Book Description
In a book that is sure to become a classic, internationally respected boatbuilder, yacht manager, and delivery skipper Bill Seifert shares his hard-won solutions to a host of boat design, construction, and equipment issues and seamanship dilemmas. Unlike other books on the subject, Offshore Sailing doesn’t just tell readers what to do for safe and comfortable passage making; it shows them how to do it with clear, step-by-step instructions and nearly 200 detailed drawings and photographs.
Customer Reviews:
Offshore Sailing: 200 Essential tips.......2007-07-05
I recommend this book to all novices and many experienced offshore sailors to prepare for the unexpected problems that you need to address or avoid especially when you are so exposed to the extremes of nature, and completely disconnected from any immediate help. Lots of good lessons learned and references.
Chris C.
Required reading for ASA108 certification.......2007-05-12
This book looks disappointing at first because it is a thin expensive hardcover, but it is worth the money. There is very little fluff and the content is well structured and to the point. It covers most things necessary to prepare your boat for offshore sailing including tool lists, weight distribution, polars and VMG, secants and many other useful tips. Lots of pictures, tables and diagrams.
Offshoore Sailing: 2000 passagemaking tips.......2007-01-31
This is a very comprehensive book explaining what you need to know about offshore sailing.
Take the hint(s)........2003-07-31
It would be foolish to think about seriously sailing or cruising without taking Bill Seifert's learned counsel!!
Get this one.......2002-11-09
I rarely bother to write reviews, but I have to add my kudos to the others given here. There is a down-to-earth pragmatism in these pages that I haven't found anywhere else. The authors have condensed an extraordinary amount of experience into 200 very succinct tips that cover a broad range of subjects. Many of their suggestions are low tech and can be easily implemented yourself. They have been there, done that and it shows. I am putting this one right next to Dashew, Calder, Sutphen and Leonard to fill in the blanks.
Book Description
Eye of the Albatross takes us soaring to locales where whales, sea turtles, penguins, and shearwaters flourish in their own quotidian rhythms. Carl Safina's guide and inspiration is an albatross he calls Amelia, whose life and far-flung flights he describes in fascinating detail. Interwoven with recollections of whalers and famous explorers, Eye of the Albatross probes the unmistakable environmental impact of the encounters between man and marine life. Safina's perceptive and authoritative portrait results in a transforming ride to the ends of the Earth for the reader, as well as an eye-opening look at the health of our oceans.
Customer Reviews:
Fabulous soarings, fishing sensibly and . . . frozen skivvies??.......2007-07-26
How would you feel at the sight of a weary seabird coughing up a plastic toothbrush while trying to feed its chick? Carl Safina observed this while studying the Laysan Albatross. After cruising the North Pacific for days, soaring over thousands of kilometres seeking forage for that hatchling, one of bathroom utensils was the proferred dessert. To Safina, it means "No place, no creature remains apart from you or me."
In this exquisitely written account of how the mysterious albatross lives, we learn of those fabulous flights, how the bird manages its energy budget, and of the many perils it endures throughout a life nearly as long as that of humans. Centred on Tern Island, a tiny atoll halfway along the Hawaiian chain, research teams are studying the Laysan Albatross, turtles and sharks. Safina recounts the work and the conditions. Among other tasks, ten Laysans are tagged at nesting time, allowing satellites to track their wanderings. Safina dubs one female "Amelia", describing her flights into the North Pacific. Nesting birds must accumulate resources because offspring are demanding. The parents will lose up to 20% of their body weight in supplying the chicks. Once hers has hatched, she and her mate, who have shared incubation duties, now take turns fetching breakfast for the little squawker. Safina, who has watched these birds, remains in awe of Amelia's abilities to navigate. The maps he provides display ever greater distances travelled and Amelia's obvious skills in locating fodder. He notes than in a lifetime of half a century, a Laysan may cover nearly six million kilometres of oversea flight.
Within his sojourn on Tern Island, Safina makes a couple of jaunts of his own. One is much further west to Laysan Island itself. There, invasive species events have led to unusal security. The introduction of a destructive weed not long before has forced the stipulation that not only must ALL clothing be brand new, it must all be frozen to kill any organisms. Safina describes the donning of frozen underwear as an "interesting" experience. Yet, the importance of the need is revealed when the research team on Laysan describe their clean-up efforts.
The cold underwear should have helped condition him for his next trip - on a fishing boat in the Aleutian Islands. Mark Lundsten is an innovative captain of the "Masonic". His "novel" idea is how to fish in ways allowing a sustainable take. Lundsten is a campaigner among his colleagues for adopting methods to protect birds and turtles from becoming "by-catch". Safina uses the visit to discuss the perils of long-liner fishing, what safeguards are being introduced and how well they're being accepted by fishers around the world. As the episode of the toothbrush demonstrates, it's not only fishermen who threaten the wildlife around us.
The book, while seemingly targeting an audience interested in long-distance commuting seabirds, is a volume we must all take up and learn from. The real point of it is that we must spend more in time and money in developing an understanding of what goes on in the world around us. Among other issues, shark "attacks" on tourists in Hawaii bring immediate and vigorous response by Fisheries and the Coast Guard. One of the teams Safina visits demonstrate that shark movement precludes any likelihood that the slaughtered sharks are the "guilty" party. That shark has almost certainly moved on to a new location. Imparted in sterling prose, with reasoned judgements and a careful balance examining needs, wants and available resources, Safina has produced a superb account. Take up this book to see how research is done and what it can achieve. It may help you in making decisions that will affect your life and that of your children. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Eye of the Albatross.......2006-11-04
Well written and full of facts about the ocean & the life of the Albatross. Truly magnificent read.
A trip for you mind and soul.......2006-03-03
Reading Eye of the Albatross is a trip into the air --space filled with poetic descriptions of sunsets, storms, stars. The heroine is Amelia, a Laysan Albatross who has been fitted with a radio transmitter which allows scientists, Carl Safina among them, to monitor where she travels. Her base is Tern Island, part of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. Her flights are mapped for the reader and take her as far as the Bering Sea and the Kamchatka Penninsula. Along the way, various characters are described that make you want to know them. At the end I was pleased with new awareness and sad that this wondrous tale was over. Be prepared to laugh, cry and smile--for a long time.
A Glimpse at Nature's Wonders.......2003-02-11
From time to time, Safina does tend to anthropomorphize, but it does make the book more accessible. And at other times he steps back just a little too far from the role he has written for himself. But there is nothing else to criticize in this excellent book.
Five hours northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands by propjet there are series of islands and atolls that are the breeding grounds of tens of thousands of sea birds. Of the many species of birds that breed there, the largest, the one that must be wrapped in the most superlatives, is the Laysan Albatross. And one Laysan Albatross, that Safina names Amelia, is the principle subject and unifying thread of this book.
From Coelridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" to the horrifying pollution of our ocean, Amelia is the eye through which we view her astonishing world. Amelia is tagged with a small satellite transmitter, and Safina includes maps showing the travels Amelia makes to feed herself and her chick. The distances beggar the imagination. Through her eyes and her journeys, Safina touches on the host of issues and breathtaking wonders of the the fauna of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
It's a tour de force, and I recommend it to you.
it soars.......2003-01-20
from the May 16, 2002 edition - [...]
By Colin Woodard
Humans and albatrosses have a lot in common. We both live for many decades, possibly a century. Our reproductive patterns are similar. Albatrosses take as long as 13 years to mature, engage in courtships that can last two years or more, and raise a single chick every other year (or three to four years for some species.) Albatrosses, like ourselves, are found from the Antarctic to the Far North and most places in between.
Of course, we spend our time on earth very differently. Albatrosses spend 95 percent of it at sea, usually in flight. They come ashore only to breed and nest, and even then they are constantly flying off on 2,000- to 3,000-mile foraging runs to collect each feeding for their chick. They can fly for many days without stopping, sleeping on the wing, wandering from tropical to subpolar seas in the course of a single foraging run.
Carl Safina wondered what we might learn about the world if we could see it from their perspective. Now, after shadowing these great birds by foot, ship, and satellite, he has painted a beautiful, awe-inspiring tableau of our world as you've never seen it: an interconnected universe of wind and waves, sun-blasted islands, teeming polar seas, broad-winged birds, and the far-reaching effects of civilization.
"Almost everything about the albatross is superlative and extreme," Safina writes. They're huge, with an 11-foot wingspan. Masters of long-distance flight, they use less energy soaring over a stormy sea than they do while sitting quietly on their nests. They endure equatorial heat and ferocious Arctic storms, sometimes on the same feeding trip. And they travel far: By 50 years of age, a typical albatross has logged nearly 4 million miles.
Tracking them, Safina journeys to beaches covered with egg-laying sea turtles, crystalline Pacific waters filled with prowling tiger sharks, and island tern colonies so vast they're likened to "a white-noise cyclone of sound."
But today, albatrosses' lives are tangled up with those of humans. Though their world is far removed from civilization, they're inundated with pesticides, antibiotics, and hormone mimics. They swallow bottle caps and cigarette lighters, become entangled in drift nets, or drown after seizing one of the millions of baited hooks dragged behind fishing vessels every year.
"Eye of the Albatross" relates some unforgettable scenes. At one point, Safina watches an albatross chick feeding from the mouth of its mother, just back from a 2,000-mile foraging trip. The chick gulps down globs of regurgitated squid and fish eggs, but then the mother has difficulty retching up the next serving. "Slowly, the tip - just the tip - of a green plastic toothbrush emerges from the bird's throat," a sight Safina describes as "one of the most piercing things I've ever experienced." The mother, unable to pass this bit of trash, wanders away from her squawking chick.
The lesson, Safina writes, is that there are no longer any places on earth unaffected by man. "No matter what coordinates you choose, from waters polar to solar coral reefs, to the remotest turquoise atoll - no place, no creature remains apart from you and me."
Fortunately, in some places people are starting to correct the situation. Safina visits Midway Atoll, where the military accidentally introduced rats, which bred voraciously and extinguished entire nesting colonies. But since control of Midway passed to the National Wildlife Service, the rats have been eradicated, and the birds are recovering. In Alaska, Safina goes to sea with Mark Lundsten, a commercial fisherman leading the effort to save albatrosses from hooks. Lundsten has found a simple and cost-effective way to reduce albatross mortality by 90 percent with a combination of weights and streamers.
Safina, who earned a PhD studying seabirds, established himself as a leading voice in marine conservation with his first book, "Song for the Blue Ocean," which drew attention to the environmental catastrophe unfolding beneath the waves. "Eye of the Albatross" is an eloquent sequel, a moving depiction of how interconnected life on this planet truly is.
* Colin Woodard is author of 'Ocean's End: Travels Through Endangered Seas' (Basic).
from the May 16, 2002 edition - [...]
Book Description
Action in Admiral Rodney's dramatic Moonlight Battle of 1780, when Cyclops' capture of the Santa Teresa plays a decisive part, is the start of Nathaniel Drinkwater's life at sea. HMS Cyclops is involved in pursuing American privateers who are a danger to British trade and Drinkwater finds himself part of a prize crew when initiative and courage in a critical situation enable him to survive a dangerous encounter.
When the frigate is detached on special service to the swamps of South Carolina, grim actions are fought at sea and by a detachment of the ship's company on land, resulting in violent deaths before CYCLOPS arrives in New York in 1781 and is sent back to Spithead with the news of Lord Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown.
Through his experiences both in action and in the hard life on Cyclops, Drinkwater matures and gains the ability to stand up against the tyranny of the midshipmen's mess and the sinister and evil influence of the senior midshipman, Morris. In overcoming his difficulties he is sustained by his growing love for Elizabeth and the contrast of home life with the brutality of naval service.
Customer Reviews:
Good start to a promising series.......2007-07-05
I have read the CS Forrester and the O'Brian series. This has started nicely and I look forward to the second.
Not as deep as O'Brian or quite as classic as Forrester, but a worthy book.
Quite worthy!
Start of the series is not the best.......2007-01-13
Once you go on and read several others--and I urge you to read them in order, starting with this one--you may well agree with me that the first is unquestionably the weakest of a good series. It is hardly a bad book, but it lacks the force and focus that the later ones bring. It is as if the author were feeling his way forward with the character and the plot line, chapter by chapter.
This is a good series, however, and the first book is essential to it. Like others, I would rank it third in the Forester/O'Brian list...but that's good company!
Wonderful Start to a Great Sea-Faring Series.......2006-11-04
I have found these to fit well on my shelf next to my Forester and O'Brian series. While not quite as insightful into the emotional or historical realities of the period, they are very well written. Hornblower is still my favorite, but Drinkwater is another great Captain to cheer for.
An entertaining, exciting story........2006-11-02
Woodman's Drinkwater is on the order of C. S. Forester's Hornblower. We follow along observing the development of Drinkwater as an officer in the King's navy during the Napoleanic Wars. Woodman provides excellent details surrounding the sailing of a British ship, some of which may be a little overdone for us landlubbers. I enjoyed this story so well that I am already into the fourth book in this series.
First volume of a multi-volume adventure.......2006-01-20
Reading the other reviews gives a good picture of the main bones of the book. It has some decidedly grim elements, some seriously adult themes, plenty of adventure and heroism, and lots of action. Several reviewers commented that the series should be read in order -- I would reinforce that. The set of 14 novels really is a multivolume biography of Drinkwater's career.
I've read Forester, O'Brian, Kent, Nelson...well, pretty much all of the main names in historical nautical fiction...and now Woodman. For my money, Woodman's books have the kind of realism and three dimensionality that some of the others really do lack (Alexander Kent stands out in this dismal fashion, to my eye). Drinkwater seems so much more human than some of the other protagonists in similarly set novels: He makes mistakes; he does things he regrets; he has his successes; he suffers; he hurts; he triumphs; he worries; he is tempted; he cuts corners. The deus doesn't too often come ex machina in these books; they seem quite plausible in many ways, even if occasionally improbable. And the villains seem reasonably regularly to get their richly-deserved come-uppances, at least eventually.
I think it is worth while to mention the language in these books. Woodman has a craftsman's way with words, and beyond his profound knowledge of the argot of the sea. Some of his descriptions are simply breath-taking to me, the kind of thing I would read to my wife (who doesn't know a topsail gallant from a pinrail), and that she could appreciate. Woodman is not shy about inserting the occasional salty language, but -- unlike with so many writers -- it seems to fit when he does so.
Woodman's books are not particularly long. They are engaging; good airplane reading. When I read them, I am very, very far away from the here and now. Escapist fantasies, for sure, but affecting and thought-provoking in many ways. Pity Woodman couldn't have contrived a continuation beyond "Ebb Tide." But even a creative novelist can't be omnipotent, I guess.
Book Description
The largest creatures to inhabit the Earth, whales have long inspired awe in human beings. Because they spend almost 95 percent of their time beneath the ocean surface, however, little has been known about their lives--until recently. With advances in technology and more intense study, fresh facts are coming to light about these magnificent mammals, and to be a whale watcher now, says acclaimed author and wildlife biologist Douglas Chadwick, is to have a front-row seat to stunning discoveries.
Chadwick has followed and reported on whales for more than a decade, and in The Grandest of Lives he offers a fascinating insider's view of modern-day scientific whale observation--from data gathering to spirited scientific debate to expedition storytelling. In detailed portraits of five whale species that represent a cross-section of the forms and lifestyles of cetaceans worldwide--the humpback, northern bottlenose, blue whale, minke whale, and orca--Chadwick moves deftly from natural history to more personal observations, clearly communicating his fondness and admiration for these mammoth masters of the sea, as well as the sheer joy of being among them.
Average customer rating:
- The Sea, a love, and loss...
- "Do you believe in things you can't explain?"
- Mysterious fathoms below
- The Eyes of Excitement!!!
- This is the best book
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The Eyes of the Amaryllis
Natalie Babbitt
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ASIN: 0374422389 |
Book Description
When the brig Amaryllis was swallowed in a hurricane, the captain and all the crew were swallowed, too. For thirty years the captain's widow, Geneva Reade, has waited, certain that her husband will send her a message from the bottom of the sea. But someone else is waiting, too, and watching her, a man called Seward. Into this haunted situation comes Jenny, the widow's granddaughter. The three of them, Gran, Jenny, and Seward, are drawn into a kind of deadly game with one another and with the sea, a game that only the sea knows how to win.
Customer Reviews:
The Sea, a love, and loss..........2006-03-31
"Your grandfather and I- what we felt for each other just doesn't stop."
Jenny (named Geneva after her grandmother) must go to live with her grandmother while a broken leg is on the mend. She uproots herself from a quiet life in Springfield to relocate to the seaside, in an old house that her father was raised in that has remained unchanged since an eventful date 30 years prior. Her feisty, yet stubborn, grandmother has only one thing in mind, to reconnect in some way with her husband who perished at sea 3 decades earlier.
At first Jenny is ambivalent about her grandmother and the home, knowing that her father left after his father's death has left some presupposed opinions of the life she leads here. Daily Geneva makes Jenny search the tide, desperately seeking some sign from her long dead husband that he is coming for her. Soon rumours of men who walk the shore and other oddities reach Jenny's ears and she begins to wonder if her stubborn grandmother has a good reason to be so, especially when a storm brings exactly what Geneva has been longing for, a sign from her husband.
Written by Newbery Honoree Natalie Babbitt "Amaryllis" is a wonderful tale of longing and the human heart. I still prefer "Tuck Everlasting", but I am quickly becoming such a fan of Babbitt's that I believe every child should read her work. She has wonderful tidbits of morality and the human condition peppered throughout her narratives, and morality tales have always been a huge favourite of mine. I recommend the "Amaryllis" to anyone who enjoys tales of the sea, of love, and a life devoted to loss.
"Do you believe in things you can't explain?".......2005-12-12
"Like things in fairy tales?"
"No, child. I mean - that all the daily things we do, and all the things we can touch and see in this world, are only one part of what's there, and that there's another world all around us all the time that's mostly hidden from us."
- the two Geneva Reades, herein
"'A brig, [the Amaryllis] was, a big two-master. A beautiful thing to see. Your grandfather owned her, and he was her captain, too. He sailed her up and down the coast from Maine to the Caribbean.'
'Did you ever go along?'
'No, I never did. Women aren't welcome on trading ships, you know...and yet in a way I did go along. Look more closely there. Do you see the figurehead? ...It's a likeness of me. That's an amaryllis I'm holding. A big red lily from the islands.'"
- the two Geneva Reades, herein
"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it."
- Song of Solomon 8:7
For thirty years, Jenny Reade's grandmother has lived alone, refusing all her son's offers to make a new home with him, away from the sea that swallowed his father's ship, the _Amaryllis_, within sight of the house when he was only a boy. For the elder Geneva Reade wanted no other life than the one she'd had with the Captain, and she couldn't accept that it was over. She has kept vigil alone, walking the beach at every high tide, waiting for some relic of the _Amaryllis_ to be washed ashore. But it isn't just chance she puts her faith in...
The week before the story opens, Gran broke her ankle, and now her granddaughter Jenny is finally being allowed to spend a few weeks by the sea her father still fears as an ever-present reminder of his father's death. Gran finally lets Jenny into her confidence, because although she can still look after herself, she can't keep up her twice-daily searches without help.
THE EYES OF THE AMARYLLIS is set in the nineteenth century, in the age of sail, although since it is so taken up with that timeless element, the sea, the story doesn't date much except when Gran and Jenny sometimes go through Gran's treasures, small and sometimes gaudy things brought from ports far away by the Captain long ago, or the occasional intrusions from the outside world.
I've always liked this story, and now that I pause to consider *why* I like it, there are a number of reasons that I can't always explain. The writing is beautiful, while being very clear. The characters and their relationships are complex, with shades of grey that Jenny can't help noticing. Her Gran's fierce love and deep faith in her husband are very fine, and her strength and determination are like rock itself, but she chose to let her son go when he couldn't handle living with the sea as an ever-present reminder of witnessing his father's death. They love each other, but have a troubled relationship.
Also, this isn't a simple, linear plot - there's also the story of Nicholas, who was like a surrogate elder son to the Reades, the sculptor who carved the _Amaryllis_' figurehead, and was lost at sea not long after the ship went down. His story, too, is a bit of fine characterization when Gran finally tells it - and Jenny, being young, sees it as a romantic tragedy, while Gran sees it simply as a terrible, foolish waste.
And not least, there's the open question of what to believe about Gran's long vigil by the sea, and what mysteries the sea might hold. The mysterious human guardian of the sea, Seward - will he interfere? It's a particularly good touch that Seward isn't painted as either good or evil, and neither is the sea - they're both mysterious forces, not properly understood, and in some ways perhaps beyond understanding.
"This place, this house - she saw more clearly than ever, now, that it stood at the edge of another world, at the edge where the things she understood and the things beyond her understanding began to merge and blur. That other world - it brought on transformations, and its blurring edge was marked by the hemline of the sea."
- herein
Mysterious fathoms below.......2005-06-06
Before reading "The Eyes of the Amaryllis", I'd harbored the secret suspicion that Natalie Babbitt's best known work, "Tuck Everlasting", was a fluke. I don't mean to say that the great writing found in that book was of a fluke-like nature. I mean that I thought of Babbitt as a children's author who preferred to write realistic fiction and once, in the case of "Tuck", wrote something fantastical. I don't know where I got that idea. Maybe it came from "Tuck" itself. There's something about that book that feels a little too natural. Like the author would much rather be writing about hardcore issues and is just using the whole "living forever" thing as a metaphor. So when I picked up "The Eyes of the Amaryllis", I thought I'd know what to expect. A straightforward story about a girl and her grandmother by the sea. What I got instead was a supernatural thriller in which two mortal souls go head to head with forces they cannot hope to understand. Thrilling? You don't know the half of it.
Though named after her father's mother, Jenny Reade has never visited the old woman at her house by the sea. This is mostly because Jenny's father is afraid of that cruel old ocean. Years ago, when he was just a teen, her dad watched in horror as his father's ship, the Amaryllis, went down in a catastrophic storm. Since that time he has been afraid of the vastness of the ocean while his mother, the hardened woman Geneva Reade, has waited patiently for a sign from her drowned husband. When Jenny comes to stay with Geneva for a couple weeks, she thinks she's just going to do some chores and play by the seaside. Instead, she becomes enmeshed in a wild adventure. For while Geneva's husband does indeed send his wife a sign, the sea is not happy with the gift and demands it back. By force, as it happens.
Reading this book, I found it was rather similar to "Daughter of the Sea" by Berlie Doherty. Both books praise the ocean to no end, but if I were to choose the stronger of the two, "The Eyes of the Amaryllis" wins hands down. Babbitt's in fine form here. The reader begins the tale with as much healthy skepticism as Jenny herself, and ends up believing her grandmother's wild stories just as the heroine does. There are beautiful descriptive passages here and a wonderfully exciting climax with a hurricane. There are ghosts, drowned men, and mysterious presents that are never meant to be kept. I've little doubt that Babbitt herself has spent a lot of time with the ocean. This book is a love story to a powerful, dangerous thing.
For those readers who enjoyed "Tuck Everlasting" and wouldn't mind a little more Babbitty weirdness in their reading diet, "The Eyes of the Amaryllis" is a fine follow-up. It's not particularly long (so reluctant readers will rejoice) and the plot is fast-paced without ever feeling stilted. For any kid who hungers for tales of ghosts and mysteries, go no farther than this fog-swept tale.
The Eyes of Excitement!!!.......2005-03-10
We just completed reading this book in our third grade reading group, at an independent school in Brooklyn Heights, NY. Say the students, "It was the best book we ever read in reading group."
I also found it amazing--so many themes, including the line between fantasy and reality, between the living and the dead, the sea and the land--memory, moving on after a great loss.
This is not a "kid's" book at all--it's equally enjoyable for all ages. I highly recommend, as do my remarkable students.
This is the best book.......2002-06-16
In 6th grade my favorite teacher had our class read my favorite book, The Eyes of the Amaryllis. I liked this book so much that I told my best friend (in another class) that she had to read it. She did and she loved it. And to my teacher's surprise my whole class loved it too! This book will stick with you forever once you read it. The Eyes of the Amaryllis will keep you reading until you finish, and once you finish you will be in awe of what a wonderful book this is! I LOVE this book!
Amazon.com
More than a century ago, the whaler Charles Melville Scammon chased pods of gray whales across the Pacific, slaughtering them by the hundreds and driving them nearly to the point of extinction. Dick Russell, a noted conservationist and journalist, follows Scammon's wake, bringing news both good and bad about the condition of the gray whale today.
Chronicling a journey along Pacific gray whale routes from Sakhalin Island to the southern tip of Baja California, Russell braces his narrative with the long, politically charged tale of a Japanese corporation's efforts to build a salt-extraction plant on a Mexican lagoon that has served for ages as an important gray whale breeding ground. Writing knowingly of gray whale natural history, and of the effects such an alteration of the environment would have on the species, Russell then turns to other controversial threats to the gray, such as the Washington Makah tribe's decision in the late 1990s to revive a lost tradition of whale-hunting, and the Japanese government's refusal to honor international treaties protecting the gray and other whale species from widespread depredation.
The good news, as Russell writes, is that the Mexican salt plant was eventually stopped. The bad news is that the gray whale is still everywhere under siege. Though it does not displace recent books such as Serge Dedina's Saving the Gray Whale and Robert Sullivan's A Whale Hunt, Russell's is by far the most complete popular account of the gray whale across its wide range, and it makes useful reading for anyone seeking to learn more about this key marine species. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
"Once in a while, a book comes along that redefines its subject to the extent that most previous works immediately become obsolete. Eye of the Whale is such a book...it will change the way you think about the natural world." -RICHARD ELLIS, LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW
Named a Best Book of the Year by three major newspapers upon its initial publication, and now available for the first time in paperback, Eye of the Whale offers an exhilarating blend of adventure and natural history as Dick Russell follows the migration of the gray whale from Mexico's Baja peninsula to the Arctic's Bering Strait.
Originally named "Devil-fish' by nineteenth-century whalers, the gray whale's friendly overtures toward humans over the past generation helped to spark the growth of today's whale-watching industry. This majestic marine mammal has also become a focus of controversy, as environmentalists fought to protect its breeding area from industrial development, some protested renewed hunting by a Native American tribe, and, more recently, scientific studies have noted a new decline in the whale's population.
Russell's narrative interweaves the remarkable story of Charles Melville Scammon, a nineteenth-century whaling captain responsible for bringing gray whales to the brink of extinction, whose change of heart led to his becoming a renowned naturalist. Retracing Scammon's path, the author encounters contemporary marine biologists who have devoted their lives to studying the gray whale, and native peoples for whom subsistence whale hunting means survival in the most remote regions of the North Pacific.
Called "an extraordinary book" by The Washington Post, Eye of the Whale is a stirring account of a creature that is changing our consciousness about the relationship between human beings and the animal kingdom.
Customer Reviews:
A Wonderful Book.......2005-11-29
The critics are right to rave about "Eye of the Whale" by Dick Russell. In it's plainest form, the book entails a synopsis of the legendary gray whale and it's journeys through Oregon, Washington, the shores of Monterey, Vancouver Island, the Bearing Sea, the Bering Strait (Alaska), and Sakhalin Island, a hot topic in recent news. One of the best explanations of the book I can find is when someone describes encountering a gray whale. "Especially when you looked at its eyes, you just knew it probably thought it was a boatload of those [people] who like to pet them" In this passage we see a lot of what the book is about: People encountering the majestic grays and suddenly have a new opinion of them.
The book has many passage from Charles Melville Scammon, a nineteenth century whaler who brought gray whales to popularity, by nearly killing them all. He then turned naturalist, and studied the gray whale extensively, following them around the globe. Russell tells the story of retracing Scammon's steps and gaining a new perspective.
What is so strong about the book is the writing. When I opened it I didn't think I was going have a thrill a minute, and I didn't. But, I was surprised of it's intricately weaved passages, interesting readers, telling a simple story, and making a strong point without yelling it at you. In this way, Russell has helped the grays greatly by encouraging whale conservation, and showing the many sides of being an endangered species.
The books weaknesses were few and far between, in my opinion. I will say, sometimes the passages, though well worked out were a bit lengthy and could have been more concise. The largeness of the book is intimidating to some, but hopefully this review will help in the case that it isn't a hard read, and also it good to read in just sections, and good to have for reference.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in saving a great thing and encouraging conservation of nature in your friends, neighbors, children, and yourself. It's not worded at a hard reading level, and offers great views into the world of the deep.
gray whales!.......2005-11-29
Expecting another boring science book on whales, I was surprised at the way Dick Russell made the whales seem what they should be: interesting. Russell covers almost all aspects of the gray whales in his book Eye of the Whale. As he follows the migratory path of the whales along the coast, the reader gets a good sense of the science, history, and issues surrounding gray whales. He writes about the story of Charles Scammon, the legendary whaler whose research on gray whales is still used by scientists today. He writes about conservation issues and the politics behind the plan to build a saltworks in the protected lagoons. He writes about the individuals involved in gray whale research along the coast. What I really liked about this book though was that instead of just telling the reader about these things, he shows them. He makes the book read more like a story than just a research paper about conservation by using personal accounts and treating the people in his book not just as researchers but as characters. I didn't like when he would go into long, and confusing background explanations that were hard not to skip over. Other than that though it was a well written and up to date account of the interaction between humans and the gray whales. I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in whales at all. You don't need to be a scientist to understand it and it is interesting and informational at the same time.
"That immense...intense and impeccable eye".......2002-02-14
Staring into THE EYE OF THE WHALE certainly seems to be a mystical experience. Unfortunately on the whale watching trips I've been on you get no closer to the whales than the deck of the ship. Not close up and personal (sometimes even rubbing and patting the "friendly whales")as is the case in Baja, California, with watching the Gray whales from small Zodiac boats. Perhaps you are like me then and (unlike the author) know nothing about the metaphysical powers of whales and their ability to bring about meditative and contemplative states in mankind while imparting transcendental wisdom. This book is therefore equal parts a journey of self discovery by the author and a natural history and scientific discourse on the Pacific Gray whale. For my liking there are just a few too many experiences here such as this one by a marine biologist: "It was a calf and I could see its eye looking into my eyes...I knew we were talking..." Mr Spock mind-melds with Gracie the Humpback a la STAR TREK: THE VOYAGE HOME.
Although the author and others see "whales smile by my fingertips" and get all "misty eyed" and believe that the whales are "trying to save us from our human side" these sentimental and lyrical asides are simply a matter of writing style. Overall they do not spoil the book. There is sufficient science and history here to satisfy those looking for something other than a "save the whales / save the world" soft-sell. The defeat of Mitsubishi's proposed salt-works at one of the whale breeding lagoons and the story of Charles Melville Scammon are themes that run throughout the book. Mitsubishi represents the modern day commercial threat to the whales while Scammon was an old-time whale-butchering sea captain. Scammons' conversion from hunter to benefactor (he ended up writing the definitive book on gray whales) is a tale well told. Perhaps, like the author, he too looked into the EYE OF THE WHALE.
"Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them" (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
An excellent chronicle and tribute to the Gray Whale.......2001-10-18
Dick Russell has produced an amazing chronicle of the life of the California Gray whale. This is a book that is not only important today but will hold a place of value and respect hundreds of years into the future. Sadly this book may most likely survive the species itself.
I have spent over two decades studying and working to protect the Gray whale and I've lead four major conservation expeditons to protect the species. The first was in 1981 to Siberia, the 2nd and 3rd to Neah Bay in 98 and 99 to oppose the Makah whale hunt and the 4th to San Ignacio in 2000 to oppose the development of an industrial salt processing scheme that would have damaged the breeding and calving homes of the Grays.
Dick Russell got all the facts right in the areas that I have intimate involvement with so I can safely assume that his facts in all other areas are equally investigated and thus correct.
This is a wonderful story and it is a great work of historical documentation both natural,social and cultural.
My life was changed by looking into the eye of a whale in 1975. I believe that Dick also caught a glimpse of the mystery, the majesty, the magic and the marvel of the mind of the whale reflected from the eye of one of these great and gentle giants.
For only a person who has seen into the eye of a whale could have written such an insightful book.
I intend to buy a dozen of Dick Russell's books for Christmas presents this year.
Not Just Whales, But Humans.......2001-08-29
_Eye of the Whale: Epic Passage from Baja to Siberia_ (Simon and
Schuster) by Dick Russell is a brilliant and comprehensive account not
so much about the gray whale, but about how the humans and whales have
interacted over the centuries, and especially in the past few
decades. It is hard to imagine that there is any aspect of this
subject that Russell has not covered. The truly amazing part of the
gray whaleýs story is that it had a terrible reputation in the
whalerýs day. It was called a devilfish, and was viewed as a
dangerous quarry, especially when it was protecting its young. It had
to be approached with fear (and this was realized in the Japanese
fisheries as well). It is a devilfish no longer. No one knows why, but
sometime in the 1970s the behavior of the whales changed. Into the
lagoons of Baja, the whales go in the winter to mate and to deliver
calves. The whales started becoming interested in the humans that had
put out in their boats to see them. They presented themselves at the
surface, turning on their sides to point an eye up to look at the
humans that used to kill them for oil and meat, and for baleen to
stiffen their corsets. They seemed to enjoy being scratched and
touched. Individual whales, returning year after year, seemed to
spread the behavior, which has become the norm. They even nudge the
calves toward the boats to introduce the new arrivals into the
activity.
All the eastern Pacific gray whales come to Baja in an
annual migration from the Siberian-Alaskan waters where they feed. It
is a 13,000 mile round trip, the longest annual migration of any
mammal, and Russell has traveled the length of that migration, and
more, to interview almost everyone who has researched the gray whale
or campaigned on its behalf. The result is a multifaceted,
wide-ranging tale that takes in important stories about the
interaction of humans and grays. The Makah tribe in Washington resumed
whaling with a controversial kill in 1999, possibly of a whale that
thought they were friendly. They get support from the Japanese, who
want to bring whaling back in general. The area of lagoons where the
whales calve was in danger of becoming a giant salt production
facility; Russell covers the anguish and triumphs of the
environmentalists pitted against huge commercial and governmental
foes. The grays have made a comeback, but seem to be less healthy; we
donýt know if we can blame warming of the waters or other causes, as
research on the whales is only in the beginning stages.
Best of all,
though, is that the book is full of attempts to describe just what
happens between two species as they regard each other. "Once you get
a chance to see these whales," says one observer, I think it is a
natural reaction to fall in love with them. And to want to do the
utmost so this continues to be a place where they can come and feel
safe and secure." Another: "The mother was just lying there as if
she was watching the young one, and sometimes she came up and rocked
the front of the boat. I must say it was sometimes a little bit
frightening. But then when she came and looked at us, you were not
scared at all, just happy. I can't explain it." A crusty marine
scientist reaches out to touch a whale for the first time, and
although no one has ever seen him do it before, he starts weeping. It
is an overwhelming experience that no one who has had it ever
forgets. The whales seem to have many mysteries to tell us. They can
be thankful that their ambassador, Dick Russell, and his imposing,
full, and readable book, are bringing to us their story.
Average customer rating:
- Flawed (Spoilers Ahead)
- Save this book......in case you run out of toilet paper
- Disappointing
- Loved it!
- Send me an intrest preserver someone! YAAAAAAAAAWWWWWNNNNNN!
|
Sea Devil's Eye (Forgotten Realms: The Threat from the Sea, Book 3)
Mel Odom
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Under Fallen Stars (Forgotten Realms: The Threat from the Sea, Book 2)
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Faces of Deception (Forgotten Realms: Lost Empires, Book 2))
ASIN: 0786916389
Release Date: 2000-05-01 |
Book Description
Iakhovas has caused more destruction than any force since the Time of Troubles, but his true objective has been a mystery . . . until now.
When a young sailor's journey is complete, an aging bard's final song is sung, and a malenti priestess faces her most challenging test, the Threat from the Sea concludes in an explosive climax that will set all of Faerûn reeling.
Customer Reviews:
Flawed (Spoilers Ahead).......2005-10-31
Among the Forgotten Realms novels, this book is the most predictable book I've read. In the first two books, Jherek is visited by a mysterious voice that keeps saying the same thing. The voice's identity is revealed, but anyone who paid attention to the first two books should know who it is. I had it figured out before reading the first page of this novel. The simmering romance between Jherek and Sabyna happens, though the irritating drama queen of a hero drags it out. It drags to the point that, instead of being happy when the kiss comes, you're just glad it's over and done with. Jherek becomes something more than a sailor, though that should be obvious, too.
Iakhovas' true form has been revealed before, and it's no surprise when he turns into what he turns into. The final 'battle' is only a surprise because of how short it is. Iakhovas has summoned sea creatures such as giant eels and dragon turtles to attack Baldur's gate and Waterdeep. He did these things to gather a series of magical items, which you think would increase his power. Yet, in this book, all he manages to summon is singing kelp.
Pacys has stayed the same through the first two books, and his character doesn't change here. He's still constantly playing music, trying to compose his epic . . . like he's done in every scene since his character was introduced back in book one.
The dwarf, paladin, and pirate captain that showed up in the last book all stay the same, though Azla's 'alignment shift' at the end could be seen coming a mile away.
The only truly interesting character, Laaqueel, has doubted Iakhovas and, to a lesser extent, Sekolah, for a while now. Can you guess what happens in the final battle? Yes, you're probably right. When I picked up this book, my only question concerning this character was if she would live or die.
I would only recommend this book to someone who has a good knowledge of the monsters of Dungeons and Dragons. Otherwise, you may get a bit confused when a few different underwater races show up. I had to stop and think for a moment to remember the definitions of koalinth, merrow, ixixachitals, locathah, and at least three others races, not to mention the undead known as 'drowned ones.'
Random Thoughts:
- Does it seem odd that, for a mage, Sabyna fights with daggers more than she casts spells?
- Remember how, at the end of book two, Laaqueel was full of faith in Iakhovas and Jherek had become darker? Neither attitude carries over to book three.
- In book two, Azla and Sabyna seem jealous of each other, yet this never shows up in book three.
- Bloody Falkane never shows up again, nor does Laaqueel even think about the encounter that happened in book two.
- I feel like if I had an oxygen tank and a harpoon, I could kill the 'Great Whale Bard' just as easily as Iakhovas. For a whale that measured over 400 feet long, the thing just sat there, letting Iakhovas rip it to shreds.
- At the beginning of this book, Jherek makes a promise to a diviner, and at the time, this seems like a major plot point. However, this is never revisited.
- Jherek is still annoyingly polite and full of self pity, whining about his 'ill luck' every chance he gets.
- Did the ending of this book remind you of 'Jaws' at all?
- Why did Laaqueel need to have the exact same kind of divine intervention as Jherek? When she hears the deity she hears, it falls flat because we've heard it before.
If you're looking to get into this series, only do so if you have nothing else to read. Every character is one-dimensional and grows tiresome, the ending is amazingly predictable, and the action in book three doesn't compare to the other two books.
Save this book......in case you run out of toilet paper.......2004-07-29
OK I just wrote a review for part 2 and said "I enjoyed this book like the others in the series". Boy was I wrong. I first read this series like 2 years ago or maybe it was more I don't remember...Anyway I just reread the trilogy and part 3 sux. If I hadn't read the others and wanted to know how it ended I would have torn this book up halfway throw in anger...so many cheesy things happen. Like Jherek getting some magical weapon that pops out of his arm and can do pretty much whatever he wants...That girl Sabyna, who isn't hot, has some kind of creature refered to as a "familiar", don't ask me what the #$%& it means but for all intents and purposes it means the book is ruined...It is basically a bunch of cloth that can do whatever it wants and wrap itself around bad guys and make them jump overboard...the only reason I liked the first 2 books was because of the huge battle scenes, and there isn't as much of those in this book...there is a lot of talking, romance, and other stuff that takes up space...I thought Glawin was an interesting character b/c I didn't know that anyone could be that big of a tool...Jherek actually starts to become interesting, much to the dismay of the other characters...
The wierd thing is, throughout the whole book it feels like Odom is really stretching it to fill the minimum page requirements he was apparently given, but then at the end there is no closure whatsoever, it just ends...while I was glad about this at the time, it seems kinda wierd that he wouldn't just take out a few pages of Glawin crying over Jherek becoming cool and instead add a little more at the end...
This book reveals the whole series for what it is...a series with a ridiculously stupid plot and great action scenes to hide this fact...only there are few cool action scenes in the third book...
Oh and I know I am spoiling somethings here...but I don't want you to be dissappointed...in this book Jherek makes a promise to do something for this woman in return for her help, everyone is like "Don't do it, it will come back to bite you in the @%^" so he makes the promise anyway...but Odom never comes back to that...so we never find out what, if anything happened...I don't think Odom himself knew or cared, he just wanted to wrap up this series...the only reason I point that out is he really made it seem like the promise was going to end up being a huge deal later on...
Another disappointment...He also never really does anything with the whole twist of Bloody Falkane being Jherek's father...it was a great idea, and it would have been cool to have them meet up at the end or at least give some kind of closure to this situation, but again, its like the people at Forgotten Realms put a timer next to Mel while he was writing, and we're like you have till this goes off...because he just writes and writes and writes and then suddenly stops...there's no rhyme or reason to it...
Disappointing.......2004-01-18
I had to give this book a bad review because it was a horrible ending to a trilogy that showed promise. Although book 2 should have been edited and made part of this book. Ok let me gripe about this book. It takes forever to reach the the main battle between the hero and the villian but the fight is over in like 5 seconds. Iakhovas worked all kinds of impressive magics, slayed huge creatures, and completed all kinds of other mystical feats to basically be stabbed once or twice and bam it's over. Horrible ending. Also no closure either. After this climatic battle if one would call it theres a whole 2 pages maybe. Plus I have to gripe about Jhereks mystical weapons. They are stupid. Plain and simple.
Loved it!.......2002-05-08
Mel Odom has definately became my fave Forgotten Realms author. This whole story built and built and got me reading faster and faster. Each character was continually developing and learning where they fit within the story. This trilogy was one of the best stories I have read, the only problem I had was the death of the Great Whale Bard especially as I love stories with animals that can communicate with humans. Now go and read The Jewel of Turmish.
Send me an intrest preserver someone! YAAAAAAAAAWWWWWNNNNNN!.......2001-06-15
Mel Odom sholuld stay away from Novel writing. This book was so boring and the accual main character was the least intresting out of all the other highly boring characters. Two character I accually like Klinatt the Dwarf. My favorite character and the ONLY intresting one who's short fall-flat end left me dissapointed. The Sea Elf Laqueel was the only great character here. Jherek, was so whiny and self-beaten, before I got even half way though book3, I couldn't wait till I was done with him.
On the other hand, here you have Laqueel, who though started off as a villian was the only character that had any true development. I wasn't ever really sure what she was going to do with herself before the end of the story but, I could tell she was changing. I just wish somewhere at the end, Mel would have been smart enough to have her mention to the other characters, now that she had found a new calling, or even to herself. Every character that lives in a book should have complete closure for it's readers.
Mel Odom has failed to keep what I thought was good in Book2 carry over to book3. I found a continuity error in a few places in this book, that he should have kept track of. For example Sabyna asks Glawinn something of how he knew about her brother, when he never even personaly mentioned it to her in the conversasion pages before hand, or ever! Another example.....in the conclusion battle, there was a point where the story had switched from underwater to water surface, with not even letting the reader in on it.
OH and my biggest complaint......I almost forgot. Jherik traveled half-way around the world for the weapon that would help fight Ikhovas in the end. What does he find? What is given to him by the whales? Apperantly the Witchblade from Top Cow Comics because, he is granted possesion of a brazier that can change shape into any weapon he chooses as he wears it on his arms. I honestly, wanted to close the book and never look into it again. It's a witchblade, plain and simple. I'd really like to see Mel Odom deny that. That is what the witchblade does I don't see how anyone could, unless of coarse they havn't been informed that the witchblade does exactly. It changes can shape into any weapon thought up by it's owner.
The only saving point of the book is the above mentioned character, Laqueel, and the fact that it is the last of the trilogy.
Average customer rating:
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See The Sea!: A Book About Colors (Googly Eyes)
Allia Zobel Nolan
Manufacturer: Reader's Digest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book
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ASIN: 0794402917 |
Book Description
Kids can learn about colors and various underwater sea creatures as they make friends with such whimsical characters at Clark T. Shark, Winona Whale, Wally Fuss and others, in this entertaining board book. What's more, they'll laugh out loud at the faces staring back at them when they shake these characters' rolling "googly eyes."
Customer Reviews:
Cute and colorful.......2004-05-23
Kids will like this book. The eyes are plastic with beads inside that will entertain everyone. The eyes stay constant while the sea creatures on every page use the eyes as their own. The words on the pages are fine, although a bit cumbersome at times. However, the colors and pictures are vivid and exciting. Small children will love the pictures and the great effect of the eyes on each page.
Customer Reviews:
i loved this comic.......2000-06-09
I bought all 3 of Frezzato's "Les Gardiens du Maser" (in french, but i read one of them in english, in Heavy Metal mag). I loved them all very much, Frezzato's art is stunning, such attention to details impress me very much. The characters are very enjoyable and have personas that compels you to have more and more to read about them. The fictional world they live in is very realistic technology-wise. The gizmos they carry, the vehicules, the robots, the evil dwarves are all so interesting... i can't wait for the rest of the books to come out.
Customer Reviews:
Mermaid Lite...........2002-09-29
"More than Meets the Eye" is the story of Doctor Phoebe Jones, and her love for ex-cop turned private investigator Kevin Cartwright.
Kevin, hired by an eccentric stranger named Loucan, to find four missing siblings, is unaware that he has TRULY been hired to find four missing "merpeople." When an article, with a picture of Doctor Phoebe Jones appears in the paper, Kevin knows he has found one of the missing children. Can Kevin convince Dr. Jones to go with him to Santa Barbara to meet his employer Loucan?
I'm a big fan of Mermaid stories, but "More than Meets the Eye" was a disappointing and rather formulaic read. Characters were stereotypical. "Semi-Virginal, but Naïve doctor who has `no time for dating," vs. "Bad-Boy-Ex-Cop-Turned-Private-Investigator-With-Tragic-Past." Even the romance lacked spark. Kevin and Phoebe barely know each other, when suddenly they are `in love.' When? Why? I felt more of a dynamic between Loucan and Phoebe when they first meet, than in the entire first 100 pages of Kevin and Phoebe. (Sigh).
Further, I wanted to read more about the mermaids, and was disappointed that this plot device wasn't explored until nearly the end of the book. Overall, I have to say, this book was a disappointment. Perhaps the sequel will be better?
"A Tale of the Sea" begins with this fascinating story.......2002-09-24
Reviewed by Kelley Hartsell for CK2S Kwips and Kritiques
Dr. Phoebe Jones is a brilliant surgeon in Kansas City, well liked by her fellow hospital workers, though somewhat reserved. She is happy that way, used to her privacy and predictable life. She was an orphan, with no memory of her family, having spent her entire childhood moving from one foster family to another. She learned to depend solely on herself, but a part of her has always longed for the unconditional love of a true family.
Kevin Cartwright is a police officer turned private eye after nearly being murdered on the force. He has spent the last few years of his life focusing on a job given to him by a mysterious stranger known only as Loucan. Kevin was hired to find four siblings separated over 20 years ago, and return them to California. All he knows about them is their given names and that each one has a unique charm that is their only link to their family. Kevin has been having no luck finding them, until he saw Phoebe on television and recognized her necklace.
Now Kevin is off to Kansas City, hoping to bring Phoebe to Loucan and getting at least one quarter of his mission accomplished. She isn't overly cooperative at first, not sure she can trust him, and hesitant to interrupt her practical routine. The possibility that she may have family brings back longings she thought were safely tucked away, and she can't resist that possibility.
Just as Phoebe decides to go, their plans are shaken up when someone else comes after Phoebe, desiring her necklace and the legacy it protects... the legacy of a land found far beneath the waters of the ocean, and a people who can live in water and on land, the merfolk. Now Kevin and Phoebe are on the run, racing time to get her to Loucan and the secrets only he can answer about her family. All the while they find themselves growing closer to each other with every passing mile.
This is a wonderful book, the beginning of the new four-book miniseries A TALE OF THE SEA. People have long since been fascinated by the legends of merpeople, and this book can make one believe, if only for a few moments, that they really do exist. Kevin and Phoebe are great together and the mysterious Loucan keeps people wondering. Is he behind the attacks on Phoebe, or does he really only want to find her and her siblings to protect them and give them back their legacy. By the end of this story, that mystery is solved and the reader will be looking forward to learning more about Phoebe's family. Readers will be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, an August 2002 release.
Books:
- Old Soldiers (Bolos)
- Optical Waves in Crystals: Propagation and Control of Laser Radiation (Wiley Series in Pure and Applied Optics)
- Our Changing Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Science and Global Environmental Change (3rd Edition)
- Pathfinder: John Charles Fremont and the Course of American Empire
- Plague of Memory: A Stardoc Novel (Stardoc)
- Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life
- Raising A Child Who Is Ready To Learn (My Shining Star)
- Reflecting Telescope Optics I: Basic Design Theory and its Historical Development (Astronomy and Astrophysics Library)
- Relic
- Resources of the Earth: Origin, Use, and Environmental Impact (3rd Edition)
Books Index
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