Colorado Books

The traffic of tools and ideas between mathematics on the one side, and the aplied sciences and engineering, on the other, is a win-win-proposition;-- and this lovely book is a great testament to the benefit to signal processing, to image compression, and more generally to engineering, medicine and biology, from taking this seriously. Imaging, X-ray, tomography, multiscale analysis, and frequency subband filtering are now making their mark. Mathematics is enriched at the same time by the new applications. The striking sucess, and the impact of the mathematical ideas, rely on having great books, like the present one, around. The public benefits from this;-- and mathematics does as well: twofold,--both from the inspiration, and from the ideas dictated by applications. The book offers a great selection of research expository papers, each one with an applied subject that makes the point.
Review by Palle Jorgensen, September 2003.

I've been buying the Trails Illustrated maps for years, and this map worked well on a recent trip to the area it covers. It showed the trail re-routing correctly, which the topo map in my Garmin GPS did not. All the old timers familiar with the area were checking to make sure I had "The 140," as this map was being called locally. It was in the side pocket of my pack during rain and small hail, and was good as new after drying, just as users of the TI maps expect. Great value at $12.

This book will be tough going if you have no knowledge of geology, but having just finished Foutz' "Geology of Colorado Illustrated" (another excellent read), this book took me deeper into exactly what I was looking for geology-wise, i.e. more detail. Plus, it ties itself to the San Juan Skyway, a loop of paved highways that winds through the scenery of the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado, a place I know well. After treating the geology, ecology, and human history with analyses from experts in each field, it follows up with what I think was a masterstroke: a mile-marker guide through the entire San Juan Skyway, highlighting points of interest previously discussed in the book. Wonderful! The fact that the book is a compilation, with contributions from various experts that know the region well, was also a great idea. You get as a result a wide scope of knowledge that may not have been matched by a single individual. I borrowed it from a friend, but I will buy it now that it has become available on Amazon.

So much history is facts and dates-- mostly about battles and wars. Here is a look at what everyone else was doing at the time, and between the times that are covered in the history books. The stories are told in a variety of styles, almost all of them charming in several ways. Even the style of writing adds to the experiences being told.

This is not necessarily a book to be read cover to cover. Rather, it is one to pick up in front of the fire in the evening for 2 or 3 stories about our heritage-- not only for us in Colorado, but the West and the whole country.

Helen Hunt Jackson still has a fan club, apparently, presumably mainly amongst fans of the authentic Old West and people interested in Native American affairs. At least, you can Google your way to places where you can buy Helen Hunt Jackson teeshirts and such. Other than that, Jackson seems mainly remembered today for her friendship with Emily Dickinson, being by birth a New Englander, born just around the corner from Emily D's Amherst Mass home, and in the same year.

Having originally taken to the Western climate for her health, Jackson came late in life to discover, and advocate for, in her writings, the plight of the Native Americans. She was, however, no mere noissome agitator for social justice, but a remarkably gifted, well-tempered writer, seen in top form in many of the short works of which this slim book is comprised, as charmingly authentic in its Western descriptive narration and feel as a collection of Frederic Remington paintings; a lost American treasure, in effect, pregnant with all the delights of rediscovery.

I haven't come across a book this good for years. I encourage you to read it. It well change your life. My heart goes out to the author. What an amazing set of stories he wrote down and shared with the world.

Frank Spearman's book, Whispering Smith, was the best selling novel of 1906 and remained popular for many years. More than five films were based on it, the most famous staring Alan Ladd in 1948. The book is considered to be the phototype for modern western fiction. The main character, Whispering Smith, was loosely based on several railroad detectives and the nickname belonged to one...James L. Smith. Regretably, the real detective was nothing like Spearman's fictional hero. His actual exploits are recounted in "Whispering Smith: His Life and Misadventures," by Allen P. Bristow. Spearman's original story continues in popularity although over 100 years have passed and several publishers are reprinting it.

I have now read this book for both Glacier and Rocky Mountain National Parks. They are fun for adults and great for getting children to notice the "signs" around them. I highly recommend this book.

I got this book on a whim while on vacation in CO. We were able to identify almost 25% of the 250+ plants included in the book. The pictures were exceptional - the flowers, the leaves and the overall plant form were well depicted. The index, the color index, the plant key all were super helpful - I was almost always able to easily find the info I was looking for. And the best part was the text! Organized by plant families - now I can start to see the relationships between similar plants and take a guess as to what a new plant might be! And the tidbits of information about the plants were so fun - the ancient greek myths where the names originated, the native american uses, unique characteristics, other interesting related plants. I dont' usually spend so much on a book - for me this one has proven to be worth its weight in gold. THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS BOOK!

Not only is this book an indispensable must-have reference handbook with information on Colorado's Wildness and Wilderness Study Areas for the government professional and the wilderness advocate, it is also a guidebook for the outdoor enthusiast too. A guide to some of Colorado's most remote and pristine areas, this book describes ninety-seven hikes that can be done as either day hikes, backpacking trips, snowshoeing excursions, or on backcountry skis. That adds up to eight hundred miles of trails and every mile was personally hiked by the author. A lot of the suggested hikes in the book are not the most popular ones done by people, but little known sleeper hikes that will give you the best sampling of what each wilderness has to offer. Some of the Wilderness Study Areas covered in the book are so remote and untracked that no trail system exits. In that case the author has plotted a route based on landmarks. Whether your interest is looking at petroglyphs in Vermillion Canyon, visiting ancient Anasazi ruins in Cross Canyon, marveling at dinosaurs tracks in the Dolores River Canyon, viewing the many arches in Black Ridge Canyon, climbing a fourteener in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, fishing a remote lake or stream in the Never Summer Wilderness, or seeing the wildflowers in the Handies - Redcloud Peaks area, this book is for you. If you are wanting to get away from the crowds and you're looking for more of an adventure, I highly recommend this book.

In all fairness to the reader, I am the author's husband. I visited every one of these areas mentioned in the book and hiked every mile with my wife. As much time as that took to experience the areas first hand, my wife spent much more time researching and insuring that the facts in her book are as accurate as possible. The book was truly a labor of love and I don't think you will be disappointed in your purchase of this book.