Slightly technical, but still OK article about tangent space vs object/world space and bump/normal maps. If only Blitz3D would have tangents in easily usable form...
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1515/messing_with_tangent_space.php?print=1
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1515/messing_with_tangent_space.php?print=1