Stress and syllables

David Bell wrote:

> While the "patterns" seem to make sense to me, I, unfortunately, have
> no understanding of the theory behind them.  I guess I'll have to
> study more phonology.
I will have to sympathize with David here. While the subject matter is
extremely interesting, I feel at a loss to grasp the underlying concepts.
Could anyone recommend a good text (which would not require a doctorate in
linguistics to understand) on the subject of stress and syllable
construction from a general point of view? Preferably one available on the
Net or that could be found in most university libraries.

  /Fredrik