Reviews (1)

Great contribution to green building
I truly enjoyed this book. One thing that frustrates me about new environmental standards for buildings, like LEED, is the fact that designers and builders are not taking more cues from natural systems when they are planning the actual construction of these buildings.
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Subjects:  1. Architectural Design    2. Architecture    3. Environmental aspects    4. General    5. History - Specific Styles    6. Mental Health    7. Natural Resources    8. Nature    9. Psychological aspects    10. Psychology Of Architecture    11. Remodeling & Renovation - Energy Efficient    12. Architecture / General    13. Nature / General    14. The Environment   

Reviews (2)

Speciation is great
Dude, amazon asked me to review this book...an invited review of Coyne and Orr's "_SPECIATION_" for my CV...Booyah!!
A must have for speciation studies
This is an excelent book for anyone interested in the processes of speciation. The book is written so that an advanced undergraduate can understand it, but a proffessor of evolution can still get insight from it. Theories of speciation are well laid out and discussed in-debth. A excelent addition for any professional book collection. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ecology    2. General    3. Life Sciences - Evolution    4. Science    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Species    7. Evolution   

Reviews (11)

This practical guide assists them well a neophyte's need in veterinary acupuncture.
It is a simple and easy book of understanding, of the way that the students, in his course beginning, need to understand the Chinese medicine. But for a professional acupunturist he also has his usefulness, because that the part 3 on treatment serves more commonly as a fast guide of treatment for the diseases found. Its serves as a book of incomes. In spite of knowing that the Chinese medicine seeks the treatment of the patient and not of the disease in itself, trying to balance the patient, nevertheless, as a first treatment this book aids the professional to give the first steps. I recommend a lot of this book to students of veterinary Chinese medicine and the acupunturists that are in the beginning of his professional life as acupunturist.

Four Paws Five Directions: A Guide to Chinese Medicine for Cats and Dogs
Great book. I am a certified acupressurist for horses and this book rounded out my understanding to include our smaller four footed friends. Well written with great diagrams on actual animals to facilitate correct point finger placement.

Every Dog owner should own this book
The material is increditable in this book.We need this knowledge in all of our lives. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals / Pets    2. Dogs - Care/Health    3. Ecology    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Pets    7. Reference    8. Cats    9. Complementary Medicine    10. Dogs   

Subjects:  1. Administration Of Recreation Services    2. Congresses    3. Environmental Engineering & Technology    4. Golf - General    5. Golf courses    6. Irrigation    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Sewage Disposal And Treatment    9. Sewage irrigation    10. Sports & Recreation    11. Sewage treatment & disposal    12. Sport & leisure industries    13. Technology / Environmental    14. Waste management   

Editorial Review

On August 5, 1949, lightning came crashing down in the vast spruce forest above Seeley Lake, Montana, and touched off a roaring blaze. As every Westerner knows, lightning means fire, but the fire that raged through Mann Gulch that day was huge--the sort that occurs only every few decades. A battery of paratrooper-firefighters, many of them fresh veterans of World War II, had been anticipating it, and even looking forward to the chance to fight a great fire. Before the day ended thirteen of those smokejumpers lay dead, their charred remains evidence that something had gone terribly wrong. Norman Maclean gives a thorough account of the incident in language not meant for the squeamish: "Burning to death on a mountainside is dying at least three times ... first, considerably ahead of the fire, you reach the verge of death in your boots and your legs; next, as you fail, you sink back in the region of strange gases and red and blue darts where there is no oxygen and here you die in your lungs; then you sink in prayer into the main fire that consumes." After August 1949, he notes, the Forest Service came to recognize that not all fires need to be fought and that fire benefits most forest ecosystems. ... Read more

Reviews (66)

The beginning of wildland safety
Living in Montana and being a a Wildland firefighter as well. This book shows the true speed, power and ultimately the violence that a full blown fire can build to. The men that died in Mann Gulch created in death the first vestiges of the high level of training and safety we now all use when in similar situations. Along with fire on the mountain, required reading if you want to see as fire as we do!

What a Blowhard
The book is way to long it could be 200 pages. Maclean babbles on for paragraphs about something that could be said in a paragraph or two.

A fitting tribute
Norman Maclean was born to write this book. As an outdoorsman, a wildland firefighter of the same generation as the books subjects and one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, Norman Maclean's voice becomes the ideal homage to the hero's of Mann Gulch. While fans of Maclean's fiction might miss some of the poetry of his previous works, they will visit a new side of the author in this work as he pieces together the puzzle of Mann Gulch and makes peace with his own personal ghosts. Here the author, in his words, seeks to let the "tragedy become a story". The tragedy is told in detail, both honestly and reverently. Maclean labors to remain dispassionate and honest, to, "not become to sentimental". The tragedy he relates is horrible, the story of the tragedy is beautiful. It is a fitting tribute to the crosses of Mann Gulch and the memories of those who died there. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Forest fires    3. Historical - U.S.    4. History: American    5. Mann Gulch    6. Montana    7. Natural Disasters    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Prevention and control    11. Smokejumpers    12. Trees & Forests - General    13. United States    14. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    15. Fire services    16. Nature / Trees    17. Social history    18. USA    19. c 1945 to c 1960   

Reviews (10)

Needs editing, proofreading
Sorry, I have to give a different opinion from everyone else here.
Broad and Good Coverage
As the author points out, this does fill the gap between novice (not beginner) and advanced books. That said, it is probably not for someone who is not really interested in weather forecasting as a serious hobby or profession. There is a wealth of information and it is organized very well. It is something that you will certainly want to pick up many times as your knowledge grows about this subject.
Bridges the gap
Geez, if only something like this existed 20 years ago when I was a teenager getting started in the hobby.It's really amazing that after reading this book, I can pick up on some of the most complex weather charts on the Internet and understand quite clearly what is going on.Tim has a way of describing things quite visually and clearly, and highlighting the building blocks of forecasting.Although I'm not a meteorologist myself, my friend who is in the degree program at the University of North Carolina recognizes this title as part of her coursework.I think this really says a lot.Two thumbs up on this one, and if you are the least bit interested in forecasting, trust me, this book had better be on your bookshelf (or better yet, on your desk).It's well worth the investment. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Nature    2. Nature / Weather    3. Nature/Ecology    4. Weather    5. Weather forecasting    6. Climate   

Subjects:  1. Computers - Communications / Networking    2. Design and construction    3. Earth Sciences - Meteorology & Climatology    4. Meteorological instruments    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Networking - General    8. Weather    9. Computer graphics software    10. Nature / Weather   

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Geology    2. Earth Sciences - Hydrology    3. Environmental Engineering & Technology    4. Hydrogeology    5. Hydrology    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Geology & the lithosphere    9. Hydrology (freshwater)    10. Science / Environmental Science   

Reviews (6)

GEO Book
The book has an excellent number of graphs and pictures and makes it fairly easy to absorb information through self-learning.Great tool with lectures.Sometimes a bit of a drag on the boredom scale depending upon the topic.

Abbott explains how Natural Disasters occur
Although Abbott could have done a better job of simplifying some of his explainations, he does a great job of breaking down the formation of Natural Disasters in easy to understand steps.He also provides briefings on real life natural disaster occurances.

Natural Disasters
I used this book for one of my Earth and Ocean Science courses at the University of British Columbia. Although I enjoyed the many good examples, I found that the text did not have a very good flow to it. I found some of it to be choppy, and some of the sentences to be quite unclear. I agree, the examples are interesting, but it seems like the text relies on those examples to be interesting. I think a lot of processes could have been explained better, as I thought the point from class notes I received from my professors did a lot better than the text in helping me understand certain processes. I definetely agree it's a beginner text though as the examples give a good indication that natural disasters only occur because humans have inhabited locations that often times threaten lives. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Geology    2. Natural Disasters    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Special Interest - Adventure    6. Travel - General    7. Geography    8. Science / Geology   

Reviews (10)

Great read - beautifully written, amazing story
I have read quite a few fire history books now, and the one complaint I often have is that the writing is mediocre compared to the story it tells. Not so here. This is an extraodinarily well written book -- poignant and moving without being heavy-handed, and it intersperses the story with facts about weather, wildland fire, death by fire, and burn treatment very well.
WHAT A BOOK!!!!
My grandfather was a railroad engineer in southern Minnesota; he often talked about the railroad's role in this fire.I knew at a very young age that the one train was driven backwards to save people of the town.My aunt, who is almost 90, remembers going "north" on the train to pick blueberries as a very small child.She said even many years after the fire there were burned out stumps in clearings.As a young girl, everytime they went through the area everyone talked about the fire.
Well written.
Daniel James Brown has obviously done a lot of research of the subject and has woven together a story that portrays what the survivors (and non-survivors) of the Hinkley firestorm experienced.My father was a survivor of the fire; this book made the whole disaster seem more real to me.Compelling reading. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. Americas (North Central South West Indies)    3. Forest fires    4. Hinckley Region    5. Hinckley Region (Minn.)    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History - U.S.    9. History: American    10. Minnesota    11. Natural Disasters    12. United States - 19th Century/Turn of the Century    13. United States - State & Local - Midwest    14. History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies)   

Reviews (51)

A Great How-to On Safely Composting Effluent Back To Food!
Human effluent has been the nemesis of most societies for centuries and despite all of our current technological prowess, we have yet to intelligently address one of the most basic biological functions of our existence. And our effluent is backing-up on us, big time.
Don't think it's all going to be perfect though.
We were so inspired by this book we ripped out both our flush toliets. We started a large composting operation in our back yard. Now we have lots of mice and flies - yes we follow the directions to the letter. He states with proper covering, you won't get flies. Wrong. If you mix food with the foop no mice - wrong again! Mice and flies anyway - so you might want to start small first before you go sell your old porcelain potties. We feel slightly betrayed by this book.

One Great Use for Poop
I was very excited when I discovered this book, as I had been saving my bowel products for about six months at the time with only a vague understanding that they might someday be put to better use.Unfortunately I live in a small condo, and I don't have a garden, much less a compost heap.So I guess I will have to donate my hard earned sludge to someone who can help it return to nature.I wonder if you ever grow a carrot that has a peanut stuck in it.Also, anyone know a good use for bottled yellow? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ecology    2. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    3. General    4. Life Sciences - Ecology    5. Life Sciences - Ecology - Recycling    6. Nature    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Organic    9. Science    10. Recycling   

Reviews (4)

Not what I expected, but not bad
When I saw the title of this book, I had images of butterfly diagrams, an adequate amount of astrophysics and space physics, etc. However, the book's subtitle, "Learning to Live with a Stormy Star" was a much better clue as to the book's contents. Although some stellar/space science is briefly discussed, the main theme of the book is centered on sociological hardships, financial losses, research budgets, business interests, etc., all pertaining to our periodically stormy sun. Especially highlighted are: the survival of expensive satellites in space during less than ideal space weather, the sociological effects of their loss and the effects of this weather on power grids on earth. But my unfulfilled expectations and resulting disappointment should not result in a poor rating for this book. It is well written, very informative and seems to thoroughly cover, I think, what it was apparently intended to cover - hence my rating of 4 stars.

Vital, but strangely incomplete
I am recommending this book to everyone. I am quite convinced by Odenwald's data and studies I have encountered prior to this epochal book that our goverments need to take seriously what the good doctor is warning us about. The threat of unprecedented super-solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections from our unsteady star, ones that could blank out power-grids, destroy communications satellites and possibly fry increasingly vunerable microchips is something every thinking person should consider. Good introduction for general science readers
Interesting topic, though I judged the coverage to be uneven. Readers wanting an update about solar physics will be disappointed by a lack of details; but this can be supplemented by a visit to NASA’s solar physics Web pages.... Policy-makers should be impressed by the real and potential economic fallout from massive solar plasma discharges; but some of Odenwald’s detailed examples illustrate a coincidental rather than true cause-and-effect relation of solar events to Earth-based calamities. The Exon Valdez disaster is discussed at length before being dismissed, and is referenced later. Several pages detail inconveniences due to a power blackout in the D.C. area which had nothing to do with unusual solar activity. I found these references obtuse — I would have greatly preferred to see more information about the sun.Read more

Subjects:  1. Astronomy - General    2. Astronomy - Solar System    3. Environmental aspects    4. Magnetism    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Solar activity    8. Popular science    9. Science / Meteorology    10. Solar-terrestrial phenomena    11. The Sun   

Reviews (1)

A hammer!
R. Stull makes a comprehensive and profound review of the boundary layer meteorology in his book.I consider this book to be a most useful tool for any scientist concerned with the troposphere, for all environmentalengineers having to do with air quality, and for all micrometeorologists. Just like a hammer!One of the first to get for one's library.Itcontains the general descriptions of the usual subjects, thoroughly andwell explained.Then it also contains extensive descriptions of differentmodels used to make calculations. This is why I am willing to pay its...unfortunately not-very-low price. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Meteorology & Climatology    2. Environmental Science    3. Mechanics - General    4. Science    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Boundary layer (Meteorology)    7. Meteorology    8. Science / Meteorology    9. Science-Environmental Science    10. Science-Mechanics - General   

Reviews (4)

An excellent introduction of complex processes.
This textbook was assigned for a mid-level course on climatic environments of the past, with a focus on the Quaternary Period. As a graduate student with an ecology undergraduate degree currently studying Quaternary vegetation dynamics, I found this to be an excellent introduction for those without a background in climatology while still having a lot to offer more advanced students.
A long-awaited textbook......
I read this book twice, and wished I had had something like this available to me a few years ago, when I started venturing out into the unnumbered feedback loops, geochemical vagaries and regional idiosyncracies of Quaternary paleoclimatology, trying to form a general picture of it all. But this text isn't just about the Quaternary, mind you, this is a complete introduction to the main issues in Earth's climatology. Not Good Enough!
Here is a very flashy book.Superb illustrations.Nice layout. Important subject.Read more

Subjects:  1. Climatic changes    2. Climatology    3. Earth Sciences - Geology    4. Nature    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Weather    7. Palaeontology   

Subjects:  1. Engineering - Civil    2. Engineering - Hydraulic    3. Environmental Engineering & Technology    4. Environmental Science    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Technology    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Water Supply And Treatment    9. Watershed management    10. Civil Engineering, Surveying & Building    11. Technology / Engineering / Civil   

Reviews (5)

Best Earth Systems Science text so far
I'm a prof at a small liberal arts college, and I love using this text in my upper level course on global change. It works well with non-science majors, as well as with the more advanced science students. It does a superb job with climate change science, which is one of the major focii in my course. It doesn't hesitate to use real physics, math, and chemistry, yet at the same time is accessible to the non-science folks. Lee Kump is one of the premiere geoscientists in the field, and he has lent his broad understanding to this excellent text. It might also be fun to simply read the book if you are not a student.

Gaia explained by scientists
Kump has worked with James Lovelock of 'Gaia' fame on modelling Daisyworld. I'll let the reviewer discover what that means in this title.(But also see REVENGE OF GAIA, 2006, for Lovelock's predictions for our heating planet).
This is the best textbook for earth system science
Earth System Science is a new field, one that evolves much more quickly than textbooks can be revised.This one is as current as you can expect, and it approaches the field of science in a much better way than any other textbook I have seen.In particular, most earth system texts approach the field by morphing from a traditional discipline.Usually, it's a geology textbook revised to include atmospheric, oceanic, and climatic studies.But earth system science requires an interdisciplinary approach from the start, a problem based approach.Our global environmental problems need this approach, and this book covers them in a reasonably detailed and accurate manner. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - General    2. Earth Sciences - Geology    3. Environmental Science    4. Gaia hypothesis    5. Geology (General)    6. Geophysics    7. Life Sciences - Ecology    8. Science    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Climatology    11. Science / Geophysics   

Reviews (3)

Great text for earth science teachers!
I teach middle school earth science as well as an earth science class for practicing teachers. Keller's work is excellent for science educators because it includes the environmental aspects of earth science. It takes teachers beyond the typical approaches in most earth science texts and creates a deeper and more wholistic understanding. It is the best text I have found for my earth science for teachers course and I highly recommend it.

Excellent New 8th Edition - the Best Seller for 2000
This new Eighth Edition of Enviromental Geology is welcomed by the geology profession in the year 2000.Professor Edward Keller, a leading geomorphologist at the University of California at Santa Barbara, hasperformed a timely update of his national best-seller to include newinformation in earthquake hazards, new hyperlinks for students to studygeologic hazard information on the Internet, and expansion of two chapterson water supply and water pollution.Excellent color photographs and colordiagrams are used throughout.The 8th Edition features use ofquantification ("putting some numbers on"), case histories ofcogent interest to students, closer looks at important concepts, key terms,study questions, and web hyperlinks. This textbook is highly recommendedand will be most appropriate at the Freshman or Sophomore level.It doesnot assume prior coursework in geology or earth science.It continues tobe the #1 seller in North America and is taught throughout all campuses ofthe University of California system.

Please See the New 2000 Eighth Edition
This is the best available environmental geology book, except please do not buy this older edition.Instead, browse down the Amazon list and purchase the new Eighth edition, copyright 2000.It has substantial newinformation about earthquake risk, new hyperlinks to important newwebsites.The author, Professor Edward A. Keller, is a leadinggeomorphologist and engineering geologist at the University of Californiaat Santa Barbara.This text is widely used throughout California and theWest.We are all delighted with the new 8th edition from Prentice-Hall. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Geology    2. Environmental Geology    3. Environmental Science    4. Human Geography    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Geology & the lithosphere    8. Science / Geology    9. The Environment   

Reviews (1)

Must Have For All Environmental Engineers
This is one book which an engineer esp an environemtal engineer must haveas it starts from basics and takes you to complex situations making themunderstandable. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chemistry - General    2. Engineering - Chemical & Biochemical    3. Environmental Chemistry    4. Environmental Engineering & Technology    5. Environmental Science    6. Laboratory manuals    7. Sanitary And Municipal Engineering    8. Sanitary engineering    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Technology    11. Technology & Industrial Arts    12. Industrial Chemistry & Manufacturing Technologies    13. Technology / Environmental   

Editorial Review

David Abram's writing casts a spell of its own as he weaves the reader through a meticulously researched work that gently addresses such seemingly daunting topics as where the past and future exist, the relationship between space and time, and how the written word serves to sever humans from their primordial source of sustenance: the earth.Read more

Reviews (32)

Journey
I read this book when my toddler daughter was just at a time when if I said something was a red herring she was looking for the fish, she seemed just exactly in the moment he was talking about in the text that I had long lost. Something as simple as feeling the rain on her face or trying to walk across the shine on the mall floor caused her to fear falling into the pool she saw from the surface or not knowing if it felt cold or hurt, this falling rain so rare out in her CA home, trying to tell me of rain as something changing her face. So of course I thought and thought about how real and valid her perceptions were and how close her knowing rode to experiences from the natural world. So I fell into his text and into the violet gathering patches of my childhood in West Virginia and away from the years of spraying, consuming, packaging, peeling, refining and defining within our cultural context. It was a lovely trip into feeling. I do so recommend the book.

The Spell of the Sensuous
David Abram has written a remarkable book that deals with the effect of phonetic based language on how we perceive the world. He also looks at the nature of time and space from an aboriginal point of view. He draws on an eclectic array of sources and pulls everything together quite well. The chapters pertaining to the thinking of Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty are not easy to read but are worth the effort. Overall the reason I rated this book so highly is because of the originality of Abram's ideas and because they have huge implications for our daily life. Be forewarned that this book deals with significant issues and is not light reading.

Disconnect and Loss of Empathy For Nature
This is one of the most scholarly treatments ofthe of human disconnect from NatureI have read. From early indigenous peoples to Socrates and beyond, Abrams takes us on a journey in time to find where the disconnect from Nature begins and spells it out not only in terms of the first "civilized" humans, but also howlanguage began to sophisticate, yet distance itself and us from that part of Nature reality or "life-world" when we knew where our sustenance and life support came from and we had a more direct and reverent sensibility of it.
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Subjects:  1. Body, Human (Philosophy)    2. Essays    3. Linguistics    4. Movements - Humanism    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Philosophy of nature    8. Sense (Philosophy)    9. Nature / Ecology    10. Phenomenology & Existentialism    11. Philosophy of mind   

Reviews (2)

Very good introduction to cosmology
The Early Universe provides an excellent introduction to the topics it covers, including the standard big bang cosmology, baryogenesis and inflation.I read Dodelson's Modern Cosmology before this text, and the two compliment each other.The Early Universe provides a more complete and physically intuitive description of the standard big bang cosmology, including the role of thermodynamics, nucleosynthesis and out-of-equilibrium dynamics.Because of the attention to the "background" dynamics, and also to baryogenesis, phase transitions, inflation, and other applications of high energy physics, one gets a better sense of the "bigger picture" with Kolb and Turner's text.On the other hand, The Early Universe lacks any technical discussion of metric perturbations and CMB analysis, which are important components of much current research.These are highly emphasized in Dodelson's text.For appropriate topics, I have found The Early Universe to be a very good reference.

Please create an audio adaptation ...
To the publisher I would appreciate it if the publisher could produce an audio adaptation of this book. I would love to listen to this while I drive to work and to let my 16 month old son listen to it as a bedtime story.Arnold D Veness ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Astronomy - Universe    2. Science    3. Science/Mathematics    4. Weather    5. Cosmology & the universe    6. Theoretical & mathematical astronomy