Natural selection is the idea that shaped a science and altered our understanding of life. It is also, unfortunately and too often, misunderstood and/or used to justify moral beliefs. This book, edited admirably by Philip Appleman serves two purposes. First, the reader is given Darwin's idea of evolution and the context in which it developed, from the scientific environment before the publication of "The Origin of Species" to selections from Darwin's various works. Second, there are a number of excerpts that show how natural selection influenced later thought. This includes not just the fields of science and theology, but also sociology, philosophy, and literature.

It can be difficult to just sit and read Darwin if you are not a biologist because it seems a little dated and obvious (at least if you are familiar with natural selection, as you should be). Additional material provides perspective and helps to see in what ways Darwin's work was revolutionary. Such material can also show how evolutionary ideas have been modified over time by different people. Appleman has obviously read widely on Darwin and evolution, and the readings he provides represents an array of influential and important works. With this book, a person can develop a much deeper appreciation of Darwin's ideas than from simply reading Darwin alone.

I am reviewing the second edition. The third edition is 100 pages longer and includes more recent material, especially concerning the dispute between creationism and evolution. I would not hesitate to recommend even the dated second edition to anyone interested in Darwin and Darwin's influence on scientists and other thinkers; this third edition should be a must-have.

I agree with Gould that this is the best Darwin anthology on the market. It contains a significant amount of new material and details the profound change in scientific and intellectual thought in the past few decades. Darwin is constantly misquoted by creationists, but this book sets the record straight. For example, the chapter on "mainstream Religious Support for Evolution" includes leading religious opinions on evolution, illustrating that many mainline Christians and Jews do NOT subscribe to the antiscientific propaganda of the fundamentalists and creationists. New threats to Darwinism and science are also covered. This is an enthralling read and I highly recommend it.

This book is excellent for both students and teachers who are studying the Classic Era of music history. This source goes along well with other Norton pulications such as the Romantic Era and the Norton Publication that spans from Ancient music to the Baroque. I have all of these sources and it has enriched my knowledge in the area of music history a great deal!

This collection of essays provides a clear, thorough and very readable introduction to contemporary British politics. It explains why Labour (aka "New Labour") won the biggest majority in the British House of Commons since 1945, and offers some excellent insights into both the immediate future of the Conservative Party and the longterm development of British democracy.

The New Parliaments of Central and Eastern Europe is an excellent piece of scholarly research, and truly the most accurate, updated and complete work in the market on such an slippery subject as the building of legislative institutions in East European Democracies. No wonder: the group of scholars put together by Olson and Norton joins the most outstanding researchers in each of the countries involved.

The beginning of the story is pretty well-worn by now, but keep it in historical context. A man is transported to another world which is more suited to him than this one. Of course, the world is a magical one. Mix that character in with another classic character concept: the unwilling bride-to-be, donning men's clothes and miraculously being able to pass as a young man, while travelling under the guise of a fighter.
This would all be bad enough, but the characters themselves are so lackluster as to make the entire thing boring. I was interested in the unwilling bride, up to the point where she escaped the castle, and then she faded right back into the background.
Norton's work is characteristically this way, and one die-hard fan said she read the books for the story, not the characters.

Yup, that sums it up. The idea for this novel was okay, the execution quite poor. Maybe Andre Norton should team up with someone who can write and just give them some ideas for their books. This particuar novel offers a nice travel-through-worlds plot but reading it is tedious. The characters are barely developed and their emotional distress is described in too much detail. More story, less romance novel writing is my advice. I recommend this novel for the hopeless romantics and people with low expectations of their fantasy novels.

Witch World is the first novel in the Witch World series. Once Simon Tregarth had been a Colonel in the US Army in Occupied Europe, but had been unknowingly caught up in a black market deal and, on the basis of perjuried testimony, courtmartialed, stripped of rank, and imprisoned. When released, he had become that of which he was falsely accused, a dealer in illegal merchandise. Then his path crossed that of Hansen and now the Organization is after him. He has been on the run for some time and has left a few dead pursuers on his back trail, but is tired and sleepy. Now he faces Sammy, who is more dangerous than the others.

Tregarth stops in a restaurant to eat a pleasant last meal and is accosted therein by Doctor Jorge Petronius, who is well know in some circles as the man who can make you disappear. Petronius offers his services in exchange for whatever remains of the $20,000 brought from San Pedro.

Tregarth accompanies Petronius to an ancient little house and is told the legend of the Siege Perilous. "One takes his seat upon the Siege and before him opens that existence in which his spirit, his mind -- his soul uf you wish to call it that -- is at home." At dawn, Tregarth sits on the stone and disappears from this world.

Tregarth is spilled out to sprawl face down of the thick wiry turf of a gray-green moor. Behind him are two rough pillars of reddish rock. He walks directly away from them across the soggy turf. As the sun rises, he hears a horn calling and cautiously moves in that direction. He sees a woman pursued by thin, white hounds and then the masters riding on horses. The animals and men corner the woman and one of the men takes a weapon from a holster on his belt and raises it toward the woman. Tregarth shoots him out of the saddle.

Thus Simon Tregarth meets the Lady Jaelithe, although he was not to learn her name for some time yet, and is introduced to the Witches of Estcarp. He soon meets Koris, Captain of Estcarp's fighting men and Prince of lost Gorm. Together, these three battle an invasion of evil from another worldline: the Kolder.

Although the Witch World series is now considered fantasy, this first novel does not differ significantly from much of the author's science fiction. The "magic" powers of the Estcarp witches may just as well be psionic talents such as in the Warlock, Janus, and Forerunner series. Moreover, the "magic" exists side-by-side with technology, both native to Estcarp and imported from Earth and wherever the Kolder come from. It is difficult to find anything in this first novel that isn't just as much SF as the Pern series.

Later, the series begin to acquire characteristics of fantasy, such as shapechangers and Words of Power. Maybe the fantasy ambiance was just more exceptable than the author's soft SF environment, for this series became wildly popular within the SF/Fantasy community and then with other readers. The author had been popular with younger readers, including myself, for some time, but now started attracting wider attention among college students and older adults. She had never really published much in the magazines and thus didn't garner Hugo and Nebula nominations, but now her novels began to impress the readership enough that a special Hugo was awarded for her lifetime achievement as a Master of SF and Fantasy.

This story was first published in 1963. As such, it was written to a different standard than contemporary authors such as Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind. It is very linear, without the stylistic gimmicks of flashbacks and multiple storyline. However, it tells a story that can still enthrall a reader who is willing to put aside all expectations and just go with the flow.

This novel started Andre Norton's rise to fame. It is a must read for any Norton fan and recommended to anyone else who might enjoy a well-crafted tale of courage, special talents, and romance.

Not quite a page turner, but factually correct throughout. Now I've finished reading it, I'm using it to prop up that wobbly filing cabinet in the corner.

Very Impressive work. This is better than so many other anthologies I have seen of late that miss the boat when it comes to capturing the integral and exciting contemporary. You won't think poetry is boring any more! Well Done. And the CD is awesome. Nicole Blackman's voice is enough to make you become a lover of spoken word.

Forget this lame outdated atlas. For a beginner's atlas, try Wil Tirion's "The Cambridge Star Atlas" instead. This includes a similar limiting magnitude of stars, but plots many more deep sky objects (and gives many common names as well, completely lacking on Norton's maps). The graphics and printing are much cleaner in Tirion's tome, and deep sky objects are color-coded.

The moon atlas in Norton looks like a bad photocopy of a photograph. And Norton's star charts go right into the gutter. Just try to get a look on Map 5/6 at delta Orionis (the westernmost star in Orion's belt). The Reference Handbook in Norton is OK, but beginners should try Terence Dickinson's "Nightwatch" and "The Backyard Astronomer" instead. Sure, Norton was great for its time, but who wants to drive a Model T today?

Just because this book isn't "pretty" is a lame reason not to buy it. The star charts are not meant so much for telescopic work as to give you a naked-eye reference. Sometimes, not having a million stars crammed onto two pages is nice. No self-respecting astronomer (apparently the 1 stars aren't) would be without this book. Heck, even the editor of Sky & Telescope uses it...

As another point, the star charts only comprise about 15% of this book. The "Reference Handbook" is where this is a gem. The lists of objects to view interspersed between the star charts are invaluable as are the 100+ pages of astronomical information. If you skip this book because two reviewers gave it one star (while the others gave it a 4 or 5) you don't deserve it. Sure, the information concise, but when you're out at night, reading through fluff isn't what you want to do...

This is probably a book to buy after you've stuck to the hobby for a year and know yo're hooked :)

Clear skies!

PS Never trust people who only buy things based on how "pretty" they look...

Norton's simply keeps getting better. Earlier editions nurtured multiple generations of amateur (and not so amateur) stargazers. This latest edition is a concise, complete atlas AND reference. The Sky Atlas 2000 or Cambridge Star Atlas are also fine road maps to the skies. An even better bargain is the Bright Star Atlas 2000 (Wil Tirion did all three and is tops as a celestial cartographer), but all lack the wealth of other reference information that is contained in Norton's.

The style is definitly in the Sgt. Friday mode: "Just the facts". But there are so many of them! Page after page of succinctly written information on practical astronomy, the solar system, moon, deep-sky objects, etc.

For an evening looking at the heavens, if you don't want to carry around the local library, this one volume easily suffices.