway, I also really like when the book talks about the different zodiacs--again, zodiacs were something I've heard about but never really understood and now I know more about it!

I thought the book was organized well with a table of contents for the different sections and with the page number for each separate topic that falls under the section. Everything was really easy to find and I didn't have to flip pages. There were these cute little illustrations too and I really like that a few were there to provide a nice visual and explain a topic clearer. To sum it up, I really liked this book. It has a lot of interesting information, all explained well (though a couple were a little confusing) and I learned a lot. And though I know this, it all the more made me realize that there are more to numbers than the math we learn in school. This is a book I'm going to come back to once in a while just to flip through and re-read a few of my favorite sections. 4.5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed by Leslie [We received this book from FSB Media for review.]

Numbers
We are a people of numbers. We have phone numbers, house numbers, Social Security numbers, medical records numbers, lot numbers, and serial numbers. Even our computers and electronic devices function with numbers - you get the idea. Easy as Pi gives the read a glimpse into the world of numbers and how society uses them.
A brief summary of the divisions in Easy as Pi:
Numbers in our language - phrases using numbers explained
Numbers in Fiction - Movies, books and TV shows with numbers in the title
Numbers in Culture - gambling, Social Security, scams, etc.
Numbers in Mythology and Religion - numerology and significance of numbers in the Bible
Numbers in Math and Science - types of numbers, statistics, and oddities

This is not a mathematics instruction book. In Easy as Pi, I learned of the Piraha tribe, a small tribe in Brazil with a numbering system consisting of one, two and many - that's all. I also learned about life without "0", and all about Pi. Why did Ray Bradbury name his book Fahrenheit 451? Little snippets of information that help you gain insight into how important numbers are in our lives.Books like these are a fun interaction for families.Parents can quiz children or children can quiz their parents.

This is another wonderful book in the Reader's Digest Series.I have also reviewed:
I used to Know That by Caroline Taggart
A Certain "Je Ne Sais Quoi by Chloe Rhodes ... Read more

Product Description
The history of pi, says the author, though a small part of the history of mathematics, is nevertheless a mirror of the history of man. Petr Beckmann holds up this mirror, giving the background of the times when pi made progress -- and also when it did not, because science was being stifled by militarism or religious fanaticism.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (62)

An excelent book from all point of view
I have read many times this book and I
always found its lecture instructive.
It contains useful historical, geometrical
an arithmetical matter.
His analysis on the effect of oppresive
systems in the evolution of science are
correct and based on its own experience.
Very recommendable.
Ludovicus

Not worth the effort
Some interesting things I didn't know.
However, the author goes on several rants about topics not at all relevant to the matter at hand.
I'm sure there are better products to be found.

The Most Inept Would-Be-Historian I've Ever Read.
In his preface to " A History of Pi", Petr Beckmann says sarcastically, "Being neither an historian nor a mathematician, I felt eminently qualified to write" a history of pi. Would that he had taken the matter of his qualifications more seriously. Beckmann was an electrical engineer who emigrated from Czechoslovakia to the United States during some of the hotter days of the Cold War. He attempts here to present a history of pi (the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter) from around 2000 BC to the present day (which was 1971): the evolution in methods of calculating pi, how mathematicians used it, and what they thought about pi through the ages.

We get an overview of mathematics in the ancient world, through Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Egypt, Mayans, India and China, including their use of pi and mathematics of circles in general, with an emphasis on Greek mathematicians, whom Beckmann praises to the heavens. As not much went on mathematically in Europe of the Middle Ages, he picks the story up again in the Renaissance, skipping contributions by the Arabs. With the discovery of calculus in the 17th century, the progress of pi picks up speed. Beckmann devotes entire chapters to Isaac Newton and Leonard Euler. Then it's on to probability theory in more recent times.

The mathematical formulae are not explained especially well for those unfamiliar with them, but it isn't difficult to get the gist of it. The history of pi seems little more than an excuse for Beckmann to write about whatever strikes his fancy, however, with tangents on everything from the Royal Library at Alexandria to an Indiana physician who tried to sell the state legislature on a new value for pi in 1897. But mostly this is a polemic by a man whose understanding of history is pure fantasy. He hates everything imperial -unless it's an empire that he likes. He makes so many errors in relating the "histories" of ancient Greece and Rome that he comes off rather deranged. He does no better with modern history. Needless to say, this calls into question his account of pi, as well.

Outstanding
This book is a quick read brilliantly written focusing on the history ofwith respect to the civilizations and mathematicians that advanced it.I consider it a must read.

A classic.
The other reviewers ... all the way from 1-star to 5-star provide enough material to allow you to make your decision, whether it's worth your valuable time to read it.

It is well worth it. I can't imagine an average armchair mathematician wanting any more, nor a cynical historian wanting any less.

This is a classic. If you are at all interested in mathematics for the layman, or are an average armchair mathematician, this can not be overlooked. ... Read more

Product Description
When Sir Cumference drinks a potion which turns him into a dragon, his son Radius searches for the magic number known as pi which will restore him to his former shape. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Sir Cumference does it again
I absolutely love the Sir Cumference series and was delighted to add yet another book to our collection.These books are well written to tell a great story for younger children, and the older children can uncover great mathematical concepts as they listen to the explanation and work through the problem as well.The books all include a practical view of the mathematical concept as well (at the end of the story).I would definitely recommend this book as well as the others fromt he series:
Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi (A Math Adventure)
Sir Cumference and the First Round Table (A Math Adventure)
Sir Cumference and All the King's Tens: A Math Adventure
Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland (A Math Adventure)
Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter (Math Adventures)
Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone: A Math Adventure

Great Product!!!
The book was in better condition than I expected of a used book. It looked like new!!

Great Book!
I used this book on Pi Day in my middle school math classroom. My students loved it! I think that it really helped explain why Pi is a constant number and it works for every circle!

Sir Cumference is fearless!
This is a great book. It has lots of mathematical elements while also being fun for middle school students. I, as a math teacher, enjoyed reading this book to my students. The math terms that tie the book together are very creative in the way they are presented. If you are reading this book to a class of middle school students, it will take from ten to fifteen minutes to read completely if the class is attentive. The math described in the book can help students to remember those terms later.

Fun, Funny, and For a Big Age Range
As a fifth/sixth grade teacher, I find all of these "Sir Cumference" books to be interesting to students at every stage of learning about the math concepts they present. This is the one mathematically-flawed book in the series, however, which accounts for the 3 star rating. The young boy, Radius, searches for a cure for his father's unexpected transformation into a dragon, and 3 and 1/7 works as the value for pi needed to restore him to human form. It's a bit nit-picky of me, perhaps, but one of the most essential things a student should learn about pi is that it is a non-terminating decimal value which got a name because it couldn't be accurately quantified. That said, any teacher (or interested parent) could clear up the fuzzy definition. The books are funny, brief, written on a relatively easy level, and -- while most likely to be appreciated fully by students who have already learned the math -- could be enjoyed as stories by even the youngest listeners, as other parent/teacher reviewers have affirmed. This book, like the others, does a good job of using verbal jokes to help secure math vocabulary. ... Read more

Product Description
In this delightful layperson's introduction to one of math's most interesting phenomena, Drs Posamentier and Lehmann review p's history from pre-biblical times to the 21st century, the many amusing and mind-boggling ways of estimating p over the centuries, quirky examples of obsessing about p (including an attempt to legislate its exact value), and useful applications of p in everyday life, including statistics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fascinating, But Not For Everyone!
I think 'fascinating' is a good word for this book, but it is probably not for everyone. I liked it, but my wife's eyes glaze over when I tell her about it. It is written in an understandable fashion and does not try to snow the average person or go into too much detail. If it did, I would have put it down. The authors are excited about the subject and want to communicate that excitement to the readers. I think they did a good job of it, but the fact is that you really have to be a math fan to like this book.

Let me give you a flavor of the book.For example, by how much would the addition of a single meter to an imaginary band about the earth raise that band above the earth? If you would say something like a micrometer, that would be a good intuitive answer (at least what I would have said) but incorrect. The surprising answer (which I will let the book reveal) has nothing to do with how big the original circle is, but relates instead to only how much the circumference is changed and the constant of pi.

The book gives a history of how pi is calculated, all the way back to Archimedes and, later, Euler who might have been the most brilliant mind in the history of math. His famous formula the natural log e raised to the power of pi times i = -1 was mentioned in the book and well it should have. How does an irrational number raised to an irrational, imaginary power result in a real, rational number? In passing, the book explored how an imaginary number ofi raised to the power ofi can come out to a real number. (This involves natural log e being raised to a power of pi). Where did these amazing formulas and continued fractions for pi come from? Some of the formulas are astounding! It is also shown that pi is related to integers in certain formulas that have nothing to do with circles!

This information is amazing, at least to me; and I'mmore amazed by the brilliant minds that thought this stuff up!

Good effort
A previous reviewer has already given a synopsis of this book. The book belongs in the libraries of high schools and junior colleges, and would be a worthy addition there. It is relatively non-technical, and perhaps inevitably so, as the authors are not professional mathematicians, but rather "mathematics educators."

A faster, more technical, and more complete work is, "Pi Unleashed", by Arndt and Haenel, and published by Springer (ISBN 3540665722).

(3.141592653589793238462643383279502884...) REVEALED!!!
+++++

This book, by Professors Alfred Posamentier and Igmar Lehmann, reveals the mystery behind the constant number Pi.It is designated by the symbol of the sixteenth lower-case letter of the Greek alphabet and is formally calculated by dividing the circumference of any circle by its diameter.Its value is (3.14...) or approximately (22/7).

This book convinced me that Pi is special and comes up in the most unexpected places.The mathematics needed to fully understand this easy-to-read, informative, engaging, and fun book is "no more...than that of high school mathematics."Large, helpful diagrams accompany all mathematical explanations.

This book consists of nine chapters:

(1) Tells the reader what Pi is and how it achieved its current prominence.
(2) Takes the reader through a brief history of the evolution of Pi.This history goes back four thousand years.
(3) Provides various methods for arriving at Pi's value.A wide variety of methods have been chosen, "some precise, some experimental, and some just good
guessing."
(4) Centers on activities and findings by mathematicians and math hobbyists who have explored the value of Pi and related fields in ways that the ancient mathematicians would never have dreamed of.
(5) Explores some of the curious phenomena that focus on the value and concept of Pi.Primarily here is how Pi relates to other famous numbers and to seemingly unrelated concepts.
(6) Is dedicated to some applications of Pi.The lesson from this chapter is that Pi is ubiquitous -- it always comes up!
(7) Presents some fascinating relationships involving Pi and circles.
(8) This is the book's epilogue.Here, we are presented with Pi to 100,000 decimal places (which uses up almost thirty pages).
(9) This is an afterword by Dr. Herbert Hauptman who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1985.He is known "as the first mathematician to win a Nobel Prize."

This book also presents little unknown things about Pi.For example, did you know that there is a Pi song?How many decimal places has Pi been calculated (as of 2002)?There is even a Pi day, a specific month and day in which this number is celebrated!(From the information presented above, a reader of this review should be able to figure out the exact month and day.)

After reading this book, the reader should definitely and confidently be able to say what Pi is.

Finally, this book does tell you everything (and I mean everything) about Pi but I was surprised (especially since the afterword is by a Nobel Laureate in chemistry) that there is no mention of the chemical bond called the "pi bond."It is called this because of its shape.In physics, there are elementary particles called "pi-mesons" or "pions."

In conclusion, this book takes the mystery out of the mysterious number Pi.If you're like me and like exploring mysteries, then this is the book for you!!

(first published 2004; acknowledgments; preface; 7 chapters; epilogue; main narrative 245 pages; afterword; four appendices; references; index)

+++++
... Read more

Product Description
No number has captured the attention and imaginations ofpeople throughout the ages as much as the ratio of a circle'scircumference to its diameter.With incisive historical insight and arefreshing sense of humor, David Blatner explores the many facets ofpi and humankind's fascination with it-from the ancient Egyptians andArchimedes to Leonardo da Vinci and the modern-day Chudnovskybrothers, who have calculated pi to billions of digits with a homemadesupercomputer. New in paperback. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

Pi 3.1415926535262384 or something to the like...
I am tired of math textbooks. This little book here has taught me more math than a textbook with PI in it. For PI day, I spent the afternoon reading it. I recommend this for anyone who doesn't want to appreciate it. Maybe you'll change your mind.

`It seems like such a simple problem: draw a square that covers the same area as a circle ..'
'.. using nothing but a straightedge and a compass.'

In this book, David Blatner explores the history of Pi: who has tried to calculate it, and how.This book includes early estimates of the value of pi and the modern quest to find more digits of pi by using computers.The book even includes the first one million digits of pi.

Way back in the last century, I became acquainted with pi.After I left school, I never really needed to think about the value of it beyond the first few decimal places.I can understand the quest to find a pattern and the desire to stress test computers by calculating pi to 51.5 billion places (that was back in 1997).I can learn, and the world has certainly benefitted, from the obsessions of others.

This quirky little book is full of facts about pi, and also provides other sources for those who want to know more.For me this was an interesting and fun read.I think it would be fascinating to many young people learning about the enigma of pi.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

about 1/3 useful and 1/3 interesting
The Joy of Pi is an interesting pamphlet in book form.Blatner has taken a number of cool facts and anecdotes and created a book around it.That and A LOT of filler graphics.Besides the book's small physical format, Blatner gives us about as much information as we would expect in a really good web site.

It is really a good chronology of PI over the millenia.I bought this used for a small price.If you can get it cheap it is fun to read.If you are looking for more serious background on PI, try Beckmann.

The Joy of Pi
Everyone knows a little something about pi.It has something to do with circles.It's about 3.14.It goes on forever.This book adds a bit to those scraps of knowledge, providing a short history and a number of factoids.(And an estimate of pi to, I believe, 100,000 decimal places.)Quick, fun reading for those who find dabbling in mathematics fun.Not, however, a rigorous study of any facet of pi.

This is no Joy
I expected a fanciful, light-hearted assessment of the history, development, and understanding of pi.This book is none of those things.There are myriad books on the topic that are better than this.The typeface and its distracting watermarks and background graphics are annoying.Attemps to deal with historical perspective are amateurish. On page 29, Blatner says, "[In]...the Dark Ages...following the breakdown of the Roman Empire and the rise in power of early Christianity...budding scientific interest in Europe...was effectively quelled by religious intolerance..."This statement is historically inaccurate and appears solely to reflect the author's uninformed religious intolerance.
Not only do "zero" modern historians refer to the middle ages as "dark," but the author himself entitles the chapter "A Millenium of Progress!"David, is it "dark" or is it "progressive?"Please fish or cut bait.Further, the chapter continues to describe how progress was made through dialogue among the different relious and ethnic groups of the era.Not only is the history flawed, but the statements are self-contradictory.Poorly done and not at all funny. ... Read more

Product Description
John D. Barrow's Pi in the Sky is a profound -- and profoundly different -- exploration of the world of mathematics: where it comes from, what it is, and where it's going to take us if we follow it to the limit in our search for the ultimate meaning of the universe. Barrow begins by investigating whether math is a purely human invention inspired by our practical needs. Or is it something inherent in nature waiting to be discovered?

In answering these questions, Barrow provides a bridge between the usually irreconcilable worlds of mathematics and theology. Along the way, he treats us to a history of counting all over the world, from Egyptian hieroglyphics to logical friction, from number mysticism to Marxist mathematics. And he introduces us to a host of peculiar individuals who have thought some of the deepest and strangest thoughts that human minds have ever thought, from Lao-Tse to Robert Pirsig, Charles Darwin, and Umberto Eco. Barrow thus provides the historical framework and the intellectual tools necessary to an understanding of some of today's weightiest mathematical concepts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Might have been a classic if .. .
Might have been a classic if I had understood more of it.This is an extremely deep subject, searching for the source of mathematics.Is it a closed system of symbols that can solve any problem since it is a self-constructed system, as the formalists claim?Apparently not exactly, as Godel has proven that any system of math is contains unsolvable problems.

Is it merely the presence of numbers and definite operations in the mind, learned from human activity?But this essentially limits math, as Barrow points out, to a branch of psychology; it is "finite, shorn of many truths that we had liked, divested of so many devices that were as much a part of human intuition as counting, and divorced from the study of the physical world."

Then there's the Platonist view, that mathematics is an ideal, discovered and not invented."Mathematics exists apart from mathematicians," says Barrow.This view, teetering on the brink of mysticism, is closest to where the philosophy of mathematics is today, according to Barrow, especially among consumers of mathematics such as physicists working at the extreme edge of science.

Compare this to my review of Frank Tipler's The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead

Is mathematics real?
That may be a silly question. After all, most of us use counting and numerical calculations many times a day. However, the reading matter here digs below the surface, and asks such awkward questions. What is the nature of maths? Would there be any maths if there were no mathematicians?

Starting with theories of counting, and the origins of methods of enumeration, John Barrow plunges headlong into the philosophy of mathematics. Perhaps the book ought to carry a health warning, for it should not be read accidentally. Readers need to have a grounding in some of the great mathematical movements, and discoveries. (Perhaps it is a bit judgmental to even use the word "discoveries"; are mathematical ideas invented or discovered? That topic is part of the subject matter).

I liked the debate, but found the volume hard going. It is not the kind of book to read solidly from cover to cover. A great deal of re-reading is necessary, and picking it up on the train requires a conscious effort to remember what the current debate is about. Some of the arguments are very intricate for those of us who are not mathematicians.

The work of some of the pillars of mathematics are described in varying detail, together with the triple crises that hit maths in the early years of the 20th Century. The optimism of Hilbert on the one hand, or Russell and Whitehead on the other was washed away by the work of Kurt Godel. The Austrian Godel, by the way, has been described as one of the most innovative minds of that century.

There are some interesting insights into some of the characters from the history of maths. Leopold Kronecker did not believe in negative numbers. However, he had been a BANKER. How did he convince his customers that the problems caused by negative numbers (i.e. too little in their accounts) needed to be solved? There were also some disturbing questions raised by the work of Cantor on set theory. This gives rise to a wonderful paradox called "Hilbert's Hotel".

As with many works on philosophy, it is not the answers that are important, it is the questions. Does the entity pi exist, even if there are no mathematicians. Is there really a universal 'pi in the sky', external to any human thought? You decide.

Peter Morgan, Bath, UK (morganp@supanet.com)

hey mr. wanton arborcide from iceland
doesn't the mathematical concept of greater than
come from a human mind? sure, some birds can count and distinguish between object sizes but can they creatively abstract and apply the concept to solve other physical problems?
nope. and if you think the whole book is based
on a false premise, it still has some interesting views, facts and features.
does it warrant a 1 star?
i mean you can learn from everything.
even mistakes.
i mean i learned from you just now.

wanton arboricide
The author's leading claim in this book is that "the only mathematics we know is human mind and brain based mathematics." This claim can be understood in either of two ways, which the author does not distinguish from one another. On one hand, by "mathematics" he might mean the practice or family of practices that go by that name (the sort of thing that a math teacher gets paid to teach). In this sense, it is just trivial that the only mathematics we know depends on humans, just as the only civil engineering or basketball we know depends on humans. But let's be charitable, and try to construe the author's claim in a way that does not reduce it to a mere triviality. Let's suppose that by "mathematics" he means not the practice of investigating mathematical fact, but the body of fact thus investigated. But if that is what he means, then his claim is clearly false. It is clearly false, for example, that the fact that 1 is less than a million depends on humans, their minds, or their brains.

Thus, the whole book is premised on a fallacy that can be spotted by a second year philosophy major.

Will There Be Pi in The Sky By and By When You Die?
Barrow, an astronomer at the University of Sussex when this book was published, provides an entertaining and informative account of the foundations and philosophy of mathematics.Do mathematicians invent or discover mathematics?What 'reality' do mathematical entities like pi have?What accounts for what physicist Eugene Wigner has called, in a now-famous paper, "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences" (299)?After an interesting account of the history of counting and numbers, Barrow discusses in succeeding chapters the philosophies of formalism, inventionism, intuitionism, and platonism, a sophisticated version of which he seems to favor.Perhaps most mathematical workers follow what Alfred Korzybski called "the 'christian science' school of mathematics, which proceeds by faith and disregards entirely any problems of the epistemological foundations of its supposed `scientific' activities" (Science and Sanity 748).I commend Barrow because he considers these epistemological questions important and writes about them so engagingly.Barrow's discussions of theories and personalities provide useful background for understanding mathematical foundations.As for Barrow's conclusions, from a non-aristotelian view, the appeal of platonism seems understandable as an example of identification, the confusion of orders of abstracting.Barrow doesn't seem to consider that mathematicians may both invent and discover mathematics.He seems so taken with the effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences that the notion of mathematical entities existing solely as high-order abstractions in human nervous systems seems insufficient to him.As Korzybski pointed out, we live in a world of multi-dimensional, ordered structures or relations.It does not seem unreasonable, then, that we can map this world with an exact language of relations, i.e., mathematics.But as Korzybski also pointed out many times, "the map is not the territory." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

El ingenioso Pi
Este libro como ya todos han dicho es una gran historia, Martel la hizo muy entretenida, por momentos hasta sientes suspenso a pesar de saber el final desde el comienzo. Sin embargo, yo particularmente me percate del personaje Pi y de su principal caracteristica, LA IMAGINACION. Pi desde la primera parte, tiene una manera muy particular de interpretar la vida en un zoologico, va en contra de las creencias convencionales y explica de una manera muy coherente su manera de apreciar los zoologicos, desde ese momento, supe que Pi me iba a sorprender mucho con su manera de ver las cosas.

Luego, como el interpreta las religiones es algo muy raro tambien, es como si este niño hubiera vivido fuera de la contaminacion cultural que nos rodea y que siempre termina direccionando nuestras creencias y manera de pensar. Pi, por su parte tenia una manera de interpretar las cosas unica, creo que nunca a nadie ni siquiera se le habria ocurrido practicar mas de una religion a la vez.

La historia en el bote, definitivamente el centro de la historia. Esta historia que por el mismo hecho de tener un tigre y un niño en un bote empieza a dar signos de ficcion termina por convencerte de su veracidad. Tan llena de detalles me hizo creer que en verdad las cosas pasaron asi, hasta que claro llegaron a la isla de algas que te vuelve a sumergir en la duda de la veracidad de esta historia. Para muchos talvez la parte de la isla de algas no tenia espacio en el libro, pero yo creo que fue la respuesta para la pregunta que me hice cuando acabe el libro.

Por ultimo, la parte del hospital, aunque no es mas que una lectura ligera y sin mucha imprtancia, cobra vida cuendo Pi cuenta la verdadera historia. Asi es, yo al igual que muchos estoy convencido que esa es la verdadera historia del bote. Entre las cosas que me lo prueban esta la isla de algas que no es mas que una respuesta a que la historia que leimos es fictcia, ademas si vuelven a leer el libro se daran cuenta que existen muchas concordancias entre las dos historias. Sobre el tigre, puedo decir que representa la valentia de Pi de aferrarse a la vida, por eso el mismo dijo "Plan 7: solo puedo sobrevivir si alimento al Richard Parker".

Muy buen libro, muy buen final, solo se los puedo recomendar.

Saludos, Piero ... Read more

Product Description
New Ramoth. A city covered in scar tissue, where survival of the fittest decides who's on top and crime is the only promotion system. Enter Eddie "Dog Boy" Gnash, ex-carnival freak turned private investigator. Now the bodies are piling up, and the fate of New Ramoth rests in the hands of this fur-covered freak-Eddie Gnash, Sideshow P.I."Nathaniel Lambert and Kevin Sweeney have worked seamlessly to create a page-turning powerhouse of a book. Vivid and brilliant, SIDESHOW P.I. is a must-have for any horror/bizarro collection."Rio Youers, author of EVERDEAD and END TIMES"A fun read all the way through. Better than Arnzen's Licker and I read it cover to cover. This was very intelligently written, humorous, well paced, and beautifully edited."D.W. Green, author of KIM CHI FLYING FISH ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Who doesn't love a Sideshow?
FROM THE FUNKY WEREPIG

They tell me this is bizarro. I fully admit I'm not an expert on that particular genre. I've read some; don't get a handle on most. A lot of bizarro reminds me of David Lynch films. How far can we push the insanity and a plot is not mandatory. Some people love it. Some put the book down after a few chapters.

So that leaves me hanging out to dry with reviewing SIDESHOW PI by Nathaniel Lambert and Kevin Sweeney.

I understand it's the first book in what will probably wind up a series. A well written and conceived story about Eddie Gnash, ex- `Dog Boy' and the former leader of a group of circus freaks who now find themselves out of work. They all migrate to New Ramoth, a place that makes Detroit seem like Vatican City. Crime and death are minor league here. You can actually order people to eat off any classy menu. It's that kind of warped. So it's a perfect fit when Gnash decides to be a private eye.

In bizarro fashion, the characters Lambert and Sweeney create are wildly painted. The gore is thick and at times over-the-line disgusting. The monsters that run amuck would make HP Lovecraft say `WTF?' (One misshapen giant flings acid poo at its foes). These two writers don't ever hit the brakes on their imaginations, almost overloading the reader's ability to pull it all in as if on purpose.

But if this is bizarro, then stamp my hand and give me a fan pin to wear.

I don't know who does what in the Lambert/Sweeney writing sessions. Maybe Lambert has nouns and Sweeney handles verbs. But whatever they do, it comes out as one helluva fun ride. A tight sharp plot. A case that moves like a top film noir. Beautiful snappy dialogue. And characters that are as real as they are freakish. These two writers take a half man/half woman Siamese twin and made me believe the female half was smoking hot. A one ton `fat lady' has a love for her circus performing son that any parent can identify with. And Eddie, well, we've all been where he's been before.

I don't know if it's right to pigeonhole this book into one genre. It's weird and gross and hysterical, yes. But it's also a legit pulp crime story. It's a thriller. It's a highly intelligent science lesson. And it's a wisely crafted open minded look into humanity...people are people. Family is family. Even if they are lobster girls or huge pinheads or a Dog Boy.

They all have a story I want to be a part of for many successful sequels to come.

The Weirdest Show on Earth
It's always nice to see two weird writers joining forces to create a single project.Sideshow P.I. is like that.Both authors--Nathaniel Lambert and Kevin Sweeney--have melded their prose together seamlessly, a great accomplishment even if they didn't live in separate countries.Sideshow P.I. is great noir bizarro, told with two voices that mix together and shift around, creating an amorphous rhythm that perfectly fits this weird world.

The setting is New Ramoth, a carnival-themed dystopia crawling with voodoo, whores, clones, corrupt corporations, and vicious gangs.This is the place the freaks go after all the freak shows have shut down, and it's become the real Sin City.Any carnal desire can be sated here, or you might wind up dead in an alleyway.It happens.The things they do in New Ramoth would make every Vegas showman wet his pants in fear.It's a futuristic cesspool of garbage, rotted corpses, and acid rain.In other words, it's the perfect setting for a gritty noir tale.

Our detective is Eddie Gnash, who once performed in the carnivals as the dog-boy but now finds a new calling as a private investigator.I loved Eddie.He keeps the old-school detective archetype, hard-nosed and able to handle anything, but he's also got a flair for sarcasm and escaping dangerous spots by the skin of his teeth.He's like Sam Spade mixed with Han Solo and covered in fur.And as Eddie tries to solve the case of the dead johns, he digs into one of New Ramoth's many corrupt little secrets.If a city of grotesque freaks wasn't bad enough, something worse is bubbling under the surface:monsters.

Like Gina Ranalli said in the introduction, I hope to see more stories set in this world.I want to see Eddie's further adventures and catch up to his colorful supporting cast of circus freaks. It's a perfect blend of freakshow style, hard cyberpunk noir, and psychedelic monsters.The ending becomes a whirlwind of extreme sex and violence done in true bizarro style.Sideshow P.I. has built an extremely vivid and unique world in New Ramoth.It's a gory freakshow that's worth the ticket price.

I sort of wish I wrote this....
You know what the best types of books are? The ones that make you wish YOU were the author (or in this case, the authors). This is that type of book for me especially because it has the feel of those old pulp detective novels. The cover captures that perfectly.. a nice early 1950s noir. Many collaborative efforts are messy but Lambert and Sweeney compliment each other. It's a perfect combination.

SIDESHOW P.I. is a tsunami of pulp-fiction violence, bodily fluids, and perverted sex. It's a weird but impressive twist on the private eye subgenre with a unique anti-hero that you won't soon forget. This book will mess with your head in the best way possible. You can consider it horror fiction for gore-starved carnies. A true freak show for bizarro/horror fans.

I recommend picking this one up if you like off-beat crime fictioin.. but be warned. When I say "off-beat" ... what I reallymean to say is really freaking weird (freak being the key word here). But I guess the only criticism would be for those who are crime fiction purists. They will probably find everything in this book too weird.. but whatever. If they don't read this book, it's their loss. This is a fun, FREAKy ride.

Lambert and Sweeny are the best kind of twisted
I love this book. It is the first time in over a year that I could not actually put it down. The characters are as bizarre as they are real. I could see these "people" and would love to hang it, assuming they didn't kill me for being a Norman. The story was engaging and addictive and the prose flowed like 30 year old cognac. I know the second one is almost done and I WANT IT!!

EPIC READ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The most effective and well-written novels introduce us to new people...not characters, but rather folks that walk up, shake your hand and smile, or scare the pants right off of you. Either way, Nathaniel Lambert and Kevin Sweeney do this ridiculously well! The terror, which has no mercy on the reader..yet at the same time you will have trouble putting it down. The night I finished it for the first time, I was 75 pages from the end and it was already midnight, but I just had to keep going. I couldn't wait until morning. I had to read, see, feel... I had to know. Everything builds and builds, as well as giving off the love, excitement, and horror that abounds, and it doesn't let down. Every single event, be it touching, scary, or vulgar, is necessary to form the complete picture of what may be one of the most epic horror/bizarro books you will ever read. ... Read more

Product Description
With this practical guide, you ll learn how to develop mappings, adapters, and proxies for SAP NetWeaver Process Integration. Each exercise includes detailed descriptions for all development and configuration objects (including monitoring), and then concludes with an integration example. The book is suitable for SAP NetWeaver PI beginners, and can also serve as a reference guide for experienced users.Presentation from a Developer s PerspectiveProvides a detailed overview of the features and capabilities of SAP NetWeaver PI from a developer s point of view.Comprehensive ExercisesExplains mappings, adapters, and proxies using practical, hands-on development of components.Concrete Activity GuidelinesOffers detailed tutorials with numerous programming examples to explain the implementation of all development and configuration objects.Multilayer ScenarioUses an integration example to explain the process of implementing a sales process (inquiry, quotation, ordering, and billing).Presentation Across ReleasesProvides an overview of all procurement processes, along with a list of the transactions in the SAP system.Highlights· System definition in the SLD· Configuration of the local Integration Engine· Adapter-specific system settings· Configuration of objects, service interfaces, mappings, adapters, proxies· Enterprise Services Repository, Services Registry, Runtime Workbench· Design, configuration, process, monitoring· RFC-to-file, file-to-IDoc, ABAP-proxy-to-SOAP, file-to-JDBC, BPM· Advanced Adapter Engine, integrated configuration· Enhanced receiver determination, XML validation· Message packaging, mapping lookups ... Read more

Product Description
The first English translation of a major Argentine literary figure

With an uncommon blend of elation and discretion, The Life and Memoirs of Doctor Pi takes readers on a journey of mysterious encounters, unspoken agreements, official-esque errands, and romantic escapades. Doctor Pi is an unflappable, perfectly human superhero-charismatic, artful, and with an understated swagger, master of his familiar yet impossible world. With its uncanny trust in language's capacity to capture that world in all its strangeness, The Life and Memoirs of Doctor Pi is delightful, mischievous, captivating in its suggestions of deeper literary and cultural intrigues. In the life of Doctor Pi, the familiar is rendered strange, but recognizable; the anticipated act is always fulfilled, but never as expected; and though consequences do ensue, they are never foreseeable, nor repeatable, and usually not very reasonable, either. To read Doctor Pi is to set forth on an expedition like no other--impossible to turn back from, impossible not to lose oneself in. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

must read
This is a must read! fascinating look at life and religion. It is rare that I find a book that I want to re-read. This is one of the few. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a translation and annotation of Li Dong-yuan's Pi Wei Lun; by Bob Flaws.With so much new research in China on the ideas and formulas of Li Dong-yuan, we feel this book is one of the most important pre-modern texts in Chinese medicine for 21st century clinicians.Bob has undertaken the task of a fresh translation of this book, this time including detailed commentary, relevant case histories and random clinical trail reports for each chapter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very interesting book
In this book discussed mechanisms of illness arizing, principals of curing them and clinical examples. Quite a lot of interesting passages, like "Liver can not be healthy if man has a lot of unfulfilled desires". Very impressive clinical examples, like 10 years of diabet type 2 was cured fast. Not everything is clear, as assumed that readers know well inernal structure and connections inside human body. Propably it is as well translation issue. Anyway, it is one of the best books availible on market. ... Read more

Product Description
Pi is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Scott Hemphill is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Scott Hemphill then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Life isn't all hearts and flowers. It's pain and suffering. It's dirty little secrets buried in the muck and mire where the grubs and worms feed. Secrets I unbury. -Rachel Cord, Still a Bitch

Hard-boiled! Poached in Tabasco! In her second Confidential Investigations Mystery, private detective Rachel Cord returns with a vengeance chasing multiple threads through a labyrinth of missing persons, buried bodies, kinky sex, new love, and an ex-lover who may be a serial killer. Threads that threaten to bind Rachel within a tight cord preventing her from getting the answers she needs and saving the woman she loves.

Reviewers of Rachel's debut in 'Life's a Bitch. So am I.' Rachel Cord, P.I. have said:

"Nothing like this ever happens to Kinsey Millhone!" -POD Book Reviews & More

"A great detective novel with sarcastic humor and gritty realism." -Rainbow Reviews

"Rachel Cord is a tough take-no-nonsense kind of gal." -BookLoons

"(G)reat detail and some huge surprises! It had me sitting on the edge of my seat to the very end." -Reader Views ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Wild fun and terrifying roller-coaster ride.
Funny, full of sass and sex, this sequel to "Life's a Bitch. So am I." had me lol and desperate and hoping Rachel would come through unscathed. As one reviewer said, "Nothing like this ever happens to Kinsey Milhone." Or Stephanie Plum, Sharon McCone or Vic Warshawski, either.

Rachel Cord is a tough, take-no-nonsense private investigator yet also an emotional marshmallow.Sometimes there is raw brutality swirled with bodice-ripping lust and topped with bittersweet sarcasm. Rachel treats the reader like a close sister or best friend, not afraid to describe the nitty gritty or bare her mistakes and soul. She keeps you right beside her at all times; what she sees, thinks, does is never hidden.

A wild fun and terrifying roller-coaster ride, these books are a fast read yet don't seemed rushed. Conary packs a lot of detail, emotion and action into a short space. A real throwback to the best PI stories of the past.

need more
After reading the first Rachel Cord story I couldn't wait for the second now that it is here I can't wait for the next.Took only a couple of days to read and held me till the surprise ending.She is a person I want on my side and RE Conary needs to write more.What is Rachel going to get herself into next?

RAPID PAGE-TURNER WITH NO-HOLDS-BARRED ACTION


Emotionally scarred from a brutal rape and having to kill to survive, Rachel Cord is striving to prove she's still in command of her actions and still tough enough for the job. Believe me, she is. Even when it means tracking down an ex-lover to prove she's not a serial killer. Or is she?

Still a Bitch kept me hooked to the end. Couldn't put it down. Hope there is a third book in this series soon.I need to know where she goes next!!!!!

LOADED WITH FAST ADRELIUM ACTION
Just finished reading this book. But on the last page, my heart raced, tears started streaming down my face and I was in shock!!!!!

I don't think a book has ever done that to me before EVER.

Rachel Cord hates her huge breasts and would love a bust reductionto take her from a H cup to a modest C cup.She is so sick of men staring at her bust instead of her when she talks to them, and it interferes with her work. Rachel Cord is a lesbian who is a PI.

It's SO well written and Rachel is just so likeable!!!!!! In some books there are some sex scenes and with this book there are a couple of sex scenes also. They didn't bother me at all (not like the Christine Feehan books with 30 min sex scenes every 10 pages. YUKKO. ) But this is subtle, then a bit heavy in one,very acceptable in the story.

This book is definitely a 5 star!!!!!!! Unless stories about lesbians really offend you this should be on your To be purchased list. The print is a decent size and the book is slightly a larger size than the normal paper back size also.

FAST PACE STORY


She couldn't find love the first time around, now it's coming from all directions. Or maybe it's just sex. Rachel Cord is back and badder than ever. There's a hot, older woman; an S&M freak; two Country Western string beans who'd like to hogtie and brand her; a swinger; and an obsession with a magical "voice" that quivers her liver. If that's not enough, Rachel's ex is back in town--but she's wanted for multiple murders. What's a gal gotta do for some peace and love?


The well-endowed private eye is in over her head trying to balance her love life and her job. The job seemed simple enough, just find a man and hand him some papers; but that meant going across the river again and down a twisting tree-lined lane to a house hidden in the woods. Rachel's last time doing that didn't work out too well and she's still haunted by the experience. Still, a job's a job.


But one job leads to another and Rachel is jumping back and forth across the river with two police forces hounding her as she races to keep the bodies from piling higher.


Edgy, fast-paced, and funny, Life's never easy for Rachel Cord.
... Read more

Product Description
RobotBASIC has an integrated robot simulator with numerous sensors including bumpers, IR perimeter sensors, line sensors, a ranging sensor, a beacon detector, and an electronic compass.Our book, Robot Programmer's Bonanza, showed that these sensors can give a mobile robot amazing capabilities.RobotBASIC also has a proprietary protocol that allows it to control real robots with the very same programs developed with the simulator.This book gives a detail description of how to modify the 3Pi robot from Pololu so that it has all the sensors listed above and can be controlled over a Bluetooth link from a PC running RobotBASIC.There are many example programs that demonstrate how to use the 3Pi's new capabilities.This is not a beginner's project and readers are assumed to have soldering skills and the ability to read and interpret schematics.Download your FREE copy of RobotBASIC and discover how easy it can be to program a mobile robot. ... Read more

Product Description
"For the past two millennia, no significant progress has been made to improve methods used in the calculations of circles. Due to the transcendence of pi, the inner and outer dimensions of the circle were never calculated with precision, only approximately. The numeric facts were never reconciled with the geometric facts. But a breakthrough comes forth as author Lionel Fabius presents his thoroughly researched work on circles, Pi, Monads, and the Quasi-circle theory. After some intensive and extensive study, he provides a brilliant tool that centers on circles from a numerical point of view. His concept on monad conjecture, which represents the backbone of his quasi-circle theory, allows us to compute the dimensions of a circle with unprecedented methods of calculations. His work on the circle may affect some of the fundamental concepts found in basic mathematics and may even change your view of Pi as an irrational number.

"
... Read more