Science Nature Books

Outstanding evidence that exposes the environmental movement for what it is : a vessel to create a world tax and a more centralized authority with fewer human freedoms and more power than ever vested in goverment, all cloaked in grabbing people's hearts about saving the earth.

This book exposes the truth and is a must read to counterbalance the propaganda the big media bombards us with daily. I heard the author interviewed by Jason Lewis (KTLK-FM 100.3 Mpls MN). Five Stars for the author !!

This should be a "must read" for all who claim to want to save the environment. The human cost of some of our well intentioned national policies, like the Endangered Species Act, are well documented, and at the very least should be read and absorbed by everyone engaged in public policy.

When I wasn't reading this book I was talking about it! I have so many people to pass this book on to that I will need to order more copies.

What I found sobering and terrifying is the reach the extreme environmentalists have in the name of species preservation and their motives behind it all. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was like a snowball rolling downhill. At first it was small and no one really paid much attention, but as it moved along it gained a momentum and a proportion that has left everyone in its path ill equipped to stop it. What's more, the banning of DDT left millions to die of malaria when the science proved DDT was safe for humans. Watch out! They are going after Bisphenol A next. Before you jump on that bandwagon, you better read this book.

I am admittedly a non-fiction junkie and always looking for a good topic. I picked up this book because I realized I am basically uninformed on this subject, and with the eco-terrorism that has hit the news lately and the momentum global warming has been gaining; I decided an environmental education would be a good choice while I had some time over the summer. There were some parts of this book that had me seeing red. Actually, if you are a fiction fan, it has all the best elements of a good novel. Lies, deceit, corruption and tragedy. In fact, the author had me reading anxiously to get to the last chapter so I could find out what could be done to fix the "broken ESA". He also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to the details. He covers all points with enough information that you won't feel like anything has been left out. Each chapter concludes with his cited sources in case you want to read further or do your own research. This book has changed how I view everything.

This is a poorly written and reasoned out book by a person that only cares about himself. I'm pretty middle of the road, but this guy is a far right crackpot. If you love only yourself and want to be able to feel even better about loving only yourself, then this is the book for you.

I thought I was the only one.
When I finished Green Gone Wild I was angry.
I loaned it to a partner
Same result.
I was not expecting what I was reading. Well thought and well documented.

Great Stuff!!

I love this book. Koodsma describes a brilliant, unique method and approach to teaching oneself the art and science of recognizing bird calls and songs while also delivering a very absorbing read. Koodsma is a gifted story teller. The book is built out from beautifully detailed field work diaries, rich with the emotion of discovery and an infectious appreciation for the unique character and "song" for each individual bird he's tracked and grown to know as if they were kin.

I really liked the looks of this book. I got it for my mother who is a bird enthusiast but she said it required far more knowledge of music than she had.The last we talked she was going to send it back. Bummer.

The book is a fun & interesting read with many unique insights.
I have actually played the CD during these winter months just to hear the great outdoors. It makes the house sound like spring time with the windows open.

With over 1,000 "Bird Books" in my collection;it takes something real special to excite me. This book is such a special book. There are many books,records,tapes CD's and DVD'd that do an excellent job of teaching and describing bird songs so that with some practice you can recognize a large number of birds in the field.
Howerever,much more than showing a few ,typical songs of birds,so that you can recognize them when they call or sing;this book goes far deeper in showing you how to understand and appreciate bird song. There is much more to the song of a Chestnut-sided Warbler than the common "Pleased-pleased-pleased-to-MEETCHA." or the "whip-poor-Will" of the Whip-poor-will than one could ever imagine.In the case of the American Robin the author has found out how to tell one robin from another right in your own backyard. Obviously,it would take many years to learn and understand in detail all the songs of a large number of species as the author has done;but then he has studied birdsong for over 30 years and was recognized as "the reigning authority on the biology of avian vocal behavior"by the American Ornithologist's Union in 2003.
In this book,Kroodsma gives us the benefit of his vast knowledge,and it will certainly become "the book to have" for anyone who wants to give bird song serious study.His writing style is such that a very complicated subject can be understood and helpful;be the reader one who is a relative amateur or an extremely experienced birder.
One could almost start reading at any point in the book;but I would suggest,after the first chapter,turn to page 366,"Bird Sounds on the Compact Disc" and play the CD and follow the description for each track.You might even want to do do this a couple of times.
Another suggestion, once you have purused the book, would be to pick one of the birds the author has gone into detail with,and that are abundant near your home ,such as the American Robin,and really study the songs as the author explains.This can be done simply,as long as you don't try to get into advanced recording.A notepad,pen,seat and a cool drink will suffice.
At first glance this book might overwhelm you ;but don't let it.
I have two wonderful friends,sisters Joan and Gail,who I meet each spring at Point Pelee in Ontario. Joan was given this book by a friend,thought it was "too deep" for her;so she gave it to me. Thanks Joan,I love it.

I was looking for a book on bird song to give to a friend who is graduating from music school, and I bought the Kroodsma book on the recommendation of other Amazon reviewers, whom I can't thank enough for encouraging me to purchase this book. Having also purchased "Why Birds Sing" and "Birdsong: A Natural History" for my friend, I find that the Kroodsma is by far and away the better book, not only because it contains a cd, but because of the unique writing style that reflects a lifetime interest in and knowledge of the subject matter.

I ordered this book to ahve some projects to work on with my kids. Although the projects themselves are not so difficult, it shouldn't take so much work to figure out what the project is and how to do it. I have seen better productions that were easy for both adult and child to follow.

and the bird feeder has worked wonderfully! He wanted to make some projects with his tools, and it was a great bonding experience working with his grandpa. It was one of his Christmas gifts he was excited about!

I like the Dover books, which generally re-print older books on decent-enough paper for a low price. This book is no exception; it's an old-fashioned book that was originally published in the 1950s.

The projects all involve hand tools instead of power tools, although the modern equivalent (with appropriate supervision) could be substituted. I generally like the older tools, although they're slower and require more actual skill to use. Your junior woodworker should know how to read and have some basic familiarity with the tools (or some scrap lumber handy to figure out how to use them). Ideally, s/he would also have some basic familiarity with some of the concepts of woodworking, like the fact that you spend more time with the sandpaper than with the saw.

With a child old enough to figure out most of the directions on his/her own, I think this would work best for what the child development people call "parallel play:" your junior woodworker works independently on his (or her) project, and you work independently on your own unrelated project -- but in the same room or area. This approach allows independence and encourages problem-solving, while still letting you keep a carefully peeled eye to head off disasters (ideally without the child noticing how closely you're watching).

The major downside for the younger kids is that the there's nothing about woodworking that lends itself to instant success (or commercially slick achievements on a first try). Persistence, patience and a decent attention span are necessary for the completion of projects.

Here's the list of fifteen projects in this inexpensive book:

sailboat
bird feeder
hot dish coaster
steamboat
toy sled
tie rack
book rack
table lamp
clock shelf
candlesticks
towel holder
cart
birdhouse for a wren
shoeshine kit
flower box

To be honest, these projects may or may not interest your youngster, and unfortunately our media generation may not consider these projects exciting enough or impressive enough to justify all the time and energy they require. (Then they'll complain that everything these days is mass-produced plastic.)

As with all craft-y projects, you should consider what you could do with it when you're done. If the answer is "can't do anything with any of these," then perhaps you should look for a different book.

I'm not a child (60) but I wanted some simple woodworking projects to get started with. This is a great resource

This little book looks good so far although we'll still have to saee how the kids cope on their own & if they'll be able to successfully plan each project - unfortunately it's all in inches & feet & I'm not keen to teach my kids all that stuff so we are going to have to do conversions.I feel this could have been highlighted prior to purchase.

This was given to me as a gift and I kept coming back to it. It includes so many different fields, authors and styles of writing that you can't get bored. Almost every essay is excellent, and if you get tired of one the next one will be amazing. One minute it's string theory and the next it's linguistics and the next biology. It's hard to keep up with all that's going on in the science community but this is a great way to hear some of the stories and learn about a broad range of great science. Thoughtful but hardly too technical.

I liked this collection so much that I bought the 2005 and 2004 collections. 2005 was not as interesting to me, a lot more focused on policy and less thrilling as a whole, though some gems in there. 2004 was somewhere between the quality of 2006 and 2005. A different guest editor each year... looking forward to the next one. Gave 2006 to a friend as a must-read. The most interesting work I've read in some time. Thanks Mr Green and the many authors.

As usual with this series, I learned a lot in the 2006 edition.

In "Dr. Ecstasy" I learned about Alexander Shulgin who, in a Frankensteinian laboratory in his home in CA, has single-handily created over 200 psychedelic compounds, including ecstasy. In "My Bionic Quest for Bolero" a deaf man describes his quest to restore his hearing with cutting edge "bionic" ear implants (this article became a book: Rebuilt: My Journey Back to the Hearing World). In "Show Me the Science", the ever fascinating Daniel C. Dennett shakes his head at the anti-science movements and their techniques, notably the "intelligent design" crowd, but just as easily applicable to global warming deniers, Holocaust deniers and anyone with a political agenda that is at odds with science. In "Buried Answers" I learned about the business of autopsy and how important they are and how rarely they are performed these days.

"Conservation Refugees" is probably the most important article of the book. Mark Dowie introduces the concept and term "conservation refugee" and it since become more commonly used with this article a sort of genesis. Conservation refugees are (usually) native people who have been oppressed or expelled from their traditional lands after those lands have been put into conservation, usually by one of the big NGO's such as the World Wildlife Fund or Conservation International. The result is the growing recognition that "wild" lands can not be left barren of people, that humans play an integral part of nature.

"The Mummy Doctor" is a great human interest story of the worlds leading expert on the dissection of mummies. The graphic descriptions of organs like cardboard and smells are priceless. In "Out of Time" I went on a journey into the Amazon and lived with a small band of dangerous head-hunters with little contact with the outside world. In "Buried Suns" I learned about the underground nuclear testing in Nevada.

All in all a fine edition to an excellent series.

I read the best american series every year, in fact, with science and nature writing, I've been with since the beginning. And you can always count on BASNW to be good. It's always at the layman's level, so it can be understood and it is a great way for us nonacademics and nonscientist to keep up with the latest advances in science and technology. This year's edition is edited by physicist Brian Greene, which almost worried me, because I prefer life and earth science essays over the harder sciences and technology. But Greene is a popular science writer and he collects a great group of essays, few of which covered his area of expertise.

Every year I eagerly anticipate the publication of another edition of this fine series - and its competitor, the "Best of American Science Writing." Series Editor Tim Folger painstakingly selected 100 articles from American periodicals early this year, all of which attest to the intrigue of science. Sometimes the scientific method is seen to be, as he puts it, "an intensely human endeavor, with nobility and self-sacrifice commingling with self-doubt, ambition, swollen egos, and sometimes outright fraud...Even though the intellectual brawls never stop, charlatans are invariably exposed...[yielding] an understanding of reality impossible to achieve by any other means."

This year's guest editor, physicist Brian Greene, selected the final 25 essays. He suggests that when science writing is done well, it lowers the historical barriers between science and the humanities: "Like master chefs, the best science writers pare away all but the most succulent material, trimming details essential to the researcher that would only be a distraction to the reader."

Natalie Angier: A lesson on the cultural and linguistic analysis of swearing - an underestimated form of anger management. Swearing is present in every culture - men consistently cursing more than women "unless said women are in a sorority."

Drake Bennett: The story of Alexander Shulgin, an American chemist who has spent his life legally synthesizing hundreds of psychedelic compounds. On the door of his lab is a sign that reads, "This is a research facility that is known to and authorized by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, all San Francisco DEA Personnel, and the State and Federal EPA Authorities," with phone numbers. He posted the sign after the second raid (the agencies later apologized).

Larry Cahill: Within the past ten years, research has revealed an astonishing array of structural, chemical, and functional variations between the brains of males and females - many of them existing at birth. The assumption that researchers can study one sex and apply findings to both is no longer an option.

Michael Chorost: This article is one of my favorites. The author was born almost deaf and didn't learn to talk until he got hearing aids at age three and a half. At age 15 he somehow got hooked on the "Bolero," a famous orchestral piece known for its dynamic crescendos. From that time on, he judged each new hearing aid by listening to his favorite rendition of "Bolero." Then for unexplained reasons he became completely deaf at age 38. The story of how a cochlear implant brought back his hearing ranges through engineering, computer science, physics, ear physiology, and the continued use of "Bolero."

Daniel Dennett: Explains eloquently how no intelligent-design hypothesis has even been ventured as a rival explanation for evolution. "You haven't explained everything yet" is not a competing hypothesis.

Frans de Waal: Humans descended from group-living, highly social primates. Like them, we are highly motivated to fit in with those we live and work with. He calls "Behavioral economics" an evolutionary explanation for why we interact as we do - embracing the golden rule not accidentally, but as a result of our history as co-operative apes.

David Dobbs: Nothing reveals errors like an autopsy. The author quotes studies showing that when an autopsy was done, 25% - 40% of the time the cause of death was not correctly diagnosed. Unfortunately, forces stacking up against the autopsy - regulatory, economic, and cultural - overcome attempts to revive it.

Mark Dowie: Another of my favorites. A small group of leaders representing indigenous tribes from all over the world have a pneumonic for their biggest enemy - BINGO. This stands for Big International Nongovernmental Conservation Organizations. Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and others - are well-funded and have been paying poor governments to establish national parks as fast as they can. Indigenous people always live in these locations, are almost always left out of the negotiations, and are almost always robbed of their land and their culture. This lamentable outcome is frequently barely discernable behind a smoke screen of slick promotion.

John Hockenberry: A fascinating survey of US soldiers in Iraq whose hobby is blogging about the war. Nearly all of the contributing bloggers say the current system of limited restrictions can't possibly last. The policies are currently under Pentagon review.

John Horgan: Remember the dramatic 1963 photograph depicting Jose Delgado calmly standing in the path of a charging bull? With a hand-held transmitter, Delgado stopped the bull by stimulating electrodes in key areas of the bull's brain. This is the dynamic story of his field in the 60's and its rebirth in the 21st century.

Gordon Kane: Another favorite of mine, but qualified* - the physics-impaired reader may have trouble. This is a concise summary of the particles of the Standard Model and how the Higgs field gives them mass - complete with teasers about dark matter, string theory, and the "Theory of Everything."

That's a paragraph about each of the first 11 essays out of 25. To keep this review from being any longer, I'll do only one more - another favorite:

Paul Raffaele - Primitive tribes that barely know we exist live deep in the Amazon, not far removed from the stone age. Sydney Possuelo represents the Brazilian government in protecting these indigenous people and their land from the "whites" (anyone else), and has made first contact with seven different tribes. The author spends a dangerous week with Possuelo visiting the Korubo tribe, otherwise known as the headbashers. Possuelo's advise: "Be on your guard at all times when we're with them, because they're unpredictable and very violent."

The remaining 13 essays are just as invigorating as these. Some readers will say there's too much fluff - others will side-step the hard science, but any critical thinker from any field will find many articles they love. Top Notch, as usual.

This is a series I particularly look forward to every year for the thought-provoking glimpses it provides into the role science and technology play in our daily lives and future prospects, from the downside of increasing longevity and the dangers of decreasing autopsies to the evolutionary role of swearing and the scary consequences of indiscriminate antibiotics use.

John Hockenberry has a particularly fascinating piece on military blogs - how the immediacy of the technology affects our view of war and how little the brass knows about how to handle it. What makes this article so riveting is his ability to capture the diverse personalities and strong views of the bloggers and the technology's tantalizing implications for the future.

There are portraits of quirky people doing unusual things, like Kevin Krajick's profile of Arthur Aufderheide who dissects mummies and preserves their tissues for research that can tell us much about how they lived.

And Drake Bennett's visit with "Dr. Ecstasy," Alexander Shulgin, a man who has devoted his life to the study of hallucinogenics. The inventor of Ecstasy (among many other illegal substances), and a man of 4,000 psychedelic experiences, Shulgin was on the government payroll until he decided to publish a how-to book.

The eloquent Oliver Sacks remembers DNA's Francis Crick and Crick's influence on his own career, and John Horgan profiles neuroscientist and brain chip pioneer Jose Delgado whose impressive achievements have been intentionally forgotten.

Since Greene is a physicist ("The Elegant Universe") there are precise and elegant (that is, comprehensible) pieces on time travel (Dennis Overbye), gravity (Juan Maldacena) mass (Gordon Kane), and NASA's X-ray Observatory (Robert Kunzig). There are also articles on Earthquake prediction (Kevin Krajick), indigenous people displaced by conservationists (Mark Dowie), and animal deal making (Frans B.M. De Waal).

One of the book's most moving and fascinating articles is Michael Chorost's essay on his cochlear implant and his pursuit of music. Mostly deaf from birth, he became profoundly deaf as an adult. While the implant allowed him to hear speech, his enjoyment of Ravel's "Bolero," had gone. Working to regain this pleasure he initiates us into mysteries of deafness, the technology of cochlear implants and the nature of music.

Many pieces will spur readers to further reading, depending on their interests, and all are elegantly written and of wide appeal. If you read only one "Best of" book this year, make it this one.

-- Portsmouth Herald

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.

This is a simple book about clouds, written in de Paola's signature comic style.

We have a collection of simple facts about clouds, some illustrations of cloud-related sayings, and a silly (very silly) cloud story.

Should hold a young child's attention fairly well, while also Educating them.

My 8 year old enjoyed reading this book and read it with ease. It was entertaining and very informative.

Any book by Tomie dePaola is a hit. He is an excellent illustrator. It is an educational book that provides nicknames of clouds and explains the various types of clouds and what they do. My children enjoyed this book and read it many times over and used it to identify different types of clouds they saw in the sky. The illustrations help them identify the clouds they see too.

The Cloud Book is a great book for the curious little scientists or meterologists in your home. To tell you the truth, I thought that this book would be boring. Who wants to read a book about clouds out of science class? But, this book came a surprise to me. It explained clouds in a fun way, making you want to learn about them. The illustrations and metaphors help you understand, while teaching you about them at the same time. The illustrations help you relate everyday objects to those confusing scientific words. Only Tomie de Paola could compare the cumulus clouds with a cauliflower or the cirrus cloud with mare's tails. He also tells folk tales and legends that go along with the clouds. This book is a must on the bookshelf of any future meterologist!

The Cloud Book is an informative book about clouds, which can be used to integrate reading and science. In this book, the author uses funny illustrations to introduce types of clouds, along with their specific characteristics. The book also includes an index, so that the reader can look for a particular cloud. Also included are different culture's views on clouds and their meanings.
The facts presented correspond with information that is deemed scientifically correct, but the author does not cite a source. The information is up-to-date, and the illustrations do not look dated. There is a clear distinction between scientific fact and the theories of different people groups.
The information is structured well. The book explains how clouds are formed, then examines each cloud type and its characteristics. Each cloud type is compared to objects that are easily identifiable. The index, which lists the cloud types in alphabetical order, is very helpful.
The illustrations, along with the text, intertwine fact with humor. The cartoon style lends itself to exaggeration. The style of the text is also comical. It is clearly for younger children, but an adult reader would also enjoy reading this aloud. The author also illustrates idioms about fog and clouds, painting a humorous view of the English language. The book is concluded with a "Very Silly Cloud Story," which is nonsensical.
Classroom Activity: After completing the story, the students will make cloud journals, in which they will chart clouds for an entire week. Students will write about cloud types, cloud shapes, questions about clouds and other observations.

Age Group: This book can be read aloud to 2nd through 3rd graders, with independent reading recommended for 4th graders.

With copious footnotes referring to a great number of scholarly articles, Smith's book could be a University course study guide. EHG is a must read for anyone wishing to learn about Israel's early religions.

See my review of The Memoirs of God. This is the same.

This book is chock full of excellent references to both biblical and non-biblical texts. The combined references make a convincing case that the Isrealite tradition was originally steeped in the early canaanite polytheism. Smith's book would be an excellent reference but is not itself a satisfying read. Smith frequently sites verses in books as old as Psalms (written in the 11th century bce? Smith doesn't say) in the same paragraph with verses in books as new as the Talmud (written in the 3rd centry ce?). That is, he gives us no historical context to understand how people in the time the Psalms were writen would have understood the polytheistic references vs. how poeple in the time when the Talmud began to form would have understood polytheistic references.

A large percentage of the pages have only a few lines of text with small-print reference notes, albeit good ones, occupying the remainder of the page. Smith supplies ample biblical references throughout this book, often dozens in a single paragraph, but he rarely includes any quotes from the references. The reader has to look them up if he is to understand the argument.

This is a fantastic synthesis of 20th Century scholarship on the religion of Israel in the period of the Judges and early monarchy. The Smith surveys the literature and provides his own theory of the the relationship between Israelite religion and that of other Canaanites. (One thing you will learn is that contrary to the way the situation is portrayed in the Bible, there is little to distinguish between the Israelites and Canaanites.) It deals with the issue of monolatry versus monotheism, did God have a wife?, are there various names of God in the Bible because originally they stories were about different gods?, and what of the ritual and cult in early Israelite religion.

Smith definitely draws heavily on the scholarship of Frank Moore Cross, Jr. and Marvin H. Pope, and their students, such as John Day (e.g., Molech: a god of human sacrifice in the Old Testament) and W.R. Garr (e.g., Dialect Geography of Syria-Palestine: 1100-586BC).

The book is extremely well footnoted, making it valuable even if you don't buy all his arguments.

excellent disclosure of the evolution of the understanding of God in early Israelite history. book assumes a high degree of previous knowledge of early Israelite history within an historical / critical understanding of biblical studies. If you are a "literalist," save your money ... you won't like it!

The delivery was fast, and the condition is very good as mentioned in the post

not bad, i need it for class. otherwise the book is good.

This book is not the BEST that ought be found on the topic, but it is the best I have seen...especially in recent years. The editor, however, has many degrees from the BEST universities in America -- so he knows what he is doing. A sufficient book for introductory reading.

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.