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Review My Book

If you have a copy of my book, you have a chance to do the world (and me) a favor.

Go onto Amazon, and review it -- please.

It has exactly one review, and that's from a guy who's disgruntled that the book doesn't cover formal robust control theory. While I understand his disappointment to some extent, you can't really approach that topic unless you've got at least four years of a math-intensive engineering education behind you; it's certainly not a topic that I could make both accessible and useful to a general audience, and I don't think that anyone else could, either.

It would be like me getting bent out of shape because I bought a book called "Practical Pottery from Clay to Cup" that didn't show me how to make an accurate reproduction of a Ming vase or a set of matching decorated china dishes.

His is the only feedback I've gotten on the book that could be summed up as "it totally sucks" -- yet it's the only feedback _at all_ on Amazon.

I know that there's people out there who like the book far more -- if you're one of them, or even if you're only mildly thrilled with it, you can give people more complete and accurate information than they have now by getting on there and giving it a review.

Thanks in advance.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott
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Back in the day, we called this "stuffing the ballot box".

Reply to
mike

d

ttdesign.com

Well there's no shortage of control books and most of them are much the same.

Hardy

Reply to
HardySpicer

Nah, that would be if he built a few dozen sockpuppets and had them all "review" the book.

I actually thought it was a pretty good treatment. A credible review needs to say more than just that, though, so I'll have to find what pile of books it ended up in/under and take another look at it.

--
Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA
Reply to
Rich Webb

"Getting out the vote".

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Y'know, putting that up next to the review that's there would still, in my humble opinion, make things more accurate.

I don't know if you have the book, but I try throughout to not just present the math, but to show how it would be used in practice.

I didn't always do as well as I'd like to, but I do have a couple of copies of the book with red ink all over them, waiting for a 2nd edition to roll around.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

How much does that pay?

Seriously, can't you change the description of the book on Amazon so it gets bought by the intended audience?

--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to
Nico Coesel

Do people here review lots of tech books? Reviews won't do much good if they come from single item reviewers.

Can you get a review from a creditable journal or other source? That should carry more weight than from one cranky guy's opinion.

Reply to
spamtrap1888

It gives you the satisfaction of helping others, and not just me.

Right. I'll go buy Amazon and get that fixed today.

Not.

Jeese.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

On 7/4/2012 10:23 PM, Tim Wescott wrote: [...]

I'm pretty sure you know how to measure *something* and how to estimate the error on that measurement.

In this case you have one (1) measurement of *satisfaction*, therefore the error of that measurement is one (1 = sqrt(square(1)/1)). His opinion is certainly one and the only one so far, but a buyer on Amazon wouldn't believe straight away a review done by one person only.

If people do like your book will certainly end up with "advertising" it in many ways. If they don't, this thread will not certainly help changing the verdict.

If you know those people, try to contact them directly and ask for a review. I think a person who really liked the book wouldn't feel offended if you ask for a feedback.

I personally have had hard time to not define your post 'off-topic', but I do understand your strong feeling. I hope a rational point of view to this problem may help you ease the pressure.

Al

p.s.: for advertizing on usenet there's here an interesting article:

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Reply to
alb

t

I have a lot of respect for Amazon, a great and useful website.

I have, however, been surprised at how difficult it is to use as a seller as soon as you move outside of being a purely domestic seller. Amazing, for a company specialising in delivery through a mechanism which is, whichever way you look at it, not restricted by borders in any way shape or form.

My main two gripes are the fact that I cannot list my books as being "new" on any website other than the amazon.co.uk site (despite owning the rights, having the ISBN's, etc.) and the fixed delivery charge resulting in me receiving =A36 (GBP, or about $9.30 USD) less per sale fo= r shipping than it actually costs me.

=2E..there are other issues too, but I've strayed waaay to far off topic already.

Regards, Richard.

  • formatting link
    Designed for microcontrollers. More than 7000 downloads per month.

  • formatting link

15 interconnected trace views. An indispensable productivity tool.
Reply to
FreeRTOS info

Oops. You are correct, and I should have labeled it as such when I posted it. What makes it appropriate to these groups (if not on topic), is that I happen to know that I'll reach some of my readership this way.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

Well, someone has to write the description of a book. If the description is wrong it should be fixed. I know this will take finding the right channels.

Anyway: do people here recommend your book? I actually can use a good hands-on book on control loops. The books I had to buy for school are missing the link between theory and actual applications.

--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to
Nico Coesel

I do. I thought it was quite good, so long as you weren't having to get into anything seriously complex. Very practice focused, not so much theory.

Then again, I'm having to go off of recollection. A previous programmer borrowed it from me and then never gave it back, and I haven't gotten around to re-buying it yet.

--
Rob Gaddi, Highland Technology -- www.highlandtechnology.com
Email address domain is currently out of order.  See above to fix.
Reply to
Rob Gaddi

d

ttdesign.com

It looks like there are three more reviews, all of them positive, so I guess the crisis is over. Everyone take a deep breath and let it out...

Rick

Reply to
rickman

I like it too. That and Phelan, who despite an overgrown ego that got his work ignored by everyone else, did some really good stuff.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
845-480-2058

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net
Reply to
Phil Hobbs

__so long as you weren't having to get into anything seriously complex__.

Oh, that's a good point if I ever go to a 2nd edition -- it needs a more extensive bibliography, and perhaps footnotes along the lines of "and if you need to go farther in this direction than I take you here, you want to find a book on XYZ".

Well, your summation is exactly what I was aiming for, so I guess I did well with you as an audience. I figured that the seriously complex would either need a much weightier tome, or just a trip through some college texts looking for applicable theory.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

mer

ld

I have read your book too, and although I am far from being a specialist, I have found it interesting and useful, with a good balance between theory and practice.

I think it gives a good introduction to the matter of control applications but I think that before applying it to the real world, you should have a more thorough understanding of the maths involved and advice from experts in the domain. IMO, that is not a field where you can improvise yourself as a professional after having read a book however good it is. That said, I don't regret my purchase.

Reply to
Lanarcam

Actually, I've seen a lot of less-demanding applications get filled by folks who were far from being expert at either the mathematics or the practical application of control theory.

That was, in fact, one of the inspirations for the book.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

Hey Tim,

I'm glad you got a few more reviews now.

By the way, what DO you recommend for a "heavy" tome? Something on optimal control, H-infinity controllers, etc.? (At least I think those are the right terms...)

Here's an interesting thing: Guess which college and dept. a controls guru guy here is getting his masters in controls through? _mechanical engineering_! Seems very strange to me.

--Randy

Tim Wescott writes:

--
Randy Yates
Digital Signal Labs
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com
Reply to
Randy Yates

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