Science Nature Books

I am currently using this as a textbook for one of my classes, and a general consensus among the students is that the author sounds almost excessively elitist in his content. While offering some highly favorable suggestions for the development of place and space (and describing in great detail the difference between the two), much of the focus, while on developing American landscapes-- presumably-- is on Western European urban designs, some of which would not fit well with our North American context. Likewise, while many of his suggestions would work exceptionally well-- it would seem-- in suburban landscapes, he seems to overlook-- or disregard-- the urban landscapes, which are those that seem to require the MOST change. For example, the emphasis on green space is pleasant enough, but one must also stop to think what this green space would be replacing in certain areas. The consequences of such deeds and suggestions does not seem to have been considered to the extent it should be; furthermore, the discussion of "home" and what "home" should be seems greatly deterred when one finds themselves bogged down with the realization that these representations of what is "best" for "home" seem to be based on Beatley's own desire for home ... not, in other words, the greater populace's ideas or desires for the matter! Again, interesting and educational matter, but I'd suggest taking it with a grain of salt when it comes to application.

What elements constitute a real community, and how is that sense of community changing in the wake of global connections? Timothy Beatley's Native To Nowhere: Sustaining Home And Community In A Global Age uses research and the author's own travels to communities across North America and Europe to examine concepts of place in modern life. Trends which have undermined these roots, new ideas set forth to maintain connections, and descriptions of designs, technological considerations, and new political structures for sustaining these modern ideas of community are all considered in chapters which will appeal to college-level students of social issues as well as concerned general-interest adult readers.

Purchased as a gift for my granddaughter who loves rocks and shells. I prefer this to buying "princess" products, as it encourages her interest in science.

I promised my grandson books about rocks for his birthday. I was very suprised about this book for the price. It is very, very, good book for children. He is 7 years old and is very happy.
A very happy Grandma!

All DK Eyewitness books are fabulous. If you are a classroom teacher you must attempt to purchase all of them and have them available in your classroom library. My students love to read these books and use them as references.

A great book, but I gave it to my granddaughter just as she began her quest for infor about chemistry after a few years of loving rocks. She is six.

My son is six years old and this book captivated him for a good four nights, a few pages a night, for his bedtime story. It is very visually appealing with vividly colored pictures and thick glossy pages. It is written very well, easy for a young child to understand, yet filled with information about rocks and minerals. I have to read it to my child as he's not an independent reader yet, but an independent reader would also really enjoy this book. It is made for children but not at all "babyish." A great way to either learn about rocks and minerals, or introduce a child to non fiction.

I'm very impressed with this book and will be purchasing more DK Eye Wonder titles. I've looked at their other titles and they all look like wonderful books.

Yikes, yeah this is strictly children only, and I don't really know that even they would learn a lot from this one...

You'll find more information in 5 minutes on the internet than you will get out of this book, petiod.

This might be the most informative guide to the amazing world of robotics!

The author, Roger Bridgman, stays true to form with the design and layout of the DK Eyewitness Book Series by challenging young readers, ages 9 to 12, to "SEE, LEARN, & DISCOVER" the stories that provide an "eyewitness" account of how robots are changing our world. The content and layout are reminiscent to popular encyclopedia series, except this series engages the reader to think outside the box. The bits of information may seem trivial at first glance, but upon further reading, children will find there is more than meets-the-eye. This is a great book which will serve as a stepping stone for young children who want a well rounded account of robotics from yesterday, today and tomorrow.

The illustrations and photographs are credited to multiple sources - all of which enhance this books educational value. Kids who are visual learners will appreciate the realistic photos and diagrams which work nicely with the text and page layout.

Professor Hsosheng Hu, at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Essex, was consulted before this book was published. The authority and knowledge of Professor Hsosheng Hu is a major advantage point for this series.

First of all DK Eyewitness books are wonderful, beautiful pictures and just enough info for the beginner, makes these books my first choice all the time. I bought this book for my son and daughter along with a robot erector set so they could dabble a bit in robotics. My son has been collecting robots since he was young, the old tin wind up sort, he is hoping for Robosapien this Christmas. This book will give him more info on robotics, a science that is really growing.

If you want to explain the concept of robots to children, this is a good book. If you want to know anything on the subject as a teenager or an adult, there are better books out there showing better robots.

I suppose that's not really a problem as this is clearly listed as a kiddies book, but look elsewhere on Amazon for truly informative books on the subject, as anyone over the age of 10 won't find what they're looking for here.

Chris Mattison has done it again. What a wonderful book - both the photographs and writing. It is chock full of fascinating information about the world of snakes. It is a great general book - snakes overall - but also quite detailed about some specific species and interesting tidbits. It is updated from the first edition, with new photos, research, and classifications (e.g. Boidae and Pythonidae are now separate).

A must have for any snake afficionado!

This book is really beautiful the scenes are like a gentle lullaby and to boot its educational I recommend all Thomas Lockers books!

My students loved this author and his illustrations. I have since bought more of his books. An excellent book to read to a class.

Thomas Locker creates an interesting way to learn about clouds in this beautifully illustrated book. As the reader turns the pages of this book, they encounter numerous types of clouds. The first illustration shows the many different sizes and shapes clouds can assume, from the light and wispy cirrus cloud to the puffy cumulus cloud. With each turn of the page, clouds are seen in different seasons and times of day, under various weather conditions. The illustrations are eye appealing oil paintings. As you view each picture, it is like you are standing on the ground and seeing the vast sky with the clouds creating a mosaic of lights, shapes, and colors. You can almost feel the rain hitting your face when you look at the painting depicting clouds in a rain storm. The painting of the clouds that "shimmer in the moonlight" gives the reader a sense of calm. Each painting in this book causes the reader to feel some emotion--from the suppressed anger of a developing thunderstorm to the warm peace of a sunset. At the end of the book the author includes factual information about clouds. The scientific names are given for all the clouds along with a description. Answers are also given for such questions as "How are clouds formed?" and "How high does the sky reach?" This book would be a good way to introduce a science unit on clouds and weather. The illustrations would stimulate a student's imagination and could be a starting point for them to begin thinking about what clouds look like at different times and in a variety of conditions. Cloud Dance would be a valuable addition to anyone's library.

This is an absolutely beautiful book. I am an art teacher attempting to integrate the visual arts and science. This book came highly recommended by a school librarian and I am so grateful for her direction. I will definitely share the book with my students.

I, Smith T. Aames, have a secret. I was not always Smith T. Aames. Nay, I was raised an indigenous person. My original family was a small tribe of Native Americans called the Hopi, centered in Arizona. When I was a Hopi, my job was to gather succulent weeds and grasses for the tribe to eat. I think this early job was responsible for my interest in having dogs--I mean, it's very similar how I go about Washington, D.C. collecting roadkill and abandoned housecats for my dogs to feast upon. Just the other day I was able to capture an injured squirrel for my Pomeranian, PomPom P. Aames. PomPom really enjoyed the tasty, tender squirrel meat, although she did get some blood on my lovely white couch. I actually discovered a great upholstery cleaner as a result of this incident, but that is another review.

So anyway, I grew up a Hopi youth, clad in leather tunics made from the hides of the bison and dodo we hunted for sustenance. I eventually left the reservation at the age of 21 for the big city. There I learned to read, write, and make frantic love to beings of all types. After leaving the lovely arid mesas of Arizona, I began to miss many things from my youth. I would remember the beautiful Native American women lolling about the reservation, the euphoric highs I got from chewing on peyote and other plants, and the occasional visits of Kevin Costner so that he could observe our way of life for his epic movie. When I found this book, Cloud Dance, I knew I had found a way to recapture my youth--my former self, Barks-With-The-Hounds Aames.

Was an excellent and challenging book for a group of six men in a men's book club. All retired or semi-retired professionals, three professors from a local university(South Dakota State), one MD, one newspaper writer and one semi-retired minister--me. Our group contained One Catholic, One Jew, and four Protestants. I can see the book being used in an adult church/synagogue/ mosque education setting over a semester's time or more with an open minded leader. We felt we didn't do it justice in one sitting, albeit a lively, but cordial sitting.

Ward has provided a fair and balanced assesment of current issues in the science/Faith controvesy. This work is scholarly, temperate and best of all HONEST with the data. Because the truth of the matter is that neither atheism nor theism has in its posession a smoking gun. And this is exactly what we would expect if indeed God intention with regard to create was to create an environment for humankind where freewill could in fact flourish untainted and uncoerced by absolute truth's stemming from scientic data. What a previous reviewer interpreted as Ward's attempt to stay neutral so as not to offend anybody, is in reality Ward simply being true to the data which is exactly what scholarship demands. If one desires to read Christian propaganda, then check out the young earth creationist literature. Having the courage and intellectual honesty to be fair with the data is a virtue few authors in this day and age posess. Notwhithstanding the opinions of the previous reviewer, I believe Ward did in fact present in clear and lucid terms what I percieved as the overwhelming evidence for the Christian Faith. Admitting to the fact that the evidence is subject to alternate interpretation is simply a fact and has nothing to do with Ward trying to "not offend" anybody. Ward didn't have to write the book at all, if that were the case. In short the book is great.

Questions? Yes! Answers? No! The author does not "confront" these questions. It is a compendium of opinions from many sources that ends in a stalemate. The author keeps a very low profile and is careful to offend no one. Perhaps that was his goal. While it is a good source of history, I had expected more from a Professor of Divinity.
Gerry

We love the book not only does it have very good information of the solar system is also a work book, my son loves it.

my grandson and myself find this book very interesting and easy to go through. it keeps his interest and anything that will keep him interested so he will learn is a good thing

I homeschool my kids and this is a great workbook. There are enough pictures and color to be interesting without being overbearing. It has good explanations of each topic and then lots of practice pages so the kids can really get a good feel for each topic. Many workbooks just touch on a subject but do not provide enough daily assignments and then you have to supplement. This book is more than sufficient on its own. There is an answer key in the back. This is a nice thick substantial book.

~Note for fellow homeschoolers~
'The Complete Book of...' line offers many great great workbooks. Some of the others we use are: Animals, English and Language Arts, Grammar and Punctuation, US History, Presidents and States, Dinosaurs, Science... just to name a few. They are great!

I bought the book Basin and Range recently. This is being passed around the household now and is being fought over. Everyone says its a really good book.

The parralells the author draws between the eastern seaboard during the breakup of North America from Europe to the Great Basin and what is going on there was fascinating to me. McPhee helps you understand the processes geologists go through in a way that is interesting to the lay person.

The projective nature of lookin at what the continent will look like millions of years down the road was also fascinating, with a major rift zone either along the Sierra Nevada or the Wasatch front, it certainly made the mountains and valleys come to life in my native state.

Between "Basin and Range" and two books about the Geology of Utah by Hintze and Stokes, Utahns are blessed with an abundance of interesting geology books that will help the novice along and make a simple drive in the country a fascinating tour of what was and what will be.

The idea of examining American geology a slice at a time by following I-80 from east to west was brilliant.

In this particular volume, McPhee deals with the Great Basin portion of that travelogue geology. There's a lot more than meets the eye -- especially the untrained eye not native to the Great Basin -- in the mountains and valleys of the Silver State, McFhee shows.

John McPhee's Basin and Range kept me wanting to read more, right up to the very end. His style was very interesting, keeping his story on basin and range full of knowledge. He describes two of North America's past basin and range provinces. An ancient one which was once along America's eastern seaboard and the active basin and range which is centered in Nevada. Even for those who are not knowlegdable on geology this is an easily understood book. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys to read, especially someone that is interested in learning about our natural environment.

John McPhee's Basin and Range is a layman's geology explaining the formation of mountains and valleys between the Great Salt Lake and the Sierra Nevadas. McPhee intersperses his geology with an alluring mix of personal insight and travelogue commentary which enlivens an otherwise potentially dry subject matter. McPhee makes geology approachable and uncovers the deep intrigue of a science which can be punishing when presented in textbook style. Basin and Range is a short, interesting, and enjoyable explanation of the earth's early shifts of magnitude.

This was an excellent book to accompany the Giant Ant Farm we got our granddaughter for Christmas.

The Life and Time of the Ant is a cartoon type book all about ants. We learn lots of neat things about the ant family. We leaned how they communicate, about the parts of an ant's body, and all about the various kids of any in the world. One section of the book is about hoe important the ant is in the Rain Forest. We are told that ants eat insect pests, plant gardens in trees, removing decaying animals from the forest floor, and thin out plants that over crowd the forest.

The pictures are drawn in a cartoon like style. They were neat to look at while reading.

This would make a great read aloud for elementry classroom during a science unit on ants. Lots of great information is presented in a kid friendly way.

I homeschool my 2nd grade son and we just learned about insects and spiders. This book was PERFECT for learning about ants. Excellent pictures and information about how they live and the different varieties. I even learned a few things I didnt know!

My 6 year has a ton of books and takes out a ton of books out of the libary. As a result, his bar is pretty high for books that wow him. After I bought this book, he asked me to read it to him every day for 2 weeks and it's still a favorite!

Big and small are fascinating themes for him and this book has an innovative approach to this concept.

Additionally, the actual size challenge is fabulous. Kids are fascinating by giant squids and tiny insects etc. It's wonderful to see some element of their size depicted in true size on the page. Very creative approach.

Has also inspired my son to think about biodiversity since so many \extra large or extra small outliers of species are depicted.

Great book.

My daughter loves this book and so do I!!!! I highly recommend it to anyone with kids, and you yourself wil love it!!

Holy cow, do my kids love this book. We bought it for our 3 year old son, thinking it would be too simplistic for our 5 year old, but both kids are fascinated with the pictures and love to compare their own body parts to the animals featured in the book. For example, they like to put their hands on the gorilla hand, measure their heads against the eye of the giant squid, put their toes on the elephant's toes...it's just a lot of fun to read this book to them because they get so engaged in the contents. Highly, highly recommended.

This is a wonderful book for any classroom (Pre-school to Middle School). It's a great tool to motivate students to investigate on their own and explore other animal facts. Awards this book has won: 2005 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book; 2004 The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB) Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Award. (Many of Steve Jenkins' books have won several awards and honors.) He's on my "author watch" list.

Between the paper-cut collage, the huge pages, the factual information done in a fun way and just the overall style of the book makes this one of my favorites I've reviewed so far. Children and adults will love to measure themselves up to the 3 foot giant gippsland earthworm and find out that the giant squid's eyeball is bigger than their head. There is even an open out middle page of the world's largest frog and a crocodile that can chew your arm off in one bite. Steve Jenkins, author and illustrator, did an amazing job with this book and I believe it is enjoyable for all ages.