Fields Books

For anyone that is looking to get into design (or even if you have just started your own line / business), this book is a *must have*. Ms. Gehlhar's breakdown (and overviews) of each category is spot on. I seriously and honestly believe that if this resource had been around when I started my own collection, I would have saved myself a lot of running around and $ in the process. I highly recommend this guide. Plus, it's simply a great read. The insight from other designers profiled is fantastic!

This book is by far the best book I've read. Really helpful step by step guide. I've learned so much from this book. The author also gives insight on the up's and down's of what it is like in the Industry. I highly recommend this book to Fashion Designers. A real, MUST HAVE!!!.

I've read a few books on how to start and run your own fashion design business, and this is one of the best ones I've read so far. Not only is it shorter then a lot of the huge books, but it's too the point and Mary writes in a style that is very easy to understand. She gives great advise and there are good examples and pictures in the book to help you further understand how to do things the best way. I have the first edition that she wrote and that one is great also but this one has new sections and it's a more complete form of the business process.

A WELL WRITTEN AND WELL ILLUSTRATED BOOK. I HAVE FOUND THIS BOOK VERY USEFUL FOR IDENTIFYING THE FERNS OF FLORIDA. I DID NOT KNOW THAT THE STATE HAD SUCH A VARIETY OF SPECIES.

Enhanced with more than two hundred color photographs, Gil Nelson's The Ferns Of Florida: A Reference And Field Guide showcases some 163 kinds of ferns ranging from norther species whose southern range extends into the uplands of Florida's norther tier, to tropical ferns spilling over Florida's southern tip. The text is thoroughly "reader friendly" with detailed descriptions and helpful identification tips, along with an invaluable selection of field observation based botanical keys for identifying plants in their wild ecosystems. There are extensive notes on each species growth form, as well as the botanical names, unique characteristics, garden use, and history. An essential and core title for any Floridian based gardener, as well as the professional and academic horticulturalist or botanist, The Ferns Of Florida also includes a glossary, a section on the fern life cycle and structure, a history of fern study in Florida, a discussion of some of the state's best natural ferneries, and an extensive bibliography for further study.

This book is for anyone who has an interest in ferns and wishes to be able to distinguish one from the other. Great color pictures so that you can compare the subtle differences and make these ferns you own. Ferns are wonderful plants that require little care and are almost impossible to kill even with kindness. Enjoy.

A book on Civil War fortifications should be dry as the Sahara and as easy to get thru as a concrete block wall. In the hands of a lesser author that would be true! What we have is a very readable, intelligent history of the Civil War in the east with emphases on fortifications. The author chooses to follow the campaigns and discuss the use of or lack of fortifications during the campaign and in the ongoing war. This simple idea gives the reader a very good overview of the war and a very intelligent discussion of how and why "digging in" became the norm.
We start with a discussion of the American approach to battle and the theory of when and why fortifications were appropriate. This prepares us for the war's early months when armies use fixed forts to control areas but look for "a fair fight in the open". Reality meets theory during the Peninsula Campaign and The Seven Days as first one side and than the other is forced to dig. Hard lessons are quickly forgotten as the main armies struggle with the ideas of offensive or defensive actions and the fear fortifications will foster a defensive mentality. This interplay makes John B. Hood's actions outside Atlanta much easier to understand, something the book does not cover but a student of the war will grasp.
The three chapters on the war in the Carolinas are excellent! "The Reduction of Battery Wagner" alone almost pays for the book. I have not read a better account of Civil War sieges and the impact on the men than in this chapter.
The book ends with Mine Run and the Union not attacking the extensive fortifications in the area. When we reach the fall of 1863, the reader fully understands and appreciates the revolution that has occurred. The stage is set for the second volume "Trench Warfare under Grant & Lee".
A very good Glossary takes care of vocabulary problems. Within a couple of chapters, even a novice reader will seldom have to refer to it. Maps, illustrations and photographs are common and well placed giving us the visual information we need to supplement the text.
This is not a basic book! However, it is not an advanced tome that requires a military education or years of study to enjoy. The reader needs a good idea of the events in the East from 1861 to 1863. You will have to be prepared to check the glossary on a regular basic for the first 20 to 50 pages too. After that, you will have a very informative, intelligent learning experience.

Dr. Hess has authored one of the most significant books in print on the use of field fortifications during the US Civil War and the relationship of these works to the actual campaigns. Although there are some other books that do include some of this information, including several excellent post-war sources from the 19th century, this book does a remarkable job of putting the subject in perspective. Many so called "Civil War" experts simply do not realize the significance of the role of field and permanent fortifications during many of the key campaigns of the war and reduce everything to simple terms stating "there were breastworks, etc..." They simply give no detail and the reader can not understand such details as why some of these "works" were easily overrun, why some railroad cuts made great defensive positions and others did not, or even why on Cemetary Ridge at Gettysburg the troops of II Corps could not entrench themselves.
Hess not only describes what the defenses consisted of, but also shows how they affected the campaign. He also includes background information as well as detailing the events related to the campaigns. The book does not rehash the old story of bullets and beans in these operations, instead with Hess we see its bullets, beans and spades.
The reader will soon notice this book does not cover all the operations of the Civil War where fortifications were involved, but that is because this is the first volume with two additional ones planned. The publisher did a good job in reproducing the photos. One serious flaw is a lack of maps for the reader to follow everything mentioned in the text. This usually results from the publisher attempting to save on production expenses and there is not much the author can do to correct it. On the other hand, any expert or buff will have other books available with the missing maps they need for folowing the text (the first volume of the old West Point Atlas of American Wars has just about every map you may need).
This volume covers the eastern theater through April 1864 and includes a good deal of information on the defenses of Washington and Richmond (which are more than just field fortifications). It also covers the battles of the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 where fortifications played a key role. The limited role of field fortifications in some of the campaigns of Northern Virginia are included as well as information on how work was done to protect Harrisburg and even far off Pittsburgh with fixed defenses against Lee's second invasion of the north.
This book is not intended for fast reading or skimming, but instead created for those who have a real interest in the Civil War and want to enjoy a good read.

In popular perception of Civil War combat, entrenchments were something that came along late in the war when troops, weary of being targets when marching across open fields, took to digging in the earth to find protection. As Hess amply demonstrates in this new volume, the first of a projected trilogy, entrenchments in fact were an integral part of the Civil War landscape from the earliest months. He backs his narrative with numerous citations from official and unofficial accounts and he discusses the details of how entrenchments were made (and how they evolved as the war went on). This volume is an important contribution to understanding how the war was fought and to better fix its place in the continuing development of military theory and technology.

I'm not a big baseball fan but I couldn't put this book down! I like a story that's true to life but has some fun along the way. This book was all of that and more. I laughed, I cried, I learned some lessons and felt good to the core when I was done. What more could you ask for?

Anderson tells it the way it should be and in fact the way it is (and was) when you are a kid. Baseball is the common demoninator that allowed barriers to be crossed. Kids have to be taught to not like people of different races and backgrounds. Left alone Kids will just "enjoy the game". This book is a wonderful lesson for us all. It is a true "American Story". And based on a "real life" experience.

While this is most certainly a story about baseball and racism, it is also a warm story. The main character in the story warms a mother's heart. I'll be buying a few of these books for my kids and grandkids.

Gentle humor and penetrating insight make the wide ranging essays on matters great and small in this slim volume a thoroughgoing delight. Gypsy moths and mulberries, house plants and hamburgers, the joy of maple sugaring, the economics of firewood and the wheat-from-chaff separation of stones from topsoil all blend under 's thoughful treatment. Like Annie Dillard, Loren Eisley or Stephen Jay Gould, this author moves into and through the immediate to take in the world. (He is more plainspoken than Dillard, more modern than Eisley, less pop-cultural than Gould, if that helps you triangulate.)

This delightful book, "Field Days," perfectly fits its title. As author Roger B. Swaim writes in the introduction, field days means not only "the sense of there being explorations and scientific investigations carried on outdoors," but also that it carries connotations of "the sense of unfettered activity, extreme pleasure, delight, and enthusiasm." In this work Swaim explores a number of biology and natural history issues in his native New England - and often of the world at large - ranging with pleasure and enthusiam from one topic to another almost as a butterfly flitting about a sunny meadow. Much in the spirit of his book, I provide a small review sample of some of the chapters of his book.

"Trackside" explores an unusual topic, railroad flora. He writes that trains are often excellent dispersers of seeds, often resulting in many exotic and unusual plants being found along railroads. From alianthus to onions, sesame to cucumbers, snapdragons to petunias, castor bean from Africa to Dallis grass from South America, pears to apricots, all have been found along railroads, places traditionally thought of of as waste places. Swaim explores how these plants arrive in such an odd location, how they survive, and just marvels at the wonder of it, of how nature always finds a way.

"Gypsy Moths" explores one of the most hated denizens of the eastern United States, insect invaders that spread like a plague ever year to the chagrin of local residents, "horrified by the thousands of dark, hairy caterpillars with their blue and red warts, horrified by the incessant leaf chewing, and revolted by the steady drizzle of caterpillar droppings from the branches overhead." Swaim explores the biology of these insects, their history in the United States, their effects on the local ecology, and of humanity's war against them. Even with these much maligned organisms Swaim finds interesting and enlightened things to say.

"Guests at Work" explores one of those uniquely New England pasttimes; making maple syrup. If you never knew how it was made and wanted to know this chapter is a treat, showing how even small residential plots have yielded rich syrup, from light amber Grade A syrup to molasses-dark Grade C.

Showing his enthusiasm for the natural world world knows no bounds, in "The Ungracious Host" Swaim explores a subject I don't see often discussed at least in my readings in popular natural history writings; lice. Exploring their biology, the different types of lice that afflict people, their interaction with humans, and how people combat them, Swaim provided me with information I never knew!

There are of course many other subjects discussed in "Field Days," from fungus to growing and harvesting cranberries to evergreens to pollen (and hay fever) to how animals and plants deal with the arrival of spring to issues of lake water quality...so many topics are discussed with humor, authority, and enthusiasm that there is something for everyone.

Roger Swain not only writes of the garden: how and when to "let nature take its course;" photosynthesis and evergreen leaves; future, scientific uses for cranberry juice beyond asking a bartender for a more sophisticated drink than ginger ale; bee venom as a treatment for arthritis---he also makes all of his extaordinary thoughts interesting and entertaining.

This is a book for people who realize that our actions have effects on our world. and, perhaps more importantly, it should be read by those people, including politicians, who do not.

Swain is the science editor of "Horticulture" magazine. He writes gracefully (i.e. in his "Fair Days For Vegetables" he tells us that "For many, just the subject of tomatoes is enough to leave a good taste in their mouths.") and his essays can be read and re-read. My personal favorite, which I've read three different times, is about the declining quality of our water: "A Drink You Can Swim In." Swain writes of the popularity of bottled waters and cleverly quotes Samuel Clemens: "To increase something's popularity you have only to increase the price...." RECOMMENDED

I am a third year med student and this book is great! It takes a single finding from your history and physical exam and gives a differential to boot. There is even a brief description of all the things listed in the differential. It even has color plates in the back of common findings. Definitely a book to look into for all of you starting out like I am.

I am a third year med student and this book is great! It takes a single finding from your history and physical exam and gives a differential to boot. There is even a brief description of all the things listed in the differential. It even has color plates in the back of common findings. Definitely a book to look into for all of you starting out like I am.

I am a 3rd year medical student and this book has been a lifesaver more times than I can count. Like most books of its kind, each chapter is based on a single symptom followed by a list of the most common diseases or processes that cause the symptom. However, the difference is that for each of the items in the differential the author gives a VERY BRIEF description of THE MOST pertinent positives and negatives, and these help you, the medical student (read "novice"), differentiate between them quickly. This book is so well organized and so easily and quickly read it will amaze you. Keep in mind, however, that this book doesn't give you all of the symptoms for each item in the differential, nor does it give an absolutely complete or exhaustive differential for each symptom, so if that is what you are looking for this book isn't for you. One other bonus though, this book fits very easily into a coat pocket.

"A Field Guide to Genetic Programming" is the best introductory book about the growing research area of Genetic Programming (GP). Written by some of the leading researchers in the field, the book explains very well the basic concepts of GP and gives a condensed state of the art of the technology. For practitioners, the book offers free Java-based software, called TinyGP and examples of many successful applications. A big benefit of the book is the comprehensive bibliography.
With its popular style and low price, "A Field Guide to Genetic Programming" can open the field to a very broad audience and create a breakthrough in GP applications.

This book is a comprehensive introduction to GP, and overview of the state of the art of the field, written by the arguably most important reserachers in the field. In other words, everything you could ask for. As a practicing evolutionary computation reserarcher, it gave me a number of new insights about the particular issues involved in evolving programs represented (mostly) as expression trees, and also a good sense of where the current big issues in the field are.

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Genetic Programming in a Nutshell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Overview of this Field Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Part I Basics 7

2 Representation, Initialisation and Operators in Tree-based GP 9
2.1 Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 Initialising the Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4 Recombination and Mutation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3 Getting Ready to Run Genetic Programming 19
3.1 Step 1: Terminal Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2 Step 2: Function Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.2.1 Closure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2.2 Sufficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2.3 Evolving Structures other than Programs . . . . . . . 23
3.3 Step 3: Fitness Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.4 Step 4: GP Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.5 Step 5: Termination and solution designation . . . . . . . . . 27

4 Example Genetic Programming Run 29
4.1 Preparatory Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2 Step-by-Step Sample Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.2.1 Initialisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.2.2 Fitness Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.2.3 Selection, Crossover and Mutation . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.2.4 Termination and Solution Designation . . . . . . . . . 35

Part II Advanced Genetic Programming 37

5 Alternative Initialisations and Operators in Tree-based GP 39
5.1 Constructing the Initial Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.1.1 Uniform Initialisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.1.2 Initialisation may Affect Bloat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.1.3 Seeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.2 GP Mutation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.2.1 Is Mutation Necessary? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.2.2 Mutation Cookbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.3 GP Crossover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
5.4 Other Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

6 Modular, Grammatical and Developmental Tree-based GP 47
6.1 Evolving Modular and Hierarchical Structures . . . . . . . . . 47
6.1.1 Automatically Defined Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
6.1.2 Program Architecture and Architecture-Altering . . . 50
6.2 Constraining Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
6.2.1 Enforcing Particular Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
6.2.2 Strongly Typed GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
6.2.3 Grammar-based Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.2.4 Constraints and Bias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.3 Developmental Genetic Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
6.4 Strongly Typed Autoconstructive GP with PushGP . . . . . 59

7 Linear and Graph Genetic Programming 61
7.1 Linear Genetic Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.1.1 Motivations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.1.2 Linear GP Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
7.1.3 Linear GP Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
7.2 Graph-Based Genetic Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
7.2.1 Parallel Distributed GP (PDGP) . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
7.2.2 PADO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.2.3 Cartesian GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.2.4 Evolving Parallel Programs using Indirect Encodings . 68

8 Probabilistic Genetic Programming 69
8.1 Estimation of Distribution Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
8.2 Pure EDA GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.3 Mixing Grammars and Probabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

9 Multi-objective Genetic Programming 75
9.1 Combining Multiple Objectives into a Scalar Fitness Function 75
9.2 Keeping the Objectives Separate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
9.2.1 Multi-objective Bloat and Complexity Control . . . . 77
9.2.2 Other Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
9.2.3 Non-Pareto Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
9.3 Multiple Objectives via Dynamic and Staged Fitness Functions 80
9.4 Multi-objective Optimisation via Operator Bias . . . . . . . . 81

10 Fast and Distributed Genetic Programming 83
10.1 Reducing Fitness Evaluations/Increasing their Effectiveness . 83
10.2 Reducing Cost of Fitness with Caches . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
10.3 Parallel and Distributed GP are Not Equivalent . . . . . . . . 88
10.4 Running GP on Parallel Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
10.4.1 Masterslave GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
10.4.2 GP Running on GPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
10.4.3 GP on FPGAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
10.4.4 Sub-machine-code GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
10.5 Geographically Distributed GP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

11 GP Theory and its Applications 97
11.1 Mathematical Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
11.2 Search Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
11.3 Bloat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
11.3.1 Bloat in Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
11.3.2 Bloat Control in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Part III Practical Genetic Programming 109

12 Applications 111
12.1 Where GP has Done Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
12.2 Curve Fitting, Data Modelling and Symbolic Regression . . . 113
12.3 Human Competitive Results the Humies . . . . . . . . . . . 117
12.4 Image and Signal Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
12.5 Financial Trading, Time Series, and Economic Modelling . . 123
12.6 Industrial Process Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
12.7 Medicine, Biology and Bioinformatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
12.8 GP to Create Searchers and Solvers Hyper-heuristics . . . . 126
12.9 Entertainment and Computer Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
12.10The Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
12.11Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

13 Troubleshooting GP 131
13.1 Is there a Bug in the Code? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
13.2 Can you Trust your Results? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
13.3 There are No Silver Bullets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
13.4 Small Changes can have Big Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
13.5 Big Changes can have No Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
13.6 Study your Populations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
13.7 Encourage Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
13.8 Embrace Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
13.9 Control Bloat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
13.10Checkpoint Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
13.11Report Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
13.12Convince your Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

14 Conclusions 141

Part IV Tricks of the Trade 143

A Resources 145
A.1 Key Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
A.2 Key Journals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
A.3 Key International Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
A.4 GP Implementations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
A.5 On-Line Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

B TinyGP 151
B.1 Overview of TinyGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
B.2 Input Data Files for TinyGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
B.3 Source Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
B.4 Compiling and Running TinyGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Bibliography 167

Index 225

I ordered this book specifically for the "Researching Cemetery History" section. I first became interested in researching cemeteries when I was researching my own family tree and had to spend many hours perusing old cemeteries and historical records. I became very interested in old grave markers and wanted to know more about them and the people they represent. I don't research cemeteries for hauntings - I'm just interested in the history. I'm a fan of Troy Taylor because he is a big proponent of doing historical research to back up evidence of hauntings. In Troy Taylor's own words, "one of the best ways to research the background of a haunted place is through its history." I found the "Researching Cemetery History" very helpful. He tells the history of grave markers and describes the various records to look for when conducting historical research. The "History, Lore & American Way of Death" is morbid, but fascinating. The "How Do Cemeteries Become Haunted" section is interesting, but I'm not quite sure about the portal theory - in fact, you could say that I'm extremely sceptical, but that does not detract from the valuable information found in this book. The "Field Guide to Haunted Graveyards" section is intriguing. It makes me want to pack my bags and visit some of these places. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in historical research and cemeteries (whether haunted or not).

This is the perfect companion piece to Taylor's Ghost Hunter's Guidebook! A must have for anyone wishing to do outdoor investigations and cemetary investigations.

Another great book by Troy Taylor. He always brings in such interesting facts and history of a place. I have learned a lot from his books especially those on Central Illinois where I grew up. This book is an inspiration for would be ghost hunters too. Gives a lot of ideas to get them started hunting.

A Field Guide to Medicinal and Useful Plants of the Upper Amazon is destined to be a classic. I have read dozens of books and hundreds of papers about the Amazonian flora, and yet, this is the first that combines quality color photographs with accurate botanical text, and ethnobotanical lore in one package. If this small, but valuable tome had only been available for my ethnobotanical field expedition with the Machiguenga in 1995, I suspect that I could have accomplished a great deal more. The same would be true for any scientist, eco-tourist or armchair naturalist who anticipates an Amazonian excursion, even if only a cerebral journey. This book deserves to be widely read and shared. It illustrates the hidden wealth of medicinal plants and the value of biodiversity to our future survival on this planet. This knowledge is essential, and the indigenous people who possess it are vitally endangered. I hope that this book will be translated into Spanish, Portugese, French and Dutch, so that the post-colonial settlers of Amazonia will also come to value and understand the botanical and therapeutic riches of their rainforests.

A slim, accessible and enjoyable introduction to Amazonian botany, ideal for the non-specialist. Contains over 240 colour photos; a handy species list featuring English, Spanish and Latin names; and much fascinating data about the uses to which these plants have been put. Guaranteed to put a friendly face to that mass of plantlife that you see all around you on any trip to the neotropics of Latin America.

This is the most helpful guide for me, a frequent visitor. Clear photographs, interesting descriptions, fascinating snippets of rainforest lore and well-researched information on local uses of each plant make for a good read for anyone who is interested in plants and rainforest.

Although this book was written before the advent of digital cameras, it is still useful today. Not many books this price about photographing trees, either. Good aesthetic and technique advice.

This book is extremely good in organisation, information, description and method of photographing trees. Although some of the technical stuff may be outdated (per digital cameras which are not covered), the book strengthens your awareness and perception of how to "look" at trees.

It's truly ashame that this book is out-of-print.

Any photographer who is interested in capturing the true strength of a tree (or trees) on film should hunt down this informative guide for some serious tips and technique. Allen Rokach is a gifted photographer and his work is presented in color photographs throughout.

Well worth the effort to find it.