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Customer Reviews (16)

Hard for AP students as a first stat text
I was approached by AP Stat students for help.I was asked to read their text book and explain it to them.
As their first statistics book, the text becomes progressively more difficult to follow though it's alright in the beginning. It is all over the places; one has to look all over the back pages to for the same examples for data, plots, residuals..so on. Definitely not a clearly presented step by step text. I agree with Mr.P.'s review that teachers should shun this book.

The Practice of Statistics: TI-83/84/89 Graphing Calculator Enhanced
The book was ordered for my grandson as a required text for a high school class.Received prompt and excellent service from the purveyor - with time between purchase and receipt of book only 5 days.

Perfect second hand text book.
This was a second-hand textbook and it was better than advertised and it arrived quicker than advertised. Couldn't be better.

Great for Independent Learning
This textbook is very easy to follow with many examples to reference.The wording is very simple--nothing too complex throughout the textbook.It also shows 83/84 and 89 step-by-step examples right next to each other (no need to follow one when you have the other calculator).Overall, I like this textbook since it's very simplified and easy to follow for "on your own" learners.

Overall a good purchase
The book arrived in great time. It was a little more worn on the corners than I thought it would be but the inside was clean and my daughter was fine with the book. I would buy from this seller again. ... Read more

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Written by the authors, this Workbook includes a variety of activities for students to explore individually or in teams. These activities guide students through key features of the text, help them understand statistical concepts, provide hands-on data collection and interpretation team-work, include exercises with tips incorporated for solution strategies, and provide bonus dataset activities. ... Read more

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Statistics Book
Easy comfortable transaction - shipped quickly.Item in the condition as listed.Thanks. ... Read more

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Provides an introductory statistics course on CD-ROM using the full potential of multimedia. ... Read more

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Explains basic features and modeling concepts of the various functions of SAS Activity-Based Management, including (but not limited to) building modeling components (such as drivers, modules, and assignments) and working with tasks. ... Read more

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This reference provides an overview of life on earth, bridging the gap between zoology and botany. The book demonstrates the amazing diversity of all living things in a manner that should be accessible.Amazon.com Review
This is the most complete and original biological field guidein history. Lynn Margulis, one of the most brilliant biologists of the20th century, and her colleague Karlene Schwartz provide aroller-skate tour of the whole world of living things, from thesmallest bacteria in the hot springs of Yellowstone to the mightiestoak (humans too, but we are set firmly in our place). In his Foreword,Stephen Jay Gould says "Ifthe originality comes before us partly as a 'picture book,' it shouldnot be downgraded for that reason--for primates are visual animals,and the surest instruction in a myriad of unknown creatures must be aset of figures with concise instruction about their meaning--all doneso admirably in this volume." --Mary Ellen Curtin ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A bargain
I can't add much to the perceptive reviews that have already been written, except to agree that this book is awe-inspiring and humbling.I even agree with the brief review titled "Yuck", which makes the point that this book isn't useful for classifying organisms.That's quite true, because the book is far too rich and detailed to serve as a dichotomous key.

I just want to point out that there is a 2009 edition of this book that Amazon doesn't connect to this one.The newer edition is renamed as Kingdoms and Domains: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth, 4th edition.I understand that the 2009 edition has quite a different arrangement of phyla into kingdoms than this 1998 edition, so if you need a fresh synthesis of the very highest levels of taxonomy, consider springing for the newer edition.

On the other hand, the 1998 edition will do nicely for us Biology dilettantes.A glance through the newer edition's "Look Inside" text on Amazon, with the 1998 text in hand, suggests that there probably isn't much difference in the editions at the level of the phyla.And when you consider that used copies of this older edition are available at vastly lower prices than the newer one; that both editions cover nearly the same set of phyla; and that both convey an astonishing impression of the diversity of Life, you might agree with me that this edition has much more "wow" for the dollar.

Yuck!
I bought this book based on ratings because I needed a book to help me classify animals into their correct group.This book is so boring and very confusing.The pictures of the organisims are nice but the way the book is presented in plain english "sucks".

Higher Classification and the Diversity of Living Things
While the higher classification of life seems sometimes to be undergoing almost monthly changes, Lynne Margulis et al. "Five Kingdoms," third edition is still the most detailed survey of the earth's biota.Her five kingdoms can be interpreted as six kingdoms (commonly the Archaea are separated from the other bacteria to form the sixth kingdom), or as over 30 kingdoms (if Carl Woese's system is used.)For practical purposes the six kingdom's concept seems reasonable to me, although specialists may prefer a more complex grouping and several "domains" of life.

That said, "Five Kingdoms" is a delight to read and a great introduction to the huge diversity of earth's complex biota. Each group is discussed in detail and a sampling of genera listed.Good black and white photographs and drawings illustrate each group discussed.

If you prefer the six kingdoms concept you can just split out the Archaea, but the other kingdoms are unchanged.If you like the multiple kingdoms concept, this is best discussed in Tudge's 2000 book "The Variety of Life."As can be readily seen, higher classification of living things is difficult primarily because of the complexity of mostly microscopic organisms and thus the general public will probably find the discussions tough going.The amateur and professional biologist, as well as the well-read layman, will be fascinated because the organisms, from radiolarians to elephants and diatoms to redwoods are so interesting in themselves.

In general I recommend this book to those who are interested in any phase of the biodiversity on our planet.

Life�s vast pageant
This book is a stunning compendium of the range of life forms found on our planet.Margulis and Schwartz describe it as "a catalog of the world's living diversity."It is a vividly descriptive assortment of selected examples from the Five Kingdoms of life formulated by R.H. Whittiker.The authors stress how much new knowledge, particularly in the study of unicellular life forms, has been gained in recent years.They explain how classification identifies organisms and show how modern techniques have led to the expansion of life's kingdoms from two to five.A description of prokaryotes and eucaryotes is given, followed by the body of 92 phyla descriptions.The book is arranged to be either studied as a reference or browsed as an introduction to biological forms.Each entry is carefully organized with the type of information [environment, measurement scales, diagrams] in a consistent location.

However, this is more than simply a collection of illustrative examples of various organisms. The most fascinating chapter relates the authors' proposal to modify one of the standard classifications of life - the Protoctists, replacing Whittiker's Protists."The Kingdom Protoctista is defined by exclusion," they state."Its members are neither animals, plants, fungi nor procaryotes." Their common characteristics are nucleated cells, some kind of flagellum and live in an oxygenatedatmosphere [unlike many unicellular forms which cannot tolerate oxygen.Their argument contends that many multicellular forms are more
directly related to these unicellular forms than they are to other multi-celled organisms.The new classification "also solves the problem of blurred boundaries that arises if the unicellular organisms are assigned to the multicellular kingdoms."They list 27 phyla [of 36 total]with diagrams exhibiting a range of bizarre structures and life cycles.

Another noteworthy entry is Trichoplax adhaerens.Remember the name of this creature - "it is the simplest of animals."Composed of but a few thousand cells, it is a dull gray body just visible to the unaided eye.In looking at the photo and diagram of this creature invokes a sense of wonder - this is, after all, a distance relative living in the nearest aquarium with the shad.

This book is a delight to browse following one of the authors' intents.Their second purpose, using this book as a reference, is evenmore admirably met.Clear photographs coupled with excellent diagrams, including typical environments of the selected specimens, add visual support to a readable text base.Any reader interested in the way life is structured and seeking insights into evolutionary development would do well to consider this book.It's not an academic text, but conveys a wealth of meaningful information.

Surprisingly Fun
Although this is primarily intended to be an illustrated reference guide, it's a surprisingly fun one to thumb through.Part of that is the delight of looking at pictures and illustrations of some truly strange organisms (science fiction writers should really buy this book to see what genuinely alien creatures are like), but also due to the plethora of interesting facts.

I know that when I was reading through the section detailing the Animal phylla, I was struck by how many creatures -- entire phyllums -- get along without even rudimentary brains (or digestive systems, respiratory systems, circulatory systems, or even organs, altogether, in some cases).Likewise I was surprised to learn that only two phylla (including our own) ever developed winged flight.

The sections comprising the non-Animal kingdoms were of particular interest to me mainly for the simple reason that they invariably get little attention from most texts.At best, you'll usally find a chapter dealing with micro-organisms as a whole, and a brief chapter on plants.To see how much sheer diverity there is in just the Fungus kingdom is eye-opening.

I will note that the book does assume a basic level of biological literacy and that it sometimes throws jargon at the reader with little warning or explaination but, as a whole, this is a very accessible work and well worth having on one's shelf. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Suitable for high school courses, not rigid enough for college
The authors state that the book was written as a textbook in a high school course in basic statistics. In my opinion, they have hit their target. Fundamental statistics is presented at a level that can be understood by the student with a basic background in algebra and the style is one that will appeal to teenagers. A large number of cartoons are included and young adults can understand the applications. One of the problems that I occasionally have in my basic statistics class in college is an application that is difficult for the college age student to understand. For example, traditional college students do not have a great deal of experience that adults take for granted.
High school students have even less experience, so great care must be taken when applications are used to illustrate the statistics. If an application is selected that is beyond the experience of the typical high school student, then they will have a difficult time understanding the statistics. To their credit, the authors use applications well within the reach of teenagers.
The coverage is:

*) Sampling to obtain data.
*) How to design experiments.
*) Data distributions.
*) Scatterplots and correlation.
*) Basic probability and expectation.
*) Confidence intervals and inference.

Which is certainly what anyone would consider a reasonable survey of the fundamentals of statistics. I strongly recommend this book for high school courses in statistics.

I really like this book BUT
I am a Stats teacher who is always looking for "The Perfect Textbook"Well, this isn't it BUT I really do like this textbook.The first several chapters take the learner through the process of how data is collected.There are several activities and a couple of research problems to do.The next section talks about how to display the data and when is the best time to do what.

Those first two sections are VERY well done and I honestly feel that students understand (I mean really understand) how important good data is and how easy it is to destroy good data with bad decisions.

However, it is after these two sections that I would be forced to turn to another textbook.The data analysis part of this book is o-kay but nothing really to write home about.Yeah, it does a good job discussing the topics (though there really isn't enough practice problems) but it is just sorta there.Here is the formula, try it, here is the next one.Not the zip of the first 100 or so pages that is for sure.

Overall, a good supplemental book that needs a solid data analysis book to go with it. ... Read more