For a quick MVC pattern overview, see the Wikipedia Model-view-controller article.
But see here also Patterns Repository!
In terms of Ruby On Rails, as Thorough critique of Chapter 5 says, MVC is just one of the many patterns that could come into play once we get into the static design of our system, or are recognizing patterns (which is why they are called that) in the prototyping mishmash of the current state of a Rails app.
Which means the model part of MVC is sure gonna have to assume a variety of roles, among which is the problem of not separating business objects from the persistence layer.
Content
Victor Kane (ProjectMaster) and awebfactory.com.ar