David W. Steadman, Steven Zousmer, and Lee M. Steadman have done an outstanding job on this book on Galapagos wildlife. The book is basically divided into two parts. The first part, amply illustrated by highly quality full color photographs, describes the overall geology, topography, climate, flora, and especially fauna of this important group of islands. Much of this stems from the fieldwork of David Steadman and his brother Lee. Truly fascinating, everything from paleonotological research in the islands, speciation of the island's famous finches, Charles Darwin's explorations and work in the islands, to conservation and more are addressed. Also found in part one are maps, both modern day and some early maps from when the island's were first being explored, as well some early scientific illustrations of the island's plants and animals.

Part two though to me is the main reason to buy this fine book, which contains the color plates by artist and scientist Lee M. Steadman. These excellent illustrations depict every resident species of bird from the islands as well as least one species of each major group of native reptiles and mammals. Even a few extinct species are illustrated. Accompanying each full page illustration of an animal in its native habitat is a full page description of the species, noting physical description in detail, ecological role, natural history notes, life habits, how the group got to the islands, possible relations to other species not only on other islands in the Galapagos but also on the mainland, and notes relating to conservation. The color plates are excellent, very true to life and quite beautiful, illustrating such species as the Galapagos Tortoise (of course!), the Marine Iguana, Red Bat, Galapagos Fur Seal, Galapagos Penguin, Dark-rumped Petrel, Flightless Cormorant, Lava Heron, and the San Cristobal Mockingbird. The famous finches of course are given several great pages of illustrations with several pages of text devoted to them.

This is a great buy, and it is a true shame that this book is out of print! I'll never understand why some books go out of print, this book is in my opinion a classic not only on the Galapagos but in the field of natural history in general, and should be reprinted again and again. I highly urged all of those interested in these wondrous isles to get Amazon to search for this book for you.

I left the field of physics twenty years ago, and as a graduate physicist I am now doing social science research into information systems. But I like to stay informed about current developments in physics. And certainly a unified theory of the fundamental forces of nature is attracting a lot of attention from both specialists and laymen alike. I knew that gauge theories are important for a unified theory, and nobody interested in physics could escape the renewed interest through the awarding of the 1999 Nobel Prize in physics to Veltman and 't Hooft. So I bought this classic text of Chris Quigg. Many popular books on modern physics (e.g. Bedersen, 1999) quote this text. By no means I was disappointed. Of course the mathematics is often difficult, but the author is starting each chapter outlining what the fundamental ideas are. And that alone makes the book a good read. The book has nine chapters, and each chapter is concluded with an assessment or a reflection on the contents, which are highly understandable. Many of the problems of 1983, when the book was published, are still open today. It is didactically very suited as textbook or reference book for those physicists wishing to specialize in high energy physics.

In this book, professional biologist Tim Birkhead describes his years studying the breeding biology of seabirds in isolated arctic regions. Note however, that this is no dry ornithological text bogged down with eye-straining tables of data and statistics. Although the science is there for all to see, and the take home messages are as clear as crystal, they are nestled within a hugely enjoyable tale of what it is like to study wild animals in their natural habitat. The rugged beauty and remoteness of arctic cliffs and islands is captured well by the author's style, which borders on the reverential without being romantic. At times, I almost felt as though I was perched on a cliff alongside the author, watching crowds of auks (murres) squabbling on their tiny breeding ledges!

This book also gives a readable synopsis of avian reproductive physiology put in the context of what one acually observes from the outside, as well as a good account of seabird natural history. What separates this book from others of its ilk is the author's willingness to bare his soul to the reader, giving the book a very personal feel with the description of some rather troubled events that most people would have shied away from even mentioning. Equally interesting is a chapter describing how scientists actually work, and what motivates them to devote so much effort into questions which the casual observer would happily leave unanswered.

I learned a lot from this book, at several different levels, and would strongly recommend it to laypeople with an interest in natural history or wilderness travel, as well as practising or prospective scientists.

Especially in everyday pediatrics, grey is more common a color than either black or white. Field et al. present 100 such "grey" scenarios in which the elements of diagnosis are not straightforward -as they usually aren't in real life. This book is, no doubt, excellent practice for the written portion of the MRCP (UK) part II, but also good reading for pediatric house officers in general. It covers everything from behavioral problems to metabolic diseases; from pediatric cardiology to neonatal neurology. Many cases are supported with b&w pictures, radiographs, EKGs, EEGs and growth charts. The discussions are clear and sound and yet unfulfillingly brief, which perhaps is intentional to leave the reader with room for pursuing more information elsewhere. Unfortunately though, the lack of references does little to aid the reader in this regard. Therefore, information is not the stronghold of this book, as opposed to wisdom, which is clearly written between its lines. It teaches to use common sense generously whenever pieces of a medical puzzle don't seem to fit right, and to consider other possible diagnoses whenever clinical answers appear to come easily served on silver platter. In brief, this is a very good, practical book about a common but generally unexplored subject in pediatrics: the grey cases.

The photographs are so gorgious and real that they make you feel like you are right there. From the cliffs to the sandy beaches and from the light houses to the huge watery rocks make this book extremely unforgettable.

Edited by Judith Feher Gurewich in collaboration with Susan Fairfield, Juan-David Nasio's Hysteria From Freud To Lacan examines the concept of hysteria in the English-speaking psychoanalytic world. Widely held to reflect outmoded cultural prejudices against woman, hysteria has virtually disappeared from psychoanalytic literature, diagnostic manuals, and training programs. However, far from being gender-bound, hysteria for Jacques Lacan represents a psychic strategy that bears on one of the mot fundamental preoccupations of existence: What doe it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be a man? Hysteria From Freud To Lacan is an important and engaging contribution to the growing library of psychoanalytic literature and highly recommended reading for students of psychology, psychiatry, counseling, and the nature of what it means to be human.

If you are interested in endangered species - this is the book for you. Not only does the book outline the reasons for the decline and near extinction of the California Condor - it also talks about other species in the Carrizo Plain that are near extinction. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the Natural History of the Southern San Joaquin Valley.

The photography in this book is spectacular! It is what you expect from a Sierra Club book. Put together with wonderfully thoughtful and though-provoking texts by various writers, this book can give even a hard-core city slicker pause. Wilderness at its best....words to salve the heart.

Land degradation is now recognized as a major environmental problem and, globally, millions of dollars are now being spent annually on soil and water conservation programs. Many success stories can be found among these programs but, overall, progress has been slow and there have been many failures. there is an apparent reluctance of landusers to adopt conservation-effective practices, and it is usually not clear why practices that have appeared so promising in trials have not been accepted by them, or have been rejected after a short time. Attention has therefore turned to the landusers themselves, rather than the technology. Landusers are now much more involved in the process of identifying the problems, developing practical solutions and applying the necessary measures in the field. The International Workshop on Soil Conservation Extension: Concepts, Strategies, Implementation and Adoption, held in Chiang Mai in June 1995, looked at how soil conservation programs were being presented in the field and what were the problems. It appeared that although progress is being made in many ways, there was one major shortcoming: even where extension services are effective in fully involving landusers in the process of problem identification and the development of acceptable solutions, progress may still be very slow. The reason for this is that landusers may simply not be able to change their practices because eof economic, social or political reasons that are beyond their control. To overcome this problem, programs have been using a variety of incentives and over the years a wide range has been developed and used. Because of the need to examine incentives more closely and to discover which incentives will work and under what circumstances, the editors, on behalf of the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation, invited workers in this field to contribute to the present book. It contains a variety of articles that explore many aspects of the use of incentives in soil conservation programs. The book gives a clear understanding of the subject and also provides guidance to those involved in the development and implementation of soil conservation programs. An interesting addition to books on soil conservation!

Whether you're a biologist, an environmentalist, or just someone who loves fish/fishing, this book is a must. Written for both academics and lay-persons, with easy to understand text, it includes information on methods for determining the identity of local freshwater fish, with beautiful illustrations and color plates.