Subjects:  1. Caribbean Area    2. Coral reef animals    3. Coral reef ecology    4. Florida    5. General    6. Identification    7. Natural History    8. Nature / Field Guide Books    9. Zoology    10. Plant life: general   

Subjects:  1. Coastal ecology    2. Congresses    3. Environmental Engineering & Technology    4. Environmental Science    5. Environmental monitoring    6. Estuarine ecology    7. Life Sciences - Ecology    8. Science    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Technology    11. United States    12. Management of land & natural resources    13. Science / Environmental Science   

Reviews (1)

Lighthouse living, examined
"[P]eople on the move are always fleeing a fate that no longer suits them for the unknown territory of change and fresh starts."And so Chicago native Martha Ruth Mulder reinvented herself as North Tavis Cairn, a journalist who had an opportunity to live alone for several months on Monomoy Island.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Cairn, North T    3. Coastal Ecology    4. Monomoy Wilderness (Mass.)    5. Natural Resources    6. Naturalists, Gardeners, Environmentalists    7. Nature    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Regional Subjects - New England    10. Applied ecology    11. Biogeography    12. Biography & Autobiography / General    13. Biography: general    14. Management of land & natural resources    15. Northeastern & North Atlantic states   

Subjects:  1. Coastal Ecology    2. Ecology    3. Environmental Monitoring    4. Environmental Science    5. General    6. Intertidal ecology    7. Life Sciences - Biology - Marine Biology    8. Methodology    9. Nature    10. Nature / Field Guide Books    11. Nature/Ecology    12. Research    13. Deltas, estuaries, coastal regions    14. Ecological science, the Biosphere    15. Nature / General   

Reviews (3)

Story of a Front Yard
This book relates some of the observations that Alcock made when he converted his grassy lawn in front of his Arizona house from grass to desert flora.In his neighborhood, residents dutifully maintained wide swaths of green grass through continuous fertilizing, watering, cutting, and trimming.They controlled pests and weeds through spraying, but if they missed one chemical treatment or watering, unwanted species would begin to take over.When Alcock first moved to the area, he went along with local custom for several years.Finally, he asked himself why he was working so hard to maintain grass at such high economic and environmental costs, when it was really the desert surroundings that he enjoyed.It took some effort to kill his lawn and replace it with a yard filled with thriving desert species, but maintenance eventually became much easier and cheaper once he had landscaping fit for the local environment.
Nature, neighbours and night quests
John Alcock loves Nature.Sometimes, though, getting from a suburban home to the wilderness he relishes can be tedious.So he brought some of his favoured Sonoran Desert environment to his front yard.Using a ramshackle Kubota tractor, he stripped away the layer of Bermuda grass surrounding his house.Over time, and with no little effort, he transformed that yard into a little pocket of desert environment.All this was more than an exercise in redecorating, however.Alcock studies insects, especially their mating rituals, and this transplanted environment gave him ample opportunity.Even if his practice of crouching over desert shrubbery at odd hours raised a few neighbourhood eyebrows. Fabulous, witty, insightful
I thoroughly enjoyed this intersting, thought provoking book from John Alcock. His thoughts on the modern American lawn should be required reading in the suburbs. The world would be a better place if all would read andcomprehend his thoughts on connecting ourselves to the myriad wonders thatgo on all around us every day. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arizona    2. Behavior    3. Desert Ecology    4. Desert animals    5. Desert gardening    6. Gardening / Horticulture    7. Insects    8. Insects & Spiders    9. Life Sciences - Ecology    10. Nature/Ecology    11. Regional - General    12. Science    13. Tempe    14. Animal ecology    15. Applied ecology    16. Insects (entomology)    17. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    18. Plant ecology    19. USA   

Subjects:  1. Ecology    2. Lakes & Ponds    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Water Supply    6. Wetland conservation    7. Wetland ecology    8. Wetlands    9. Nature / Lakes & Ponds   

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast    2. Oceans & Seas    3. Reference    4. Scuba & Snorkeling    5. Sports    6. Sports & Recreation    7. Travel - Foreign   

Subjects:  1. Life Sciences - Biology - General    2. Life Sciences - Ecology    3. Science    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Wetlands Ecology    6. Applied ecology    7. Ecological science, the Biosphere    8. Science / Biology   

Reviews (1)

Complete and Thorough
This book is the most complete book I've come across in terms of covering all the plants which I may encounter in the California deserts. I have eight desert plant books in all and I look at this one as the ultimate authority when it comes to identifying a plant. It's not the most easy book to use, but that's because it attempts to cover every native plant found in the desert. Some plant identification books strive for ease of use at the expense of completeness, the goal of this book is completeness. It is extremely well organized, but it is a bit technical for most people. The drawings are good and there is a limited number of color photographs. I consider this book an indispensable reference when it comes to desert plants with the Munz book "California Flora" being the only higher authority I know of. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. California, Southern    2. Desert Ecology    3. Desert plants    4. Identification    5. Life Sciences - Botany    6. Life Sciences - Ecology    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Pictorial works    9. Plant Geography    10. Science    11. Arid zones, deserts    12. California    13. Nature / General    14. Plant ecology    15. Plant life: general    16. Reference works   

Reviews (2)

coastal resources management
Philippines has been known for its great tropical underwater lifeforms.Living here is a great opportunity to discover and adapt on its enviromental impacts.Yet, Filipinos scarcely understand and less dessiminated regarding protection on its coastal resources.Until now and still is one habit of Filipinos by doing an illegal way of fishing which we called it Dynamite fishing and/ cyanide fishing.As a citizen, i am very much concerned and depressed which is why i am working with a government agency specialized in managing coastal resources to uplift fisherfolks spirit of conserving our marine life as a source of its living by not over exploiting it.Coastal Resource Management leads fisherfolks to its legal way of fishing as well as giving them information on alternative livehood.Coastal Resource Management is one way of saving our mother earth, abolished poverty and respect God's creation.

management plan integrated
alternative activities fisheries and productivities activities, the processes and cicle to generated this processes ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Coastal ecology    2. Coastal zone management    3. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    4. Environmental Science    5. Environmental Studies    6. Marine ecology    7. Marine resources conservation    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Oceans & Seas    11. Shore protection    12. Deltas, estuaries, coastal regions    13. Management of land & natural resources    14. Oceanography (seas)    15. Science / Oceanography   

Subjects:  1. Fishing - General    2. Oceans & Seas    3. Sports    4. Sports & Recreation    5. Atlantic Ocean    6. Fishing, angling    7. Sale Books   

Reviews (2)

Best Zooplankton and Larvae Photo Album Around
You cannot live without this photo album if you observe inshore zooplankton.The black and white photographs are stunning, especially the Crustacea.It is a steal for the price.Every plankton lab. should have a copy.I particularly liked the ovigerous Evadne.

An good book for an overview
I've always wanted to know what I was seeing when I went to the beach - especially when I began to bring a microscope with me.This book is a good start for people who are curious about the environment around them and wantto put names to what they see. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aquatic Ecology    2. Classification    3. Coastal Ecology    4. Identification    5. Life Sciences - Biology - Marine Biology    6. Life Sciences - Ecology    7. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    8. Marine zooplankton    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Science    11. Invertebrates    12. Marine biology    13. Marine zooplankton--Classification    14. Science / Life Sciences / Zoology / Invertebrates   

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Oceanography    2. Oceans & Seas    3. Science    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Oceanography (seas)    6. Science / Oceanography   

Reviews (1)

Be In The Know About N. Carolina Beaches
Don't look here for hotel or restaurant info.This is a beach book, so check in here by county to see the well-known beaches and those that will surprise you.The author selected Hammocks Beach State Park as the best of the lesser known beaches.He suggests the best beaches for first time visitors, the best for sports oriented vacations, and the best for visiting in the off-season.
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Subjects:  1. Atlantic Coast (N.C.)    2. Beaches    3. Coasts    4. Guidebooks    5. North Carolina    6. Oceans & Seas    7. Recreation areas    8. Travel    9. Travel - United States    10. United States - South - South Atlantic (General)    11. United States - South Atlantic - N. Carolina    12. Travel & holiday guides    13. Travel / United States / South / South Atlantic (DC, DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)    14. guidebook; hurricanes; national seashores; state parks; public beaches; wildlife refuges; historic sites; boat ramps; docks; fishing piers; lighthouses; ferries; museums; facilities; phone numbers; addresses; detailed maps; hours of operation; wheelchair accessibility; tides; dunes; seashells/coastal North Carolina   

Reviews (3)

Ocean Science for the Casual Oceanographer
A wonderful and easy to read book about the history of Oceanography. When I first received the book as a Christamas gift from my wife, one of my first thoughts was "I hope it's not to dull."What a delightful surprise, Mr. Kunzig has woven a story of the ocean that is very entertaining and easily held my attention. His book includes chapters on the early explorers, their theories, their findings and their misunderstandings and their conflicts. He discusses the role that microscopic organism of the oceans play in the climate of our earth and our connection to them. I highly recommend this book.

Exploring the oceans
Exploration is sexier than understanding. That's probably why we say Newton discovered the laws of motion, rather than understood the relationship between mass, force and velocity. Amongst the many disciplines of science, perhaps none is so dominated by exploration as oceanography. Great Book
I bought this book thinking it was a follow up to the authors previous book, 'the restless sea'.However it is the same, now with pictures.If you have a choice between the two I recommend the new one.The pictures and illustrations are a great.Instead of imagining what he is talking about you can see it for yourself.I hope he does eventually have a follow up book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Oceanography    2. Nature    3. Ocean    4. Oceans & Seas    5. Popular works    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Cartography, geodesy & geographic information systems (GIS)    9. History of science    10. The hydrosphere   

Editorial Review

The harsh ice-bound landscape that is Antarctica has been the subject of constant fascination and study since humans first set foot on this frozen continent in 1821. This tome is a cross between a popular science book and a picture book. Mike Lucas's lucid prose is informative and concise, but the bulk of the volume is devoted to color illustrations. More than 50 photographers, including the author, contributed to the project. There are some breathtaking studies of the white wilderness and its inhabitants by Gerald Cubitt, Ken Findlay, and Roger Mear; Bruce Herrod's portrait of a scientist with a frozen beard sends chills down the spine. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Loved it.
This is a great book, with quality research and writing and some pretty amazing photos. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antarctic regions    2. Antarctica    3. Arctic Ecology    4. Arctic Islands And Antarctica - History    5. Military - Naval    6. Pictorial works    7. Polar Regions    8. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    9. Travel    10. Travel - Foreign   

Editorial Review

In Read more

Reviews (4)

lost in san francisco
Why, oh, why do swimmers get "lost" writing about San Francisco? Answer:? Lencek and Bosker have 11 1/2 pages of bibliography, (including "Haunts of the Black Masseur:The Swimmer as Hero" by Charles Sprawson,published in 1992.) While Sprawson's book focuses on the swimmer through history, and thus touches on PLACES where the swimmers swim, Lencek and Bosker (hererafter "LB") focus on the beaches through history and thus touch on the same beaches and places that Sprawson visits,or in some cases writes about without having visited (his first edition was published in Great Britain)and while Jack London gets ample admiration, the book has a world-wide approach to swimming through the ages---Byronic,English,German,Japanese,American periods are among those explored via word and art.)They may have walked through San Francisco together to reach the Sutro Baths(or never seen them), but they all got lost before placing Fleishhacker Swim Pool on the wrong side of San Francisco Bay.Sprawson:"The great Sutro Baths of San Francisco were founded in 1896 by an engineer who had made his fortune from devising a tunnel to drain the flooded shafts of the silver mines in Nevada.Sutro then turned his aquatic genius to designing the most remarkable pool ever built."LB:"An engineer who had grown wealthy by devising a tunnel for draining the flooded shafts of Nevada silver mines gave San Francisco the equivalent of Mediterranean bathing in oceanside swimming pools.In 1896 he opened Sutro Baths, a remarkable complex situated high above the Pacific.Sprawson:The railway company ran two lines directly to its entrance, from where stairs descended to what was the largest glass-roofed building in existence,situated high above the Pacific,full of palm trees that stretched up to its ceiling, stuffed anacondas, a Tropic beach, restaurants, and in the main amphitheatre, seven separate swimming pools overlooking the ocean.LB:In the main amphitheater, seven swimming pools, holding two million gallons of seawater and ranging in temperature from icy to warm, overlooked the ocean.Sprawson:Their temperature varied from ice-cold to warm. They held two million gallons of sea water, and could accommodate ten thousand bathers at a time,who could vary their swimming with swinging from the rings and trapezes, or diving off the nine springboards and several high platforms.LB:At any one time, ten thousand bathers swam, swung from the rings and trapezes, and dived from the springboards and platforms.BUT SPRAWSON AND LB somehow misplace the Fleishhaker swimming pool, which they call "the Fleishhaker." The pool,no longer in existence, was south of Sutro Baths, along the Pacific, yet Sprawson (writing from Britain, perhaps) writes: "On the other side of the Bay was the largest open-air pool in the world,the Fleishhaker, that resembled a lake with an Italian Renmaissance changing room stretching almost its entire length."Well, it was a thousand feet long and lifeguards had a rowboat or two among their patrol tools, but despite its size, it resembled a large swimming pool, not a lake.LB:"Across San Francisco Bay (NO,NO,NO) was the Fleishhacker,another gargantuan swimming facility. Its Italian Renaissance changing rooms were the height of elegance (NO, not by the 50's or 60's, anyhow).Sprawson:But the water was never warm, and divers were put off by the perpetual mist that hovered over its surface..."LB:"The size was something of a liability,however:the temperature of the water was always on the cold side, and a constant fog hovered over the swimmers." Both neglected to note that the water was "on the cold side" because it was pumped directly from the Pacific Ocean less than a quarter mile away. AND IT WASN'T 'ACROSS THE BAY.' It was next to the ocean, and on the same "side of the bay" as Sutros.That said, hey, if you like the beach, add it to your collection. And if you like the beach, you probably like the water, too, and in that case, bette add Sprawson's book to your collection too. His cover, swimmer "Houlgate" sitting on the wet sand, 1919 by Jacques_henri Lartigue, is enough reason to get the book...plus a wonderful selection of classic and modern artwork depicting the world of the swimmer. No maps of "the Fleishhaker."

A good 'beach book' on the beach
Lencek and Bosker describe themselves as specialists in popular culture and that they are. Their book on the history of the beach should be properly be described as history lite. The best history of the evolution of beach vacations!
I finally found a book that takes the reader through the history of society's love for the beach!It is a wonderfully light and easy read that reveals tons of interesting information about beach going.As a sand duneecologist, I was very impressed with therepresentation of the presentproblems facing beach development.The historical trace enables the readerto understand why we keep pouring money into a disappearing shoreline! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Beaches    2. Essays    3. Essays & Travelogues    4. General    5. History    6. Nature    7. Nature / Field Guide Books    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Oceans & Seas    10. Reference    11. Resorts    12. Social aspects    13. Sociology Of Leisure    14. History / General   

Editorial Review

As a lifelong desert dweller, Terry Tempest Williams is intimately familiar with the multiple shades of red, and she explores many of them, among other things, in this tribute to the desert and canyon country of southern Utah that she holds so dear. In this collection of essays, poems, congressional testimony, and journal entries (some previously published), she ruminates on the meaning of wilderness and the need to preserve it as a way to save ourselves as much as the land itself. In Read more

Reviews (5)

Interesting perspective
Terry Tempest Williams is without a doubt one of the finest writers to tackle the intricacies of the American West in literature of any sort. Carrying her own torch is impressive enough, but Williams also evokes the activism and urgent motivation that calls us to appreciate, respect and save our remaining western wilderness that was so powerfully put into words by Edward Abbey. I have reviewed a portion of "Red" before (see "Desert Quartet"), so I will limit this review to the remainder of "Red". Writing to Save Wilderness
Terry Tempest Williams created this book to fight for Wilderness with the best tool she has, her writing.The beauty of her words hang in the air and cut like a knife.When asked by a friend why she writes, Williams responds: "I write as an exercise in pure joy.I write as one who walks on the surface of a frozen river beginning to melt.I write out of my anger and into my passion.I write from the stillness of night anticipating - always anticipating.I write to listen.I write out of silence....I write because it is the way I talk long walks.I write as a bow to wilderness. I write because I believe it can create a path in darkness."

In Every Way, A Great Work
Both a piece of literary artistry and passionate activism, "Red"'s audience appeal is the broadest of any book I've ever read.The book's structure, both wild and bounded by cadences of space, conforms strategically to Ms. Williams' conceptual take on the color red - red represents heat, anger, unpredictability, the lifeblood of the earth that runs through human beings and all earth's creatures, and is concentrated in the searing deserts of the American West where Ms. Williams lives.A thematic tapestry though it is, it is, at its core, a living breathing message presented selflessly and succinctly by a woman who I believe understands the need for a lifelong journey down the parallel rails of human and non-human nature until these rails converge.I recommend this book highly. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Description and travel    2. Desert Ecology    3. Deserts    4. Ecology    5. Environmental conditions    6. Essays    7. Human ecology    8. Natural history    9. Nature    10. Nature / Field Guide Books    11. Nature/Ecology    12. Psychological aspects    13. Utah    14. Nature / Ecology    15. Philosophy    16. Williams, Terry Tempest   

Editorial Review

Oceanic aficionados, nautical buffs, and photography fans, ahoy! Gear up for the full-gale force of Read more

Reviews (6)

Thebest coffee table book I have ever seen
If you love photography and the sea, then this book is a must

Bought it for my Boy
But wanted to keep it! My boyfriend is the surfer so I thought this would be a nice gift. But when it arived I looked through it... WOW. Now I want a copy! Beautiful

Bought it for my Boy
But wanted to keep it! My boyfriend is the surfer so I thought this would be a nice gift. But when it arived I looked through it... WOW. Now I want a copy! Beautiful ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Ocean waves    3. Oceans & Seas    4. Photo Essays    5. Photography    6. Pictorial works    7. Photographs: collections   

Editorial Review

William Smythe, a Southern California booster, was not alone when in 1900 he expressed his hope that "the great brown waste which lies on the borders of two republics... will some time be as densely populated as the lands of the Nile, as rich in industry as the Kingdom of Holland."Read more

Reviews (8)

A Tale of a Magnificent Disaster
I visited the Salton Sea to photograph birds and found it impossible to describe, telling friends they had to go there themselves to experience the place and the people. Now I tell them to read this book. From the creation of the Sea to the creation of Salvation Mountain, deBuys tells it's colorful history in a prose that fills you with the sounds and smells and people of the Sea and Imperial Valley. Anyone with an interest in man's unlimited folly, vision, corruption, and the coming environmental train-wreck in southern California needs to read this book.

What Every Member of Congress Should Know...
Bravo! Salt Dreams is the first of its kind to wrap up all of the issues surrounding the Salton Sea and Colorado River delta in one volume. The best since Cadillac Desert in its cinematic portrayal of a complicated host of issues. Awesome writing on the heroism of US Fish and Wildlife staff. My only criticism is that Congressman George Brown is slighted; Sonny Bono often called him "Mr. Salton Sea".Certainly, a bookMr. Brown would have loved.

Reclamation/Folly in the Desert
Superlative read revealing the vast natural beauty of the desert and its inhabitants and man's irreversable errors in judging it as a fallen Eden.Together with Cadillac Desert it ranks as a southwest water classic.Beautiful writingand stunning photographs. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. California    3. Colorado Desert (Calif. and Me    4. Colorado Desert (Calif. and Mexico)    5. Desert Ecology    6. Ecology    7. Environmental conditions    8. History    9. Photo Essays    10. Photography    11. Real Estate - General    12. Salton Sea    13. Salton Sea (Calif.)    14. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    15. Subjects & Themes - Travel - U.S./West    16. Water And Marine Resources Management    17. Water resources development    18. Water salinization    19. Agriculture & related industries    20. Photography & Photographs