List
Abstract
One+Abstract
I’ve just posted my review of Gregor Hohpe and Bobby Woolfe’s excellent book on Enterprise Integration using messaging, “Enterprise Integration Patterns”. Overall it’s an excellent book, and wiil probably become a “bible” for those involved in the high-level design of integration solutions. To find out more, please read my review.
Category Archives: Reviews
Review: A Short History of Nearly Everything
By Bill Bryson
16 August 2005 - Please share: 
Science for the verbally-minded
This is a remarkable book in two ways. It’s a very clear, comprehensive summary and explanation of our current understanding across a wide range of scientific subjects. It’s also the only science book I’ve ever read with almost no illustrations or equations.
In his introduction Bryson complains that he could not get interested in science at school because all the text books were dull. Admittedly I’m a few years younger, which might make a difference, but I was exposed from an early age to a vast array of well-written and beautifully-illustrated books on a range of science subjects. The conclusion is simple: unlike most who get interested in science, Bill Bryson is one of those people whose thinking is almost entirely verbal in nature, and he’s written a book for those of the same persuasion. And he’s done a very good job of it.
Review: Enterprise Integration Patterms
Designing, Building and Deploying Messaging Solutions, By Gregor Hohpe and Bobby Woolf
24 July 2005 - Please share:
An excellent book which will become a standard reference
This book could really be titled "Everything You Wanted to Know About Message-Based EAI, But Were Afraid To Ask". It’s a very comprehensive book, which goes beyond mere patterns to introduce the reader to a wide range of topics in the world of messaging. It forms a strong and useful counterpart to the many more general books on architecture patterns, for example Martin Fowler’s "Enterprise Architecture Patterns" in the same series.
Posted in Reviews
Leave a comment
Review: Waltzing with Bears
Managing Risk on Software Projects, By Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister
10 June 2005 - Please share:
A good book covering an important and negelected area
This book is an interesting mix. It starts with a philosophical discussion of why it is ethically wrong and success-endangering to ignore risks, but commercially weak to simply avoid them, thus establishing that we must accept and manage risk. The book then develops a comprehensive method for risk management in IT (or other) projects.
It may be surprising where DeMarco & Lister start from, explaining what risk is, why we need to accept it and why we must manage it, but they explain how common attitudes in the IT industry, which they correctly term "pathologies", can make it almost impossible to properly acknowledge and manage risks.
Posted in Reviews
Leave a comment
Review – My Early Life
18 May 2005 - Please share:
I’ve just posted my review of this wonderfull book, by one of the world’s greatest leaders. The book is exciting, inspiring and, most of all, fun. I urge you to read it (and my review)!
Posted in Reviews, Thoughts on the World
Leave a comment
Valuing Flexibility
2 May 2005 - Please share:
I’ve just posted my review of “Real Options”, a book about financial market techniques to put a quantitative value on the benefits of flexibility. Unfortunately I was rather disappointed by the book – read my review to find out why.
However, reading the book has prompted me to do some more research in this field. I’m currently looking at whether combining the core valuation equation with probability decision trees might be useful. I’ll post more when I have some results.
Posted in Reviews
Leave a comment
Review: Real Options
Managing Strategic Investment in an Uncertain World, By Martha Amram, Nalin Kulatilaka
2 May 2005 - Please share:
A rather disappointing book for the general reader
I was rather disappointed by this book.
I was hoping for something which could help explain to business managers why processes such as IT delivery are uncertain, and the value of delivering flexible solutions. The initial part of the book makes a lot of strong qualitative statements of exactly the right sort:
Posted in Reviews
Leave a comment
Review: Why Do Buses Come in Threes?
The Hidden Mathematics of Everyday Life, By Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham
28 March 2005 - Please share:
An excellent reminder about why maths is fun
The two messages of this book are that mathematics is important to everyday life, and that it’s fun. Like the earlier books of Martin Gardener, this book aims to make mathematics relevant and accessible, but with a British rather than American slant.
Have you ever wondered why flowers often have five petals, how bookies’ odds work, how you always end up in the slowest queue, or, indeed, why buses come in threes? If so, then this is the book for you.
In the course of a humorous, chatty discourse on the mysteries of life the authors introduce a number of branches of mathematics, including probability, topology, statistics and queuing theory, to name just a few.
Posted in Reviews
Leave a comment
Why Do Buses Come in Threes?
28 March 2005 - Please share:
I’ve just posted my reviews of two excellent books by Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham. “Why Do Buses Come In Threes?” and “How Long is a Piece of String?”
The messages of these books are that mathematics is important to everyday life, and that it’s fun. Have you ever wondered why flowers often have five petals, how bookies’ odds work, how you always end up in the slowest queue, or, indeed, why buses come in threes? If so, then this is the book for you.
Whether as an introduction if you’ve never enjoyed maths before, or a reminder if you have, I thoroughly recommend both books.
Posted in Reviews
Leave a comment
Review: How Long Is A Piece of String?
More Hidden Mathematics of Everyday Life, By Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham
27 March 2005 - Please share:
Another excellent introduction to the fun of mathematics
This is a follow-up to the earlier, excellent, “Why Do Buses Come In Threes?”. While the earlier book focused on those annoying little mysteries of life, this asks a set of different questions, many related to tough decisions such as how conmen get rich, or “should I phone a friend?”
Posted in Reviews
Leave a comment
Review: The New World of Mr Tompkins
George Gamov's Classic Mr Tomkins in Paperback, By George Gamow, Russell Stannard
19 September 2004 - Please share:
An excellent update to a classic introduction to modern physics
My introduction to the world of the mild-mannered bank clerk with an interest in modern Physics came through copies of the original 1940s books rescued from a school library "disposal" pile. Unlike the school librarian I treasured those books, which presented hard science in a humorous, accessible way, and learned a lot from them.
George Gamow brought his original material up to date for "Mr Tompkins in Paperback" shortly before his death in 1968. However, since then Physics has moved on still further, and a new update was appropriate. Russell Stannard took on the challenge, and has done a superb job.
The new version brings both the science and the charming human back story fully up to date, and also addresses some inconsistencies in the earlier text and illustrations caused by their derivation from a group of separate magazine articles.
Posted in Reviews
Leave a comment
Review: The Coming Global Superstorm
By Art Bell, Whitley Strieber
19 September 2004 - Please share:
A good book, slightly spoilt by psueo-science
This book, which sired the recent blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow", is a well-written and accessible analysis of how global warming may lead to not gradual but catastrophic climate change, potentially destroying much of our current civilisation. Given how the powerful fossil fuel lobby, led by the current US administration, seems determined to ignore such risks to ensure their own short-term profits, it is essential that books such as this exist and are able to present a discussion of wider considerations.
Email me
Others
Thoughts on the World (Main Feed)
Main feed (direct XML)