• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

...For Dummies

L

LoganVH

kickbox
How educational are the ...For Dummies series of books?

This summer I hope to introduce myself to the concepts and systems of this world I do not understand, as a consequence of never taking the time to learn about them. Things like economics and politics; are the ...For Dummies books on those topics a good place to start?

Thanks a lot!
 
LoganVH said:
How educational are the ...For Dummies series of books?

Things like economics and politics; are the ...For Dummies books on those topics a good place to start?
Click to expand...

Not in my opinion. I've run across a few of them (cooking, photography, gardening) and I think they were exactly what they purported, books for dummies. I haven't got time to suggest good politics and econ books right now, but I'll get back to you. Perhaps some others will make suggestions as well.
 
Perhaps it would have been more useful to simply ask for some recommendations on introductory political science and economics reading. Although, I believe I do fall into the category of "dummy" when it comes to those fields, as I have very little knowledge pertaining to them.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate the help! Thanks!
 
The 'Dummie's" books I've used have been pretty simple introductions to their topics. I haven't bought many but think they're best to check out from the library, so as to save my money for 'keepers.'
 
Those books give you a generalized overview of the material- topic. I read the Evolution for Dummies book and picked up a basic understanding of the subject. They are good and cheap I think.
 
I'm getting the feeling that perhaps they do a good in job in introducing me to the very basic concepts of what I'm looking for, but unfortunately I won't be able to check any of them out as my local library does not carry those titles.

So, I will use the powers vested in me to create a new thread, one better than ever before, which will mainly deal with what I should have asked for in the first place. :D
 
LoganVH said:
Perhaps it would have been more useful to simply ask for some recommendations on introductory political science and economics reading. Although, I believe I do fall into the category of "dummy" when it comes to those fields, as I have very little knowledge pertaining to them.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate the help! Thanks!
Click to expand...

You'd be better off just buying some college text for an intro to PoliSci or Econ course. I'm sure you could find a ton of information on the net in regards to those books.
 
I have bought 2 and found them both useful.
How do you approach a complicated subject like Access VBA Programming? With the dummies book! And I already knew VBA before reading it. And still I learned a lot.
Sometimes the problem with more advanced and comprehensive books is, where do you start? At the beginning. But such books can be intimidating. Sometimes they assume you already know the basics. Even if you have advanced knowlede, sometimes a review of the basics is very useful. The dummies books start and end with the fundamentals - which are the basic building blocks from which you can expand your knowledge to more advanced levels.
 
My experience with the Dummies series is confined to the computing range. I think there are better basic books around; Dummies sometimes waffle. They are best used as basic reference books rather than introductions to a subject imo.
 
I imagine, as has been said already, that these would be okay for those who know nothing about a particular subject and are looking for some general info. A quick check of Amazon brings up some interesting titles:

The Bible for Dummies
Pilates Workout for Dummies :)

and from the site:

Houseplants for Dummies
Dating for Dummies (I should get this one)


and my favourite - Sex for Dummies.

Errrr.....
 
Photography, chess and dogs....

all of these "Dummies" books were useful to me. The dog book as a reference and the photography book because I had always been intimidated by a camera and this simplified it for me.
My son has the Chess for Dummies and that was enjoyed by the whole family.
I think they are great reads for anyone wanting a basic introduction to anything. The one for Italian cooking was interesting but I still can't cook! LOL
 
The only For Dummies book I read was HTML for Dummies, which was 3 years ago. I also have checked other For Dummies books that are related to computing, programming and IT. I have found them excellent books to start with. What I liked about them, is that even if the books doesn't explain to you everything, it introduces you to all the concepts and information and gives you links on the internet to check more on the subject. I'm not sure if this only for computing Dummies book.

By the way, you can check the For Dummies book on amazon, and browze through the first several pages. Plus, there are a lot of free For Dummies e-books that I found on the internet, but again most related to computing. If interested, let me know.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top