This is a great book for those who want to carry a concise reference on fishing. The book is easy to read and locating information is no problem.
I try to not leave home without a copy!

"Golden Books" were great for my children and grandchildren, and now their "Fishing", "A Guide To Fresh and Salt-water", book helps me with salt-water fish identification and tackle preparation. I have recently relocated to the S.C. coast and do a lot of salt-water fishing. With all of the rules and regulations relative to fish size and limits, "Fishing" comes in handy in identifying the fish caught so as not to run afoul of the "man" by having the wrong fish in the creel.

A powerful, pocket-sized introduction to the wide world of fishing. Excellent, extensive illustrations. I loved this book when I was a kid, and it still holds up well. I recommend it for anyone, child or adult, who is new to the angling arts.

Why would anyone want to read a book about psychology that was first published 113 years
ago? One answer is the rationale for reading any psychology book: that it
provides insights into psychological issues not available elsewhere. Although
many psychologists of the late 19th and early 20th century probably started their career by
reading this book, it is not appropriate today as an introduction to psychology. Too
many of James's viewpoints are antiquated, and his facts, outdated or incorrect. Neither
is it the book to read if you are looking for contemporary psychological views
or a compilation of psychological knowledge. Recent textbooks are better for these purposes.
Yet, the word most frequently used to describe James's Principles of Psychology
is probably 'monumental' and rightly so because not only is this a lengthy work (~1400pgs),
but it also is the culmination of a long line of philosophical thinking about the Soul,
Self, Mind, Matter, and related topics that began with the pre-Socratic Greeks
and continued through the 19th century, when positivist philosophers and experimentalists
began to explore psychologically relevant philosophical questions in more concrete terms,
invoking a scientific method and rejecting metaphysics. At the end of the 19th century, a
seeming riot of discussion about the meaning of life, the nature of consciousness, mind,
ego, evolution, and related subjects dominated the scientific and popular culture.

At this point in history, William James, an American trained as a physician and employed
as a Harvard professor, examines the various philosophies of the previous two millenia, picking
out those aspects relevant to psychology, comparing and sorting them to reveal their value
as unambiguous theories that might be tested by research, and reflecting on how the evidence
stacks up in their favor. He also advances his own, original conceptions on various issues.
His work is not the first to collect speculation and evidence into a coherent
psychology, and there are many previous works with "Psychology" in their titles,
but James's efforts would galvanize an American discipline of psychological science that
would eventually become a dominant intellectual force.

James defines psychology as the "Science of Mental Life" and describes the
stream of consciousness as "the ultimate fact for psychology." Out of his viewpoint,
the school of functionalism in psychology developed, where the mind is conceived as a
useful organ that evolves according to natural selection and grows according
to discoverable rules. His orientation towards physiological and behavioral data
eventually diminished the then dominant psychological
method of introspection that James himself uses so frequently with great effect.
Subsequent viewpoints in psychology, such as behaviorism, though taking part of their
inspiration from functionalism, reject James's definition of psychology, so that
by the end of the 20th century, most psychologists with an empirical orientation may
call themselves "behavioral scientists," but certainly not "mental scientists."

Reading this book can be disconcerting, perhaps because of his period style or
Victorian sensibilities, or the frequent, unglossed short quotes and phrases in German, French,
and Latin because he assumes the reader has at least these minimal language skills.
Perhaps also, it is because James is not only conversant with the giants of philosophy
and experimental technique who preceeded him, but seemingly, with virtually every
published sentence to date bearing on the subjects of concern, and in veritable fractal detail,
producing a tour de force in erudition. His is not the style of current psychology
journals and textbooks, but fortunately he does translate into English many long passages
he quotes from their original sources. Yet possibly the most disconcerting aspects
are the subjects that James raises in this book.

The new mainstream psychology after James rejects many topics as unsuitable - even for
discussion - that figure prominently in the intellectual history of philosophy
and psychology. James's view that the concept of Soul should be eliminated in
scientific works is one point on which later psychologists heartily agree, but they
also, to a large extent, throw out other concepts of central concern to James, such as
mind, emotion, will, and feeling. Rare pleas by scholars
with varying backgrounds (e.g., Ornstein, Tomkins) urge students of psychology to
revisit issues discussed by James and address the larger questions contained therein, but
such exhorations echo mostly in halls of learning emptied by Vita enhancement pressures.
Renewal of interest reappears lately for some of the suppressed topics, cast into such areas as
cognitive psychology or emotion theory, but James's idea that the mind is a core
concept remains foreign to virtually all contemporary psychologists, and much of his
emphasis seems uncomfortable from today's viewpoint.

The reluctance among psychologists to embrace such philosophical and scientific issues
concerning the mind is remarkably not shared by some physicists, mathematicians,
biologists, computer scientists, and other scientists who in recent works have implied
that psychologists may be irrelevant to elucidating such issues, if not muddle-headed,
scientific dwarfs. This twist is ironic because psychologists restrict their
vocabulary and investigations partly to ape their conception of these "hard-core" sciences.
It is not clear whether psychology will survive the choices that psychologists have
made about their subject matter, or whether psychology departments will inevitably be
diced and parsed into their appropriate slots in departments of computer science, biology,
medicine, statistics, and physics, but certainly, the end of psychology is nearer if
tomorrow's students of psychology fail to study James's Principles of Psychology.

James's work is the jumping off point for much of what forms 20th century psychology:
habit, association, attention, memory, imagination, object and space perception, etc.
His thoughts about emotion, feelings, the self, consciousness, and other topics remain important
for today's theoretical views. On the other hand, this work predates psychoanalysis
and does not include an organized account of abnormal psychology, human communication,
and other topics raised in most elementary surveys of psychology. The context in which
James puts scientific psychology is probably the most important lesson of this book.
The Dover edition is unabridged, the only form of this work that should be
considered by the serious reader.

James has been rightly credited as the father of Psychology, and this was the work that launched psychology into a field of its own. When it came out some 100 years ago, The Principles was criticized as "un-systematic." James would have taken this as a compliment. It is exactly because this book is not an elaborately contrived system that it remains fresh as a morning flower. Full of details and insight, it is perhaps the most epic and insightful psychological work every produced. That said, The Principles doesn't quite stay within the bounds of psychology. As you will see from the citations (which are voluminous), James was also well read in the humanities, from abstruse philosophy to literary fiction. But then, James was living in a time when Philosophy and Psychology were not distinct disciplines. Not a problem if you enjoy philosophizing. For its breadth, scope and penetrating insights, this book might never grow stale.

This is probably the most wide ranging and best book ever written about human psychology. Even though it is more than 100 years old, it still gives the best description of the width and range of human thinking and activities.

Roughly speaking, there are two main areas in psychology:

1. The clinical psychology, psychoanalysis and treatment. That area was to a large part shaped by Freud.

2. The cognitive psychology which describes how we think and experience the world. That area was founded by William James, and this book is his main work

The book was written before the separation of psychological science, philosophy and discussions about ethics and human values. It was also written before much of the cognitive psychology degenerated into investigations of white mice running through mazes. It can therefore give a wide ranging and consistent wiev of our thinking and experience.

When I was 12 years old our family went on vacation to Folly Island South Carolina. I had been a shell enthusiast since I was in diapers and we got to stay in a beach house owned by my uncle. I was in heaven! I grew up in the northeast and had never seen any of the shells that seemed to be common place there. Unfortunately, up to then I had never owned a book on shells and knew little about them or even what to call most of them. On my second day there my aunt gave me a little book with shells on the cover. I opened it up and it opened a whole new world for me. I was mesmerized. I now had a source of information about my favorite pastime. I looked up and found each and every shell I had found and even learned how to clean and take care of them like a professional. That book was Seashells of the World. Thirty years later I now have thousands of shells and hundreds of books on shells, many of them quite advanced but to this day that little book is my favorite by far. I have worn out my tenth copy and never go anywhere without a copy. It is perfect for all ages from toddler to adult.

As a teacher I used this book for the first time with Elementary school children. Who love it and find it easy to use. They actually get excited about Seashells! I am going to buy more copies for each child in my class! I always wondered about the names and classifications of many of the shells that I have found along the Florida Coast, and now I know!!!

As one of the illustrators (Marita), I would like to point out that I produced many of these illustrations from black and white photographs of perfectly shaped shells which were then colored according to the colors and patterns on recently acquired shells...the illustrations therefore are quite special in that they are the prototypes for their classification.

I can remember pouring over the pictures in this book,using my book light,long after the final lights out call from my parents. I traveled back in time, imagining dinosaur growls and prehistoric seashells. By day, I would wander the acreage on my Grandma's farm, scouring the weedy earth for the slightest hint of ancient rock or dinosaur footprint. I wanted my school-age children to enjoy the imaginative art of archeology and paleantology and immediately remembered my favorite book, Fossils: A Guide to Prehistoric Life. I was delighted to see that it was still in print with the same exciting drawings. I immediatley ordered my copy! I then decided to order a copy for my kids! This is a great book that will encourage your children to look beyond the video games and satellite channels and into the fascinating world of the ancient past.

This little guide is the best choice for beginners and children. Book gives the reader an idea about what a fossil is, where and how they can be found, and some information about major fossils. All the pictures are hand drawn illustrations, so that they are not very detailed but still OK for kids and beginers. (I liked it when I was young!)

This volume concerns education of the physical, moral and spiritual nature, in addition to contemplating what knowledge is worth. Herbert Spencer was the pre-eminent philosopher and sociologist of the Victorian era in Britain; his views on "social Darwinism" are largely discredited today, but still latent. In his book SOCIAL STATICS, Spencer stressed the importance of individual freedom and the inevitability of human progress - with white males at the forefront of the vanguard of progress.

As a practicing clinician and a researcher, I had frequently consulted the first edition of Experimental and Clinical Neurotoxicology since its publication in 1980, and I am glad that a new edition has now become available because considerable advances have been made in this field over the past 20 years. Glancing through the pages of the new edition, I note that the editors have kept up the high standard of the earlier work. The text has been thoroughly revised and updated, and new subjects added. I have no doubt that it will continue to be a most authoritative book in neurotoxicology.

The full color illustrations and brief, interesting descriptions make this a great gift for young fish enthusiasts and a wonderful resource for reports.

This is a great little book to take along on family outings. It's not comprehensive, but it was not meant to be; it does identify the most common plants that one is likely to run across and be curious about. The illustrations make the plants readily identifiable, along with regional distributions and common names. Small, easy to carry along, inexpensive enough take some rough handling by children. This small book could be the impetus for younger members of the family to find a new interest, but is also thorough enough to make walks in the woods enjoyable for the adults. I found it to be well worth the price.

What a provocative title! Paxton's book is not about evolutionary psychology, but the relationship between Spencer and Eliot laid the groundwork for much of what came about in the twentieth century focus on the place of biology in determining relations between man and woman, the individual and society, and the role that evolutionary theory plays in helping people to determine the paramaters. Actually, that is just what I looked for when I picked this book up. Paxton has an excellent grasp on these issues and her knowledge of Eliot and Spencer is remarkable. I could not put this book down because reading Paxton's writings is like sitting in front of her. She commands your attention by her sheer brilliance in controlling the topic.

I was happy not to find too much parroting of current literary trends and her focus on the texts of Spencer and Eliot are genuine. Some may not like her for that reason, but an honest person looking for an unbiased treatment of poor Spencer will find plenty to think about. This is the best book on the relationship between Eliot and Spencer, and the only one to treat it with the care and civility it deserves.

I checked this book out of the library as a youngster so often........they had to put a hold on my card so as to let other children read the book. It started me on a quest back in 1955.......that is unexplainable. I wanted to have access to this book for other racing pigeon clubs around North America and perhaps elsewhere. I can actually close my eyes and see to this day its beautiful illustrations in pencil (charcoal?) and remember the great knowledge a child optained within its cover. It was a beautiful brown hard covered book with perhaps worn from small hands that had held on to it over the years.