A 'must-have' little book for anyone living in the Tidewater Area. I have had copy of this small book since 1983 and it is a bible to me and others to whom I have shown it. It is so easy to look up one of those 'weeds by the roadside'. The sections (about ten)are 'bookmarked' by color so if you see something that is red or blue etc just go to pages marked clearly with that color and you WILL find wildflower;good photograph, excellent description. I have given this book as small gift to many friends, they all love it as I do. It will not just sit on your bookshelf so keep it handy to pick up anytime. Highly recommend for novice as well as experienced gardener. There are several other similiar books by same authors, i.e. Wildflowers of Mid Atlantic, Trees and Shrubs of Virginia. Delighted to find it at Amazon, I first went to U. of Va Press where it was published, they did not have and suggested Amazon. Great little book, great little price to pay for so much information.

Note: Because there is a twin-pack that offers both the 1934 W.C. Fields film "Six of a Kind" and his classic 1940 film "The Bank Dick," the reviews for those two movies, both together and individually, are all cross-referenced. However, this is just a review of "Six of a Kind," the lesser known of the two Fields films.

Directed by Leo McCarey, "Six of a Kind" finds J. Pinkham Whinney (Charlie Ruggles) and his wife Flora (Mary Boland), planning a second honeymoon in Hollywood, California. They advertise for a couple to share expenses on the trip and end up with not only George Edward (George Burns) and Gracie DeVore (Gracie Allen), but their gigantic Great Dane. Meanwhile, Ferguson (Bradley Page), one of the other clerks at the bank where Whinney works has put $50,000 into the unsuspecting man's suitcase intending to rob him the first night on the road. Of course, Gracie makes the group go a different way and it takes a while for Ferguson and his gal Trixie (Grace Bradley) to catch up.

The resolution involves the sheriff of a Nevada town, John Hoxley (W.C. Fields) and innkeeper, Mrs. Rumford (Alison Skipworth), and the hilarious arrest sequence top off this above average comedy. Fields and Skipworth had been paired together successful in several previous films, including "Tillie and Gus" and while they work well together as the last pair making up the "Six" of the title. The other scene that really stands out is when Fields plays another one of his famous billiard games where the cue is a tad warped. Ruggles and Boland are supposedly the "stars" of the film, but of course the comedy team of Burns & Allen upstage them: when they first meet, Mrs. Whinney thinks the couple are interior decorators because Gracie is changing everything in their living room. As an example of the "road comedy" pictures of this period, of which "It Happened One Night" is obviously the best, "Six of a Kind" makes fun of the new fangled idea of taking a vacation that is mainly traveling in a car for a really long period of time. I do not think this is a great W.C. Fields film, but it is certainly above average and having Burns & Allen involved is not exactly a bad thing either.

Ruggles and Boland, as J. Pinkham and Florence Whiney, are about to depart on a cross-country second honeymoon to Hollywood, for which they make the mistake of advertising for a companion couple........The idea of putting no fewer than six seasoned comedy actors into one movie was an inspired one for Paramount. Charlie Ruggles and Mary Boland were already a popular co-starring duo at that studio; the hilarious radio team of straight-man George Burns and scatterbrained Gracie Allen were also giving films a try; Alison Skipworth was a formidible character actress for both comedy and drama, and Fields, with his nasal, descending-scale line readings, was a unique comedy attraction with a large, specialised following. Leo McCarey, their director on this occasion, had just survived one the the Marx Bros. most fondly remembered vehicles: DUCK SOUP. Wild gags, both visual and verbal abound in SIX OF A KIND with each of the aforementioned six performing their specialties in a Walter DeLeon-Harry Ruskin script that appropriately sets the scene for uninhibited farce. A short (65 minutes) episodic film, the movie isn't quite the comedy classic it might have been, but there are classic scenes such as that giant hound growling in the back seat ; there's a tree which saves both Ruggles and Boland from a fall of a cliff..............A wee bit too much of Gracie Allen at her most annoyingly obnoxious makes one wish that the writers could have distributed the balance of scenes with a bit more equality among its stars.

If you are a Fields fan, or even a film buff just starting to appreciate The Great Man, this film is must viewing. Six of A Kind, a Paramount film, is one of those ensemble comedies that were popular in the 30's. Although Burns and Allen and Charles Ruggles are a treat, Fields' scenes are timeless. The pool table scene where W.C. explains how he got the name Honest John is a repropduction of some of his famous vaudeville stunts, and includes one of his old vaudeville cronies as the straight man. The Bank Dick, a Universal picture, is considered by many the high-water mark of Fields' career. W.C. had broad artistic control of the Universal features the this film is 100% Fields inspired. Franklin Pangborn is the perfect foil as J. Pinkerton Snoopington the bank examiner, and Grady Sutton as Fields' future son-in-law, Og Oggleby, is another of the many zany characters in the film. The plot? Fields guards a bank, foils some robbers, makes a fortune and directs a picture, all in a day's work. Fields fans need to support these efforts by film distributors to release his films. Many of his films are still unavailable on VHS, much less DVD.

This book is an excellent compliation of articles written for mathematicians who want to understand quantum field theory. It is not surprising then that the articles are very formal and there is no attempt to give any physical intuition to the subject of quantum field theory. This does not mean however that aspiring physicists who want to specialize in quantum field theory should ont take a look at the contents. The two volumes are worth reading, even if every article cannot be read because of time constraints. All of the articles are written by the some of the major players in the mathematics of quantum field theory. Volume 1 starts off with a glossary of the terms used by physicists in quantum field theory and is nicely written. The next few hundred pages are devoted to supersymmetry and supermanifolds. A very abstract approach is given to these areas, with the emphasis not on computation but on the structure of supermanifolds as they would be studied mathematically. There is an article on classical field theory put in these pages, which is written by Pierre Deligne and Daniel Freed, and discussed in the framework of fiber bundles. The discussion of topological terms in the classical Lagrangian is especially well written. There is an introduction to smooth Deligne cohomology in this article, and this is nice because of the difficulty in finding understandable literature on this subject. Part Two of Volume 1 is devoted to the formal mathematical aspects of quantum field theory. After a short introduction to canonical quantization, the Wightman approach is discussed in an article by David Kazhdan. Most refreshing is that statement of Kazhdan that the Wightman approach does not work for gauge field theories. This article is packed with interesting insights, especially the section on scattering theory, wherein Kazdan explains how the constructions in scattering theory have no finite dimensional analogs. The article by Witten on the Dirac operator in finite dimensions is fascinating and a good introduction to how powerful concepts from quantum field theory can be used to prove important results in mathematics. A fairly large collection of problems (with solutions) ends Volume 1. The first part of Volume 2 is devoted entirely to the mathematics of string theory and conformal field theory. The article by D'Hoker stands out as one that is especially readable and informative. D. Gaitsgory has a well written article on vertex algebras and defines in a very rigorous manner the constructions that occur in the subject. The last part of Volume 2 discusses the dynamics of quantum field theory and uses as much mathematical rigor as possible. One gets the impression that it this is the area where it is most difficult to proceed in an entirely rigorous way. Path integrals, not yet defined mathematically and used throughout the discussion. The best article in Volume 2, indeed of the entire two volumes is the one on N = 2 Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. It is here that the most fascinating constructions in all of mathematics find their place. These two volumes are definitely worth having on one's shelf, and the price is very reasonable considering the expertise of the authors and considering what one will take away after reading them.

These articles are great. Fills the ubiquitous need to retract the gap between then conceptual and rigorous framework of the subjects.

Physicists interested in the mathematical aspects of quantum field/string theory would do well to read these volumes as well.

Deserving, in my opinion, more than 5 stars -- many more!!

It's not hard, even with the most cursory of examinations, to see why researchers have had such a tough time catching glimpses into the Great One's true nature--Fields took pains to keep his public persona at the front of his popular perception. Ronald Fields perhaps had an unfair advantage over other researchers, having access to the family holdings and all, but nevertheless, this is as close as anyone will ever get to words from the horse's mouth (with the exception of Fields for President, of course). The sketches are a riot to read, and the extended sequences from the movies, even the ones you may not have seen, are side-splittingly funny. I particularly enjoyed the glimpse into Fields' vaudeville days--it's not a subject that seems to interest many people, perhaps because the entire idea of "vaudeville" is somewhat dated today. The book also has the most comprehensive collection of photographs and sketches I've ever seen--these in themselves come close to telling the story.

This work was compiled by W.C.'s grandson after years that his work had been locked up in a basement room. The fact that much of it is made up of sketches, photo's, stories/annecdotes, performance materials, letters between W.C. and his family/others, makes this invaluable to theatre enthusiasts/historians and W.C. cultists. Without a doubt a must for any library.

Rocky J. Nickel 1242 S. Market Wichita KS, 67211

This is a non-technical field guide, designed for people with all skill levels. Wildflowers are organized by blossum color and illustrated with color photographs. A very useful book when searching for that elusive flower name in the Shenandoah Valley or Blue Ridge Mountains. The authors have written a similar book on Trees and Shrubs in the Shenandoah Valley.

This book is an excellent summary of wildflowers you can expect to find in the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley. The full color pictures are beautiful and organized to make identification of flower names easy for the beginner.

My husband bought this book in 1980 after his heart attack. He used it to go into the preserve across the street. He would get exercise as well as an education.

I had to collect wildflowers during the summer for an Honors Biology class. The field guides we were given were ones with drawings instead of photographs. It was very hard to correctly identify the wildflower with only a drawing. This field guide is excellent. You identify the flowers with color photographs, and the book gives a fairly in-depth description on the flower, habitat, range, and other comments about the flower. I would recommend this guide to anyone who has to identify wildflowers for school, or just enjoys identifying for pleasure.

I have another wildflower guide which I tried using and was very frustrated with their drawings and color plates. I bought this guide out of desperation---and am completely satisfied. Its simple and easy to use. The flowers are easier to identify with color photography, complete with close up caption. Descriptions are listed later. Not everything is jumbled together, so that your'e fumbling out there around through so many pages. So easy to use. The flowers are more generalized than specific---you won't find 50 examples of a violet--but you'll find several at best. It depends on how detailed you want to get. Quick, ready to use guide that fits perfectly in your husbands fishing vest or in a backpack. Go for it!

this book is cool, i also know the guy, he works at the high schoo

Hollywood has not been kind to the long constrictor. In its view, they drop out of trees or rise up out of rivers, big as buses and determined to squeeze the guts out of that hapless human being who has wandered within reach of their treacherous or lecherous (depending upon the sex of the victim) coils. Though big snakes have, in fact, never been much interested in people, people have always been fascinated by them. Sensational stories of villagers squashed and gobbled up by monstrous serpents fill the accounts of explorers and early "naturalists." For all the satisfying fear they engender in far removed readers, such stories do the snakes injustice and divert attention from their remarkable morphology and living habits. These authors are scientists, but they are also literate and obviously snake enthusiasts. So while they stick to the facts, they write clearly and engagingly in defense of remarkable animals who, when it comes to encounters with humans, are much more sinned against than sinning. There are chapters about feeding and breeding of course. But there is also a serious review of the extraordinary stories that impute lengths of sixty or more feet to anacondas and pythons. By the time the myths have been detonated, the terrified lay reader is ready for an honest answer to the question, "How long can a snake grow?" Read the book to find out. But I will say it is longer than some buses.

I purchased this book on a whim, knowing of the authors' credibility. When I got in to it, I realized it was going to be more than I expected. This work discredits one by one all the ridiculous length claims on snakes from around the world. Instead of these (sometimes outrageous) claims, the authors provide you with THE FACTS AND NOTHING BUT THE FACTS!

It is about time herpers spread the honest truth about these species to the general public, rather than the typical "My python should hit thirty-five feet because that's the maximum size!".

This book is an educational experience for ANYONE with an interest in these species or herps in general. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

The human attack accounts are pretty eye-opening, too!

This is only the second "Toby Peters" novel I've read. I started last month with the one that actually follows this effort...the Cary Grant thriller "To Catch a Spy." That's good but this is better. W.C. Fields comes off as irascible as those who know him from his great film comedies would expect, but he holds his liquor well and exhibits bravery and a good heart to boot. Toby and his buddies Gunther and Jeremy and his girlfriend Anita are present, along with nutty and incompetent dentist Shelly and the lovely secretary Violet. Toby and W.C. and Gunther go on a cross-country journey to save Fields' famous small-town savings accounts from a thief. Comedy and tragedy and danger are well-balanced here, against a backdrop of 1943 WWII headlines and name-dropping from Hollywood's Golden Era. I recommend this highly to those who like quick-reading mixtures of fun and suspense. I'll be cleansing my small town's library shelves of its stock of the "Toby" series, then looking to buy the missing ones. Kaminsky has a winner in this character and his adventures. I have also read two of his "Abe Leiberman" police procedurals, but the Peters' books are more impressive.

This book is perfect for all W.C. lovers. The absurd detective plot and a journy across the country from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in an old Cadillac are the backdrop for W.C. Fields' amusing one-liners of wit and wisdom. And the old, alcohol soaked comedian fires them in abundance. I couldn't help myself but laugh out loud. Good entertainment!

This is a great book. It has beautiful illustrations, very clear and helpful. It also has maps on each page showing where the snake lives. One minor problem, it uses a lot of technical terms like "Fossorial" and "Riparian". But (I discovered after my fourth trip to the dictionary) it has a glossary in the back.

However, one major problem. There is no clear indication which snakes are poisonous, which are a little dangerous to humans, and which are harmless. This is a big drawback. I want to know without having to read through the text for a clue if the snake that just entered my tent is going to kill me or not. Some of the time it doesn't tell you even in the text, as in some of the rattlesnakes. Of course, you assume that rattlers are not exactly friendly, but a clear symbol or icon would really help. So would a section letting you know what to do if you've been bitten by a snake.

Great descriptions and beautiful pictures of the snakes found in Utah. Anyone spending time in the natural areas of the state should enjoy this small field guide while getting to know some of Utah's scaley residents!

This book hit all the aspects of lawn care. The best part about this book was it gave good instrucitons on how to cure disease, weeds, and fungus problems without chemicals. I highly recommend this book for lawn care professionals interested in learning about the industry. This book is well worth the money.