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Shyam Sunder’s education, in Mangalore and later in Madras, followed a course predestined for entry in to the forest service. In the Madras Presidency of the early 1950s, selection to a Class I government post was highly coveted, as well as restricted by numerous fences of exclusion. However, he succeeded due to several unusual events he narrates vividly in this memoir. One of his early forestry mentors cautioned, “Shyam Sunder, you’ll either go very far or will lose your way. I advise you to be careful.” As a researcher, forest administrator, and later as head of the forest department, he always chose to do what felt right. Inexplicably, that hastened success throughout his career. Except for a short period of two years, when he lost most of his hair thanks to a despondent boss, Shyam Sunder’s career was a ‘dream come true.’ With the affection of 10,000 staff, full support of the chief ministers he served under, and ample confidence of the government, Shyam Sunder made Karnataka a model state for forestry in India. He retired in 1989 as the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. Shyam Sunder loved Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat (To say nothing of the dog), due to the similarity between the trip depicted in the book, up and down the Thames, and his own career. In both cases, life was interesting while not always smooth whether it was protecting forests in the Western Ghats from insatiable societal demands, working with ministers intent on getting their way, or striving to achieve conservation goals while being part of a labyrinthine bureaucracy. Under his leadership, partnering with a staff of ten thousand officials, the forest department of Karnataka became the envy of departments across the country. Shyam Sunder’s memoir is a series of vignettes, from numerous comedic to a tragic few. The life narrated is varied and never short of excitement – being ten yards from a charging tusker or a foot away from a King Cobra; defying orders of the chief minister; being hauled up for contempt of the high court, and discussing with Indira Gandhi the best way to eat avocados. Possessed of wit and passion, the narration lays bare the hubris of popular discourse on noble forest livelihoods, and unflinchingly narrates neglect of rural communities, as well as of forests, at times by the callous imposition of rules and regulations.

This book is a great treasure for everyone who enjoys the beauty of the fascinating world of recreational mathematics. It focuses on recreational aspects of numbers to create interest and motivate readers to learn to be creative in improving their problem-solving techniques. The book would help ignite interest in numbers, which will benefit teachers trying to teach math, especially to students who don’t like math, by supplementing their regular curriculum with the module containing material from the book, which provides an opportunity for fun and joy while developing mathematical skills. The ideas for further exploration given in the book offer food for thought to delve into the world of research and fun, in addition to testing computational skills. The book communicates the excitement and fascination of numbers to the students in schools and colleges. The theory behind the subject matter has been kept to a minimum to retain the recreational nature of the book. The book has a delightful coverage of numerical curiosities, coincidences and wonders, revealing many new eye-opening properties of numbers. Organized into 23 chapters, the book contains a large variety of topics: digital root wonders, the elegance of squares, triangular numbers, Smith numbers, amicable numbers, perfect, multiple perfect and sociable numbers, happy numbers, Fibonacci numbers, Lucas numbers, and the Golden ratio, Kaprekar numbers, self-numbers, repunit numbers, equal product of reversible numbers (EPRNs), rare numbers, fascinating factorials, Ulam numbers, mystery of π, cab and vampire numbers, digital invariants and narcissistic numbers, special numbers like autobiographical numbers, Harshad numbers, parasite numbers, polydivisible numbers, Ramanujan numbers, number curiosities such as lucky mistakes, Pascal’s triangle and Pythagorean triplets. Pythagoras attributed mystical qualities to some of the numbers. Even the religious properties of numbers were extensively studied. So, four chapters are exclusively devoted to such numbers, namely, the amazing number 108, the unlucky 13, the beauty of 153, and the number of the beast, with lots of new curiosities and miraculous coincidences.

The study of child development is of immense importance to parents and teachers. The role of nature and nurture is key, from the prenatal stage to adolescence. From an Indian perspective, starting with the prenatal embryonic stage, this book traces the physical, intellectual (cognitive), and emotional (co-native) development of a child. It also examines the social and moral developments as they too make up important aspects of a child's personality. Touching upon the views of Jean Piaget and Sigmund Freud, Child Development includes photographs that will contribute to its usefulness to students of education, psychology, and pediatrics.

This primer is the first hands-on guide to the physical aspects of conducting experiments in economics.

The book provides basic and clear understanding of the two important disciplines in community medicine: epidemiology and biostatistics. They are gaining Importance not only in medical science but aIso in dental, nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy, etc. The book will clear the doubts of students and also give an opportunity to understand fundamentals of the subjects with historical background and simple explanations of various study designs and biostatical inferences.

Since memories are by their very nature in the past, to be drawn upon or sometimes thoughts which pop back into conscience without warning, I wanted to preserve as many as possible before the list grew shorter over time.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will hold a public meeting starting at 1 p.m. (EST) on April 5, 2005, at the Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan (1605 Broadway, Times Square B Room) in New York City to present the latest findings from its building and fire safety investigation of the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster of Sept. 11, 2001. WTC Lead Investigator Shyam Sunder will detail the final probable collapse sequence for the two WTC towers, updating the leading collapse hypothesis released last October. He also will discuss what has been learned from three projects within the WTC investigation (analysis of building and fire codes and practices; occupant behavior, egress, and emergency communications; and fire service technologies and guidelines).