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   

Editorial Review

World-renowned birder Kenn Kaufman addresses a long-running paradox of bird field guides with his Read more

Reviews (35)

Kaufman Field Guide to Birds - Excellent
This field guide is a clear, concise, easy to read manual that contributes to the enjoyment of bird watching.I found that the birds I see in my back yard and neighborhood were easy to find and identify correctly.I would recommend this publication for use by any level of bird watcher from beginner to the most experienced.The graphics and color are wonderful.The color coded maps, showing summer and winter ranges for each species, are very helpful.

EXCELLENT CHOICE FORFIELD GUIDE
I do recommend this one highly!I have been birding for well over fifty years now and have used and own quite a number of guides.This work is a great choice.I have used Peterson's guides for years and will probably go to my grave using his guides as my primary choice, but old dogs can learn new tricks and I carry this guide with me along with a few others anytime I am in the field.It is a great supplemental.For myself, as one who has a horrible time with shore birds in particular, often times just one guide will not work.This field guide gives me more information and I find myself turning to it more and mroe for verifications.It is well designed, well organized and quite accurate.Recommend this one highly.

The handiest field guide to North American birds
According to the author, Kaufman Guides are "the best and fastest way to get started... to send you outside quickly, putting names on what you find". If that is the objective, the 'Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America' has realised it admirably.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Bird Watching    2. Birds    3. Birds & Birdwatching - General    4. Birds & Birdwatching - Guides    5. Identification    6. Nature    7. Nature/Ecology    8. North America    9. Pictorial works    10. Nature / Birds & Birdwatching   

Reviews (2)

Peacock is the ticket
Doug Peacock knows more about grizzly bears than the next 10 writers combined. If you want jive-Hollywood-stories, read the other books. If you're interested in the real thing, go for Peacock. And for Edward Abbey fans, Doug's "Walking It Off" is a must read.

Refreshing
. . a breath of fresh air for those of us interested in bears and their fate. Shake off the heavy coat of mind boggling conflicting advice about how to act in bear country and read Doug Peacock's book.He tells it to you straight. "Don't travel into grizzly country reeking of bad karma or old tuna fish." This book leaves others behind with new knowledge and experiences unwritten to date. Doug and Andrea go straight to the heart of the problems and joys of having gizzlies on earth and exhibit hope that people can learn how to behave before we kill or love all the bears to death. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Animals / Pets    3. Bears    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Nature / Bears   

Reviews (14)

guide to insects
book is full of information, and easy to read,plenty of pictures also.

The best field guide to North American insects
"In this century," according to ecologist Paul R. Ehrlich, "no one has done more to promote an interest in living creatures than Roger Tory Peterson, the inventor of the modern field guide." Peterson's "Guide to the Birds" - "the first modern field guide" - was published in 1934. Its pioneering approach was to use visual characteristics rather than technical data to identify species. This was achieved by grouping similar species together on a plate, using clear, two-dimensional illustrations, and pointers to key field marks as well as succinct text, a combination known as the Peterson Identification System. That revolutionary style was later applied to a host of field guides covering anything from the night sky to moths and geology to mushrooms and including the present volume.
Field Guide to Insects
I have used this book many times in my entomology courses.This time, I ordered 2 copies to give as gifts.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Identification    2. Insects    3. Insects & Spiders    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. United States    7. Insects (entomology)    8. Nature / Insects & Spiders   

Reviews (3)

American Ephemeris for the 21st Century 1900-2000 at Noon
Very, very good reference guide to have on hand for checking planets, sun, moon placements for friends, relatives, and co-workers. It is also surprisingly easy to use and is an excellent tool to have on hand for astrological use.

One of the Best...
I've been teaching astrology since 1978 and have found over the years that students will always make fewer mistakes using a NOON based ephemeris rather than midnight based. If you're starting to learn the math for astrology this is a very good ephemeris to go with. Eventually you'll probably buy them all, because they all have pluses and minuses. Neil Michelsen was a Virgo's Virgo for accuracy and his numbers can be relied on.

Definative Tool
What can I say?This is a definative tool for anyone doing any kind of astrology.It's a must have.Without an emphemeris, it's just not precise! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Almanacs    2. Astrology - General    3. Nature/Ecology    4. New Age / Parapsychology    5. Astrology    6. Occultism & quasi-religious beliefs   

Reviews (2)

Systemic Approach
This book has been very helpful as I begin my hobby in aquarium science. Fish will get sick and I like the systemic approach that this book takes.Many books on fish disease barely cover the surface and don't discuss anything but the most common ailments.Well done, well referenced.

Well done....the best book I've ever seen on fish health!
This is an excellent book for fish health professionals and students alike.It contains methods for diagnosing fish diseases as well as detailed biology, life history, and the current most effective treatmentregimen for each organism.The book covers environmental problems, as wellas bacteriology, virology, parasitology, and nutritional deficiencies.It iswell written and organized making it a good resource book for thelaboratory. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Diseases    2. Fish    3. Fish Culture (Specific Aspects)    4. Fisheries & Aquaculture    5. Fishes    6. Medical    7. Medical / Nursing    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Veterinary Medicine - General    10. Veterinary Medicine Practice For Specific Animals    11. Aquaculture & fishing: practice & techniques   

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 (9)

A must for the duck hunter
This booklet is for the duck hunter, not a PETA activist.The duck needs to be in your hand so you can match the bill and feet to the pictures for accurate ID.This is an excellant booklet for waterfowl ID.

Rip off
This wasn't a "book".It was a few flimsy pages of very thin poor quality paper, tied together with a plastic ring.It did nothing to help identify water fowl in flight.Anyone can identify a duck once it is in hand.This pamplet was a big disappointment.A fair price for it would have been about $1 dollar, not $10.

A Duck Hunter's Must Have.
Great book for in-flight and in-hand ID.The bill ID/comparison charts are excellent.NOTE: The pages are water resistant, not water proof. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bird Watching    2. Birds & Birdwatching - General    3. Hunting - General    4. Identification    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Sports & Recreation    7. Waterfowl    8. Birds & birdwatching   

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   

Reviews (21)

wonderful
Always on end reading these book s for one never knows what will happen to the pe some stories are sad others miracolus.A must read for people who love a good yarn and intresting humans as well as animals.

Fantastic
This is a book you will want to read again and again, just so you can relive a particularly funny moment. James Herriot is such a gifted story teller that he draws the reader right into the story. You truly feel as if you are standing by his side and observing what is happening. As you read you get a picture in your mind's eye of what is described in each page. Absolutely brilliant.

A Great Collection of Stories
This book is a great collection of stories by and about a Yorkshire veterinarian. If you can get over some of the assignments he has which may make you squeemish, the stories are really really enjoyable and his verbal sketches of people in the small towns are insightful. Overall a fun book that will make you laugh (and is easy to read in bits and pieces when you have time!). ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. England    5. General    6. Herriot, James    7. Medical - Physicians    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Veterinarians    11. Yorkshire   

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   

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 (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 (17)

Not quite as good as the medicinal
The pictures aren't good enough to make identification easy.Good information if you have another book to identify the plants with.

perfect choice
As usual the Petersen Guide did not disappoint me. It's exactly what I wanted for plant identification

excellent reference
I have always had high regard for anything pertaining to Roger Tory Peterson, in regards to nature he is the best naturalist.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Botany (Specific Aspects)    2. Canada, Eastern    3. East (U.S.)    4. General    5. Identification    6. Life Sciences - Botany    7. Middle West    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Plants - General    11. Reference    12. Wild plants, Edible    13. Botany & plant sciences    14. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    15. Nature / Plants   

Reviews (22)

A Delightful anthropomorphized bird...one of my faves
I adore this book, and have for many years.The story of a family which adopts a helpless quail and raises him (?) as one of their own.The li'l bird becomes more and more human-like, and the family grows to love him dearly.I know that it may sound a trifle sentimental, and it is.If you are looking for something edgy, then this is not the book for you.If, however, you have a taste for gentle humor and charm, please try This Quail Robert.A contemporary classic.

Touching, warm and fuzzy.
Every once in a while I yearn for a story that touches the heart and the mind.This is one of those stories.
A bookfor all times
I can not say enough how much I love this book. It was recommended to me by one of the kindest, gentlest people I have ever known, and I savored the story. Over the years I have bought it for friends because of its touching spirit. It's a fast read, and worth its weight in gold. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Biography    3. Essays    4. General    5. Nature/Ecology    6. New England    7. Quails    8. Quails as pets    9. Modern fiction    10. Pets / General   

Reviews (1)

Beautiful & Massive Documentation of Life on the Savannah.
Anup and Manoj Shah have distinguished themselves in the populous field of wildlife photography by producing expressive and beautiful portraits of wild animals thatdocument the individuals' lives while achieving impressive aesthetic grace. Many of the brothers' photographs are simply unforgettable works of art that I never tire of looking at. "The Circle of Life" is a massive book that contains 235 photographs of wildlife on the African Savannah. About 40 species of mammal are represented, as well as some birds and reptiles. In the most comprehensive photographic essay of wildlife that I have ever seen, the Shah brothers document the lives of the many animals who live and die in this vast African ecosystem that spans much of Kenya and Tanzania. The authors have organized this photographic odyssey by dividing the book into 20 chapters, each showcasing one aspect of life on the Savannah. The early chapters show us the basic elements that create and sustain life. Some example chapters are: "Driven by Wet andDry", "Light and Energy", and "Shaped by Fire and Elephants". The book then moves on to the subjects of birth and growing up on the Savannah. "Natural Selection", "Adaptation and Diversity", "Peaceful Coexistence", and "Mother and Offspring", for example. Then we see the lives of adult animals. Some examples are: "Herds and Social Groups", "Grazers and Browsers", and "The Hunters". And finally these animals die, returning to the earth, and the "circle of life" begins again: "Scavengers and Decomposers", "Land and Life". Each chapter begins with an essay written by Anup Shah that explains what that particular facet of life on the Savannah entails and how it fits into the greater life cycle.Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Grassland animals    3. Grassland ecology    4. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Photography    8. Pictorial works    9. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    10. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Africa    11. Wildlife    12. Kenya    13. Nature / Wildlife    14. Photographs: collections    15. Places & peoples: general interest    16. Tanzania    17. Wild animals   

Subjects:  1. Agriculture - General    2. Biochemistry (Specific Aspects)    3. Mammals    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Pesticides    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Insecticides & pesticides    9. Toxicology (non-medical)   

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.
Read more

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