Brian Bissett ’98, Chapman & Hall, 2007

This guide shows step-by-step how to construct automated data analysis applications for both industrial and academic settings. It features numerous real-world examples and includes a CD-ROM with sample worksheets and source code. The author describes how to use Excel to obtain data from non-native sources, such as databases and third-party calculation tools, and explains how to automate manipulations and calculations on the acquired data sources. The final chapter demonstrates how to create a cohesive, robust application. Brian Bissett, MBA ’98, M.S.E.E. ’01, is a scientist at Pfizer Global Research & Development.

Roy Wepner ’68, iUniverse, 2007

This series of essays, many of which were published in the Princeton Packet, takes an inside look at the boomer generation as it careers headlong through middle age and toward points beyond. The author writes about how the boomers have responded to the bittersweet experiences of aging; how boomers have coped (or perhaps not) with challenges ranging from reunions to colonoscopies; how boomers have complicated everything from snobbery to coffee; why boomers take themselves seriously, and why no one else should. Roy Wepner ’68 is a partner in a patent law firm in Westfield, N.J.

Howard Goldowsky ’93, Daowood & Brighton, 2007

Engaging Pieces: Interviews and Prose for the Chess Fan is a collection of the author’s published chess writing from the past six years. It contains interviews with personalities of the chess world, short fiction that uses chess as a metaphor, and in-depth reviews and editorials covering a selection of topics relevant to the chess world today. An appendix lists every novel and fiction anthology published since 1933 that uses chess as a major narrative element. Howard Goldowsky ’93 is an electrical engineer at Lockheed Martin and chess journalist. He was president of the RPI chess club from 1990-1995.

Jay Winderman ’62, Pill Bug Press, 2007

This is the second of a trilogy of Thunder Tortoise books that trace the life of Thunder from his original habitat to the desert community of Desolation, then to the Tortoise Reservation, and finally to a suburban Los Angeles backyard. In this book, Thunder describes his encounter with a huge combative tortoise, the effects of a deadly sickness, the threat of ravens, and his becoming a father. Jay Winderman ’62 is a retired research engineer and program manager at General Dynamics Corp.

Dick Stieglitz ’67, PublishAmerica, 2006

Hardworking men and women wrestle the dragons of personal and professional change every day. Despite the highest standard of living in history, they feel burned by hassle and stress. Something important seems to be missing no matter how much they care, how hard they work, or how many possessions they own. But what can they change? Taming the Dragons of Change contains 10 tips for achieving happiness and success when everything around you is changing. Dick Stieglitz ’67, Ph.D. ’70, is founder of RGS Associates Inc., which helps government agencies change how they do business.

Paul C. Brown ’92, Addison Wesley, 2007

Today, business processes and information systems are so tightly intertwined that they must be designed together, as parts of a total architecture, to realize enterprise goals. In Succeeding with SOA, the author shows how service-oriented architectures (SOAs) provide the best structure for such integration. He explains what business managers and IT architects need to know — including critical success factors — to help them plan, organize, and execute SOA initiatives that meet or exceed their goals. Paul Brown, Ph.D. ’92, is a principal software architect at TIBCO Software Inc.