Product Description
Aquatic Biology and Natural History are subjects of interests to many, whether they be related to one's vocational education, one's avocation, or purely to one's appreciation for the living order of the world. This book has been written not only for entomologists, ecologists, and students of aquatic entomology, but also for sport fishermen, naturalists, and environmental assessment specialists. For those who may not have some vested interested in nature and ecology, this book will provide a pictorial introduction to some of the most fascinating life forms on earth and, hopefully, "wet" the appetite for understanding the aquatic insects, their environment, and their relationship to human life.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent insects!.......2007-02-12
I am very pleased with this text, as an up and coming fisheries biologist, I hope to use it in my future.
book review.......2006-02-25
This book is very detailed and gives accurate descriptions of all aquatic insects. The pictures with in each chapter also depict what the specimen look like. With all the information on the aquatic insects that is provide by this book it would be hard to believe that there is a better book out there.
Buy it for the pictures.......2005-08-16
This book is amazingly beautiful. The illustrations alone make it worth the money. As an aquatic entomologist who teaches an aquatic entomology lab to college students, I find this book to be an invaluable source of high quality images for use in my classes. The pictorial keys are also very helpful - they are very easy to follow and make it almost a simplistic task for a lay person to identify aquatic insects down to the family level. Some of these keys are a little outdated since publication of the book, but they are still helpful for the most part.
My only complaint with this book is that it doesn't go into as much scientific detail as is necessary for a serious student of entomology. Still, this isn't meant to be a textbook or an identification manual for complex identifications lower than the family level. If the book is used as intended by fishermen and ecologists, this is a very helpful book.
And did I mention the ilustrations are amazing?
Aquatic Entomology.......2005-08-10
This is a must have for fly fishermen looking to study entomology as it applies to fishing and fly tying. I saw this book at my local Orvis store (reference only) and one look told me I needed it in my library. The plates and drawings are fantastic. This is a detailed study, but not over the head of most fly fishermen. Match it with Gary Lafontaine's "Caddisflies", Shane Stalcup's "Mayflies - Top to Bottom" and/or Dave Hugh's "Matching Mayflies" and you have the start of a good entomology library for fly fishermen.
Aquatic Entomology even has sections marked by a small image of a tied fly, which are of special interest to the fisherman. Get this book!!
An oldie, but goodie..........2004-12-17
The book is now quite old. There have been several regroupings at the family level since this book has been published so even if you use it correctly, you can incorrectly identify insects. Also, if you are serious about identifying aquatic insects, the family-level keys of this book are insufficient to give your work credibility. Those are the two problems with this book... 1- it is a little out of date AND 2- it is a limited tool for identifying organisms.
All that aside, it is a very good book to teach the CONCEPTS of taxonomy to students. The keys have nice flow charts that teach students to make the kinds of decisions that they need identify insects.
Does it have legs? Or not?
Does it have wings? Or not?
Does it have one claw? Or two?
The keys use pictures so that the process does not become bogged down in terminology. Thus I highly recommend it to teachers and to parents that are helping there child build their own entomology collection. I keep a copy for work shops.
The color plates in the back are beautiful and help convey the appearance of specimens in life. Most of the book has nice grey-scale illustrations.
The Author is a mayfly specialist... one of THE mayfly specialists in the world...
If you are interested in this book there are other titles you may find interesting. Try Reese Voshell's book if you are interested in teaching insects to older kids, or for watershed monitoring groups. [2002: A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America]; it also contains lots of interesting ecologic information.
If you are interested general taxonomy of aquatic insects, try Merritt and Cummins 1996 [An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America]. It provides the best keys to genus-level for most insects. But be aware that a new edition should be out in 2 years or so... this book is not real friendly if you have not had a college-level entomology... but i heard a rumor that that there will be a nice glossary in the new edition that should make it more accessible...
of course not all aquatic invertebrates are insects... if you are interested in these critters (amphipods, snails, etc) try Thrope and Covich 2002 [Ecology and Classification of Freshwater Invertebrates]
Note that, for genus-level-taxonomy, the last two books will require access to a medium to High-quality dissecting microscope and may require a compound microscope. The Books by McCafferty and by Voshell do not require as much magnification...
If you would like further information you can email me and I will be glad to help. brett@thebugguy.org
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding Resource.......2007-07-16
I would imagine that most visitors to the Galapaos are not naturalists. For those without a strong background in natural sciences, I would highly recommend this book. The book is easy and fun to read, detailed without being tedious. The photos are amazing and the author's passion for the islands is evident. If you only have time to read one book, this is one I would advise a Galapagos visitor to read in advance of their trip.
A wonderful introduction to the life of this fantastic place.......2006-04-29
My wife and I bought Jackson's book in preparation for a trip to the Galapagos. The book served us well; when we arrived at the islands we felt that we were almost on a first-name basis with all the fantastic creatures and plants that make the Galapagos such a fascinating place. The book is considerably more than just a field guide; it includes information on the islands' history, their environmental and ecological setting, and the conservation efforts being made to preserve this truly unique place. And, as the title indicates, the book provides a lot of natural history, not just a brief summary of bare facts about each animal or plant. Not only is it a fine guide, it is a most enjoyable read.
The Guide's bible on the Galapagos.......2004-08-11
Every naturalist guide in the Galapagos has this book. They also sell this book at the Charles Darwin Center in Santa Cruz, and it is a must read. It explains how the islands came about and what makes them so unique. I highly recommend this book!
The one book needed when travelling to the galapagos.......2000-08-15
I just recently returned from the Galapagos Islands, and the book that guided me throughout my journey was this book by M.H. Jackson. Very easy to find the animal you are looking, and also helps to discover more creatures to look for. Helped explain things further from what the guides had said. Also helped me in answering many people's questions about different creatures. A Great book! A must for all travelers to the galapagos in search of unique wildlife.
Undoubtedly the best overview of "Darwin's Islands"........1998-05-21
I am a biologist that has been working in the Galapagos as a Naturalist leading tours there for the last 6 years. Michael Jackson's book is the "Bible" for the beginning naturalist and certainly more than adequate for the casual "ecotourist". Jackson covers all major aspects of the history, geology, ecology, and biology of the islands. In the "biology" section, he gives a clear, concise, but thorough group-by-group treatment of all major taxa including plants, reptiles, land and sea birds, mammals, and a brief section covering marine life. While there are other guidebooks available, none come close to the accuracy, clarity of presentation, and logical format of this book. Of particular usefulness are the many photos, tables, and graphs which provide a visual representation of many of the topics discussed and a synthesis of large amounts of data.
Book Description
*2003 National Outdoor Book Award Winner *Detailed track and trail data for 135 species with actual-size track illustrations in one section *Scat photos and data for dozens of animals
The most thorough treatment of the subject ever published, this amazing guide brings together clear track and trail illustrations, range maps, and full-color photographs showing feeding signs, scat, tunnels, burrows, bedding areas, remains, and more, to give a wealth of information about hundreds of mammal species living in North America. How to find, identify, measure, and interpret the clues mammals leave behind--explained and illustrated like never before. Includes essays that contextualize tracking as a developing science continually garnering more interest and participation; included also are instructive anecdotes from the author's work as a tracker and wildlife expert. An invaluable resource for beginning or professional trackers and wildlife enthusiasts in all North American locations.
Customer Reviews:
Great illustrations and descriptions.......2007-09-13
This book has very clear pictures and descriptions. It is a great guide to help you identify tracks and scat when you are in the mountains. It is a great resource to use when you see tracks or scat and want to know what animal left them.
Mammal Tracks Review.......2007-09-01
Great book - very thorough collection of mammal tracks and more. Very much worth the money.
Excellent resource.......2007-06-08
This book has great photos of scat, prints, and other animal sign. I was able to use it to definitively identify otter scat on my property. Information is grouped by type of sign, so all the scat pictures are together, for example, and those are subdivided by how they look (pellets, amorphous, etc.). For many animals there are several examples of scat showing what you might see if the animal had been eating berries, or meat, or whatever. In addition to the photographs are drawings and scale data, and other information about animals and their habits. Though as you can tell, I mostly use it for scat identification.
A huge help!.......2007-03-11
I am earning a B.S. in wildlife management and I was needing a book that would help me with mammel signs. I reviewed several and found that they were not what I was looking for. After purchasing Mammal Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North America Species, I found that it was a huge help! This book gives understandable descriptions and a lot of pics of mammal dens, feces, tracks, and other signs. I encourage anyone who is in the wildlife perfession or just the everyday wildlife lover to purchase a copy.
A Text Book - Not a Field Guide.......2007-03-08
Great book with loads of detail. This blows away anything else out there on the subject, but it is not a field guide or a week-end reader. This book will take you a serious amount of time to read and then a lifetime to comprehend and master. This book is a textbook and should be purchased with that in mind. I believe the organization of the book could be better arranged and more navigable. In the book there is some preaching, recruiting and praising of the Tracker and the art of Tracking early on, but it passes soon enough to be of no concern. You will come away with a new perspective regarding tracks and their interpretation. Well worth the money, and I could not beat the Amazon price either. There are other places to get the book, but they charge $10 more. Happy reading.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful overview of tropical ecology.......2007-03-09
I found Tropical Nature to be an interesting and easy read. Organized neatly into 17 chapters and an appendix, each covers a specific a specific species of ecological concept. I found chapter 6, "Listen to the flowers" the most interesting, detailing the different mechanisms plants employ in order to have evolutionary advantages as well as trick other species.
(I read this as a precursor to a may term course at my college where I shall be going to the rain forests of Ecuador)
great adventure!.......2007-01-18
I began reading this book for a class involving tropical studies and travel and I wasn't sure what to expect. This is a great book. Easy read. The book takes a broad yet, also in depth exploration of different *interesting* topics in tropical ecology. Although it is definitely not a scientific text, this book takes you for a wondrous adventure into the tropics.
Tropical Nature.......2006-11-13
This book was great. It is written a bit technically, so it would help to have a science backgroung to fully enjoy it. The literary style is easy to read and the book is difficult to put down. I'm sure that having read this book will enhance my trip to the rain forest. Thanks!!
Best Intro to the Natural History of Tropical Forests.......2006-10-15
Buy this Book! This book is a great read for anybody who is interested in life on our planet. It would make a dandy companion to E.O. Wilson's "The Diversity of Life."
ENCHANTING DEPICTION OF THE RAIN FOREST.......2006-04-10
Among books that aim to express to readers the wonders of the rain forest, this one stands out. In 17 chapters that touch upon different aspects of the rain forest, the authors transmit their own passion for the rain forest and the unique intricacies that make rain forests some of the most precious places on earth.
The book is not written as one coherent whole, but rather as 17 individual chapters or essays. Below is a brief sample of topics:
- the strategy of dung scarabs to capture important proteins
- the symbiotic relationship of sloths with the trees they prefer
- the mimicry some insects have developed to elude their main predators, birds
- the reason why some birds have developed migratory patterns to temperate climates
- the reason why some frogs developed a parental care strategy and even marsupial pouches
- the reason why some trees are hollow
- how parasited species can benefit even in the most unlikely scenarios
- why some plants developed hallucinogenic substances
These are just a few of the topics covered in the book. It is written in a pop science format, so that an interested reader will easily understand and appreciate these and many more concepts. The authors carefully explain the relationships, often comparing the rain forest experience with those of temperate forests. The authors also focus on the possible evolutionary principles involved in adaptations presented.
This is the very best introductory book on the subject. It is designed to excite the reader into learning more and even visiting the rain forest. In the mold of Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins, Miyata and Forsyth write a masterpiece that will make the reader feel smarter after reading it.
Book Description
More than 370 edible wild plants, plus 37 poisonous look-alikes, are described here, with 400 drawings and 78 color photographs showing precisely how to recognize each species. Also included are habitat descriptions, lists of plants by season, and preparation instructions for 22 different food uses.
Customer Reviews:
Up to the usual Peterson Field Guides standards.......2007-03-23
Although this book is well written and organized, I have one minor complaint...
If you are going to depend on a book to decide whether or not you can eat something without poisoning yourself, the pictures next to the plant descriptions ought to be in color rather than black and white sketches.
excellent seller and product.......2007-02-13
Item as described and received in a timely manner... an excellent buying experience!
Wonderful.......2007-01-10
This is a very comprehensive book that I am learning much from. It is exhaustive in showing edible plants, many that I didnt realize.
Not quite as good as the medicinal.......2006-08-17
The pictures aren't good enough to make identification easy. Good information if you have another book to identify the plants with.
perfect choice.......2005-09-13
As usual the Petersen Guide did not disappoint me. It's exactly what I wanted for plant identification
Amazon.com
A second revised edition of John Kricher's well-received 1989 text, A Neotropical Companion distills whole libraries of information on the Americas' tropics. Kricher explores the workings of a rainforest with admirable clarity, discussing matters such as regeneration pathways and ecological succession. He also takes a sidelong glance at current issues in evolutionary theory, using his deep knowledge of the tropics to add to the literature on speciation and various hypotheses surrounding it. Ethnobotanists in particular will want to have a look at Kricher's catalog of tropical medicinal plants, in which lie the promise of cures and reliefs for a host of modern illnesses.
Book Description
A Neotropical Companion is an extraordinarily readable introduction to the American tropics, the lands of Central and South America, their remarkable rainforests and other ecosystems, and the creatures that live there. It is the most comprehensive one-volume guide to the Neotropics available today. Widely praised in its first edition, it remains a book of unparalleled value to tourists, students, and scientists alike. This second edition has been substantially revised and expanded to incorporate the abundance of new scientific information that has been produced since it was first published in 1989. Major additions have been made to every chapter, and new chapters have been added on Neotropical ecosystems, human ecology, and the effects of deforestation. Biodiversity and its preservation are discussed throughout the book, and Neotropical evolution is described in detail. This new edition offers all new drawings and photographs, many of them in color.
As enthusiastic readers of the first edition will attest, this is a charming book. Wearing his learning lightly and writing with ease and humor, John Kricher presents the complexities of tropical ecology as accessible and nonintimidating. Kricher is so thoroughly knowledgeable and the book is so complete in its coverage that general readers and ecotourists will not need any other book to help them identify and understand the plants and animals, from birds to bugs, that they will encounter in their travels to the New World tropics. At the same time, it will fascinate armchair travelers and students who may get no closer to the Neotropics than this engagingly written book.
Customer Reviews:
really fun for the amateur naturalist.......2007-08-15
This is just a great book if you like this sort of stuff. The content is thorough but not overwhelming, and the author does a really good job making the complex science of neotropical ecology accessible for non-academics.
I purchased it before I traveled to birdwatch in Costa Rica and wowed my companions with little tidbits and facts that I pulled pretty much verbatim from the book. It opens you eyes to things in the tropics that you would most certainly miss otherwise and should be considered indispensable for anyone traveling there with an interest in nature.
Textbook.......2007-04-11
Well, this is a requirement for class, so I can't complain too much. Still, it looks to be chock full of useful tidbits.
A Neotropical Companion.......2007-01-10
Received the book in a few days and in excellent condition. Very pleased with my purchase.
Great overview of the tropics.......2006-11-10
I took this book along with me to Peru and read it during long boat rides on the river. If you have an interest in biology and ecosystems, this book is a great introduction. It covers a little bit of everything, from birds to mammals to plants. You can dip into one topic without having to read it linearly.
The book greatly enhanced my trip. Guides are great but they can't be experts in everything at once.
whet your appetite for a fascinating region of the Americas.......2006-07-02
Kricher's NEOTROPICAL COMPANION is not the kind of 'field-guide-for-dummies' that many of us depend on to find our way around Central and South America's flora and fauna. Rather, it's the next step for people who've become familiar with that kind of guide and want to understand at a deeper and occasionally more abstract level why the natural life around them is what it is.
Ours accompanied us through many years in Costa Rica.
The photos are stunning, but there are not many of them. Fairly dense, instructive prose dominates.
A fine book by a recognized authority. Buy the field guide and get it well-thumbed and into your mind. Then add Kricher's NEOTROPICAL COMPANION to it.
Book Description
The Photographs of Ansel Adams with the Writings of John Muir
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ansel Adams whose landmark early photographs of wild America, originally taken for the Works Progress Administration, fill the pages of this splendid volume. Adams' breathtaking images are accompanied by excerpts from the writings of Sierra Club founder John Muir, the renowned conservationist who devoted his life to celebrating and preserving the American wilderness.
Customer Reviews:
American Photography at its Best.......2007-06-15
Breathtaking photos. Especially in light of the rudimentary equipment available at the time they were taken. Proves that Ansel Adams is still unsurpassed in American photography. Captures the majesty and beauty of the vanishing American wilderness. Members of Congress should view this work before voting to open refuge or wild lands to drilling and logging.
Poor quality.......2007-05-03
Poor reproduction quality. Actually no quality. As educational book, to study composition or something like that, perhaps the book serves.
Not Worth Looking At.......2006-04-05
Poor reproduction quality. Actually no quality. Not approved by the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.
Adams wouldn't have approved.......2005-07-18
While some photos are reasonable, most are seriously flawed. Some are flat, some are excessively contrasty, others seem murky and indistinct. Some of the photos need cleaning to remove dust spots, etc. Even the title is wrong , as the book includes photos of dams and sheep. There are many other excellent books, which have been prepared from Adams prints and produced with much more care. Buy one of those.
Are we looking at the same book?.......2005-01-02
Many of Ansel Adams' exquisite photographs call out for large reproductions, and this book displays them in a decent size format. But what a waste. The reproductions are nearly all flat and murky, with little detail in the shadow. If I had read far enough down into the customer reviews, I would have been warned; but the reviews at the top of the stack were quite favorable. Which leads me to wonder: Are we looking at the same book? I advise readers to purchase Adams books published by Little, Brown, and Company (aka "Bulfinch"). Even at smaller sizes their books display much more detail and clarity than does this disappointing edition.
Book Description
The Amazon is not what it seems. As Hugh Raffles shows us in this captivating and innovative book, the world's last great wilderness has been transformed again and again by human activity. In Amazonia brings to life an Amazon whose allure and reality lie as much, or more, in what people have made of it as in what nature has wrought. It casts new light on centuries of encounter while describing the dramatic remaking of a sweeping landscape by residents of one small community in the Brazilian Amazon. Combining richly textured ethnographic research and lively historical analysis, Raffles weaves a fascinating story that changes our understanding of this region and challenges us to rethink what we mean by "nature."
Raffles draws from a wide range of material to demonstrate--in contrast to the tendency to downplay human agency in the Amazon--that the region is an outcome of the intimately intertwined histories of humans and nonhumans. He moves between a detailed narrative that analyzes the production of scientific knowledge about Amazonia over the centuries and an absorbing account of the extraordinary transformations to the fluvial landscape carried out over the past forty years by the inhabitants of Igarapé Guariba, four hours downstream from the nearest city.
Engagingly written, theoretically inventive, and vividly illustrated, the book introduces a diverse range of characters--from sixteenth-century explorers and their native rivals to nineteenth-century naturalists and contemporary ecologists, logging company executives, and river-traders. A natural history of a different kind, In Amazonia shows how humans, animals, rivers, and forests all participate in the making of a region that remains today at the center of debates in environmental politics.
Customer Reviews:
A great read.......2004-06-24
This beautifully written book won the 2003 Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing, a big deal in US anthropology. When you read it you can see why, as it really succeeds in bringing this fascinating region to life. It is lyrically written, and often both funny and sad. It is very personal in its account of the author's experience in the Amazon and of the people that he knows there, and it is also very informative about the region's history and culture. A quote on the book rightly says that "it has a great deal to offer those knowing everything or nothing about the Amazon." I agree: Highly recommended!
Interesting but a tough read........2004-06-01
From the first chapter: "I am preoccupied by a range of questions in the politics of nature that draw me to explore the fullness and multiplicity of nature as a domain marked both by an active and irreducible materiality and by a similarly irreducible discusivity-a domain with complex agency. In addition, this is a book of intimacies, an account of the differential relationships of affective and often physical proximity between humans, and between humans and non-humans. Such 'tense and tender ties' are themselves the sites and occasions for the condensations I examine here. Indeed, they are the constitutive matter of these locations" (p. 8).
The author, Hugh Raffles, apparently has three main goals in this book. The first is to discuss the significance of man-made canals in the Brazilian Amazon. Many of these canals were cut and dug by hand, and they opened up areas for settlement and trade that otherwise wouldn't have been so open. What appeared to 19th century explorers and naturalists to be "nature" was actually nature modified by man well before the era of steam powered ships and digging machines. A second goal, related to the first, is to give a fairly detailed example of the history of a particular man-made canal area, Igarape Guariba, that illustrates the idea of "natural history" in the sense of the history of a local natural area that has been changed over time through complex interactions between humans and nature and between humans and other humans. Such details provide an intimacy of acquaintance with Amazonia that is missed in larger-scale histories. A third goal is to discuss historical changes in European views of the relationship between man and nature, and the issue of environmental determinism of culture.
The book was of interest to me since I have visited the upper Amazon in Peru, and paddled through man-made canals similar to those that Raffles describes. And I am generally interested in Amazonian nature and native cultures. As it turned out, I was not as enthusiastic about this book as I had hoped to be. On the plus side, Raffles' narrative description-based on interviews of natives-of the history of a particular Amazonian tributary and its canals, and the families that made them, was written clearly enough, and was interesting. His discussion of trading patterns and land use in Amazonia was also interesting. On the negative side, Raffles' theoretical discussions were often tedious and hard to understand. He uses lots of rare words and complex sentences. I am not unaccustomed to reading academic writing. In fact, I have done quite a bit of it myself. But if a graduate student had turned in this manuscript to me as a doctoral dissertation, I would have required many parts of it to be re-written in plain English before I would have approved it. If you are interested in Amazonia and you have a very large vocabulary and like to use it to decipher sentences that most people would not understand at all, then you might like this book. In my view, if I have to read a sentence more than twice to understand it, then the sentence was badly written. There were many such cases in this book. This book has a number of interesting ideas. It is too bad that one has to work so hard to get them.
If you want to read a really interesting book about the Amazon as it was 150 years ago, I highly recommend A Naturalist on the River Amazons, by Henry Walter Bates. Bates was an English naturalist who spent 11 years exploring and collecting plant and insect and animal samples on the Amazon in the mid-1800s. His book is interesting for his interactions with the local people--both the natives and the Portuguese colonialists--as well as for its discussion and drawings of tropical nature. Bates' book is a major historical document of the Amazon, and it is quite interesting and well-written. After you have read Bates, you might want to read Raffles' Chapter 5 on Bates, titled "The Uses of Butterflies." Raffles discusses the historical context and significance of Bates and his work, which will add to your appreciation of Bates' book. However, be warned, to get through Raffles' chapter on Bates you will have to get through passages like this one:
"Scientific practice turns out to be a conjunctural negotiation of emergent and relational knowledges. Amazonians' understandings of the forest mediated by their assessments of the institutional resources and priorities of the visitor enter into fluid dialogue with Bates' own conflicted allegiance to natural historical systematics as mediated by all the complications stirred up in his Amazon experience" (p. 142).
I recommend this book for college professors and graduate students who specialize in the history of Amazonia.
Natural history for the 21st century.......2004-01-06
Amazonia is arguably the heartland of modern Western environmentalism-the region where many fundamental ecological insights were first proposed and honed, the site of some of the most violent and wrenching contemporary conflicts over natural resource exploitation and conservation, and the beloved core of a planetary nature conceived all too often as a battered and sputtering "spaceship Earth." In Amazonia casts a fresh and provocative light on this vital and contested terrain.
Nature in this account is not a primeval zone either threatened or threatening, but rather a dynamic and heterogeneous web of places and relations, saturated with the affinities and intimacies, the memories and yearnings, of everyday life. Tracking back and forth between multiple sites and scales, In Amazonia takes up a series of human engagements through which the very nature of the Amazon has been elaborated-exploratory expeditions, natural history collections, ecological experimentations, and embodied practices of occupation and development.
Raffles writes both with and against the literary traditions of Western naturalism, suggestively presenting the Amazon itself as an assemblage or collection of living objects. The result is a novel and enlightening mode of "natural history," one that places at center stage both the accidents and the affects that have made modern Amazonia.
Ultimately it is the quality of Raffles' writing that makes this volume such a captivating and enlightening read. With great skill and delicacy, Raffles spins out a narrative that turns at every turn on contingency-on the myriad and unpredictable accidents of biography, politics and philosophy that lend to places their significance and texture.
It is in such workings that nature itself finds a measure of agency, ecological chains of consequence turning fields to swamps, dropping houses and fruit trees into river beds, forcing fish to move from one place to another. Raffles is candid about the contingencies that led him through the path of his own writing, from the seductions of his characters to the personal traumas that directed him to the question of Amazonian passions in the first place.
As an heir to the vexing legacies of Western environmentalism myself, I found that In Amazonia struck many an unanticipated chord. How many of us have shared Amazonian dreams unknowing?
This is an amazing book!.......2004-01-04
This is an amazing book - at once engaging, entertaining and challenging. I can understand why it won two awards for ethnographic writing at the AAA. It is a testament to the possibility of combining beautifully written prose, interesting stories and sophisticated theoretical insights under the same cover, making it a great read for those with a general interest in Natural History, the environment and Amazonia, as well as for the most theoretically-minded academics interested in a sophisticated exploration of the complex relationships between nature, culture and power. Indeed, I used this book in a graduate seminar that I taught at Stanford and my students selected it as the best of 12 ethnographies they read during the course. The book has also been thoroughly enjoyed by non-academics, including my sister, who is a physician. In short In Amazonia is a tremendously worthwhile read.
Beautiful writing; compelling anthropology.......2004-01-02
"In Amazonia" tells an engaging and well-researched story of epic proportions. Raffles' lyrical style draws the reader close to the narrative but stops short of romanticizing. Appropriate for academic research or an interested layperson. Highly recommended!
Book Description
Entertaining and informative, Pets in America is a portrait of Americans' relationships with the cats, dogs, birds, fishes, rodents, and other animals we call our own. More than 60 percent of U.S. households have pets, and America grows more pet-friendly every day. But as Katherine Grier demonstrates, the ways we talk about and treat our pets--as companions, as children, and as objects of beauty, status, or pleasure--have their origins long ago.
Grier begins with a natural history of animals as pets, then discusses the changing role of pets in family life, new standards of animal welfare, the problems presented by borderline cases such as livestock pets, and the marketing of both animals and pet products. She focuses particularly on the period between 1840 and 1940, when the emotional, behavioral, and commercial characteristics of contemporary pet keeping were established. The story is peppered with the warmth and humor of anecdotes from period diaries, letters, catalogs, and newspapers.
Filled with illustrations reflecting the whimsy, the devotion, and the commerce that have shaped centuries of American pet keeping, Pets in America ultimately shows how the history of pets has evolved alongside changing ideas about human nature, child development, and community life.
This book accompanies a museum exhibit, "Pets in America," which opens at the McKissick Museum in Columbia, South Carolina, in December 2005 and will travel to five other cities from May 2006 through May 2008.
Customer Reviews:
Pets in America: A History.......2007-08-28
Pets in America: A History, was purchased as a gift to a friend who is a pet-lover. She seemed delighted with the gift. I skimmed but did not read the book in detail.
Our "favorites".......2006-05-16
"Pets in America", an astonishingly comprehensive new book by Katherine C. Grier, relates the history of pets as we have known them from the earliest days of our nation. In doing so, she has given us a compelling look at the evolution of how different animals became popular pets, how we treat pets as a society and what their needs are compared to ours.
Grier begins by asking "what is a pet?" and then follows up with remarks about "why pets matter". She sets the stage for the reader to begin to view the animals we call "pets" (and what Americans in the nineteenth century called "favorites") in a different way than just furry little creatures that greet us upon our return home. One of the many surprises I found in reading "Pets in America" was that one hundred to one hundred fifty years ago the most popular pet to have was a caged bird. She explains part of the reason by saying that there was far less noise around then and songbirds added a cheerful level of volume that was most welcome in many homes.
While Grier's book understandably covers dogs, cats, birds and fish as the most common pets to find around the house, there is also a good deal of writing about livestock animals.....horses, swine, barnyard fowl and rabbits. There are many quotes from diarists of the 1800s and the most alluring ones come from children. Being much closer to "pets as dinner" she quotes a few girls who couldn't stand the thought of losing a newborn calf or lamb, knowing that it would end up on someone's dinner table....possibly their own. There's also a charming section on "the Bunnie States of America"....a club set up in 1898 by the children of an Albany, New York couple who had rules and regulations for their club, held meetings and wrote of the happenings of their beloved rabbits.
Grier takes an awful lot of time in the middle of the book describing the liberal goodness of the upper middle class and their views toward treating animals with kindness and respect. Although she presents her case effectively, it is the one place where "Pets in America" bogs down a little but she picks right up again with a chapter titled, "Pet keeping and its dilemmas". As animals moved closer to humans with their increased indoor contact, boundaries necessitated change. Understandably, at the same time, livestock became more foreign to many Americans with the advent of the automobile, as horses were decreasingly necessary for transportation. However, Grier describes in great detail what city life was like prior to that with pigs running through the streets, chickens cackling in many a backyard and the undeniable stench of horse manure. The seemy side of pet life....those who dealt in the selling, trading and butchering of pets is a terrific addition to the work. It's hard to believe, sometimes, that we are just a few generations removed from all of that.
The author finishes up with a look at the twentieth century arrival (on a large scale) of pet stores, pet food and other accoutrements such as "clothing" and bedding. There is not much about veterinary medicine in this book other to say that in earlier times, a pet's best caregiver (and often its only doctor) was its owner.
Many wonderful, early photographs and drawings accompany "Pets in America". It's a welcome addition to a fantastic book. I highly recommend "Pets in America" for its depth and incisiveness and I applaud Katherine Grier for combining a straightforward analysis with an outstanding narrative.
Customer Reviews:
This is not a review, it is a question........1999-10-19
I have an old book by Mark Catesby. Half is in French and half in English, it is supposed to one of two volumes, it is not in very good shape,and most of the plates are missing. Do you have any thing more you could tell me about this book?
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