No comments about Visualizing Psychology (VISUALIZING SERIES).

No comments about Introduction to Geography.

5 comments about The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America.

1. My Uncle, G. Max White, gave my son a hand-crafted peanut butter feeder that he'd made and stained. He explained to his great-nephew, in specific detail, the kinds of birds he would start to see. We hung the feeder outside my son's window and within three days the birds started to arrive. My son was elated! We decided to add a birdseed feeder, a woodpecker feeder, a finch feeder, and a hummingbird feeder to his collection. We put a songbird clock on the wall next to his window so he could compare the birds he saw with it until we received the field guides we ordered from Amazon. He was in heaven!
   
   We purchased the National Geographic guide and The Audubon Backyard guide, but THE SIBLEY FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS of EASTERN NORTH AMERICA is by far the best. Everything about each bird is all on one page. The illustrations, "(more than 4200 total)" are smaller but plenty large enough to see each bird's features.
   
   We are able to see the bird's appearance from juvenile to adult and breeding or non-breeding. We love the way we can look at the characteristics of the bird, the detailed descriptions and a map showing where the bird thrives all on the same page. It is informative and concise.
   
   My son has discovered a vast array of birds in our area. He has been intrigued by their characteristics and songs. Uncle Max's love for birds and nature, and the spirit that has been passed on to my son through his artwork, lit the spark! My son's enthusiasm for bird watching has been fueled by referencing David Sibley's meticulous and inspiring work, THE SIBLEY FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. Together, G. Max White and David Sibley have encouraged my son's passion for birds; a love that will last a lifetime!



2. I love the Sibley guides. The one criticism that I have heard and will agree with is that some of the drawings are a bit "dull" in comparison to other guides. Having said that, this has never deterred from my ability to identify a bird in the field. I both watch and study birds and absolutely adore these guides. Everyone who I've spoken to agrees that these books are excellent. Probably the best feature to me is how each species is depicted in flight as well as percing. Arrows highlight key features to look for. Juvelniles and females depicted. Other unique characteristics noted or depicted (e.g. diagnostic flight patterns or other movements). Wonderful! (Western edition too).



3. I owned this bird book before my purchase from Amazon. The two copies I recently purchased from Amazon were for gifts. The Shibley field guide is my favorite because it also includes the color configuration of the underside of the bird's wings which other authors don't include.



4. Love my new Sibley Field Guide. It's better than the old standard guide I've used for years. It's easy to navigate, and I love the varied views of individual birds, flying, perched etc.. It stays on my kitchen table for constant reference!!



5. This is an outstanding field guide, easy to use and understand.I live in the mountains of western North Carolina and many species of birds migrate through here and also there are many year round species that I have identified with this bird guide. I highly recommend this guide if your looking for a bird field guide that is easy to tote in the field for a quick reference for any unusual birds you may want info on readily.

3 comments about Wiley/National Geographic College Atlas of the World.

1. Having used many other atlases in years of teaching geography, this new NGS product has an excellent balance of thematic maps, regional maps, and data. While my other favorite, Goode's, has better thematic maps for teaching human geography, the National Geographic College Atlas excels in its clear and complete explanations of physical geography. de Blij does it again!



2. I purchased this as a gift. She is a huge fan of maps and searched for a good world atlas. "This book could not be more wonderful" were her words. Simply perfect.



3. This book is an excellent resource for students at teachers alike. It has a great balance of different map types and the level of detail is beyond anything I have ever seen in any other atlas. If you're taking Geography or any class about Regions and Nations in the world, this is the book for you.

5 comments about An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It.

1. After forcing myself to read Al's tirade, the conclusion is obvious: An Inconvenient Truth is nothing more than a loose morph of Paul Erhlich's The Population Bomb, but with one caveat. Paul Erhlich was (and continues to be) the simple village idiot, happily distracted by butterflies, thinking that what might be true for winged objects of his research is true for homo sapiens, after the application of a strong Malthusian filter. Every one of his predictions were wrong. Enough said.
   
   Al, however, is different in one important respect: he is the consummate capitalist and entirely distinterested in peer reviewed scientific literature. When he departed the office of Vice President, his net worth was about $2M. In 2008, that number is approaching $100M. He doubled his money almost six times in eight years. Not many are able to lay claim to that return on investment. And how did he do it? By peddling enough junk science and apocalyptic rhetoric that would choke a blue whale. And raking in more $$$ from his carbon credit front companies.
   
   Nowhere in the book will you read how Al has worked out the causal mechanism) of global warming that caused rapid continental deglaciation about 10-14 thousand years ago, long before modern humans walked the Earth. In fairness to Al, I wouldn't expect that of him: the causative agents remains to this day poorly understood. But not a single word about Quaternary climate appears in this book. Al is betting most people will not bother read the Geological Society of America Special Paper #270: The Last Interglacial-Glacial Transition in North America. Good odds, I'd say.
   
   Even so, I hear Al replaced the incandescent bulbs in his multi-thousand square foot mansion with the energy-saving florescent variety. Good for you Al: thanks for leading the way and saving the planet!



2. I purchased this book despite my skepticism on human caused global warming. I figure i need to know both sides of the argument before I formulate an opinion.
   
   There were some great points made in the book and despite my belief that global warming is not entirely human caused, there are a lot of things where I said "ya, why not? Wouldn't hurt to reduce this or that."
   
   I did have a problem with Al's failure to show both sides of the coin when he pointed out statistics and used charts. One chart he used pointed out recent increases of this or that, but didn't comment on the historical increases that were shown on the same chart.
   
   I also felt like the charts and graphs were misleading in many ways. Often they used visual tips and tricks to draw the eye to the points they wanted to make while 'hiding' the counter arguments. Although I was probably especially sensitive to this as I just read a book on the visual presentation of data.
   
   If you are interested in global warming, even if you are a conservative that is against it, I believe you need to read this book. It would be naive to argue against it if you haven't read it.



3. 31,000 U.S. scientests have signed a petition refuting the claims that mankind is causing global warming and many scientests are now saying we are about to enter a period of global cooling due to changes in our sun. A British court found over 30 of Gore's claims in his movie to be false. Al Gore's home uses more energy in one month than the average home owner uses in one year and the zinc mine that was on his property was once listed by an environmental group as the most toxic mine site in America and Gore wants to reopen it. Are these the actions of a man truely concerned about the environment? Do a little searching to find out about Gore's financial interests in promoting global warming, other than his film and books, and you will find what I believe to be his true motivation.
   
   While we do need to be better stewards of our planet the rush to stop climate change is harming millions around the world and will harm hundreds of millions more if we continue on this course. Gore and his followers say warmer temperatures will produce crop failures that will lead to starvation for millions but in our rush to develop cleaner burning bio fuels we are currently leaving millions of people around the world without enough food to eat. The move to develop bio fuels is also causing a huge price increase in foods which will harm the poorest among us. The amount of corn required to produce 25 gallons of ethanol is enough food to feed an adult for one year and that is one years worth of food someone will have to go without. When you rush into something based on emotion instead of facts you often take the wrong course and that is what I see happening with the issue of global warming.
   
   True science has shown us the earth has been warming for thousands of years, the earth has been much warmer in the past then it is currently, and the only thing normal about climate change is it's always changing. As once scientest has said, a never changing climate would be abnormal.



4. As close to everyone knows, this is Al Gore's book which allegedly proves that, because of mankind's increased carbon emissions, therefore the global climate is warming and therefore we will suffer from a wide variety of catastrophic problems unless we act to reverse the situation. Gore actually argues in this book that, unless we radically decrease CO2 emissions, the oceans will rise 20 feet, most of Florida and New York City will be drowned -- he provides very real looking computer-generated maps of these predictions -- there will be many more hurricanes and, in general, the world as we know it will come to an end.
   
   It is possible that Gore's basic thesis is correct. Our climate might be warming from CO2 emissions. There is no way to assess the value of his thesis from this book, however. This is a beautifully illustrated picture book. It is filled with gorgeous photographs. It has very little text. On the few occasions when Gore actually puts more than 50 words in a row it is generally to tell some heart-wrenching anecdote such as why the near-death of his son made him passionate about global warming. The book has no footnotes, and no connected argument. It is, to be blunt about, a coffee-table book, not a scientific book.
   
   I appreciate that Gore's defenders will disagree. After all, the pictures show facts don't they? We can see, from the pictures, that there is less ice on Mt. Kilamanjero. We can see that many glaciers have retreated in the last century. We can even see the photos showing how much of Florida would be submerged, if the sea rose 20 feet, which it would, if all of the ice in Greenland melted.
   
   Yes, the pictures give isolated facts. But science is not done with pictures, because one can always take a few facts out of context to prove anything. You do not do science with a few photos. You do science with hard data, taken from as many sources as possible. You do science by looking at the whole picture, or as much as you can. You also do science by seriously addressing critics and alternative theories. I am sorry, Al, but this book is much closer to a rock video than it is to a scientific argument. It relies on pictures, emotions and wild claims. That does not prove that it is wrong. You can not , however, rationally assess the truth or falsity of the statements with Gore's presentation.
   
   Al thinks we are stupid. He does not think we will read through serious science. He thinks we need lots of pictures or we just won't get it.



5. Although i was well aware of global warming, the scientific evidence and the real statistics of the global warming from this book definitely raised my awareness even more. I mainly bought this book because i am very interested from saving the earth from the global warming. This book is informative and contains many pictures that reveal impact of the global warming in the world. This book is worth of every penny and worth of time to read it.

5 comments about Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition.

1. This book was an alarming, eye-opening account of how the United States is running out of it's own water resources that provide for many of desert urban areas. Why is it that we are settling in areas that are not natural for us as human beings to live in, and depleting our water resources and damaging natural beauty in order to live in seemingly uninhabital areas, such as Las Vegas, and Phoenix? This book looks to address this and much much more. A great read for anyone interested in enviromental politics and issues in the U.S..



2. Cadillac Desert is a plodding book that spends more time making sideways remarks about its characters than establishing it's own narrative. Plagued by numerous typographical errors, it reads in fits and starts. While its message of government excess and because-we-can justification for modifying the natural landscape is surely worthwhile, if repetitive, the fact of the matter is that two generations of farmers, ranchers and urbanites in the American West looked to the Bureau of Reclamation as the only organization suited to develop their water resources. The dated material is noticeable at times--who but a civil engineer now knows of the Teton Dam failure? why the concern over the Central Arizona Project that has operated for nearly two decades?--and the treatment of the material is done with an eye toward stirring the reader's emotions more than informing them. Donald Worster's Rivers of Empire deals with much the same material in a more thorough and even-handed, though academic, manner.



3. Essential reading for anyone living in the American West or living in the East and subsidizing water rates in the West.



4. This was a return engagement to "Cadillac Desert", as I had read the original in the 1980s, amazed at the time, considering it a premier example of thorough history and analysis in a subject about which few people knew much at all. What could have been a "dry" subject was actually quite gripping and informative, and fortunate to have many participants in key moments still available.
   
   In that sense the author was ahead of his time, documenting essential history that looks all the more important twenty years later. No doubt the book would still be fresh history to many, especially if supplemented by some other source on more current topics. I can only imagine what Mr. Reisner would think of the explosive growth of Las Vegas in the barren Nevada desert in recent years.
   
   I finally got to the revised edition and certainly feel the loss of Marc Reisner, who would have had plenty of material for another revision or two. The additional material is a plus, although it, too, has been around long enough for either edition to be a worthwhile reference.
   
   The growth of Los Angeles and the whole situation with the Owens Valley, San Fernando Valley, William Mulholland, the Chandlers, and so on, is exceptional, and can be read almost on its own. Perhaps there is a more definitive history, with more emphasis on some individuals or some other angle. Reisner packs a punch, laying it all out bluntly, including the fraud and corruption along with social and technical aspects.
   
   Another favorite was the early history of the unexplored West, such as John Wesley Powell's prescience and his journey down the virgin Colorado. How much the region has changed in such a short time, and how extensive were our errors.
   
   This is a first-rate history.



5. This was an outstanding book. Filled with a lot of information I had only partially known, and seldom understood. The story of thousands of dams built for no reason other then to keep two Federal agencies in business. Some success and some death causing failures. A must read for anyone west of the Mississippi with a interest in the historical infrastructure of the western states despite the massive mishandling of Federal funds to aid in ecological disaster. A true study in government math at alludes us all.

5 comments about The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment.

1. Paul and Anne Ehrlich's THE DOMINANT ANIMAL is not only the most sensible and up-to-date book I've read about sustainability; it's also well organized and well written, a true delight to read. As the bad news increasingly piles up -- mass extinctions on land and in the oceans, decreased availability of cheap energy, increased unemployment, floods and droughts leading to crop failures, polar ice caps melting, and famines, to mention only a few -- it becomes crucial that we quickly make informed and sensible choices. THE DOMINANT ANIMAL provides well researched and balanced pros and cons about the most important issues facing us today. I can only agree with the solutions the authors favor, from the unbridled consumption issue (my current line of work) to their analysis of nuclear energy, pp. 306-308 (pertinent to my past life as a physicist). Though the news are grim, I have great hope that if books such as this are widely read we'll be able save ourselves and our grandchildren from a very harsh future that is already encroaching on us.



2. I was fortunate to get a copy of the Ehrlich's new book while teaching a summer course on global climate change in the United States. My job would have been much easier if the students had all had an opportunity to read "The Dominant Animal" when they entered college. It is the best summary I have ever seen of how the world works - what every Australian (and citizen of any country) should know about why human beings came to dominate the planet, and the threat that dominance now poses to our environment. The discussions of genetic and cultural evolution, processes basic to how we took over the world, are clear and compelling, and the summary of the environmental predicament completely up to date and the best I have ever seen. It's a fine read, even if it won't leave you cheered up - but at the end the Ehrlichs do show us how we might escape



3. The Dominant Animal is very succinct and puts
   into perspective what everybody should know about Homo sapiens and "our" omnipresent, modifying
   effects on the whole biosphere and every living thing in it!
   Who better than Paul and Anne Ehrlich could make that point, and write it in a meaningful, non-condescending way which readers can grasp, understand, and maybe even think and act accordingly?



4. For this I reference the many predictions made by Mr. Ehrlich over the years which have, well, let's face it, not come to pass.
   
   Mr. Ehrlich, your crystal ball is broken. Maybe you should just stick to the butterflies.



5. The Green Movement is being herded like cattle and sheep. Guided blindly and controlled by a new, new "TERROR". As science has become a new religion with new priests wearing coats of white.
   
   "So long as the rulers are comfortable, what reason have they to improve the lot of their serfs?"- [3rd Earl] Lord Bertrand Russell, 1952 (p61) "The Impact of Science on Society" on how 'the scientific technique' is used on the world's populations then, now and in the future.
   
   This book is a must read in only that people must know who the author is and what his views are Dr. Erhlich's quotes from his mentor, Charles Darwin in his books. A progenitor of eugenics thought through Darwinism and Malthusian beliefs. He also quotes indirectly, Charles Galton Darwin, (The Next Million Years). The grandson of Charles Darwin and close relative of Francis Galton, an admitted racist and eugenicist. Close friends of the Famous Huxley Family including Julian Huxley, a evolutionist and humanist himself and the first Director-General of UNESCO and writer of "The Crowded World" calling for a "World Population Policy".
   In the beginning of Dr. Erhlich's interview on NPR, The Diane Rehm Show 7-24-08.
   
   He proudly professes that he was sorrowly wrong and disgruntled in predicting that more poor, hungry and sick people had not died from the Mid-1970's until now. Whilst being wrong he happily admits that HIV/AIDS and other resistant disease were however discovered. He praises his belief in a World Wide Communistic China solution to all our problems. This man is an American, Right?.
   His foundation backed opinions are very frightening! His theories and suggestion follow the mainstream thought of global warming as being caused by man but never mentioning that amongst the main causes. Which I believe are cyclical and effected by the greediness of the world's richest individuals and sometimes purposefully as the weather can be controlled effectively and efficiently in today's world by many nation's but its this looming concocted notion and concept that the blame and cause is the ordinary person.
   
   These ordinary persons would have been more than willing to use alternative methods of energy production long ago. Which have been around for many decades but oil is their favorite flavor. It's revenues generate bloodshed, war, power and ultimate control and possibly in the end the destiny of mankind itself. The overtone this book and his previous book "The Population Bomb" will give a glimpse into the mind of those whom say they would rather save a tree or cat than a human soul.
   
   Educated Mankind has become too many, too fast, too soon for the wealthy's comfort. Larger numbers of ordinary individuals are becoming more aware that our predicament is anything but happenstance and natural. A chain of events beyond our control. Which when very carefully researched provides evidence to the contrary. That is that we have been, for quite a while, a long while, very insidiously and intentionally guided towards this idea of accepting population reduction.
   
   The rich and wealthy of the world have the largest families but you will be told to believe differently. It's the poor! You know those who can barely afford food and shelter than arriving to the point of owning a car and filling it with petroleum. The Elitist plan is to rid themselves of those nolonger needed. A working population that has out lived their purpose and usefulness.
   
   Remember, we are now post-industrial. A service economy. Production in this nation alone was willing sent to China. There is but one place to go and that is tyranny to control a wiser much knowledgeable nation and world.
   
   Read, but read objectively with an opened mind and be aware. Be very aware of his kind and their plans for YOU. Then ask yourself who funded this book and dvd project.
   *** I highly suggest reading "Foundations: Their Power and Influence" and going to the UN's website to read and download "AGENDA 21" as the UN controls World Policy but its members are not elected by any citizens or the people of the Nation States Members and never will be.

5 comments about A Sand County Almanac.

1. The earlier reviewer is wrong.The Ballantine edition is not censored.I have a Ballantine edition and there are at least three uses of the word "evolution" and the name Darwin is used at least twice.So don't let the paranoid pronouncements of an evolution worshiper stop you from enjoying this great book.All who love the outdoors and the natural world should read this classic work.



2. The book was in great condition, at a great price! I got it within just a few days. I would def. buy from this person again.



3. I re-read Leopold's Sand County Almanac every couple of years or so. It's not just a beautifully poetic celebration of the land. Its defense of a new sense of moral responsibility to the environment, spelled out in the book's "The Land Ethic," is a bracing tonic against the modern temptation to take the biosphere for granted. In these days of global warming, fossil fuel depletion, and escalating degradation of the land, water, and atmosphere, Leopold's 60-year-old plea for a new environmental ethic is both prophetic and urgently immediate.
   
   In "The Land Ethic," Leopold argues for a new understanding of the moral community. Earlier ethical models focused on interpersonal and social relationships between humans. But given the interconnectedness of all members of the biosphere, we need to extend the moral community to include earth, sky, water, and all species--the biota. At least since the dawn of the modern age, human have tended to prize the biota only in terms of what we could get out of it. It had a purely economic, utilitarian value. But this way of thinking has resulted in environmental (not to mention economic and political) crisis.
   
   What we must do now, argues Leopold, is to recognize our "vital" relationship to the biota, acknowledging that the well-being of our species is intimately connected to the well-being of the whole. This calls for a new standard of valuation that runs counter to the older, economic model. "Quit thinking about decent land-use as solely an economic problem," writes Leopold. "Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient." And if we do that, he concludes, we'll adopt the following ethical principle: "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise" (p. 262). And part of what this means is that humans should strive to leave relatively light footprints on the earth, because the lighter our impact, the more likely the biota can successfully readjust to maintain integrity, stability, and beauty.
   
   Good, important advice.



4. A classic. As we rush into brave new environmental worlds where angels fear to tread, and as our kids grow up plugged in rather than playing in the dirt, this should be required reading in all schools (and required for the parents, too). Besides presenting a compelling and important argument, it's also a very good book.



5. I expected a book that would move me emotionally as well as intellectually, like Abby's Desert Solitude. That's not what this book is all about. It is well written, yes, but it only shoots for the intellect, not the heart, or at least it did for me. It is still an important read.

2 comments about Exploring Geology.

1. If only we could learn geology though genuine field experiences with a master scientist, geologist and communicator...
   
   This is as close as it gets in a textbook. Based on illustrations of real field locations and enticing geological investigations, this book takes the excitement of field geologists into real-world inquiry of the workings of planet Earth.
   
   Since John S. Shelton's classic, "Geology Illustrated," published just over 40 years ago, no textbook has been centered on engaging illustrations and real locations. But Reynolds et al have presented over 2,700 full color images, diagrams and maps. Like most other textbooks, each chapter centers on a skill set or content area of current interest. But this book and its extensive ancillary materials draws the student into the process of investigation. This approach imparts the basic needs of an introductory college course in geology. By bringing the student into the investigative process, geology becomes a spectator sport and the student an eager participant.
   
   What is lost? Tedium and frustration. The student need not find her way through long passages of text and jargon. In the field, a geologist is hampered by the inconvenience and expenses of long-distance travel, variable weather conditions, a limited view of and from Earth's surface and a random encounter with each process that is revealed. But not here. In other words, not much of educational value is lost.
   
   This is a geology textbook for the 21st century to educate students for a new millenium.
   
   Thomas McGuire, Geology/Earth Science Educator & Author



2. As someone who lectures to adult audiences on Northern Arizona geology using powerpoint slides loaded with photos and drawings, I was very interested in this visual approach to teaching geology. Unfortunately, although the book is billed as suitable for university course, I found it more on the high school or even junior high school level. The photos and diagrams are fine but the accompanying "text", if it could be called that, is inadequate and too dumbed down to qualify for a university level course. "Rocks for Jocks" maybe, but not for serious students of geology. Better to choose a standard text like "Dynamic Earth" by Skinner, Porter and Park, a book that has many excellent and effective visual aids along with a thorough university level text.

5 comments about Places and Regions in Global Context: Human Geography.

1. This textbook is very easy to follow. I am glad that I purchased this book.



2. First of all, I must give that the presentation quality of this book is very good; it is easy to follow too; so when you take this book in hand the first impression is that it's a great book; but unfortunately it is not.. Here's why:
   
   1 - There are some numerical errors: in maps and in unit conversions.
   2 - The word "global" in the title does not apply to the perspective of the book; it might claim to have a global context but it is not from a global perspective (instead a western perspective, which is not necessarily something loathsome, but it's rather irritating)
   3 - Some maps and some pieces of info highly controversial, and sometimes wrong. (for example, when it talks about the Alleged Armenian Genocide it says that half of the population were killed (whereas the death toll was much less than that), and what's more it makes the stupid error of saying that it took place "after" the first world war, whereas all the Armenians claim that it happened in 1915. (I guess there's no need to mention that it does not present any information about the Turks/Kurds massacred by various Armenian bands)
   4 - Some misinformation will make you laugh - (such as when they write that the world wars took place in 19th century)
   5 - It's not bountiful: you read, read, and read; but you hardly learn anything.. lots of detail but very little insight.
   
   I strognly recommend that you give up the idea of purchasing this book, and instead go for a real good Human Geography book such as that of Bergman, which is also available from amazon
   
   When you write a book about such topics as history or geography, you need to be knowledgeful in a broad range of areas. But so far as I have observed these two people seem to be highly deficient in history and basic science&maths.



3. The book was advertised under third edition but was received as second edition.



4. A very good textbook. Easy to follow, very fair and unbiased on any debates, and goes nicely in-depth on almost every issue it touches on.



5. The book came in perfect condition. However, I wish that it would have come on the day it was supposed to come on.