Science Nature Books

This was an objective overview of the history of Chia. Not a recipe or how-to book. A bit on the academic side but I enjoyed it. Also enjoy using chia as a supplement.

Have read all the chia information on the web. This book gives you the history, the facts and why chia is so important in the diet - both ours and animals. The authors compare chia to other sources of omega-3 and then discuss why chia is a better source. If you are interested in your health this is a must read.

With 37 pages of documented references, Ayerza and Coates have established credibility with their findings of this old (but new) kid on the Essential Fatty Acid (EFA market. Chia seed, as well as hemp seed, is going to be a valuable source of EFAs in the not too distant future. Our waters are just too polluted and manufacturers too unscrupulous to keep up the facade that fish is the only source for the omega-3s our body needs. Ayerza and Coates goes into much detail on such subjects as the paradox of hunger and abundance; the importance of EFAs and the best sources of them as well as fats in general; why chia seed is one of the best sources of EFAs and many other nutrients; a detailed history of chia and where it seems to grow best (southern Mexico); the history of the Aztec people and their use of the seed; the various varieties and how to recognize them; and the oil's contribution to the preservation of art. The book also includes valuable tables of information and concludes with marketing ideas. Although the seed is a much needed food item, I fear that it can easily be exploited by manufacturers who see the value of the seed for other reasons than food. In this day and age of widespread hunger, food in general and good food (like chia and hemp seed) in particular, remains at the bottom of legislative concerns.

I was so delighted with the Chia book. Not only does the author provide an excellent historical review of chia seed, and its uses - there is also a wealth of information about its nutritional benefits. Long time overdue. I eat chia seeds every day, and cannot believe the dramatic difference they have made in my overall health. Don't miss this one!

This was a great read, there was just so much information that I was ignorant of. After reading this book many of the choices I make in my day to day life have been improved. Everyone should read this book. Perhaps if we can change and simplify the way we live there will be less demand for all those chemicals that are currently playing havoc with our lives.

This book was a great read. It was very informative and credible. I learned alot of things I did not know in this book.

This true detective story has been favorably compared to Rachel Carson's SILENT SPRING by writers including Al Gore and Donella Meadows. It is a highly readable documentary of the scientific sleuthing that has linked birth defects, infertility and intelligence deficits to persistent chemical products which are poisoning our planet. From falling human sperm counts, to crashing bird populations, marine mammal die-offs and alligator sexual mutations, the authors demonstrate that we are performing a planet-wide experiment in which all life forms are unwitting subjects. The chemicals now impacting the whole biosphere have caused the same effects in laboratory animals for years -- and, surprise, surprise, nobody listened to the few small voices of alarm. This work may be the definitive and ominously final answer to the famous line from THE GRADUATE, "Plastics, there's a great future in plastics." No. There may literally be no future at all.

Great credit needs to be given to Dianne Dumanoski, the writer who teamed up with researchers Colborn and Myers to produce this very readable warning to all of us. Research information can easily bog a reader down but this book keeps moving with revelation after revelation. I kept running to my PC to check for later information on the studies covered in this book (written in 1997) and I found nothing to refute the central claim that we are "flying blind" by releasing thousands of chemical formulations annually without knowing what the results will be in the wild.

Once released, many chemicals have very long lives and several accumulate in our bodies to be handed on through a mother's milk to the next generation, with a likelihood that fetal development is affected and with it the future...a future that is being stolen in this way.

The reader is never left confused. The book starts with a clear and simple explanation of the power of hormones and the way they work within our bodies (and those of other animals). Then we move through accounts of troubles in the natural world and the link they may have with hormone disruption either by enhancement or blocking. No wild claims are made, instead a case is made with reasonable hypotheses given in each instance as we move through what the cover rightly says is a scientific detective story.

Ignorance can hurt us and humanity has a track record of ignorance resulting in damage (think CFC's, lead, DDT, Thalidomide). Profit is a powerful incentive to minimize risks and the chemical industry is a very very big business so we must be extremely vigilant for our own good. This book provides a public service to us all.

The inside cover of Our Stolen Future says: "...by two leading environmental scientists and an environmental journalist, is the first book to piece together the compelling evidence from wildlife studies, laboratory experiments, and human data and to lay out the emerging scientific case regarding this largely unrecognized threat. Picking up where Silent Spring left off, it reveals the underlying causes of the symptoms that had so alarmed Carson."

In this book, I got a look at the role that certain chemicals that have been put out into the environment since the 1950's might be affecting plants and animals, including human beings, specifically as "endocrine disruptors" and "hormone imposters." I know there has been some review of Our Stolen Future that call into question the validity of the study that the core ideas in this book are built upon...I honestly don't know enough about the subject to make my own decision about that, YET.

What I can say, is based on previous reading on loosely related subjects (The Crazy Makers, Eat Here, The Omnivores Dilemma), is that I believe that this is entirely possible and if so, it is also deeply disturbing. I did enjoy reading it, though it took me six days to work my way through it because it is fact intensive and books of this nature are, for me, harder to absorb in general (compared to fiction). The information contained here is both enlightening and disturbing...ranging from problems like decreased sperm count and motility in males over the last thirty years, to birth defects, sexual abnormalities, reproductive/fertility issues, the increase of certain types of cancer, and even touching on aggression, attention deficit disorders, and similar concerns. I am glad to have read this one and will read more on the subject to gain a great understanding of the issues touched on in Our Stolen Future. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

this is an excellent resource for teachers or parents. experiments are fun and easy to do.

I was very disappointed by the lack of information. The experiments (this book is entirely experiments - which I disliked) take a long time to set up. Even if they work (which they often don't), they will often only demonstarate a simple concept that could be explained in one paragraph. A complete waste of money. I would recomend "Physics the easy way" by Robert L. Lehrman (Barron's Educational Series, Inc.) over this book any day.

This book is just right for introducing physics concepts to children in the 8-12yrs. age range. My students prefer learning the concepts by "doing" rather than by just reading about them in a science text.

I would highly recommend Janice VanCleave's Physics For Every Kid. I am a 6th & 7th grade science teacher and have used activities from this book numerous times. There are so many tough concepts in physics and sometimes all it takes is a simple activity that the kids can see. The way I use the activities in this book, along with the others in this series, are to set them up as stations and have the kids rotate through them. It's an easy way to create hands-on learning and the kids LOVE it! This book is divided up into these categories: electricity, magnets, buoyancy, gravity, balance, flight, simple machines, inertia, motion, light, heat, and sound. I think the activities in this book are intended for grades 4-6, but could be adapted for younger or older kids. You won't be disappointed!

Amazing and informative - could not have picked a better book to guide me through my vacation. I highly recommend...

We have always been fascinated by Darwin's adventures in the area and the fauna to be found there. This book is very complete and will give us a good idea of what to expect during our own voyage there this coming Fall, where the book will serve as a reference to guide me in my photographic explorations for my forum. During last year's trip to Italy I made almost 900 photographs. I expect to make at least twice that number this year with the aid and guidance of this book.

I just returned from the Galapagos, and this book was invaluable!!!! It was a great resource and I referenced it quite a bit. I would definetly recommend it to anyone going or thinking of going to the Galapagos!!!

This book and a highlighter made it possible to keep track of the many birds and mammals, plants and invertrabrates that we saw during a recent week in the Galapagos. I would highly recommend it.

Anybody planning a trip to the Galapagos Islands needs to have this book in their pocket while on the islands. The photographs of plants and animals alike are as realistic as you will see on the islands and such reality will allow one to easily identify the wealth of species you will encounter. Descriptions of individual species include a listing of which island(s) the plant or animal is typically found. Added features in this book include maps of the islands with trails and listings of what to look for; tips on photography; and guidelines for respecting the national park and being a responsible visitor to the islands.

I'm a fan of these giant DK coffe table books. This was my first and is still my favorite. Tons of beautiful pictures of our planet. All sorts of exotic locales I didn't know existed. Especially nice to have if you're an artist of any kind looking for inspiration.

I saw a smaller version from a local bookstore, bought the large version from Amazon, the fonts are much more comfortable to read. I am using the book as a reference, feel very satisfied. The book is also good for random browsing, the paper and printing are both of very high quality.

THIS IS GREAT BOOK WITH A LOT OF INFO. MY TEENAGER LOVES IT AND SO DOES MY HUSBAND

This book was a Christmas request from my 6th grader who is very curious about earth sciences. He was genuinely excited to see it when he opened it. In some ways it is more like a coffee table picture book than a reference book. It is lavishly illustrated with detail-captioned photos and charts. This is not the kind of book you're going to sit down and read cover to cover, but instead are going to use like a good encyclopedia of earth science. My older child, who is interested in astronomy, received the companion book "Universe" and the two make a beautiful pair of additions to the reference library.

A great book with a nice balance of pictures (including some full page) and informative text about, well...about nature!

I have been teaching beekeeping for the last 8 eight years. I search and search for reliable material to put into the class. I have found numerous books over the years that have been written by good beekeepers and professors but none write about the inside of the hive. This book is about the hive, the bees in the hive and how they interact with each other. The German's are renouned for their accuracy and research. I believe that they have outdone themselves this time. If you want to understand what happens in the hive this is the book for you. It is written clearly with lots of related pictures. I thank Juergen Tautz for his time and effort in writting this book.

I could not put this book down. I found the approach to not only be refreshing but it makes sense. I will never look at a beehive in the same way again. I planned on raising bees next year, now the honey will be the secondary reason, learning and observing will take precedence.

The Buzz about Bees: Biology of a Superorganism

I found this book to be extremely well written and easy to understand. The detail provided in all the information in this book really gives excellent insight into the structure of the hive and the behavior of the bees without getting bogged down in incomprehensible jargon. Additionally, the plentiful photographs are incredible. Anyone who is interested in honeybees should read this book.

Last year I was fortunate enough to read Juergen Tautz book, "The Buzz about Bees". It was hard to put the book down, once I started reading it. Finally it has been published in English and I am delighted that I can share this book with all my friends here in the US. "The Buzz about Bees" is a fascinating and groundbreaking book! Tautz and his team have done an excellent job presenting their research and studies, also the photographs are of very high quality and are quite beautiful. Tautz's approach to understanding the life of the bees is very innovative and inspiring. Many new and mesmerizing facts about bees are presented such as the mammal-like qualities of the bees. The journey through the book continues from "the bee colony - a mammal in many bodies" and moves to the "super-organism", which describes the honeybee colony as an undividable entity and as "an organic interpretation of an individual". The captivating facts put forth by the author are many. Tautz explains "propagated immortality" which is the unique way in which bees proliferate, and the flower wisdom of the bees illustrated with impressive details (ex. bees can gather and carry the amount of nectar of almost half their body weight). Tautz goes on to reveal more aspects of pollination, such as how the flowering world and the bees coevolved on earth, to the extent to which we depend on them - critical in this time where many pollinators are endangered species! He introduces the concept of the "comb-wide-web" to describe the important relationship between wax comb and communication capacities of bees. The talent of the author is evident in his ability to combine excellent scientific work within a wider philosophic framework. As a gifted communicator, he launches this charming and intriguing journey into the beautiful world of the bees and enables us to understand the life of bees on a new and deeper level. In this book you may find, why bees have held humans in their thrall since millennia. All together, "The Buzz about Bees" is a fascinating book, with numerous facts and detailed photographs, compelling for readers of different ages and backgrounds. Educational, impressive, entertaining till the last page, this is a book for anyone who is interested in bees, nature, and the miracle of life.

I rectamend this book for anybody thats got a intres in cryptozoology this is nonme stop reading and perk up your intres in this hidden animals.

If you're new to cryptozoology or are looking for a quick reference quide on the subject then this book is ideal. Easy to read, compact and cheap. The book offers brief details about many strange creatures around the world, some that have been recently discovered (coelacanth), some famous (sasquatch)and some that you've likely never heard of before (shunka warak'in). Sadly the book, given its small size can only give brief descriptions of these creatures and a good portion of the book is devoted not to cryptid animals but rather to the people that look for them. While these people are interesting I would have preferred to have seen more material concerning actual animals or more information on those the book already mentions.

Co-written by long-time cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, this little book is more like a dictionary of cryptozoology than an encyclopedia. For those not in the know, 'cryptozoology' refers to the study of 'hidden' or 'unidentified' animals - the Loch Ness Monster, Sasquatch, the Jersey Devil, Alien Big Cats, surviving dinosaurs and that sort of stuff. Whether your into serious research as to the existence of 'monsters' or just interested in folklore and weird phenomena, this book will be right up your alley.

The bulk of this book's 250+ pages consists of alphabetically organized entries related to cryptozoology, including famous or noteworthy Cryptids (the Minnesota Iceman, Ogopogo, Mokole Mbembe, Thunderbirds, etc), famous cryptozoologists (Bernard Heuvelmans, Ivan Sanderson, Roy Mackal, Richard Ellis, Dao Van Tien, Scott Corrales, etc) and other subjects of note. For example, although well known today, the giant panda receives an entry because it was for mystery to westerners until 1914! Likewise, Vietnam's "lost world" where many new species have been discovered also gets mention. Each entry is relatively short and to the point, so those looking for more detailed accounts of particular sightings will have to go elsewhere, but its still a great point of reference.

Of particular note is the amount of information on the more obscure and recent cryptids (or at least, less known to non-cryptozoologists). I mean sure, bigfoot, chupacabras and the Loch Ness monster are well known, but what about Australia's bunyip, the Beast of Gevaudan that terrorized 18th century France, or the deadly olgoi-khorkoi? What about the recent discovery of coelacanths in Indonesia? This book includes a sketches and photographs too. Theres a photograph of the mounted shunka waraki'n, a mystery predator that was shot in the Midwest, as well as the Minnesota iceman, the zuiya-maru carcass and even a pygmy elephant!

The book also includes a very brief definition and history of Cryptozoology, and a very nice time line (matched with the 'discovery' of various animals). Nice, but again most people with an interest in cryptozoology will have some idea of this already. Still, all in all this is a very handy little reference book, especially for those more obscure cryptids that you may hear about or see mentioned online. If you are unfamiliar with the field, then this is a great starting place, especially because there is so much great material that Loren Coleman has written on the subject. So check this book out. Then you too can know all about modern-day mermaid sightings, surviving prehistoric sharks, the emela-ntouka and the giant bird that attacked Marlon Lowe in 1977.

For the price it's OK - but half the books entries are bios of people involved in creature hunting and there is a huge number of cross-over entries that are Bigfoot-Yeti type creatures just under different names unique to their cultures. So only about 1/3 of the book, at best, is actually unique creatures to read about. The rest is bios and fairly redundant text on similar creatures under different names. It's only because of the affordable price that I gave it 3 stars instead of 2.

I have had this book for a while and just recently had to buy another copy because the original one I had was so beat up and well used that it finally fell apart!
Mr. Coleman and Mr. Clark have outdone themselves. The information in this compilation of Cryptids and those that hunt them is exquisite. Though they left out some people and Cryptids the ones they included are well thought out and reserched and give enough info on the others for people to do thier own reserch if they want.
I absolutely loved it and the fact that it is written in an easy to get lexicon is a plus!
I can't wait for the next compilation from these two authors!

This is a great book if your preschooler loves to look and hear about animals and their habits. It is a bit much if your preschooler is not ready to sit and examine things in detail. But for those animal-lovers it is a great book series!

This is a very interesting book, written in simple text for the youngest reader or listener. It will really open up the dialog concerning hibernation with my students. The illustrations are beautifully done and illustrate all the interesting facts.

This short book has a few lines of simple text for each two-page illustration about the winter habits of various animals. The author looks at animals like monarch butterflies which fly south, animals that hibernate like the woodchuck, and the animals which continue to forage in the winter like the pika, deer, and mice. The drawings are lovely in detail. This book would be ideal to read to a child at bedtime on a nice winter night.

I am a kindergarten teacher and I absolutely love this book. My students loved it too. I teach a unit on hibernation and this book was a great resource. It has great facts and is written for any age group. After I read it to them, my students have read it over and over.

Title;Rabbits Squirrels and Chipmunks Author; Bancroft I think that this book is good for children 7 and up,and has lots factual things about Rabbits Squirrels and Chipmunks

This is the best book on "primitive" warfare out there for the basic reader currently (until Brian Ferguson releases later work). He shreds all the current anthropological arguments for humans being innately geared towards warfare whether biologically or through bogus surveys of primatology, ethnography or archaeology.

Fry correctly makes the distinction between nomadic hunter-gatherers being completely different from tribal horticulturalists and sedentary foragers when it comes to using them as exemplary models of lacking warfare. He covers their mechanisms of nullifying disputes and their kinship structure that prevents organized warfare.

The last chapter is pretty weak, but if you need a readable starting point for the anthropological dialog of warfare - this is the KEY place to start. if you dont have that above distinction in mind with nomadic foragers, your whole perspective is useless.

The idea of an extended, data-based argument against the Man the Warrior myth is brilliant, and much needed. I got "Beyond War" and assigned it for a college war and peace class, where I wanted to counter the US tendency to naturalize war. But unless you're teaching an anthropology course, I think it would be best to just excerpt two chapters: 13 and 15. This book really is a work of anthropology, and perhaps because the Hobbesian myth is so widely reified, this book is a little sprawling in its organization. Critiquing anthropological and other social science studies, it does a fine job cautioning Western social scientists about their tendency to read their own state societies' bellicose culture into the whole of human history, when other cultures can and should be interpreted differently. For example, the preponderance of evidence shows that simple hunter-gatherer cultures just have many other ways of dealing with conflict. Even clearly bellicose societies, such as state-based societies, have many other ways of dealing with conflict, ways that are very commonly used and can and should be better developed. For the purposes of crafting a really powerful discussion of the topic and argument (an incisive discussion that would captivate beyond the community of anthropologists), I would like to see the distinguished author, Douglas P. Fry use his scholarly knowledge and perhaps team up with a juridical scholar (why not from Finland or perhaps Sweden?) or someone from SIPRI and a peace activist (eg. Medea Benjamin or Arundhati Roy or someone from the American Friends Service Committee...?) to collaboratively write a book on humanity's and societies' capacities (beyond war-making) for dealing with conflict.

Like many people, I'd come to believe that human nature is essentially war-like. After reading this book, I now understand that the vast majority of humans prefer peace, harmony, and postive problem-solving. The one problem we can't seem to solve (which is not addressed in this book) is how to choose leaders who prefer negotiated problem solving rather than violence.

This book caught my eye because Robert Sapolsky, the author of one of my favorite books, "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers," wrote the foreword praising it. I was not disappointed. "Beyond War" is just plain facinating and fun to read. This book questions some so-called "deep seated truths" in our society about war that turn out not to be true at all. Like Sapolsky's books, "Beyond War" is a bit quirky sometimes, and I think this is good. I wish more scientists would write in a style that is understandable and enjoyable to read. I could easily follow the path of "Beyond War" as it travels to peaceful cultures, to the ancient past, and then, dare I say, "back to the future." For one message of the book is that we could have a future free of war because looking at our species from a broader view shows what we sometimes don't see close up: War is recent on an evolutionary scale, an outgrowth of increasing human population, and not some deeply-rooted trait that we necessarily must forevermore endure. I agree with Robert Sapolsky that "this book should be read." I give it my 5 stars.

This is a great book. And there are many reasons why. It is rare to find such an intriguing mix of anthropology, evolutionary theory, and global thinking in one book. We learn about bonobos, coprolites, the walls of Jericho, cannibalism, and much more. "Beyond War" avoids getting mired in the seemingly ceaseless battle between cultural anthropology and evolutionary psychology over human nature. Instead, this book presents an integrated view of war and peace that includes both evolutionary and cultural angles. How refreshing.

I also really like the book's message that we humans have evolved capacities to deal with conflicts without violence. It makes sense. Most conflicts do not entail any violence at all. Male stags lock antlers and push as a form of contest that reduces the chance of injury. Evolution would favor such restraint in human aggression as well, and we are given many examples of human restraint in this book.

The author of "Beyond War", Douglas Fry, also is very skillful at documenting a bias in anthropological and evolutionary thinking--a bias that war is deep rooted in our human past. The book does this by critiquing assumptions and presenting findings on the simplest kind of human societies--nomadic hunter-gatherers--in a writing style that is clever and entertaining. "Beyond War" is fun to read and makes one think.

From Iraq to global warming, we get inundated every day with doom and gloom. "Beyond War", however, ends with a cautiously optimistic assessment of our human future. The book makes a strong case that we humans certainly have the capacity to create a more peaceful world. Will we do it? I don't know, but it is a valuable first step to realize that it may well be possible. As the adage says, "from hope stems action."

What young boy doesn't want to learn about gross stuff?! Got this for my 8 year old nephew and he was ecstatic. Perfect Christmas gift!

Owl Puke(TM) is a wonderful hunters tool used for trapping pigeons which feed on the poop and vomit of nighttime owls, which by the way, has plenty of calcium and protein. Just spread this out on the snow and wait a few moments and about one hundred pigeons will fly there instantly. Suggestion: buy about 100 packs of this because actually its rather tasty.

This kit is an exciting way to discuss owls with your students or children. The book does a great job talking about owls and their behaviors. I bought two kits. I put one in my library at work and used the other for camp. The owl pellet gives a good hands on experience for students and keeps them interested in learning more about owls and even birds in general.

My son thought this was the greatest, better than our Disney trip! Wow, if I'd only known!

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It appears to be designed to appeal to kids, but turns out to also have stunning array of fantastic information, often more than you find in "serious" owl books (e.g., "North American Owls", or "Owls the Silent Fliers"). Also, maybe less than half of the book is directly about "owl puke", the rest being jam-packed with sections on owl calls, hearing and vision, hunting technique, how they stay cool, mating, digestion, puking in the animal kingdom (that's right, horses can't puke), a recipe for "owl puke" candy, etc. And naturally if your intent is to examine some owl pellets, then of course this is a great book for that too. Despite the great (and accurate) technical content, it would not be intimidating for a youngster to read. And it's sprinkled with humor. Highly recommended (by someone over 40).