Biology Books

Some peopel specialise in one area of insect study and tiger beetles area popular choice. This book gives area information etc, somewhat like a bird book. Now you can start hunting for yourself.

A wonderful guide with at least one picture of each beetle!! I haven't seen a comprehensive photographic fieldguide to tiger beetles as nice as this one. Definately worth the price!

This is a very good book to help with the identification of tiger beetles. I use the information presented in other chapters every day in my pursuit of tiger beetles.

As a 4-H entomology leader it was pretty frustrating not being able to help my kids find what kind of tiger beetle they found. Unless we got lucky, species IDs were almost impossible without a trip to the University of Michigan libraries. With Pearson's work, I no longer have those problems. Although scientific in its presentation, it's still accessible enough for my 10-year-olds to figure and use. Beautiful scale photos and illustrations. Thanks !

As an entomologist, I have seen and used many a field guide. This guide is one of the best. Color plates are not cluttered, and each has a scale bar. Distribution maps are crisp and easy to understand. Keys are excellent, with plenty of illustrations. Checklist is included, and the sections on ecology/behavior and conservation are well done. This is a must-buy for any Cicindelid enthusiast!

Excellent compendium of seminal articles in the field of ecology. It has very nicely complemented the textbook for the course I am now taking, Introduction to Ecology, which mentions many of the articles reprinted in this fine collection.

The item was as described and it was sent in good time. I enjoyed the shopping experience. Will recommend the seller.

This is a great collection of papers. Some of the papers included in this volume are not easily available online in the PDF format, nor are they available in too many libraries for loan, making this, in my opinion, a must-have for the serious ecology/evolution academic.

You get a pretty good idea of the evolution [sic] of ecological thought thanks to the way the papers have been organized, where you can literally see concepts grow, develop, gain momentum, and then either get worshiped or completely rubbished.

And the book really is well-organized. It is divided into several sections, peppered with insightful commentary that enhances the whole experience. What really makes this book such a pleasure to read, personally, is the emphasis in the first section of the book on old, descriptive ecological papers, which is a type of publication that (for better or for worse) seems to be completely missing from modern ecological discourse.

I recommend this book to academic and armchair ecologists alike.

A nice compilation of papers that historically leads you through Ecology as a scientific discipline. The commentaries are useful and educational. It is timeless and a fundamental instrument for any ecologist, particularly at the early post-graduate level. The only drawback is that it could be more comprehensive (the editors state that they had to define criteria to cut out some papers from their initial selection), but the information in it can be complemented with good Ecology textbooks.

This book is a great compilation of some of the most fundamental papers in ecology. Every ecologist should own a copy. As a student, it provides a well-rounded insight into the history of ecological though. I highly recommend!

I purchasd this book in "used" condition. I was very pleasantly surprised when I recieved it. It was in PERFECT condition. Would definately purchased from this source again!

This is a great overall book on horses. However, the section on how horses actually move is really lacking. It does a good job discussing the basic walk, trot, pace, canter, gallop, but then says anything else is "artificial." "Any other gaits are caused by chains, chemicals, and shoeing practices". I have a completely barefoot Tennessee Walker trail horse that has some lateral gears that are not covered by this book at all.

I was first introduced to this book 20 years ago while a student of Dr Evans at UC Davis. Its the only text from college that I still reference. The information is informative, reliable and accurate. I strongly recommend this book for every horseowner from the novice backyard owner to the experienced showman.

This book was recommended to me when I was attending college for Equine Studies. The book is great! A must for those who wish to know more indepth about the care of horses. Not for the novice. It was so nice to read a book that didn't spend most of the chapters on grooming and mounting. You won't find that here. The four authors are some of the best horsemen in the business and Anthony Borton was one of my professors. I highly recommend this book to anyone taking any Equine studies or anyone who wants to learn more than just the basics. (from physiology to genetics to feeding, etc.)

Very thorough and informative text book. Has everything from calculating inbreeding relationships to nutrition to leg disorders and foal care. Used for my University class. Precise and easy to comprehend.

This is a beautiful book. My granddaughter is 20 months old and this is one of our special "read together" books. She squeals over the pictures and we have to read it over and over.

I originally bought this for my daughter when she was about a year old. She loved it!!! In fact she read it and reread it so much that I had to throw it out about a year ago because it was so worn. I just recently bought it again (she is now 3 1/2) and she still loves it.

This is a great book for toddlers. It has bright vivid pictures and a nice story.

My daughter received this book when she was 19 months old and it immediately became a favorite--an incredible compliment considering all she does is read books. The illustrations are vibrant and incredibly stimulating--something to find on every inch of each page. 5 months after receiving the book my daughter still adores it. She now knows the name of every creature in the book, down to the nautilus, neons, and sea slug. This book has definitely spawned a love of the ocean in her. And the format of the book, with its different textures that morph from one subject to another with the lifting of a flap is brilliant. We'll be buying every book by Maurice Pledger!

We have three of these books. The other two we have are "In the Rain Forest", and "In the Forest". The rain forest and forest ones are her favorite and she isn't even one year old yet. The only reason I gave this one 4 stars is because it doesn't seem to grasp her attention as much as her two other books. I think becuase the pictures in the other two are more lively and there is more variety in color and texture. I give a lot of credit to these books because they are the only things that can keep her still for a long period of time. They have been life savers on airplane rides. I believe they have also encouraged her early love of books.

Our sons enjoy many of Maurice Pledger's books -- and this one with AJ Wood is our favorite for its well written text to accompany the drawings. some of the other books have much weaker text, and some have animals that do not look all that different (the mammals are often very similar). This is a nice story where the little dolphin looks for his family, all the while watched over by his mother.

I purchased this book for the photography but found the information contained within quite informative. Entomology is a hobby. One I get little time to indulge in. This book is an excellent addition to anyone's library on these beautiful insects.

This is one of the most gorgeous books I own. I look at these pictures, and I think that human beings could not dream up jewelry that touches the beauty of these creatures. It is utterly unbelievable! Every time I page through this book my jaw is open in disbelief. They are so breathtaking they almost bring tears to my eyes. Okay. Confession time. They HAVE brought tears to my eyes.

The photographs by Lisa Watson are the first thing to catch your eye about this beautifully produced book. The majority are of museum specimens, which oddly is what makes the pictures so attractive: we're used to seeing high quality pictures of wildlife, but the displays here juxtapose many different beetles and have more impact than wildlife shots would.

The pictures are beautiful but the text is high-quality too. The authors start by reciting some statistics on the number of beetle species. Linnaeus, two hundred and fifty years ago, described 654 species; and Fabricius added another 4,112 species between 1775 and 1801. By 1876 Gemminger and von Harold's catalog contained nearly 77,000 species; and when Junk and Schenkling's catalogue was completed, in 1940, it listed nearly 221,500 species. It's now estimated that there are 350,000 described beetle species. However, recent work by Terry Erwin, extrapolating from detailed studies of a small area, suggests that there are more than eight *million* species of beetle just in the tropics!

The rest of the book is a fairly detailed survey of beetles in all their aspects. The authors are enthusiasts as well as experts, and it shows in their writing, which is crisp, clear and engaging. They cover beetle anatomy, fossilized beetles, habitats and niches, the beetle life cycle, and mimicry. There is also substantial coverage of beetles and humans: naming, appearance in mythology, use as jewels (really!), a discussion of pest control, and use in education. The book has more scientific depth than is usual for a coffee table book, without sacrificing interest value.

There is a website that appears to be maintained by one of the authors (Evans) that contains some material from the book; I recommend you take a look if you are hesitating about buying this. I found it by searching for the book title using a standard search engine; when I looked it was on the Lorquin Entomological Society's website, but it may have moved.

Recommended.

The website for this book and the general topic is:
http://www.fond4beetles.com

If someone said, "Ok, you're being sent to a colony on Jupiter's second moon and you only get to bring one picture book with you," this would be it. It is a stunning book. One reviewer mentioned being moved to tears, and it really is no joke. The photos of the beetles are gorgeous and the text is really well written.

People generally fear insects, regard them as pests, or don't bother thinking about them at all. Arthur Evans gives weight to what is frequently overlooked. Taking one order, Coleoptera (beetles), he uses it as a means to discuss the big picture on Earth--balance and biodiversity. Evans manages all of this with a sense of reverence and even spirituality that complements the statistics and hard data:

"...But viewing beetles simply as machines, without understanding their role in the ecosystem, is a narrow perspective that reflects intellectual, spatial, and temporal limitations. As the world's ecosystems continue to shrink in the wake of human exploitation--a direct result of our ever-burgeoning population--our approach to all the sciences must continue to evolve from an analysis of parts to a necessarily more holistic approach. We must learn to view beetles not as machines, but as conduits of energy flowing through the entire biosphere."

I'd always been fascinated by insects, but this book really honed my interest and since I bought it, it has inspired me to learn more about them and share what I've learned. I even had the great luck of meeting a weevil expert. Beetles are simply incredible little animals and I'm really glad that Evans has written a book about them that is so accessible and lovely.

This text is an encyclopedia of information from kinetics to structure to interactions. It's got a reserved space on my academic bookshelf.

Although this book is very thorough when it comes to 'ion channels of excitable membranes,' it's essentially a 1000-page literature review. That's fine if you're an expert in the field (i.e. college professor), but for an undergraduate, it contained an overwhelming amount of information, including calculus-based math. Sometimes, it was helpful to consult when my class notes were incomplete. Otherwise, reading the assigned chapters in this book proved a waste of time.

This classic deserves all the praise it gets. It is an excellent introduction to the molecular biology of channels, told with an eye to history as well as science.

Some books have opening sentences that grab you in an instant. "Call me Ishmael." "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." And now, Hille joins the list of authors to reach out and grab us, with the awe-inspiring "Ion channels are macromolecular pores in cell membranes."

Even after my fifth reading, that line still gives me the shivers.

But it takes more than a brilliant opening to make a great book, and Hille delivers. From a distinctly jaunty derivation of the Nernst equation to the page-turning thrills of non-stationary fluctuation analysis, the book is hard to put down. It does bog down a little in Chapter 10, "Elementary Properties of Ions in Solution"--after all, is there anyone who isn't already aware of the fundamentals of electrodiffusion? But this is really a minor trifle in an otherwise masterful work.

It's just a matter of time before Oprah gives this book a nod; buy it now and avoid the rush!

This book is a must-have for anyone working with excitable cells, be they experimentalists or modelers. It's a great reference book; everything is clearly indexed and almost compulsively cited. I've been using this book since its first edition, and it just keeps getting better each time.

_Liaisons of Life_ by Tom Wakeford is a well-researched and very readable book on the importance of symbiosis in ecology and in evolution. Actually, to be more specific, it is a book about the importance of organisms' symbiosis with microbes (whether microbes with microbes or microbes with macroscopic organisms). The central tenets of this wonderful work are first that microbes (be they bacteria, protozoa, or fungi) are one of the most important innovative factors in evolution and are key parts of any ecology; Wakeford believed that the importance of the gene has been overemphasized. Secondly, interdependence among organisms is at least as important (if not more important) than competition between them; most organisms survive only by the "constant management" of their relationships with the microbes in and around them. Far from constant competition, it is often difficult to tell where one organism ends and another begins. Thirdly, this is a dynamic relationship; relationships can change, partners in symbiosis come and go, and the mutalist of today can become the parasite of tomorrow.

The acceptance of the importance of symbiosis and the beneficial role of microbes has been a long time coming. In the nineteenth century microbes first came to the attention of scientists thanks to the efforts of Louis Pasteur. It was he coined the word "germ" and single-handedly brought about the "antibacterial age," a time that lasted for several decades in which scientists saw microbes as things only to be eradicated. Additionally, views about symbiosis became tied up with the politics of the 1920s and 1930s, with bacteria and symbiotic relationships regrettably and very unscientifically becoming tied up with fears about Communism. It did not help that many pioneers in the field hailed from Germany and Russia.

Those who pointed out evidence of symbiosis often were met with derision and ignorant prejudice. Beatrix Potter was hounded out of biology in the 1890s for her views that lichens were made up of the alliance of two organisms; when the London scientific community treated her with disdain if not hatred she became instead a noted children's author and illustrator. Earlier in 1869 the Swiss botanist Simon Schwendener offered his "dual hypothesis" for the taxonomy of lichen, noting that they were both a fungus and an alga; his theories and works were treated with contempt and for a time calling someone a "Schwendenerist" was a term of abuse, meaning someone who waffled between two competing explanations for something. The idea that symbiotic organisms could be passed from one generation to another was for a time discredited thanks to associations with pre-Darwinian French evolutionist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.

Wakeford provided numerous fascinating examples of symbiosis in nature. Many species of orchids for instance are so dependent upon fungal symbionts in their roots that they cannot survive without them. In fact mycorrhizal fungi - underground fungi that exist in a symbiotic relationship with the roots of plants - are essential in allowing many plants to get enough of many nutrients (notably phosphate). So essential are they that 90% of the plants on Earth have domesticated their own species of fungus. Mycorrhizal fungi can form vast underground networks, often linking more than one plant together. One researcher by the name of David Perry has said that the sharing of fungal symbionts between trees is so important they form a superorganism, what he termed a "guild." These fungal symbionts are known to allow one tree - perhaps suffering by being overly shaded - to draw upon the nutrients of another tree, thereby constituting a "mycorrhizal welfare state."

In addition to colonizing roots symbionts can colonize other parts of the plant; tall fescue grass, a dominant grass in the United States, has a species of fungus (_Acremonium_) that grows in the spaces between the grass's cells. This symbiont offers resistance to drought, increases seed production, and produces toxic alkaloid compounds that put off plant-eaters. So intimate is the relationship that grass seeds are infected while still in the seed coat.

Other examples of symbiosis in nature include the relationships of deep sea organisms with bioluminescent symbiotic bacteria, chemosynthetic symbiotic sulfide bacteria living in _Riftia_ tube worms around hydrothermal vents, the bacteria that allow shipworms and termites to digest wood (or in the case of anobiid beetles, it is a yeast-like fungus that allows them to eat wood), and the bacteria and protozoa ecosystem that exists in the four-chambered stomachs of ruminants such as cattle, sheep, and deer that allow these animals to digest grass. The most important examples of symbiosis though are undoubtedly the acquisition in eukaryotic cells of chloroplasts and mitochondria, a momentous evolutionary event, an example of an extremely intimate and permanent form of intracellular symbiosis which Wakeford skillfully explained.

Many species very actively manage their microbial associates. Corals bleach themselves - bleaching being the loss of the coral's symbionts, called _Symbiodinium_ - as a natural strategy to deal with changing environmental conditions. They do this to alter the makeup of their symbionts, to allow themselves to be repopulated by a new type of associate, one that perhaps is better suited for a changed environment. Researchers have discovered that leaf-cutter ants are continually domesticating new varieties of fungi by taking them into their nests; 862 types of nest fungi have been discovered, with evidence that ants periodically swap crop varieties with their neighbors.

As noted, the continuum between beneficial symbiont and parasite is a rather fuzzy continuum. Orchids for instance produce natural fungicides to keep their root symbionts from colonizing their stems; these and other plants can be overrun by their symbionts if they become weakened or malnourished. David Philip, the famous "bubble boy," had to live in a sterile environment because his body had no ability to cohabit with the numerous microbial associates in the human body (symbiotic bacteria make up a tenth of our body's weight and totaling 90 trillion cells outnumber our own body cells nine to one). If the intestines of any human are damaged formerly beneficial symbiotic microbes can create a life-threatening infection called sepsis.

Bacteria and fungi really get a bad rap. We generally think of them as belonging to George Bush's axis of evil. As a matter of fact, says author Tom Wakeford, the majority of these mini creatures are essential for life. This is an easy to read, highly accessible little volume on symbiosis. Symbiosis involves two or more life forms combining their efforts to add to the life benefit of each.

At the beginning of the book we bump into, of all people, Beatrix Potter of Peter Rabbit fame. She was actually a biologist who subscribed to the then dissident theory that some organisms were combinations of two separate entities. She believed that lichens, those lumpy gray/green things on rocks and tree trunks, were composed of a fungus and an alga. Her scientific peers were so scornful of this belief that she ultimately quit biology, and consoled herself by writing. This career change could be considered good or bad, depending on whether you are fascinated by lichens or prefer to read books about Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.

We learn of the interesting symbiosis between plants, fungi, and bacteria. Nitrogen fixing bacteria provide the plants with necessary, accessible nitrogen. Part of the problem that plants then face is finding the rest of the nutrients that they need. They simply can't grow huge root systems to search and find patches of underground food. Various fungi solve this problem by linking up with plants. They then send tiny tendrils far afield that discover the nutrients and send them to the plant roots. Orchids in the tropics have become endangered species. People dig them up and send them to collectors in the other parts of the world. They are then planted in gardens where they promptly die. They require a certain fungus to survive, and that fungus is found only in the habitat where they originally grew.

The book is full of tales of symbiotic science. How do some insects thrive on nutrients from leaves that they can neither chew nor digest? What bacteria live in our bodies, and how do they help us? This is one of those great science books that both teach and entertain.

This book is a delightful tour through the realm of symbiosis at the microbial level. The author describes one incredible symbiotic relationship after another, in creatures ranging from bivalves to wild orchids.

Even though it appears to be aimed at the average reader, he does not 'dumb down' the text. (This is why I gave it the 5th star.) Latin species names are often used and words like 'oligotrich' and 'mycorrhizae' are strewn throughout the book, yet are explained well enough to make any science-phobe feel at home.

The book really focuses on describing symbiosis by example, and the non-trivial role of the microbial partners in those relationships. He also casts off the simplistic and anthropomorphic idea of "competition" in nature for a more natural, inclusive view. There is not much mention of Gaia (which is fine by me), and the latter part of the book relating to microbial symbiosis and evolution seems to pretty much recapitulate Lynn Margulis' theory of symbiogenesis.

(If symbiosis intrigues you, also see Lynn Margulis' "Acquiring Genomes" book for a more complete description of the intriguing theory of symbiogenesis, or Gerald Tannock's books for a professional-level description of all those hundreds of bacterial critters that occupy the human intestinal tract.)

Natural selection is a powerful force, but I have long suspected that other factors were involved in the evolution of life. One of these factors is the tendency for organisms to form partnerships (symbiotic relationships that may benefit both). Often this starts as parasitism, but may become (through natural selection perhaps) a mutual dependency. Wakeford has eloquently summarized the growing evidence in this area. Lichens are one notable example which were ignored by most 19th Century researchers. Indeed, as Wakeford points out the Swiss botanist Simon Schwendener and the well-known children's book writer Beatrix Potter had shown that lichens are composite organisms, consisting of both fungus and alga. Both Schwendener and Potter were ridiculed by the scientific society of the day, but were later shown to be essentially correct in their views. Since then other scientists, including Lynn Margulis, have produced solid evidence that all multicellular organisms are essentially composite organisms, containing organelles like mitochondria and chloroplasts that were once independent organisms in their own right.

Together with new developments in genomic research involving the switching on and switching off of genes these ideas will certainly alter our thinking about biology. Because of this I think we will soon have a totally revolutionary view of how life originated and evolved. Not all of Darwin's ideas will survive and many if not most may be modified (as some already have been), but I think that Darwin, who was the ultimate in curious scientists, would have approved!

I recommend this book as a well-written very good introduction to the idea of symbiotic evolution.

This book is about symbiosis and how prevalent it is. It is also about how politicized the concept has been historically. From the experience of nineteenth-century biologist and illustrator Beatrix Potter whose identification of lichen as symbionts went against the established dogma as filtered through the ideas of Pasteur, to "anti-communist" biology as practiced by some Western scientists who saw symbiosis as supporting the collective, it is amazing how purely political ideas successfully censored the scientific. Symbiosis has even been thought of as "feminine" and contrary to the noble interpretation of Darwinism as the survival of the fittest.

But Wakeford is able (after a fashion) to go beyond the politics and demonstrate in a most convincing manner that the symbiotic way of life is vastly more important and enormously more widespread than is usually imagined. Most of us know that legumes work symbiotically with rhizobia bacteria to fix nitrogen in the soil so that it is available to the plant, but what surprised me is to learn that 90 percent of plants host mycorrhizal fungi (p. 167) and are therefore symbionts. As Wakeford asks on the same page, "Can we continue to simply call them plants without acknowledging their fungal dimension? Is a cow an animal or a microbial fermentation vessel, when without the microbes, the cow would not exist?"

Good questions, and indeed, what about humans who have microbes in our guts that help us to digest our food? Are we in symbiosis with those microbes? Without the beneficial bacteria in our guts, the harmful bacteria would run rampant and we would be led to disease. Ants are not merely ants, they are farmers who harvest fungi gardens. They and the fungi are in symbiosis, living together, dependent upon one another for their survival. And what about termites, creatures who harbor microbes to digest the wood they eat? The broad, general message of this book is that cooperation between species is at least as important in evolution as is competition.

Reading this made me think that perhaps the idea of competition in evolution is merely an anthropomorphic delusion. Certainly Wakeford shows that our notions about parasites and who is feeding on whom, may be in error. He writes, "Rather than discrete categories, the terms _mutualist_, _parasite_, and _pathogen_ are better seen as fuzzy points on a continuum, along the length of which an association between two organisms may fluctuate. For many associations, the point they occupy on this continuum is as difficult to assess as it is to say who gains more...in a marriage between two human partners." (p. 184)

There is an old saying, that I got from somewhere years ago. It is, "Everything works toward a symbiosis." This book not only supports that idea, it even, taken further, supports the idea of Gaia, namely that all the living creatures on this planet form a single organism. I don't necessary believe this, the "strong" Gaia hypothesis, but I think the distinction between a planet that harbors organisms and a planet that is itself part organism, may be more a semantic distinction than anything else.

Because of all we have learned about microbial life in recent decades, it is becoming clearer and clearer that no organism is an island, and indeed, all of life is in symbiosis with the microorganisms that constitute the largest, most viable life form on this planet. Realizing this while reading Wakeford's fascinating arguments, I had a thought: the little green men from outer space are probably symbionts themselves, but more fully realized ones, like lichen, part "animal" and part "plant," deriving their energy directly through photosynthesis. And suddenly I had a vision of beings all seated as in meditation, taking a break to open the top of their heads, filled not with brains, but with cells capable of turning light into nourishment. How primitive and clumsy we might appear by comparison!

Living Energies gives the understandings necessary for revitalizing Planet Earth -- for understanding which human actions either enhance or destroy the vitality of our forests, soils, air and water. I tell people about Living Energies more often than I promote my own books! Living Energies is the best book in the world for understanding the extensive wisdom of the Austrian forester and genius Viktor Schauberger. Academics, politicians and many other decision-makers should all study this book, if they can set aside any prejudices they might have regarding some inclusions of spirituality in a science book. It's the big picture!

Jeane Manning

(First I should say that my copy of this book, by the same publisher, has a different sub-title than the one listed. Also, it's my understanding that this publisher (Gateways) was bought out, and I very much suspect that the book now in print by New leaf is more-or-less exactly the same as this one. Buy it!!)
Viktor Schauberger came from a long line of Austrian foresters, whose family motto was Fidus in Silvus Silentibus: "Faith in the Silent Forests." It's almost as if the trees & rivers were in his blood. His profound power of observation permitted him to see what others overlooked, and to draw conclusions that were both practical and utterly unique. He eschewed a university education because he knew it would deaden his mind, and he had learned enough in school already to find deep disagreement with a number of sacrosanct theories. He is probably best known (for those few who know of him) for his profound observations of water as a living being - most particulary the natural vortical inner motion of rivers, and their need to meander and maintain low temperatures, and the natural formation of springs. He also deeply understood the nature and needs of trees - which, in essence, create water, and have a tremendous effect on weather systems.
Because Viktor's observations, discoveries and inventions were so unique, and outside the strictures of establishment science, he had to create his own terminology. In this sense he was very much like the old alchemists, who had to coin new words for their discoveries. And too, Viktor's view of the elements was unlike any other. For example, with the exception of oxygen and hydrogen, he termed all the other elements "carbones." In fact his whole vision, with all of its extraordinary explication, is alchemical - not the least because it includes Spirit. It deals with natural transformations and energies: his dictum was "Comprehend and copy nature!"
Probably his greatest gift to us was his recognition of implosion, rather than explosion, as the natural, harmless means of releasing/creating energy, and he did much work in this area.
Not suprisingly he was much maligned by the powerful status quo. His life was fraught with treachery and great adversity.
Read this book and learn about a truly great man. You'll find it very exciting.

I have every book written by Callum Coats on the Schauberger subject. This book, if you only buy one of them, is the definative book to get. I would basically call it a complet Schauberger reference work, as it contains all of the material that will later be expanded in the "Eco-Technology" series - which contain more thorough descriptions of Viktor's work. This book is great on its own, however, and will not dissapoint anyone interested in learning more about the "water wizard" - Viktor Schauberger. I highly recommend this book as a great starting point for study on everything from understanding the vortex, implosion technology, water-power in general, Schauberger's inventions, his forestry upbringing, and as a general biography, this book can't be beat.

This is one of my all time favorite books--even though much of it I had to read and re-read several times to get a clear understanding of some of the points it makes. I believe everyone should read this...several times---it has some truly fascinating information in it and is an excelent book to really get you thinking and appreciating the nature of this planet we live on!

If somebody have some interest in water must read that book.
It give great insights of how we should consider water and how to use it.Schauberger is the pioneer on what really water is,and with all of other things i read on that subject i think this is the one to start with.Many research today lead to the way Schauberger saw water many years ago.It prove too that you don't need to be a scientist to understand water.Great reading.
Bruno.
briberdy@dagua.com

The title explains it all. It's basically a history book of medicine written in a very modern, thought provoking way. I read it as part of a class, but it was very interesting. It's amazing to see how much knowledge the ancient peoples knew about medicine and how far we've come since then. It's funny how many medical advacements have had to be rediscovered because people's discoveries aren't accepted by society.

Medical Firsts: From Hippocrates To The Human Genome by psychologist and science journalist Robert E. Adler is the amazing story of the evolution of Western medicine as achieved through the lives and work of more than thirty of its greatest practitioners. Woven in storytelling prose for a grand reader's tour through history, Medical Firsts covers from how the Greek physician Hippocrates grounded the foundation of medicine in science and observation to the breakthrough advances and discoveries of modern medical technology. A superbly fantastic journey through knowledge and history alike.

I highly recommend this book, especially to those who practice or plan to practice in the field of medicine. Even for non-physicians, I think reading Dr. Adler's "Medical Firsts" will be a very enriching and worthwhile experience. The author has created an educational yet highly entertaining work in which he has chosen to write about specific physician/scientists throughout history who he feels were the most visionary and heroic in their contributions to the advancement of Western Medicine. In reading the book, I feel as if I have been taken on a unique journey through medical hisotry, which at times appears like a complex maze. Along the way, the author describes some tragic blind alleys where several of these physician/scientists who had come forth with potentially life saving discoveries were shunned and considered to be heretics because they dared to challenge the status quo with their scientific apoproach to medical research and practice.

In each concise and well-written chapter, the author's respect and admiration for the enlightened scientific method practiced by these venerable physician researchers comes through vividly. I found the author's message very inspiring: if we are able to trust and support an unbiased and scientific approach to the alleviation of suffering and disease, we may someday fulfill the great promise of these astounding medical advances to offer superior quality of life for all of humanity.

As a lay person, I cautiously picked up Medical Firsts thinking I wouldn't understand a word. Surprise, surprise. I not only understood, but was blown away by what I didn't know. Adler made the lives and works of medical pioneers who laid the ground work for what we all take for granted come alive for me. Since I've actively repelled anything remotely connected to science all my life, almost every page had a "wow" factor.

The short chapters made it a lot more readable for me as a science challenged reader. With so much new info, I was grateful to pause after each one to appreciate the enormity of the discovery. I developed a reverence and gratituide to those who overcame enormous social barriers and fought, amazingly, the same hurdles that impede progress today - fear of change, fear of the unknown.

Thanks to Adler, I just might tiptoe back into new bookstore aisles.

Medical Firsts is a well written, interesting, and informative account of preeminent medical achievements over the past 2500 years. It is well worth reading whether you are a medical professional or simply have a curious mind. Robert Adler's style of writing is easy to follow, entertaining, and intelligent. This book is organized into twenty-eight bite-sized chapters, each of which is thoroughly researched and very fascinating on its own. After reading Robert Adler's first great book, Science Firsts, I had very high expectations. I was certainly not disappointed and you won't be either. I highly recommend this book.

I'm the type of person who rarely reads books for fun. Most of what I read is for my work or on rare occasions I'll grab a book at the airport if I have a long flight. Half the time I'll get bored with it and won't finish it. I'm not even sure how this book ended up on my shelf but I grabbed it about a week ago when I had to go to the hospital and wait for my mother who was having an operation. I literally had a hard time putting it down. Of course it's not fiction but in some ways it reads like fiction in that it tells a story. At times it presents itself as a murder mystery; "What killed the dinosaurs?". Even though the outcome is given away by the title, it's still a fascinating story.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part covers various theories about the cause of the death of the dinosaurs at the end of the cretaceous. The second part in some ways refutes the first part by coming to the conclusion that dinosaurs never really died at all because birds are part of the dinosaur family. I know this is still somewhat of a contentious debate among some, but the book contains some pretty convincing evidence. It's a bit technical at times but you can always get the general idea of what the author is tying to convey.

Even though this book is chiefly about dinosaurs and birds it covers a lot of stuff not directly related to the main topic but interesting never the less. For instance I did not know about the Phylogenetic system of classification before I read it. This book explains it quite well so that someone like me, who is not well versed in biology can easily understand it.

This is an extremely thorough, yet readable treatment of the subject of the evolution of birds and the non-extinction of dinosaurs. The drawings in particular are excellent illustrations of the features of the lineages. The discussion of the evidence for the different causes of the extinction event that took most of the dinosaurs is clear and thorough. This is a must-read if you are interested in these issues!

This book rocked so hard it isn't even funny!! I have loved dinosaurs ever since I was a youngster, and still find myself quite fond of those wacky beasts. This book delivers when it comes to dinos. It basically includes two parts: one concerned with the theories of dino extinction(the meteorite-impact hypothesis is given paricular attention-perhaps because one of the authors was involved in research on this hypothesis), the other with dino evolution into birds. Both are written by experts, and more than that they are experts who know how to write in an engaging and easy to understand fashion that the non-expert can understand and appreciate. The prose made the book hard to put down, and the pictures of the biological poetry we call dinosaurs are enough to bring tears to the true dinosaur lovers eyes. So if you like dinosaurs, geology, or I would even say science in general, or are just a curious soul looking for new things to learn I highly recommend this book.

The Mistaken Extinction: Dinosaur Evolution and the Origin of Birds written by Lowell Dingus and Timothy Rowe is a dinosaur book that makes a difference. This is a frank account of how we know what we know about the dinosaurs and how the work can and should be approached. There are issues surrounding a dinosaur extinction as though they are elements in a scientific detective story; following a trail of geologic and paleontologic clues toward a solution. This book show the reader the way of intelligent thinking and the conclusions that make sense.

Over the course of this book, it will become clear that the questions being raised today actually have their roots in the debates that raged within the scientific community in the nineteenth century, when Dawin's theory of evolution first burst upon the scene. This book is divided into two parts.

The Search for the Smoking Gun is part 1. The eight chapters include: The Seductive Allure of Dinosaurs, Earlier Extinction Hypotheses, Contrating Volcanic and Impact Hypotheses, Enormoud Eruptions and Disappearing Seaways, THe Fatal Impact, Direct Evidence of Catastrophe, Patterns of extinction and Survival, and Our Hazy View of Time at the K-T Boundary.

These chapters give the reader adequate background information, to take us back to the time of the murderous extinction at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundry of geological time. Here we find a theory of gradual extinction... a theory that most reseachers favor, but could this be true... there are convincing theories.

Part 2: Dead or Alive has ten chapters and it includes: Living Dinosaurs?, Dinosaurs Challenge Evolution, Dinosaurs and the Hierarchy of Life, The Evolutionary Map for Dinosaurs, Death by decree, The Road to Jurassic Park, Crossing the Boundary, Diversification and Decline, The Real Great Dinosaur Extinction, and The Third Wave.

Here we learn why most researchers now believe that birds and other dinosaurs sprung from the same ancient ancestors, all this stems from one of science's theories... evolution. This book is beautifully illustrated and has plenty of morphoroloigal drawings arising for comparitive anatomy.

I found the book to be a wealth of information easily readable and a plethora of detailed compendia on dinosaur facts. This is a book that lays out the extinction of dinosauria with great skill and clairy

I originally bought this book for a class I'm taking, coincidentally being taught by one of the authors, Timothy Rowe. Not only does this book include facts and myths about the extinction of dinosaurs, but it makes them comprehendable, and very entertaining by including recent myths such as those presented in popular movies. A total must read for dinosaur fanatics!