There have been a couple times when this would have been nice to know.
I would also like to know if I can have a 4 screen view- top, front, side, and 3D.
Numpad . (period) centers and zooms in on the selected object.
If you hover near the edge of a window (like the edge between the buttons and the 3D view) your cursor will show arrows or a hand or whatever. Right click, and choose the option split area. In this way you can setup a screen how ever you want. Control U to save preferences.
Some more info:
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual
read through the top chapters about the interface.