Reviews (14)

not a beginner book
This book goes indepth about the anatomy and physiology of mushrooms, soft corals and anemones. Not a great reference guide for choosing specimens for your It tends to generalize by family and/or genus vs species. If you are new to saltwater and are looking for a reference to choose items for your tank this would not be my first choice.

THE reference for that field
Just like the vol. 1, that is a must-have book. Please note that the vol. 3 should be released late Nov. 2005.
One of the best of the best vol.2
This volume of the series covers the soft corals and sea anemones; very important topics indeed for reef aquarium. The two books together are still not complete as� there are many organisms found in a reef aquaria still not covered. In this series. A fine glossary accompanies this book. Much of what I had to gleen by trial and error and by reading arcane publications over the years is covered in this book. Approachable to the beginner yet� a lot of substance for the expert.
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Subjects:  1. Animals / Pets    2. Aquariums    3. Captive marine aquariums    4. Coral reef animals    5. Fish & Aquariums    6. Identification    7. Marine Fauna    8. Marine Life    9. Marine invertebrates    10. Nature    11. Nature/Ecology    12. Pets    13. Tropics    14. Fish    15. Tropical Fish   

Reviews (3)

Master of landscape photography
Another stunning book of American Landscape!!
wonderful photos
After seeing these photos, I'm further inspired to visit all the national parks!
First class tribute to our parks
What a beautiful book! Covering all of our nation's National Parks, David Muench's photography is incredible. From the Great Sand Dunes to Canyonlands, from Carlsbad to Glacier, he's captured our nation's most beautiful land. Great quality book--I immediately wanted to hike up a mountain. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. National parks and reserves    2. Nature Photography    3. Parks & Campgrounds    4. Photo Essays    5. Photoessays & Documentaries    6. Photography    7. Pictorial works    8. Pictorials    9. Subjects & Themes - Landscapes    10. Travel - United States    11. United States    12. United States - General    13. Photographs: collections    14. USA    15. Zoos & wildlife parks   

Reviews (4)

One of my favourites!
While this book is certainly not comprehensive (especially in regards to the rodents and bats), it has hundreds of crisp, clear photos. The descriptions for each species is brief, but there are still many interesting facts to learn from the text.
Excellent Guide for Mammal Enthusiasts
I highly recommend this book as a photo-encyclopedic guide to mammals for children, students and adults who have a general interest in mammals.My review for this book is based on its use as an educational reference guide, not as a guide that one would carry with them out in the field.(It might be suitable for that use, but I am not qualified to review it in that manner.)We use this guide with our son, and I have given it as a gift to children interested in mammals, after looking at all of the top mammal guides listed on Amazon and in Borders.
get them all
these books are the very best if you want accuracy,i plan to have the entire collection of them by years end. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Identification    2. Mammals    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Reference    6. Nature / Mammals   

Reviews (3)

Stunning Photos!
Of course, everyone loves the feisty, peppy hummingbird with it's glorious colors.This book shows details that the average birdwatcher never sees.The close up photos, some in action sequence, are a delight and there are pictures even showing the nests made of cobwebs, feathers and lichens.
Unbelievable photography
This book conains the most amazing photography imaginable (the authors' companion book Hummingbirds of the Caribbean is just as wonderful).Dazzling colors and awesome stopped-action shots. I can't imagine how it was done.

Highest praise
The wife and husband team of Esther and Robert Tyrrell logged over 30,000 miles of travel to photograph and document the 16 species of North American hummingbirds.Using his own special high-speed strobe techniques, Roberthas photographed the tiny colorful birds in a variety of activities flying,perching, and nesting.The book contains over 200 amazing photographs,reproduced in dazzling color.In her text, Esther has culled informationfrom hundreds of sources and provides a comprehensive and well-writtenoverview of the birds' anatomy and behaviors.A must for any bird lover! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Hummingbirds    4. Individual Species Of Birds    5. Nature / Field Guide Books    6. Nature/Ecology    7. North America    8. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (11)

What you would expect.
I needed this book for my science olympiad team.It is exactly what you would expect from the Audubon society.Great colors, good quality, great examples. I ordered many other field guides at the suggestion from other teachers.

Audubon Field Guides Great Gifts
I purchased complete sets of Audubon Field Guides to everything for Xmas gifts this year - some given singly, some as sets.Fantastic quality; they were theme-appropriate depending upon to whom they were given and they were received with the most excitement and appreciation of any gift I have given for years.Plus, the prices were far below retail.Thanks for great service and top quality items.

Great feild guide for quick info
i loved this book i was doing a report on tourmaline and it gave me info that no othe book i looked at had ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Collection and preservation    2. Collectors and collecting    3. Minerals    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. North America    7. Rocks    8. Rocks & Minerals    9. Nature / Rocks & Minerals    10. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Reviews (28)

Lots of pictures... but what is this fish?
I bought this book to help me identify fish. Have it worked so far? No.
Impressive Picture book; useless otherwise
This book has changed a lot since the first edition. Mostly, it has removed information and added pictures. LOTS of pictures. It is more of a coffee-table book than any kind of aquarium guide. But even the pictures are of uneven quality. I was shocked that the only picture included for a couple of fairly common fish were of dead, poorly-preserved specimens. Yikes!
An Atlas and Little Else
"ATLAS" is defined: A volume of tables, charts, or plates that systematically illustrates a particular subject: an anatomical atlas. That's what this book is and nothing else. It has both a scientific name index and a somewhat handy Popular Names index and usually several plates (pictures) of each species. This book can be used for two purposes. If you have the name of the fish, you can find pictures of the species from the indexes. One can also puruse the many pages of pictures and find something that interests them and then go to another book for detailed information. That's about it.
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Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Aquarium fishes    3. Ecology    4. Fish & Aquariums    5. Identification    6. Pets    7. Pictorial works    8. Fishes & aquaria    9. Reference works   

Reviews (17)

Handy and Complete
Definitely a very good reference guide for any freshwater enthusiast. The mini-atlas has every freshwater species beautifully diplayed in color photo. Under each color photo is a group of symbols. These symbols are defined in the book itself. The symbols convey what water conditions are appropriate, size of tank, food, swimming level, breeding type and level of aggression. The mini-atlas also has separate chapters on breeding, fish diseases, aquarium plants and tank set-up.
A disappointment.
From the reviews, I expected alot from this book. I know that it is old, but I was really disappointed. The information is not consistent and incomplete. Here are my issues:
Occasionally difficult, but a great reference
Need to know if a certain breed of unusual fish is compatible with, say, your angelfish?Dr. Axelrod knows.This atlas is amazing in it's depth for a "mini-atlas," with page after page of freshwater fish.And then he gets into the real meat of fishkeeping after that!Although it can occasionally be difficult to use (the fish are listed by their scientific name in general, not their common name, which can make looking up a certain fish difficult), all in all this is an incredible book, and one every fishkeeper should have on their bookshelf. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aquarium fishes    2. Aquariums    3. Fish & Aquariums    4. Fishes    5. Identification    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Pets    8. Pictorial works    9. Fishes & aquaria   

Reviews (5)

Perfect Gift
I stumbled upon this book recently on Martha's Vineyard.It is a gem!Take the time to enjoy this book, with both prose and photos to appreciate the beach stones of your past, present and future.Buy it!

Take another look at the stones of the beach
It's amazing how Nature crafts beautiful objects from simple rocks strewn across any beach.These treasures are there for the enjoyment of anyone at any time.If you have time to stop and smell the roses, you have time to drink in the awesome charm of the stones of the beach as presented in this fine book.

An excellent book!
A must for anyone who has enjoyed collecting small, beautiful items - especially walking on a beach or along a stream bed.The text is interesting; the photographs are amazing with the stones beautifully arranged.An inspired way to look at nature's handiwork. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    2. Iselin, Josie    3. Nature Photography    4. Oceans & Seas    5. Photo Techniques    6. Photography    7. Photography of rocks    8. Rocks & Minerals    9. Sedimentary Rocks    10. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    11. Nature / Oceans & Seas    12. Photographs: collections    13. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Reviews (6)

Extremely informative, with excellent photography
I though this was an excellent resource for identifying hawks in flight. The photos are very informative, and attractive as well. The guide is, in my opinion, very comprehensive and extremely well written.

Hawks from Every Angle
A super-useful reference guide that goes well with HAWKS IN FLIGHT -- and actually I would probably look at this one first. Photographs and text both contain a lot of helpful information to assist in raptor identification -- though the "pitfalls" shots make it clear that not every bird will be identifiable.
another mistitled hawk book
If you're looking for a book that covers all the raptors that regularly occur in North America, forget it. A more honest title would've been 'Raptors of Northeastern Hawkwatch Sites.' Even then, northeastern hawkwatchers won't find Harris' Hawk in the book. The raptors Liguori does cover are done well, by and large, and I was particularly impressed with the treatments of both Harlan's Hawk and the Northern Harrier. But if you live in the West, as I do, you'll find the book less useful than the title suggests. Get yourself a Clark and Wheeler--it'll serve you much better. I'm looking forward to that frabjous day when hawkwatchers will escape their eastern bias, and discover that we have hawks in the West too. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Falconiformes    3. Flight    4. Identification    5. Life Sciences - Zoology - Ornithology    6. Nature    7. Nature / Field Guide Books    8. Nature/Ecology    9. North America    10. Pictorial works    11. Biological Sciences    12. Birds & birdwatching    13. Birds (ornithology)    14. Birds and Natural History    15. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Features

• Bargain Price

Reviews (16)

Crocs Rule and So Does This Book!
If you're an avid viewer of "The Crocodile Hunter", as I am, than this book is a must have.True, much of the information in can be picked up from the show.However, I actually enjoyed reading about Steve and Terri's adventures a bit more than watching them.You learn more about their families and what motivates them.After reading the book, I've developed a desire to learn more about wildlife conservation and what part I can play in it.I would highly recommend this book for any animal lover or Crocodile Hunter fan.

Entertaining, but too darned short!
To millions around the world, Steve Irwin is known as "the Crocodile Hunter," thanks to his wildly popular series on Animal Planet.To millions more, he's known as "that crazy Australian guy."THE CROCODILE HUNTER, a book by Steve and Terri Irwin, won't change anyone's mind about Steve's sanity, nor will it provide new insight into the man and his adventures for those already intimately familiar with his television exploits.THE CROCODILE HUNTER will, however, provide a few hours of distraction from the tube and more leisurely exploration of Steve and Terri's usual talking points about wildlife conservation. adventurers tend not to be introspective
disappointing. a short work. steve's life is presented in little more than outline depth. while atriculate on tv, doesn't transfer to the written page.Read more

Subjects:  1. Australia    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Dangerous animals    6. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Television Personalities    7. Herpetologists    8. Irwin, Steve    9. Irwin, Terri    10. Literary    11. Nature    12. Nature / Field Guide Books    13. Scientists - General    14. Wildlife    15. Zoology    16. Biography & Autobiography / General    17. Bargain   

Editorial Review

Consider the lynx, a medium-sized cat of boreal regions of North America, "a solitary animal, associated with the opposite sex only during mating." Consider the Oldfield mouse, Read more

Reviews (5)

Field Guide to North American Mammals
From the shrews to the bears, this guide is what one should have in the field. . .especially in Alaska.

Awesome Field Guide
This guide includes all sorts of animals in and around my area.It has a very thorough explanation of the animals and how to identify them.Whats really useful is the pictures.There are several pictures for each species including Summer coat & Winter coat.This is especially helpful if you are out animal watching during different times of year.I love going out exploring and coming home to look up the critters I saw.

The best ..................
These are the BEST field guides we have ever owned.We have the trees, western USA birds, trees and sealife ones and they are a wonderful size and fit easily into a coat pocket or glove compartment of ones car and of course a back pack.They make a GREAT gift and during the Christmas season a great stocking stuffer.Read more

Subjects:  1. Identification    2. Mammals    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. North America    6. Nature / Mammals   

Reviews (17)

The Safari Companion
Excellent safari companion showing various animals and describing them, their habitat, etc.Recommended for anyone going on safari.

African animal sighting tips your mother never told you and your father didn't know
This is a book of biblic quality for the uninitiated.I did not appreciate the diversity of the wildlife available in Kenya and Tanzania.Wow, this is worthwhile study guide as a prologue to your journey.

Did not find it that useful in E. Africa
The pictures are black and white drawings.We brought this and the Audubon Society Guide to African Wildlife (or something like that) and we much preferred the Audubon book.It was more compact, had a durable vinyl cover and had color pictures with quick facts on each animal - which is really what you want in the moment on a bumpy safari game drive.I would get the other book instead. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa, Eastern    2. Africa, Southern    3. Behavior    4. Guidebooks    5. Mammals    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Reference    9. Wildlife watching    10. Zoological Gardens   

Reviews (9)

Great Balance of Text & Photos
This review is for the paperback version of the book, which I loved.It has a lovely balance of terrific photos & explanations of the various sources of the featured gems.It serves as a nice beginning reference when you have heard the terms sapphire & red sapphire (huh? I thought red gems were rubys or spinels) and would like to know more about which gems are related to others.
Stunning photography; an amazing collection
"The National Gem Collection," by Jeffrey E. Post, features photographs by Chip Clark.The book is a beautiful celebration of the title collection, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution.The informative text discusses the history of the collection, facts about types of different gemstones, and specific pieces in the collection. Beautiful
This is a beautiful book with lots of interesting information on the gem collection. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antiques & Collectibles    2. Antiques/Collectibles    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    5. Earth Sciences - Mineralogy    6. Fashion    7. Gems    8. Jewelry    9. Mineralogy (General)    10. Art / Fashion    11. Museum, historic sites, gallery & art guides    12. Rocks, minerals & fossils   

Reviews (14)

excellent for beginning and intermediate birders
The alphabetical indexing is excellent for those who have not mastered the taxanomic order as found in most lists and books.The presentation of the song before the identification is useful in honing ones ears.Would like it to be longer than the ~110 species presented.

By far the best bird song training & reviewguide
This is an outstanding CD for learning bird songs.Each song starts with the bird song and then the narrator describes the song and provides a short phrase or description that aids you with identifying it, followed again with the essence of the song.This format allows you to quiz yourself.I bought my first copy two years ago and have bought 5 more to give to friends since then.Everyone has commented that its a great guide.I own several other guides including Birding by Ear and More Birding by Ear and this is by far my favorite.

Highly recommended & exactly what I was looking for.
The CD arrived in the mail yesterday, and I've listened to it once all the way through.The bird songs were recorded in Wisconsin and I live in Connecticut, and I recognized most of the songs as ones I had heard near my house, so it seems that birds selected for inclusion on the CD are widespread enough to make the CD useful for most of the eastern US.
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Subjects:  1. Birds & Birdwatching - General    2. Life Sciences - Zoology - Ornithology    3. Nature    4. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Reference    7. Audio Adult: Other    8. Birds & Birdwatching    9. Birdsongs    10. Identification    11. Midwest    12. Nature / Field Guide Books    13. North America    14. Northeastern states   

Reviews (3)

Handy book
As a physical anthropology grad student, I am finding this book to be very useful. The hardcover text is great, but this is transportable and packed with information. Would highly recommend it to anyone in forensics, anthropology.

The Human Bone Manual
this book would be best accompanied by an anatomy book.To really get a good visual, it's a good idea to review muscle attachments and origin sites in a(n additional) book with color.so My biggest criticism (and it's so easy to criticize) is that while many of the bones are pictured the as the actual size, there are not photographs of the bones articulated with neighboring bones.I found it hard to side bones because of this.So, it's a pretty good book in spite of my harshness, just not by itself.

Fantastic guide.
This manual is a somewhat more consise version of Dr. White's Osteology textbook. Excellent for anyone with any need to understand the human skeleton in depth. Clearly and assessibly written and includes fantastic pictures, indexes of directional terms, etc. Used widely on archaeological digs the world over. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Analysis    2. Anatomy    3. Animals    4. Classification    5. Handbooks, manuals, etc    6. Human skeleton    7. Identification    8. Life Sciences - Evolution    9. Life Sciences - Human Anatomy & Physiology    10. Mammals    11. Medical    12. Nursing - General    13. Paleontology    14. Science    15. Medical / Osteopathy   

Reviews (14)

Best in its Class
There are few books on animal tracks and tracking that even come close to the quality, validity and credibility of MAMMAL TRACKS...It truly is the best buy for the pages involved.If you want to begin to learn about animal tracks/tracking from a book--then get this one.

Mammal Tracks and Signs - the best
I have been teaching tracking for 30 years and found this to be the best resource yet. Only drawback - it is a bit heavy for backpacking!
Tracking down the best
At last, a thorough *and* readable reference for animal track and sign (including "scat")!Other books we have used have been smaller in scope, actually geared more for elementary age kids in scouting.Although a bit hefty, this tome is a *must* for hikers who want to know what they are seeing on the trail.National and State Park rangers have recommended this book to us, and we finally found it on Amazon!YAY! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animal tracks    2. Animals    3. Identification    4. Mammals    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. North America    8. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    9. Zoology & animal sciences   

Editorial Review

The New York-bred journalist and television commentator Shana Alexander, who has written biographies of checkered-career socialites Bess Meyerson, Jean Harris, and Patty Hearst, may seem at first blush to be an unlikely student of Read more

Reviews (4)

Overall informative
I found this book comprehensive and informative. It was also enjoyable to read. Astonishingly Good Book !
Astonishingly good book by a gifted writer. Journalist Shana Alexander recounts her personal experiences with elephants beginning with 'Packy" born at Portland Zoo, and continuing into late 1990's. A Tough Read for Animal Lovers
The Astonishing Elephant by Shana Alexander is educational, well researched and written, and an absorbing book.If you love animals, though, it is heartbreaking to learn how cruel and unfeeling the human animal can be toward our earthmates--the animals.Read more

Subjects:  1. Elephants    2. General    3. Individual Species Of Mammals    4. Mammals    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. North America    9. History / General    10. Wild animals   

Editorial Review

A favorite of birdwatchers (especially those who prefer photographs to illustrations), this field guide, revised for 2000, accounts for the 544 bird species that live in the region west of the Great Plains. The clearly printed color photographs capture birds at rest and in flight; preceded by black-and-white silhouettes, the plates are organized by visually based, intuitive categories--"hawk-like birds," "pigeon-like birds," and "perching birds," for example--that make on-the-fly identification a fairly simple matter. The images are matched by clearly written text that describes a given bird, gives an approximation of its voice, and details its habitat, range, nests, and behavior. Sized to fit in a jacket or backpack pocket, this is a valuable companion for any birding outing in the region. Read more

Reviews (10)

species misidentified
I regret that I cannot recommend this book because it contains easily caught errors.
North American birds, West.
If your going to be stuffing your field guide into your pocket, glove box, daypack or backpack, the "turtleback" binding used by Audubon is perfect. Personally, I don't use it that way. When I encounter a species I cannot identify, I take notes (usually of the mental variety) -- size, color and markings, habitat, song, feeding habit and so forth -- and identify it when I return home. So far as I can recall, the Audubon guide has yet to fail me, although one has to admit that sometimes all the guidebooks in the world aren't going to resolve the identity of some distant LBJ (little brown job). I have another guidebook that supposedly focuses more narrowly on 'local' birds (San Diego area) but I strongly prefer the more thorough and useful Audubon volume. The photos, drawings and range maps are all generally excellent.
Do not leave home without it!
We purchased our first Field Guide almost twenty years ago when my eldest son was in the fifth grade and during spring break his class had a contest to see which student could identify the most species. It just happened that week we packed our family in the car and drove from the deserts of Idaho, through eastern Oregon and the Mahuer National Bird Sanctuary to the Oregon coast.If my memory serves me right, we identified nearly a hundred species of birds.This started a twenty-year love affair with our Field Guide to North American Birds.We were hooked.So much so, after losing my book, I immediately purchased another one.To his day, my Field Guide and binoculars are by our dinning room window.Each spring and summer we try to identify new species to our area.Hey, birding a great hobby and it does not cost a lot of money. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching - Guides    3. Identification    4. Individual Species Of Birds    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. North America    9. Reference    10. West (U.S.)    11. Birds (ornithology)    12. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (4)

Best guide for identifying shorebirds
This book covers all of the shorebirds of the world with 1700 full-color paintings. There are lots of general tips on identifying shorebirds, and each bird is covered extensively. When I first picked up the book at an ABA Teen Birder convention in Colorado, a birder near me said "You have to buy that! Look at the Dunlin page!" Well, the Dunlin page is indeed a good example of this guide's excellence! There are 28 paintings on the page covering the different plumages of the bird and how it looks in flight and from different positions. The text on the adjacent page gives brief descriptions of the bird in each of those plumages and a world range map. It also redirects you to the all-text section of the book that has extensive information on identification, voice, habits, moments, description, age/sex, races, and measurements of the bird. I definitely recommend this book to any birder interested in the identification of shorebirds!

It's a truly wonderful book
I have purchased this book some five years back in a local book exhibition. Text is accurate especially for one who is interested in bird hunting. But the real feast is the breathtaking illustrations made by thesingle artist himself. His painstaking artwork for eachspecies,male&female, juvenile upperwings, lower wings are really fine.Only minus aspect is if the book would have been little bigger theillustrations would have also become bigger.

It's a truly wonderful book
I have purchased this book some five years back in a local book exhibition. Text is accurate especially for one who is interested in bird hunting. But the real feast is the breathtaking illustrstions made by thesingle artist himself. His painstaking artwork for each species,male&female, juvenile upperwings, lower wings are really fine. Onlyminus aspect is if the book would have been little bigger the illustrationswould have also become bigger. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Birds & Birdwatching    3. Identification    4. Nature / Field Guide Books    5. Ornithology +    6. Shore birds   

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Fish    3. Fishes    4. General    5. Ichthyology    6. Identification    7. Ohio    8. Poetry