5 Stars is not enough for this excellent book. I read this book for a entrepreneurial course a year ago. However, it was after the end of school that I fell in love with this book. It is truly helpful for anyone with a passion for business and entrepreneurialism.

Look for me in the future, Chris Philippi, future CEO.
I will be starting a marketing consulting firm based in Northern NJ soon. Be on the lookout, this book has that kind of influence.

As a fifteen year veteran of entrepreneural ventures (all reasonably successful) and after scouring through scores of books on assessment, planning et al, this book leaves me speachless.

Explore the pages and you'll find yourself happy you found a modern, practical and valuable resource. Buy it, worth it's cost after 15 minuets!

I teach a course in Managing a Consulting Practice and consult to a wide range of organizations. This is probably the most practical resource I have come across that includes everything - from beginning with an idea for the business, to the basics of starting a business, to what it takes to plan for and run a successful business. The book is full of practical examples and short "Personal Workshops" (e.g., "Personal Workshop 24: Setting a Price Structure"). The book is a great resource for someone who has business experience but has never started or run a business, as well as someone with a great idea but no business experience. I highly recommend this book!

Dave Strohmaier masterfully paints us a portrait of wildfire in the West, drawing from a palette of sensitivity to the earth, gritty practical experience, humor, and skilled writing craft. He calls attention to the beauty of many elements of nature we take for granted, its paradoxes, and draws complex associations between these and wildfire. This book is not a primer on how wildfires are fought. It is a loving and thorough philosophical exploration of the meaning of fire, nature, and humanity.

Seasons of Fire by David J. Strohmaier is a superbly written, artistic, and thought-provoking novel on humankind's relationship to fire. Like the author, I too have "engaged" the fires of summer,which stirred deep, ontological questions about human evolution's debt to fire. The author expresses such ideas in a free-flowing narrative that bursts with imagery. Deep yet accesible (I will admit to using the dictionary at least once every 50 pages, but I admire an author who can skillfully use words that I should know, but don't).

To ape the vernacular of Hollywood producers, "it's like Edward Abbey meets Garrison Keillor!" David J. Strohmaier provides beatific explorations of philosophical questions with a smooth, down-home panache. I have never had the pleasure of attacking a fire with gunny sacks, but the author makes me wish I had:

"There is pleasure in completing little tasks--sweating your way up a hill to the flank of a fire under the sun and open sky of mid-July, then, in the company of several others, swatting out flames until either you smother all movement, or cool, moist night air tucks the fire in for the evening. This genuine satisfaction does not abdicate you from the responsibility of asking why you are doing what you are doing, and why it is meaningful. And of all the seasons of the year, summer, the summer of fire, is when these questions are cured."

Descriptions of a bygone Halloween when the author dressed as Satan himself, dancing around a fire, made me laugh out loud. A truly provocative and enjoyable book. I look forward to his next work.

Strohmaier captures the essense of what calls people from all walks of life to a world of flames and wild places.
As a veteran wildland firefighter for over 24 years,
it was a joy to read about the spirit that exist within every wildland firefighter. If you want to understand the
essentials of what motivates wildland firefighters, read this book.

Mr. Carroll has captured nature as it truly is. Like a fine craftsman he was one with the subject and as an artist he has accurately recorded what he observed and has presented the information coherently. I'm left with an indelible, poignant legacy.

David M. Carroll is one of the finest nature writer/philosophers I've ever come across in my entire reading career. Swampwalker's Journal is a book to be savored, relied upon. Caroll knows the lives of the wetlands so intimately, from first-hand experience over long years, that you know you're getting a privileged glimpse into deep nature. Added to that, he is a truly masterful illustrator, and a graceful, profound writer. I'll be waiting to buy any other book he produces.....

a perfect book for the armchair naturalist. carroll's skills at observation and illustration are unmatched. more than a field guide, this book serves as a springboard for carroll's cogent ruminations on man and nature.

I read Wild animals i have known by Ernest Thompson.Its a 245 page book fild with short storys about animals.It as A little something for everyone. It has adventure, comody, sadness, and bunnys. Each story has its own characters both human and animal.My favorite story is one intitled Lobo.Its about a wolf traper and his toils with lobo the leader of the neiborhood wolf pack. Each story kept my attention throughout the whole book.I would recomend this book to everyone who likes to read about animals.

I first read this book as a very young reader, almost sixty years ago. Seton's ability to identify with the wildlife he studies,but with a minimum of anthropomorphism or sentimentality, and then write touching, exciting mini-dramas is enhanced by his role as an observer who does not inject himself as a foreign influence in their lives.

I'm buying copies of the hardcover edition for my grandchildren, for this book will be read more than once, and kept for a lifetime. Get it before it goes out of print again. Robert H. Tyrka, Sr. rtyrkasr@chesint.net

Seton Thompson's stories of wild animals and their wonderful ways touch the hearts of young and old. There are no happy endings in this book, because the moral is that animals always die tragic deaths. But if you want to learn the laws of nature and better understand animals and their ways, these accounts of a hunter-trapper will reward you with hours of enchanted stort-telling.

that is as captivating as it is beautiful. It's a wonderful bedtime tradition, for both children and parents. This amazing poem is a timeless classic; there's always something new to discover from the entrancing journey of our trio of fishermen! It's perfect for people of all ages. Come along, and bring somebody you love on the voyage on Wynken, Blynken, and Nod; you won't regret it!

I was not introduced to this poem until I was 18. We were performing it in concert as a part of Midge of Gold which is a collection of children's tales set to music. I fell in love with it and when I found out it was an actual book, it became one of the first gifts I give to parents and children. The melody is one that stays with me and it's a great lulaby. This book is worth more than what you will pay for it. I have not met one person who read it as a child and didn't love it. The poem and illustrations are wonderful. Buying this book for your child, or any child, is a great investment.

This is a book that my father grew up on, and after having kids of his own, read it to us. As we grew up, this book had somehow disappered, and, having missed it so much, set upon looking for it on the internet. This is a beutiful children story, but not only for children... Don't miss it!

The book has a wonderfully readable text to compliment the beautiful color plates, and David's illustrations of inclusions and the rainforest are impeccable. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand and learn about amber from this work, however, I must say, David, you are a talented genius and I read every word. All my friends are fascinated by the book and the author.

Some of you may be aware of the current amber exhibition at the Natural History Museum in New York. At the same time as the launch of this exhibition David Grimaldi; chairman, associate curator and organiser of this display has authored and published a new book on amber to compliment the show. New books on amber, particularly in English are so rare that I have taken the liberty of reviewing the work here for those who are interested. My credentials are thin for this task. I collect amber and have an extensive collection of pieces with flora and fauna inclusions. I read and collect articles, books and any work on amber I can get my hands on. I have had work published myself in my other existence as a management consultant. So I have some idea of the demands made on writers and authors. However, with your forgiveness I submit this review for your interest; 'tis a meagre a thing, but mine own1. The book, 'Amber - Window to the Past1 is immediately impressive both by its size and rich colour jacket. The cover shot at first sight might be some kind of artistic abstract picture, but is actually a photograph of several insects trapped in a piece Dominican Republic amber, a great attention grabber. The book was printed and bound in Japan and this countries predilection for quality and precision is clearly present in this work. There are 230 illustrations, which include 115 colour plates. Amongst these are some old line drawings and pictures which have been published in other works. These seek to illustrate certain inclusions and methods of amber collection. They help contextualise and place amber in an historical setting and their presence is understandable. The majority of pictures are however entirely new, 95+%. The photography is exemplary. Photographing amber myself I recognise the difficulties and problems one encounters, but here only the best and most lavish illustrations have been used. The pages simply ooze class. The book is principle divided into two sections: Amber in Nature and Amber in Art. The nature section begins by illustrating the origins of amber, how it came into existence, the types of trees which created it and is replete with interesting quotes and diagrams. Having already mentioned the graphical content of this work I will emphasise that nearly every page of text is supported with pictures and drawings which are comprehensible and useful. They helps immensely with understanding some of the processes and concepts dealt with in the work. There are the merest handful of areas where both facing pages are full of text with no graphical content. That in 208 pages is quite a feat. The following chapter covers geographical distribution of amber deposits. A minor exception here is the Isle of Wight amber deposit just off the South coast of the United Kingdom. This is a rich if very small source of some of the most ancient amber in the world and yet other than a few papers published by Dr Edward A. Jarzembowski has received scant to little attention by the academic press. The emphasis in this section is given to the major source deposits of amber, namely the Dominican Republic and the Baltic Coast though other areas are covered such as Mexico, Burmese, Japanese and the Middle East. A marvellous picture on page 58 shows quite literally gigantic 'dunes1 of crude amber being bagged after being extracted from the now defunct Bitterfield mine in Germany. This illustrates better than any list of figures the vast quantities of amber which must have flowed out of this general Baltic region. I have seen a very similar photograph taken of the same scene in the 1995 book 'Stenen som flyter och brinner' authored by Ake Dahlstrom and Leif Brost of the Swedish Amber Museum. This is a book written in Swedish, so it has limited distribution. I am glad that Grimaldi has included this picture here, for those people for whom amber has a special attraction or interest, it is simple awesome, and I use this word carefully. There then follows a rich selection of photographs illustrating the different types of inclusions which can be found within amber. Only the best and rarest are presented here and might give the casual reader the impression that this type of inclusion is present in nearly every other piece of amber ever found. Nothing could be further from the truth. These pieces are only the Creme de la Creme of the amber world. It is only when flicking through these pictures, time and time again and reading where they have come from that one realises the gargantuan task Grimaldi undertook in gathering together so many of these items not only for photography but also for display in the NHM exhibition. As well as the normal photographs in this section there is also a range of electromicrographs. These illustrate the micro preservative qualities of amber rather than the macro aspects which the normal pictures do so well. This leads logically into a section on DNA and its presence within such well preserved inclusions. This latter issue seems to have become a hot topic amongst many journalists, no doubt inspired by Crichton1s Jurassic Park and all the accompanying publicity. What frankly is more interesting I believe are the deductions and insights which can be drawn from the range of inclusions in amber about the ancient forests, their ecological workings, the animals present and the environmental conditions which existed. This too is also addressed in the book with a section on the ancient communities of the amber forests and woodlands. A final chapter in this section addresses amber forgeries and is especially interesting showing the lengths to which some people have gone in creating fake or counterfeit amber pieces with large or rare inclusions. This chapter draws on an earlier article written by Grimaldi et al in the NHM Journal which specifically addresses amber forgeries. This earlier work shows in even greater detail the deviousness of some amber forgers. However, the best photographs have been transferred to the book, with the exception of a Tarantula allegedly found in Dominican amber but which the author was unable to tests for its authenticity. The lack of confirmation one way or the other no doubt accounts for its omission from this volume. The second half of the book looks at Amber in Art. The initial part of this section begins by looking at the uses of amber through the ages starting at the Mesolithic Period. This whole section has a predominantly European slant. Here again are some unique illustrations and diagrams. The famous Hove cup from the Booth Museum in Brighton, United Kingdom is shown. It differs from many I have seen in the way the lighting has been set up to illustrate its translucence and the fine craftsmanship needed to have produced this piece. The text goes into some depth on the histories of amber and gives a broad though not heavily detailed account of its prominence in antiquity. It makes for good light reading without becoming bogged down in too many dates or claustrophobic details. The segment on Medieval and Renaissance amber shows some examples of woodcut prints detailing how amber was obtained in the Baltic but only one 17 century piece of jewellery is actually illustrated. The years leading to the beginning of this century are well structured. Ample information provides a rich description of the uses and the levels to which amber in art aspired during these years. Nothing is present on the contemporary use of amber in art and jewellery and would have been interesting. As DNA in amber has become a focus for many people so too has the 'amber room1, an 18 century concoction of the Prussian and later Russian nobility. In essence this was a room completely covered in amber which mysteriously went missing during the second world war. Russian craftsmen are now in the slow and laborious process of re-creating this masterpiece from old photographs and diagrams. Some of the first pictures I have ever seen of their efforts appear in this book and show the amazing level of opulence they have achieved to date.

This is a great book for anyone that wants to learn about this desert and the plants and animals that live in it. Unlike some of the other books about this topic that are written in an academic/textbook style, this book is written in a lively, question & answer format and is full of interesting and unusual facts. I've lived in this region for over 25 years and I learned quite a bit by reading this book.

I only saw this once in the bookstore, and just by flipping through it, I knew it had to be a part of my book-collection. Just moving to the desert southwest, I have been thirsty for more about my new eco-system and home........I may not have so many dilemmas now on critters and plants..........

This is a really fun book to read. Its full of short essays on a variety of topics that we often wonder about. Its broken into a couple of chapters and a few of the topics in each: Birdwatching (with topis like definition of a birder, magic moments with the birds, tools of the trade), birds in the backyard (weird nesting sites, housing crunch for birds, pesticides and birds, a striking problem), basic bird biology (can birds smell, how birds beat the winter chill, why do birds change their feathers, do birds really mate for life), Birds we've come to love and hate (bluejays, why hummingbirds hum, redpolls, canada goose)

That's just a little of what is in here. Its just such a neat book, and an easy read. You can read an essay then put the book down and go do things then come back and pick up another essay. I really enjoy it and plan to give it as gifts next christmas

This book is an insightful look into the world of birds. Each chapter or section is short and easy to read. Very enjoyable and fun to read, while at the same time, very factual. If you have ever wondered why a bird did a certain thing, or which is the best bird feeder to buy, this book is just the ticket!

See the excellent review of this book in the journal, Science (Vol. 292, page 1304, 18 May 2001), by Michalel H. Robinson, the former director of the US National Zoo. The role of zoos is normally conceived of as fourfold: to promote recreation, education, research and conservation. He concludes that, in fact, only the very best zoos realize this potential. How many visitors, for example, leave a zoo knowing more about animal needs or their native habitats than when they entered? This reflects a failure of zoological parks to promote "biological literacy." Part of the problem is the frequent catering of zoological parks to show off charismatic vertebrates to humans desiring to see them. Yet it is increasingly recognized that effective conservation must be ecological in scope and based on large-scale "in situ" preservation of habitats. This book calls for a new vision of Zoological Gardens, to help save the world around us.

David Hancocks has a lot of bad things to say about zoos - but he doesn't come at it from a wing-nut "zoos are evil" perspective. He criticizes them, justifiably and intelligently, for doing a poor job. As he sees it, zoos should be able to help animals and truly educate people about nature (of which fauna are just one part), but most often they don't do so well enough.

He goes through the history of zoos, from ancient menageries to Disney's Animal Kingdom, and shows how that history relates to political, religious and scientific trends. He explains lucidly how zoos should (and sometimes do) interlock zoology with conservation, botany, geology, architecture and other fields. He doles out praise to various institutions when merrited - which is in several cases, but sadly, far outweighed by the times when zoos have failed. It's time to start doing a better job, while there's still time.

This book will give you a lot of food for thought, and make you see animals and nature and zoos in a new light. It will makes you see zoos' flaws, but also their potential.

Stanley Changnon and his colleagues have written the best, and most comprehensive analysis of what really happened with the biggest climate event of the century, the 1997-1998 El Nino. What is unique about this book is that they carefully look at both the devastation that occured and the positive impacts from the mild winter -- fewer deaths from ice storms, more shopping when people went out in milder weather, less fuel oil. They also point out the places where the forecast worked, and where it had problems. As society gets more and more sensitive to weather events, we will need more thoughtful probing into how we have responded and how we will respond. This book sets the stage, and is written by experts who have analyzed other big weather events. I strongly recommend it.

Stanley Chagnon and his colleagues have written the best, and most comprehensive analysis of what really happened with the biggest climate event of the century, the 1997-1998 El Nino. What is unique about this book is that they carefully look at both the devastation that occured and the positive impacts from the mild winter -- fewer deaths from ice storms, more shopping when people went out in milder weather, less fuel oil. They also point out the places where the forecast worked, and where it had problems. As society gets more and more sensitive to weather events, we will need more thoughtful probing into how we have responded and how we will respond. This book sets the stage, and is written by experts who have analyzed other big weather events. I strongly recommend it.