Science Nature Books

Excellent and thought provoking. Very useful for courses at university level. Some cheerful, but not simplistic, ideas for change.

The book is very helpful to read for those of us who wonder how to consider living out some of our concerns regarding the environment. I particularly appreciated Juliet Schor and Bill McKibbon is always worth reading.
A couple of the chapters on economics were beyond me - but glad someone is thinking about it!!

Cute book. I liked all the info except it talks about what temp. to keep your fish tank at.......and I used it for a preschool students. Way over their heads.

Overall, good info, realistic, and cute!

This is an excellent book to introducing the levels of classification for living things. This book explored the physiology of fish in language that young children can understand. The facts are presented in a way that is not overwhelming to children. The illustrations are great and they really show what its like to be a fish. I have used this book with my preschoolers and they love it.

Wendy Pfeffer has a talent for making difficult science concepts understandable to young children. This is a lively and very kid-friendly book with cheerful illustrations that kids will enjoy and learn from.

My boy brought this home the school library and the title of the book intrigued me. What is it like to swim by swishing your tail, round and round, in a small little bowl; or, eating fish flakes sprinkled from above when the person decides it's time to be fed; or to live in an environment that deteriorates day after day into murkiness until you are suddenly scooped up by a net and put into an even smaller container while your bowl is being cleaned? What IS it like to be a fish? Alas, there are no answers to that question found in this book -- pity.

But ontological musings aside, this book is a good little read for kids who, for the first time, are interested in having a fish as a pet. The book uses the common goldfish as its example. It shows the different environments in which a little child might encounter a fish: a bowl, an aquarium, a plastic bag being brought home from the pet store and swimming around in a backyard pond. It also tells what the different fins are called, how do fish sleep, are they warm or cold-blooded, how do they breath water when I can't, and similar questions a young child might ask when they have their first fish. It tells you how to set up a goldfish bowl and why you put the bag in the water for awhile without setting the fishies free. Basic stuff for the adult, good for the child who shows interest in having a fish pet. Now if only that title-question was answered...

Outstanding brief introduction to the thoughts of Thomas Berry, one of the visionary thinkers of our time in terms of ecology, impact of the human on the earth, and providing a promising larger vision of the possibilities for the future. The collection of thoughts will appear a bit repetitive at first glance, but I found the repetition of the key thoughts from different perspectives useful. Highly recommended. Rated 4 star instead of 5 due only to the repetitiveness.

Every politician should read this book and then look into their hearts. I must say that Mary Tucker's Editorial Preface says everything about Thomas Berry and his desire to enhance human beings' relationship to Earth. His writing is accessible and undaunting. The gift of his genius, still going strong at 90 years of age is expressed again in this book and the message will bring you into the fold of his views with keen insight and compassion. I am so grateful for his gifts and just want you to read it and give it to everyone else you know.

The perspective I have come to is that for most of my life I lived in a human world which has not been able to offer in any comprehensive way, what really matters.

What is going on is that the sources of human survival, imagination, knowledge and emotional balance have been diminished, distanced, ignored and replaced by an enslaving, stale and insulting world views.

Enter Thomas Berry who after a lifetime of scholarship on human cultures has received the gifts of the scientific community and relit our human drama and our personal value. We are fortunate to be born into a community that knows how to survive through amazing trials. We are fortunate to be born into a school that has incomprehensible libraries and teachers to access. We are made with genes already experienced in phenomenal truth, art, music, flexibility and openness to diversity and enhancing possibility. There is nothing in the vast developing universe that is really foreign to us--it is our home and at this time in human history, we have a dinguished role to play. You'll have to read him to see what these remarks mean.

There is no one I have ever met, heard or read who comes close to explaining the grief and chaos of our times and to offering a healing of being and living as does Thomas Berry.

This is what children need to learn. This is the heroic task that young adults yearn to be presented. This is the good news that will bring a sign of contentment to more than our hopes. This is the story that provides a standard for every profession but especially education, economics, religion and government. At last we begin to hear what really matters.

Fr. Thomas Berry emphasizes that all things and beings have a place in Creation. It is a stimulating relief to have such a well respected scholar support what is my heart's understanding of the world I know. He is calm and accepting of the concept 'inclusiveness'. Science and spirituality are shown to be not only compatible but inseperable. The Universe Story tells us how our world was formed and comes alive. Thomas Berry emphasises appreciation of the beauty and strength found all around us. We are told we are moving into a new geologic time called the 'ecozoic' by the author. This book will help smooth our moves into the next chapter of the Creation.

This is an excellent guidebook to the flowers, shrubs, trees and plants of the entire Rocky Mountain chain. I tested this book in the meadows and streambeds near my home in Wyoming and discovered that the photos are clear, colorful, and aid in identification of species. Each listing features a general description as well as data on the leaves, flowers, fruits, and range. If you read the description closely and match it with your subject it's difficult to misidentify the species. Not every wildflower is included here but 95% of what you might find in Yellowstone or RMNP is here. Also, there's a brief bit of lore on most of the more common plants and flowers to help the reader understand the historical medicinal uses, as well as which ones make a refreshing tea and which ones can leave you paralyzed and impotent if ingested at toxic levels.

Not to be underestimated is the sturdy construction of this book - I carried it on a 2 week backpack earlier this summer and found the cover virtually indestructible and waterproof.

This book is my constant companion while exploring the outdoors in the Rocky Mountains. Wonderful layout, great pictures, lots of detail so you're sure to get the correct ID... and great facts to add depth to your knowledge of the trees, shrubs, and flowers. I love this book, and highly recommend it to anyone living - or even visiting - the lovely Rocky Mountains.

"Plants of the Rocky Mountains" is by far the best all-around field guide for Rocky Mountain trees, shrubs and flowers (with some grasses) that I've yet seen, and ranks right up there with classics like Newcomb's Wildflower guide for the northeast. Kershaw et al. provide simple, easy-to-use keys and organize plants by growth form (trees, shrubs, flowers), family, and color, so that both beginners and botanists can navigate with ease. Photographs are typically small, but the entire plant is shown, usually in its native habitat. Descriptions typically include relatives, uses, and occasionally an amusing anecdote.

As a cautionary note, "Plants of the Rocky Mountains" is intended to be used in the mountains, and is less useful in deserts, basins, or canyon country. That said, this is the ONE book that I take with me on weekend jaunts in the high country. -William Adair, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Utah State University

I do lots of "belly botany" -- always on my elbows looking at, and photographing, tiny alpine plants in the Rockies -- and I have a vast collection of plant keys and guides. I tell everyone, though, that if they want just one book on all the plant life in the Rockies of Montana, Alberta, Wyoming, and adjacent areas, this is it. Plentiful and clear photos, good "keys" for identifying plants, and just enough detail. This book contains trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, grasses, ferns, lichens, rushes, sedges, bryophytes, -- everything you need in one low-price volume. I bought two and tore one apart so I could save weight carrying just the flower section when I go backpacking.

Indispensible for beginners and experts alike!

The book begins with an itroduction that includes info on different zones such as: foothills, montane, subalpine, alpine, disturbed areas, basic maps, wildlife, fires, and more.

It then is divided and color coded for example: Trees-brown, shrubs-brown, wild flowers-yellow, grasses-green, ferns and Allies-reddish brown, Bryophytes-light green, lichens-light purple, and glossary-dark purple.

Within each section, it is further divided by family. For example the tree section is divided into pine family, willow family, and birch family. At the beginning of this section is a key to help you identify the different families. The flower section includes a photo key, so that you can find the flower you are seeking at a glance, and then go to the correct page.

Each plant includes info including common and latin name, description, where found and notes. The notes vary, but include much interesting information on the history of the plant. Some info on edible and medicinal plants is offered as well though the authors state, "This guide is not meant to be a 'how-to' reference for consuming wild plants." It also includes information on other plants in the "family within the family"...for example it discusses 3 different types of Tragopogon (Goat's beard or Salsify). It often gives pictures of more than one plant in the family-within-the family. It has a color photo for each plant, and many of them also include illustrations.

I am a beginner, and my purpose in using this book is to study edible wild plants. One thing drew me to this book was that it includes mcuh info on grasses, trees and shrubs. For learning edible wild plants, I also recommend Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide by Elias and Dykeman. This book offers info about poisonous look alikes.

Another wonderful aspect of Plants of the Rocky Mountains is its sturdy construction. It is well made, and appears that it will able handle many hiking and camping trips.

In summary, I think everyone interested in wild plants could benefit from this wonderful book, particulary at such a great price!

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.

Very nice and representative fotos. Good description of genera, however it is related more to North-America than to the world.

I purchased this book looking for information on a particular palm. I was well pleased with the information. The book is easy to read and supplies useful information to the amatuer or professional palm person.

Very good colour plates, many showing the inflorescences and fruits useful in the identification of the palms. Clean, concise descriptions of genera.

This is was excellent and easy to read and follow. I really enjoyed this book.

What I was looking for:
A book with lots of detailed pictures of palm trees and cultivation tips.

What I got:
An exhaustive list of palm trees with a short text accompanying each and a set of pictures that look amateurish and are not enough representative of each species.

I was assigned this book for a Water Law & Policy class. I absolutely love it. It has SO much information for such a small book.

Carle engages one of most contentious and complex issue that our culture ignores - water. So we don't have enough water in California- you probably knew that. This book explores the nuances of California water - nature, culture, agriculture and infrastructure - in an concise volume that is suprisingly enjoyable for a such a dry topic.

There is enough information packed into this little book to serve as a textbook - as such, Carle has created a valuable primmer and users guide for the Golden State.

Literature and the Environment: A Reader on Nature and Culture has been an invaluable resource and platform for discussion in my high school literature class that centers around the natural world and man's place in it. The essays, poems, and excerpts avoid groupthink, polarization of issues, and are, for the most part, accessible to students.