Amazon.com
Coaching has for too long been relegated to the bottom of most consultants' bags of fixes. More properly called "executive development," this field is becoming one of the hotter areas in the training world because of today's need to retain and develop superior talent. This excellent book of essays and articles by the top people in the industry is the first to integrate the theory and practice of this emerging field.
One of the central tenets of the book is that psychological training is central to the in-depth coaching process. The publisher, Davies-Black, is an imprint of Consulting Psychologists Press (the developers of the famous Myers-Briggs personality-type instrument) and thus there is the requisite focus on understanding the complexities of various "type interactions" in the workplace as part of the coaching process. Nevertheless, the text is solid and understandable, with some sophisticated, challenging, and often provocative arguments. For example, the book examines the collaboration between coaches and organization development experts and suggests that an executive's problems may stem not from poor interpersonal skills but from poor organizational structure, inadequate ground rules, or unclear decision-making processes.
Though it can sometimes seem academic in its approach, this beautifully packaged book is complemented by highly practical conversations, exercises, and checkpoints to determine the depth of learning. Human resources professionals, trainers, and consultants looking for guidance on the skills required to implement a topnotch executive coaching program will find this compendium by some of the top professionals in the field absolutely invaluable and well worth its price tag. --Charles Decker
Book Description
As today's business leaders are rapidly discoveriong a true and trusted partner in the professionals pioneering the new frontier of executive coaching, Executive Coaching will lead the way as the first resource to bring together the theory and methods of this growing professional practice.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful Read.......2007-01-10
The editors, Catherine Fitzgerald and Jennifer Garvey Berger, came up with a high quality, lucid and readable book which is a diverse collection of contributions from an elite group of experienced and knowledgeable executive coaches. I was excited to go through the different perspectives and methodologies which should appeal to a wide readership.
Those wishing to develop their coaching skills will find the book fascinating and enlightening. I believe that this is one of the most important coaching related books on the market.
The book is excellent reading for coaches, executives, human resource professionals, trainers, consultants and others with an interest in executive coaching.
what coaching books should be.......2006-03-18
This book really is what books on coaching should be. Solid, theoretically-based and applicable. Beats most of the other executive coaching books hands down. One of the best books on coaching around.
A variety of proven approaches........2004-02-01
I admit to more than a bit of bias since many of the authors are colleagues of mine; however I urge you to look at this book. It's the only one on the market, I believe, with diverse contributors and methodologies. The commonality among the authors is that they are all highly experienced and successful executive coaches, and I doubt that there's a "certified" coach among them. Some of these authors are also contributors to The Executive Coaching Handbook: Principles and Guidelines for a Successful Coaching Partnership, January 2004, third edition. It is written by The Executive Coaching Forum, (TECF) whose charter is to advance the highest standards and best practices of executive coaching with all members of the "coaching partnership" (Executives, Coaches, HR Professionals, and others interested in Executive Coaching). The Handbook is available to read or download at no cost at TECF's website: theexecutivecoachingforum.com
A Good Read!.......2003-03-13
Organizational consultants Catherine Fitzgerald and Jennifer Garvey Berger offer a collection of articles by 16 executive coaches, including themselves. The essays cover executive coaching perspectives, practices and management. This book examines the range of managerial and psychological approaches shaping this emerging field. These expert articles provide a diverse overview, varying in complexity, practicality and therapeutic philosophies. The hazard of anthologies is the mix of voices, so there is some blurring between what is coaching and what is therapy, and some drift about exactly who is being spoken to, the coach, the manager or the executive. The book seems to focus primarily on the analytical, psychological and tactical tasks of coaches. However, we from getAbstract suggest that if you are hiring a coach for yourself or your organization, you may find this very practical in understanding what coaches do and in being sure you select a good one.
A Diversity of Approaches.......2003-01-27
Executive Coaching: Practices & Perspectives, is an excellent and timely text consisting of 16 chapters written by 20 contributors, the editors also being contributors, providing a wide breadth of information and references. It provides a rare opportunity to shadow many experienced coaches from diverse backgrounds and learnings. I applaud the editors for what is a very successful attempt to weave many different "essays" into a coherent book. The writing styles and approaches are different for each of the chapters resulting in many practices and theories, and many modes of learning for the reader. Executive coaching is still a fairly new profession and this book provides a wide variety of perspectives not typically shared among peers.
Although titled Executive Coaching, it indirectly explores the diversity of individual and organizational learning and change with a keen appreciation for the complexities of the human mind. For executive coaching, as in organizational development consulting, one size does not fit all. The diversity of approaches from the respective authors reflects the strength of belief in their own methods when dealing with the complexity and diversity of the human mind; and reveals the many barriers to individual learning and ultimately organizational learning. In many ways the book is about organizational development and organizational learning brought to an individual level.
Most of the contributors have psychology backgrounds; however, the editors have made a good attempt to look at executive coaching from a variety of lenses, with a noticeable influence of Carl Jung and Robert Kegan. As an organizational development consultant and executive coach, I find some bias toward the need for a psychology or psychotherapy background in some of the chapters. Does one need a degree in psychology to have an understanding of a variety of perceptual views through intentional, behavioral, cultural, and social dimensions, for example? I don't believe so.
There are many issues that emerge when we have conversations at personal and sometimes intimate levels. Do we dare go where no non-psychotherapist has gone before? I believe the human psyche is much less fragile than most psychotherapists, and even psychologists, might have us believe. And as organizational change consultants, how much damage have we inflicted because we dared not to tread, or even look, in those heretofore-protected domains?
Where is the line drawn between learning and repair, or between personal growth and cure? The authors have drawn their lines and they are in different places. I do believe, when coaching Executives, it is essential to have a greater depth of knowledge and abilities as an observer and guide.
I believe executive coaching can increase the potential for profound change. Peter Senge, in his book The Dance of Change, describes profound change as "organizational change that combines inner shifts in people's values, aspirations, and behaviors with 'outer' shifts in processes, strategies, practices, and systems ... In profound change there is learning." (p 15) W. Edwards Deming said, "Nothing changes without personal transformation."
Executive coaching allows us to further shift the learning paradigms of our clients. We are beginning to apply to individuals what we have applied to organizations. Coaching appears to be the natural progression to double-loop learning at a personal level, in addition to the organizational level, and further progression to triple-loop learning. Double-loop learning is a concept developed by Chris Argyris and Donald Schon based upon the work of Gregory Bateson. The term "triple loop learning" was used by William N. Isaacs, in Taking Flight: Dialogue, Collective Thinking, and Organizational Learning. "Double-loop learning encourages learning for increasing effectiveness. Triple-loop learning is the learning that opens inquiry into underlying 'why's.' It is the learning that permits insight into the nature of paradigm itself, not merely an assessment of which paradigm is superior." Effective coaching includes the practice of Dialogue at a one-to-one level. This "third" level of learning can be called transformational learning. As such, this book could be about transformational learning.
A noticeably missing piece was a chapter on distinguishing coaching from therapy, and addressing some of the boundaries to be considered and what resources the executive coach should have available in assessing and dealing with those boundaries.
Another missing piece was the role our body plays. Recent studies suggest a more holistic approach is needed in our learning - the integration of language, emotions and the body. I am referring to more than the traditional concept of "body language." Albert Einstein said, "My primary process of perceiving is muscular and visual." Richard Heckler, a psychologist and director of the Rancho-Strozzi Institute, says in his book The Anatomy of Change, "An education that connects us with our body would teach us the difference between what we are experiencing and what we are thinking and fantasizing about." (p 12)
Full awareness goes beyond what we are thinking. The body can reflect what we are thinking and feeling and the body can support what we desire to think and feel. Stuart Heller, mathematician, operations researcher, and psychologist, says in his book Retooling on the Run, "To make a change in any part of you, you have to change all of you." (p 10) "Your results are a function of the way you organize and use yourself. By studying your patterns of reaction, belief, tension, feelings, and posture, you learn how you both hinder and help yourself." (p 17)
I highly recommend this book to anyone involved with coaching and executive development. In addition, it offers many insights to any organizational change consultant wishing to search deeper in the psyche of an organization. Many organizations, and individuals, are struggling to find ways of breaking free of traditional thinking and modes of operation to enhance continuous learning. At a minimum, these insights may help forge better partnerships with clients and help facilitate greater awareness, reflection, and ultimately learning.
Book Description
From Roger C. Schank—one of the most highly respected thinkers, writers, and speakers in the training, learning, and e-learning community—comes a compelling book of essays that explore the myriad issues related to challenges faced by today’s instructional designers and trainers. The essays offer a much-needed perspective on what trainers do, why they do it, and how they do it. Lessons in Learning, e-Learning, and Training serves as a barometer to the issues that often perplex trainers and helps to illuminate three main points: what can and cannot be taught; how people think and learn; and what technology can really effectively provide. In addition, each essay is filled with practical guidance and includes a summary of ideas, tips and techniques, things to think about, checklists, and other job aids.
Customer Reviews:
Worth the money..........2007-01-04
I was looking for a few quick tips and some basics to get me started in the eLearning category. This book delivered on that need. It reads like a motivational speech and most of the content seems to come straight from the author's own experience but still good content given my newness to the subject area and body of knowledge.
Just Learn It!.......2005-06-13
A few days ago, I finished reading Roger Schank's latest book, Lessons in Learning, e-Learning, and Training, and I've recommended it to everyone with whom I've spoken at any length since. If you follow Roger's work, you won't find many new concepts. What's new is that Roger has chiselled his messages in bold relief so that only the totally clueless can fail to get the point. He eats his own cooking by bringing his material to life through compelling stories.
Admittedly, Roger is a lightening rod. No one who has experienced him is ambivalent. Many people can't get past his faux-movie star persona: Roger's a big, buff, bald, larger-than-life character who beats George Hamilton in the tanning department and tops Salvador Dali in ego. He's also an original thinker whose acolytes from the Institute for Learning Sciences have spread his gospel far and wide. He particularly irks academics because he's one of them, having been a professor at Stanford, Yale, Carnegie-Mellon, and Northwestern.
Ruth Clark sums up Lessons in Learning, e-Learning, and Training in the foreword: "The basic premise of this book is that learning is an inductive process. In everyday words, learning occurs by experience, and the best instruction offers learners opportunities to distill their knowledge and skills from interactive stories."
From the book:
"People who learn on their own learn exactly what they find interesting and potentially useful."
"For years I have been preaching that the big three issues in education are reasoning, communication, and human relations. Schools must enable students to learn these skills, that they are more important in daily life by far than physics, mathematics, or ancient history."
"Classrooms are, for the most part, a waste of time."
"We define ourselves through the stories we choose to tell. Story exchange is what conversation is all about. Stories are at the center of our ability to understand the world around us."
"Time constraints are the enemy of learning by doing. It takes time to practice - and without practice there is no real learning."
Socratic Arts links to many of Roger's papers and to his hyperbook Engines for Education. Excerpt from Engines:
Mostly, [kids] should be learning that learning is fun. They should be learning that expanding one's horizons is fun, that learning you were wrong about something is not so painful, and that taking an educational risk is worth doing. They should be learning that school is a good place to do these things. The children of today dread going back to school in September, dread exams, dread receiving their grades, and are generally fearful. No wonder school is stressful. But there is no reason children cannot have intellectual fun, cannot be excited by ideas, and cannot be challenged to acquire new knowledge. Natural learning is a basically enjoyable thing to do. Two-year-olds love to learn. Many adults love to learn. Only school-age children associate learning with fear of failure. We must get the fear of failure out of the school system. Cramming for an exam or trying to please a teacher ought not to be the goal of those seeking an education. If we fail to understand this in a profound way, there will be no helping our schools or our children.
Roger's latest Educational Outrage column rants about criticism of Trump University (of which he is Chief Learning Officer). Why does the press take on Donald Trump for naming a university for himself but accept it when Leland Stanford did the same thing? Actually, Stanford named the school for his son, Leland Stanford, Jr., but that's beside the point. The reaction of the press sets Roger in motion on an old but worthy rant:
The question is why school teaches the subjects that it does and whether that should be allowed to continue. Most of what you learn in high school is irrelevant to anyone's real life. Ask any high school student - they know this all too well. The truth is that unless you want to be a professor, most of what you learn in college or graduate school can be quite irrelevant as well. Even MBA programs, practical as they may be in principle, tend to forget that the students are just there to learn how to do well in business. Professors, who are of course quite academic, might not be the best determiners of what students want to learn or need to learn. Typically they just teach what they want to teach, which is not the same thing. The high school curriculum, school incarnate, was designed by a bunch of professors in 1892. They were not thinking about what students might need to learn in order to succeed in today's world.
...
I have always said that everything wrong with education starts with the letter P:
1. Publishers - because they dominate the world of education the way it was.
2. Politicians - because they only care about measurable change in existing education, hence tests.
3. Princeton - or any great university that requires SATs and a fixed HS curriculum that was designed in 1892.
4. Princeton - home of the education testing service the great evil of our time.
5. Press - which intimidates all schools with publishing results of minute differences in test score results.
6. Parents - who insist that school be like it was when they went to school.
Great Answers to Real World Learning Problems.......2005-03-24
The key to this book is summed up in the first chapter:
People who learn on their own learn exactly what they find interesting or potentially useful.
After making this point he goes on for the rest of the book telling stories. Mr. Schank uses stories as a teaching aid. Stories move material from the what he wants to tell the student, to the this is "interesting or potentially useful" column in the student mind. Motivated students learn.
The next strongest point is that people learn mostly by doing. Some things are hard to train by doing. How do you train Art History by doing? Well, how about you give the class some pictures, with the instruction that some of them are old masters and some are forgeries. The class assignment is to determine which is which. Now the students have to really examine the pictures. They have to learn techniques, they have to DO!.
Finally he gets to eLearning and to a discussion on what high school and the rest of our educational system teaches. As I look at the job the local schools are doing, someone should ask these questions, but the teachers union isn't going to like the answers.
Average customer rating:
|
Perspectives on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (Environmental Science)
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Real Estate
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Natural Resources
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Nature & Ecology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Oceanography
| Oceans & Seas
| Nature & Ecology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Environmental
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Chemistry
| Environmental
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Surveying & Photogrammetry
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Living on the Land
| Ecology
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
| Architecture
| Hunting & Fishing
Tidelands
| Ecosystems
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Coastal
| Ecosystems
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Business Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 3540655654 |
Book Description
All coastal areas are facing a growing range of stresses and shocks, the scale of which now poses threats to the resilience of both human and environmental coastal systems. Responsible agencies are seeking better ways of managing the causes and consequences of the environmental change process in coastal zones. This volume discusses the basic principles underpinning a more integrated approach to coastal management and highlights the obstacles that may be met in practice in both developed and developing countries. Successful strategies will have to encompass all the elements of management, from planning and design through financing and implementation, as highlighted in this book. This book includes a CD-ROM with computer visualisation of field data and water quality modelling. There are also movie clips of spectacular scenes.
Book Description
In Energy at the Crossroads, Vaclav Smil considers the twenty-first century's crucial question: how to reconcile the modern world's unceasing demand for energy with the absolute necessity to preserve the integrity of the biosphere. With this book, he offers a comprehensive, accessible guide to today's complex energy issues -- how to think clearly and logically about what is possible and what is desirable in our energy future.
After a century of unprecedented production growth, technical innovation, and expanded consumption, the world faces a number of critical energy challenges arising from unequal resource distribution, changing demand patterns, and environmental limitations. The fundamental message of Energy at the Crossroads is that our dependence on fossil fuels must be reduced not because of any imminent resource shortages but because the widespread burning of oil, coal, and natural gas damages the biosphere and presents increasing economic and security problems as the world relies on more expensive supplies and Middle Eastern crude oil.
Smil begins with an overview of the twentieth century's long-term trends and achievements in energy production. He then discusses energy prices, the real cost of energy, and "energy linkages" -- the effect energy issues have on the economy, on quality of life, on the environment, and in wartime. He discusses the pitfalls of forecasting, giving many examples of failed predictions and showing that unexpected events can disprove complex models. And he examines the pros and cons not only of fossil fuels but also of alternative fuels such as hydroenergy, biomass energy, wind power, and solar power. Finally, he considers the future, focusing on what really matters, what works, what is realistic, and which outcomes are most desirable.
Customer Reviews:
Great book!.......2007-09-21
Regardless of your position on global warming, this is a very scholarly and informative must-read book.
Hard But Useful Read.......2006-02-21
Read this for a Global Energy course, and I might I write that this is one book that I would not recommend to any one that is not working or investing in the industry. This read was very 'heavy' for the passive reader, and covered a large amount of numbers and forecasts that the author himself disputes.
The Best.......2005-02-19
ENERGY AT THE CROSSROADS
Vaclav Smil
MIT Press 2003
A Book Review by Steve Baer (email-zomework@zomeworks.com)
December 2003
So many good things about Vaclav Smil's Energy at the Crossroads make it difficult to explain the shortcomings.
Smil's arguments are straightforward and his statistics, with one giant exception, are extensive.
He doesn't bring the false drama to his chapters on oil that so many authors are unable to resist. Smil knows a great deal about our use of fossil fuels. Who should know more than he after over thirty years of study, yet he says he doesn't know how much more oil there is, or how long it will last. Smil is skeptical of such pronouncements. His long chapter on "against forecasting" is alone worth the price of the book. Our relationship with energy is simply too complex for us to see into the future. Some may not wish to read books like this. After all, isn't it easy to say, "I don't know and don't think anyone else does either"?
I am so glad for the few sentences Smil writes about himself, about his youth in Czechoslovakia. He tells of splitting the mountains of firewood during the summer which he lights (with difficulty) before dawn in the winter; about the oil furnace and now the 90% efficient natural gas stove that supplies any heat the sun doesn't for his passive solar home in Manitoba.
Energy at the Crossroads lifts up and away from its numbers and graphs. The joy of the hot-rodder or jet pilot appears many times as Smil recounts how we have arrived at our turbo jets, our 500 kW households (including vehicles), our enormous oil tankers, so effective that shipping costs hardly change with distance. These certainly are accomplishments to revel in, and Smil does. He includes some marvelous paragraphs on steel, energy's companion, guardian and nursemaid for today's technology. With Smil, when you reach the edge of a chapter's topic, the adjoining territory, which he hasn't time to explore thoroughly, is likely completely familiar to him. For Smil has studied more than the carbon in coal, oil, wood and gas. He has also investigated Nitrogen and Phosphorous, which he mentions in passing.
While Smil rejoices in the powers we have, he never appears determined to go ever forward. He is too open minded and sophisticated to crave ever larger, ever more powerful anything. In several places he asks what was so bad about life in France or Japan during the 60's when these accomplished societies used modest amounts of energy. Why do we need more? Smil would be just as happy if we were to go sideways.
Despite the strengths the overall mood of the book is wrong. The problem must be the forces at work on Smil; the pressures he and the rest of us contend with.
First, consider his publisher the MIT Press. Smil mentions how pleased he is that the MIT Press published his last five books. The MIT Press may sell many copies of its books, but they put little effort into editing. The present volume introduces terms such as TOE after we have gotten used to GJ and EJ and never explains what the letters mean (ton of oil equivalent). Why didn't MIT help its author? In Smil's earlier book, Energies, power and energy are confused. The same confusion is in D.E. Nye's book on electrifying America. No freshman could pass physics I making these mistakes. Smil deserves better. Sales, cover design, jacket blurbs, and promotion must outweigh clarity and accuracy with the MIT Press.
An even greater disappointment than ship shod editing is the statistics and treatment of renewable energy. Smil knows all about the power of people at work; how many Watts they are worth, how someone lifting sacks compares to a conveyer belt. He has discussed this in other books. Why does he leave out the muscle power of six billion people from his energy accounting? Why does he forget his own solar heated house?
Something has cast a spell over Smil's energy accounting. Smil's statistics are a hormone to accelerate growth of electricity, coal, oil and large industries. There should be a warning, like those on medicine bottles, of the side effects of taking these studies seriously - the impairment of architecture, agriculture, city planning, and birth defects in forming societies. According to Smil there is no travel by foot or bicycle. No work is done by the strengths of our bodies; no light or warmth passes through windows; clothes don't dry on clotheslines. We don't use brooms, mops, shovels or picks, only power tools. The only renewable energies are wind generators and photovoltaic panels, both of which remain heavily subsidized and are manufactured chiefly by huge international corporations. What introduced this mood into the book? It doesn't fit with the details.
Let us remember what is would cost each and every one of us six billion if we had to pay at today's prices for the sunlight that hits our earth. It would be about $50,000 per day for each of us and another $4,000 a night for a full moon. Though we will never pay this, it doesn't make it any less valuable or any less important to remind ourselves of, as we sell ourselves things dug or pumped out of the earth.
Not entirely objective..........2004-09-17
Certainly a solidly researched book. Mr. Smil leans over, it seems, to be "objective," but the arguments are weighted; we are warned against the gloom and doom version of the Hubbertites, and it would seem, indeed, that it is sheer folly to predict the imminence of the oil "peak." Much of the argument against the "peakists" (Campbell, Leherrere, etc.) seems to be based on a close reading of Odell--hardly an entirely reliable source. So it seems we will be able to depend on cheap oil for a long time... But then comes the chart on p. 211, which shows 3 (count em) peaks, the first of which is virtually identical to that of Campbell and Co., and the least optimistic of which puts the peak around 2035--essentially the official US version (peak in 36 years). The median is around 2025.
Sorry, Mr. Smil, but 20 years is not, from a historical perspective, a huge difference. The peak is coming soon, we will have to face it, and you do very little to consider the really horrifying implications. Mass starvation, anyone? How will all the fertilizer needed to produce the crops to feed the planet be produced without cheap oil? The author rather hopefully suggests that a new energy source might even replace oil, just as oil once replaced coal. Such as??? To back up his argument on this, (again, p. 211) he quotes no less than Lovins, whom he excoriates elsewhere.
But, have no fear, technology will rescue us, at least in the case of oil--and those rapidly depleting wells? Well, in the past they haven't petered out as quickly as foretold, so that means next time they won't either... Innovations will help us get 65% of the oil, instead of the former 40%... Wind power? Forget it... not a really significant factor, even after 2025, when (according to Mr. Smil himself) oil will be in decline. Why not? The technology won't be developed! It can be for oil, but not for wind! Don't ask why!
A very slanted book, then, still betting everything on oil, despite the fact that it itself demonstrates the imminent end of the fossil fuel regime.
For a more convincing read, see Richard Heinberg's *The Party's Over*.
A Valuable, Ageless, Energy Resource by a True Expert.......2004-07-18
From his lifetime as an energy expert and prolific author, Smil writes insightfully about the major energy trends of the past century, and then he attempts to look into the future. He clearly presents, aided by dozens of well designed graphs, an enormous amount of information on global patterns for all energy sources and applications in an exceptionally well organized format. Clearly, Smil was an energy expert of the highest caliber of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, we are now four and a half years into the twenty first century, and it seems to have left Smil behind in a few places. Most of his data are actually pre-1999; and although a few references are dated 2002, almost none of the actual data are post-2000, even though the print date on the book is Nov. 2003. For example, the fact that he thinks there were tens of thousands of fuel cell vehicles on the road in 2003 gives away the fact that the book was largely written in 2001 using references mostly from the late nineties, some of questionable value. (Some "experts" at DOE as late as 1999 were predicting 10,000 FCVs on the road in 2003. Today, however, there are fewer than 400.) Yet, this does not significantly lessen the enormously valuable contribution of Smil's work.
Chapter 2 looks carefully at, in all major countries, a number of important linkages to energy, including such parameters as GDP, infant mortality, life expectancy, food availability, the "human development index", the "political freedom index", air quality, water quality, GHG emissions, war, and terrorism. In Chapter 3, he discusses literally hundreds of failed energy-related projections over the past 40 years; and he congratulates himself on predicting, in 1983, the total energy consumption in 2000 with uncanny accuracy, while the predictions of many others were off by more than a factor of two in either direction. (His forecasts of the various energy segments (coal, oil, gas, renewables) were all individually off by huge amounts. Maybe he got lucky on the total.) Clearly, his appreciation for the interplay of trends in efficiency, markets, resources, and competition was and is of considerable value. (It was also fun to see him point out the silliness of various projections by Amory Lovins, one of the most na?ve physicists among the vocal hydrogen-economy advocates.)
One agenda of this book is to refute the Peak Oil theory of Colin Campbell, as he so well presented in "The Coming Oil Crisis". Smil bases his refutation rather heavily on the fact that most pessimistic oil peak predictions prior to the mid 90's have by now been proven untrue. He points out that some predictions from the early seventies have by now missed the mark by more than 20 years. (He doesn't seem to appreciate that an additional 30 years of data collection and analysis might allow some refinement in the methods.) Rather than attempt a careful, independent, country-by-country analysis of the oil and gas reserves, as carried out by Campbell, he prefers to rely more on extrapolations of production trends of the last twenty years and faith in the power of market incentives to keep the oil and gas flowing liberally for 40 to 100 more years.
Smil is right to emphasize that energy intensity has decreased in the past 30 years and it will likely decrease much more in the next 30 years in some countries (especially, the U.S, Australia, and Canada). There are very positive and powerful life-style implications in this trend, which Paul Roberts, Richard Heinberg, and even David Goodstein and Colin Campbell do not fully appreciate. Smil is certainly right to point out that the immediate potential for enormous improvements in efficiency, especially in private transportation in the U.S., will help to relieve pressure on oil production. But had he taking the time to update his data on increasing oil usage in China and India since 2000, he would have surely realized that a continuation of the small rate of reduction of energy intensity in the U.S. would not begin to offset the voracious oil and LNG markets in the developing world.
Smil's treatment of non-fossil energy sources in Chapter 5 is, for the most part, well-researched, thorough, and sound. His treatments of hydro and wind energy in particular are outstanding, and his appreciation for world-wide biomass utilization pre-1999 is second to none. Unfortunately, his data on advanced biofuels are often 4 to 6 years out of date - cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel from rapeseed and mustard seed, algal biodiesel, and even biomethanol. (This last one is a surprise, as he clearly has some, albeit limited, appreciation for the huge potential of converting stranded natural gas to methanol for oxygenation and extension of gasoline.) Smil leaves the impression that energy balance of biofuels will not likely exceed 1.3, whereas in fact corn ethanol (with co-products) now is up to 1.77, cellulosic ethanol may exceed 2.5, and biodiesel from mustard and biomethanol from switchgrass will both likely soon exceed 4.
His last chapter on Possible Futures is also full of a lot of useful information on trends in various conversion efficiencies and technology developments, but it too is not without its problems. When an engineer or scientist makes errors of two orders of magnitude in important facts critical to projections (as Smil did in the cost of fuel cells), it calls into question the validity of his judgment and foresight regarding future transportation fuels. For a more up-to-date and useful perspective on transportation fuels, see my brief "Fuels for Tomorrow's Vehicles" or "The Hype About Hydrogen" by Joe Romm.
All in all, Smil's latest book is one that should be read by and on the shelf of all energy analysts - along with Campbell's, Romm's, and an up-to-date reference on advanced biofuels. The typical, interested citizen would be better directed to Joe Romm's exceptionally sound and highly readable book. - F. David Doty, PhD, engineering physicist.
Book Description
The NTL Handbook of Organization Development and Change is an essential tool for both practitioners and students who want to know how to effectively bring about meaningful and sustainable change in organizations. Featuring contributions from leading practitioners, academics, and scholars in the field, each chapter comprehensively explores a key aspect of organization development including core theories and methods, OD in the international and world setting, practical applications, the future of OD, and many others. Co-published with the NTL Institute, a long-time leader and champion for the field, The NTL Handbook of Organization Development and Change boasts an extensive range of knowledge, experience, and methods integrated by a philosophical system that underscores the vital mission of OD as well as provides expert guidance in the art and science of making organizational development and change work.
Customer Reviews:
Superb overview of modern Organization Development.......2006-03-19
Edited collections at this price point can be a problem. But compared to its competitors, this NTL Handbook is an outstanding volume, written by some of the biggest names in OD for practitioners at all levels. Great value after you get over the sticker shock.
As a skimmed the book I was amazed by the new insights that leapt out at me, by the clear, jargon-free writing (relatively, after all it's a professional book) and by the generous references and citations. History, ethics, techniques, it's all there. While the formatting of tables is sometimes inconvenient (I found myself turning the book sideways more than I should have had to), it's a small price to pay for the comprehensiveness of the treatment.
My only disappointments were the two chapters on large group interventions. One covers the familiar territory the familiar way (refer to the books you already own). The other gives a partial account of the newest, technology-enabled 'town meetings' without grounding the story in the theory of why they work (or should) and how cost-effective they are as OD interventions, as opposed to political rallys. The rest of the book is fresh and new, even of topics that we practitioners think we know like the back of our hand. I marvelled at the new life some chapters breathed into traditional material.
This book from NTL Institute should be in every consultant's library, as a refresher and, more important, as a source of new inspiration as you work with organizations and the people in them.
Customer Reviews:
Intelligent and pragmatic.......2006-12-16
Well written text with many charts and sample forms that will prove very useful. This text has been nicely updated and aligned with ISLCC standards. Ideas were presented in a logical sequence. This is one of those textbooks that will go on the shelf for future reference.
Book Description
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES is the perfect guide for anyone preparing for the HR certification exam. This text offers you practical coverage of basic concepts, as well as a "managerial perspectives" at the beginning of each chapter that will encourage you to apply the concepts you have learned.
Average customer rating:
|
Reservoir Limnology: Ecological Perspectives
Kent W. Thornton ,
Bruce L. Kimmel , and
Forrest E. Payne
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Freshwater Biology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Natural History
| Nature & Ecology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Hydrology
| Environmental
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Living on the Land
| Ecology
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
| Architecture
| Hunting & Fishing
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Engineering
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Professional & Technical
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0471885010 |
Book Description
Addresses reservoirs as unique ecological systems and presents research indicating that reservoirs fall into two or three highly concatenated, interactive ecological systems ranging from riverine to lacustrine or hybrid systems. Includes some controversial concepts about the limnology of reservoirs, which make for interesting reading.
Book Description
This comprehensive resource highlights the most recent practices and trends in blended learning from a global perspective and provides targeted information for specific blended learning situations. You'll find examples of learning options that combine face-to-face instruction with online learning in the workplace, more formal academic settings, and the military. Across these environments, the book focuses on real-world practices and includes contributors from a broad range of fields including trainers, consultants, professors, university presidents, distance-learning center directors, learning strategists and evangelists, general managers of learning, CEOs, chancellors, deans, and directors of global talent and organizational development. This diversity and breadth will help you understand the wide range of possibilities available when designing blended learning environments. Order your copy today!
Customer Reviews:
Why not blend?.......2007-01-14
In this book, is "blended" creative and critically the depth of the academic reasoning with the corporative perspective oriented to the organizational performance, that is to say, it takes the advantages from the formal learning of the school with the advantages from the informal learning of the daily experiencie mixing the technologies of distance education with classroom. It makes emphasis not only in the quality of the ingredients that are blended but in the "glue" that holds all those pieces together: the interaction. Interaction's quality instructor-learner, learner-content and specially to learner-learner from collaborative learning's perspective allow building effective virtual communities of learning. It is not a recipe for a single dish, because each dish requires its own recipe. This book is oriented towards an approach blend of blends of many dimensions, more appropriate to actual requirements technological and cognitive. The Jay Crooss's question is really appropriate today: "Why not blend?"
The Most Important Educational Trend in Years.......2006-03-26
'Blended Learning,' buzzword for training that mixes formal face-to-face instruction with computer aided instruction was said by the American Society for Training and Development as one of the top ten trends to emerge in the knowledge delivery industry in 2003. I think that's understating what's going on.
For the first time, the educational system has a way to provide the individual student with instruction that can be exactly tailored to his ability, level, interest and so on. The gifted can go far beyond the standard textbook using the web as an infinite resource. The slower can get additional instruction in areas where he is having a hard time. At the same time, all students are being trained in the use of computers, a skill in its own right that is all but mandatory for the future in any job.
This book summarizes the state of the art as it exists today using institutional models from both industry and educational institutions, 'case studies' from around the world to illustrate in a practical matter what is being done, and some chapters that provide the authors thinking about where blended learning is going.
Anyone working in a teach the teachers environment needs to be aware of these developments which are rapidly growing in importance.
Book Description
In tracing the intellectual roots of business leadership over the last one hundred years, award winning author Gilbert W. Fairholm argues that until recently, spirit and soul have been absent from the major models. After outlining the elements of the five major ideas about leadership, he goes on to define and make operational a new focus that must exist in order to truly understand the leaders' role in relation to workers. The study begins with scientific management and traces the evolution of leadership ideas through the quality movement, on to values-, culture-, and trust-based leadership models, and concluding with an emphasis on spirit in the workplace. It suggests that the leader in the twenty-first century will need to embrace a leadership style based on the main premise of each model along with a focus on ethics, community, service, and spirituality.
Customer Reviews:
Great ideas, textbook delivery.......2000-06-22
Gilbert Fairholm's book is a great introduction to leadership theory history. I was impressed by his analysis of leadership types and found myself trying to figure out where I fit and where I want to fit.
However, it falls short on what I really like about leadership books: concrete examples or anecdotes. It covers exciting material, and yet it reads like a textbook. That makes it hard to get fired up about creating a "trust culture" or a "spiritual (whole self) leadership" environment.
Books:
- Farmer Boy (Little House)
- Foxfire 2: Ghost Stories, Spring Wild Plant Foods, Spinning and Weaving, Midwifing, Burial Customs, Corn Shuckin's, Wagon Making and More Affairs of Plain Living
- FSA: The American Vision
- Fundamentals of Building Construction: Materials and Methods
- Genetics for the Animal Sciences
- Hallmarks of the Southwest (Schiffer Book for Collectors)
- Handy Farm Devices: And How to Make Them
- Hatched!: The Big Push from Pregnancy to Motherhood
- Helping the Stork: The Choices and Challenges of Donor Insemination
- Hemp Diseases and Pests: Management and Biological Control: An Advanced Treatise (Cabi Publishing)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman
- The Sea of Monsters
- Polymers for Photonics Applications I
- The Lake, the River & the Other Lake: A Novel
- Seasons of Delight
- The Normans in Sicily: The Normans in the South 1016-1130 and the Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194
- Survival In Auschwitz
- Cubism and Fashion
- Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings
- Proceedings of the IAB Conference of Bryoecology, Budapest-Vacratot, Hungary, 5-10 August, 1985
The Psychology of Executive Coaching: Theory and Application
Evidence Based Coaching Handbook: Putting Best Practices to Work for Your Clients
The Art and Practice of Leadership Coaching: 50 Top Executive Coaches Reveal Their Secrets
Co-Active Coaching, 2nd Edition: New Skills for Coaching People Toward Success in Work and, Life
Adaptive Coaching: The Art and Practice of a Client-Centered Approach to Performance Improvement
