Subjects:  1. Dermatology   2. Medical   3. Medical / Nursing   4. Oncology   5. Pathology   

Customer Reviews (2)

Useful for novice, gardener, historian, and botanist.
This guide to trees includes 300 different species of the most important trees from around the world, 51 of which are native to north America. They are divided into the following categories: conifers, palms, broadleafs, fruit trees, flowering trees, and trees of economic importance. Each category is arranged alphabetically by the genus name.

Each entry includes the following: GENUS and SPECIES names, common name or names, family, historical origin of the scientific name (etymology), habitat, description, propagation, conditions for growth, a photograph, several drawings, and the climate zone (1 - 10) in which the tree can live in the U.S. The description section comprises about two thirds of the written entry.

The book includes a 46 page introduction which covers the history of trees, climate and ecosystems, the wood, the leaf, the flower, the seed, the names of trees, and the future of trees. The back of the book includes a glossary of terms that will prove useful for both the novice naturalist and the botany major.

The information is extensive, useful, interesting, and almost completely accurate. The propagation and conditions for growth sections will be useful for the gardener.

great book great illustrations, worldwide coverage
Excellent book, full colour pictures, detailed illustrations to help identify leaves and seeds. Covers trees from all over the world, not just regional as with my publications today. Looking for book of same quality covering ornamentals. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Identification   2. Nature / Field Guide Books   3. Nature/Ecology   4. Trees   5. Trees & Forests - General   6. Nature / General   

Subjects:  1. Fiction - General   2. General   

Customer Reviews (1)

An important read
A powerful book about a young boy from Pakistan who was influential in freeing children from slavery in the carpet trade. Translated from Italian, this book is a fast, easy read. It is an eye opener for those who are unaware of child bondage. It will also create in young readers the realization that great things can be accomplished by youth. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1982-1995   2. Biographical - Other   3. Child abuse   4. Child labor   5. Children's 9-12 - Fiction - General   6. Children: Grades 4-6   7. Fiction   8. Juvenile Fiction   9. Masih, Iqbal,   10. Pakistan   11. People & Places - Asia   12. Rug and carpet industry   13. Social Situations - Prejudice & Racism   14. Juvenile Nonfiction / People & Places / Middle East   15. Masih, Iqbal   

Customer Reviews (6)

An essential field guide...
and book for the determined aquarist. However, this book is geared more toward aquarium species than ones found in the ocean or freshwater lakes. For instance, the Asian pufferfish is a species that has never been mentioned in any field guide, except this one. Without a doubt, it is an aquarium hybrid. There are not very many species of betas, fightingfish, or goldfish covered here. A person looking for heavy coverage of that will be slightly disappointed.
The other fishes covered, such as puffers, triggerfish, or cowfish, have more species listed, and more details given. People interested in pufferfish (such as me), will find this guide useful. The only downside that takes away one star is that some species are hybrids, including betas and goldfish. Most triggerfish and cowfish are authentic species.
If you are looking for a field guide to take along with you on a scuba diving trip to the Caribbean, forget it. This is not the one. However, if you are searching for fish to put in your aquarium, this book is definetely for you..

A good review of fish but a bad guide for setting aquarium
I bought this book as a fish familiarization reference after setting up my aquarium with another book and am glad I did. To say this is a bad intro book on aquariums is an understatement. Anyone considering fish as a hobby would immediatly change their mind upon reading the introduction to this book (which covers setting up an aquarium). For one thing it is way too scientific with diagrams of how pumps work and loads of discussion on things you don't need to know in detail and glaring lack of easy to understand explanations on what you do need to know.

I read a 40 page Wal-Mart book on setting up an aquarium that was 100 times better than this guide in that respect. So, if you're setting up a new aquarium and want to know (in English) how to set up an aquarium, or want to know information on aquarium products, chemicals, techniques, etc. don't use this book to do it. Any of a dozen short, "so you want to buy a fish" guides will do. You don't need to 4 pages of when/how/why to quarentine fish in order to set up your first aquarium. And even if you did, this book doesn't describe the "how-to's" well enough anyway.

This book IS a pretty good guide to freshwater and saltwater fishes, plants, reptiles, and invertibrates (like crabs, starfish, etc.) It covers about 300 specimens in total, 88 of which are freshwater fish and about 100 salt water fish. The rest fall into the other categories. It's not comprehensive by any means. There's ONE entry for Goldfish, for instance, even though there are dozens of readily available variations of goldfish. The one entry will give you generally what you need for the entire family, but it won't show you pictures of the many flavors available. Many generally available fish are also not in the book at all - but most are.

This book does, however, cover a good range of common freshwater and saltwater aquarium fish. And each entry discusses what you need to know about that fish such as required temperature, food, characteristics, behavior and what other fish (or fish types) it gets along with. All this information is necessary to have a happy community (or species) aquarium.

This book does Not adequately cover breeding fish and other expert topics. Its claim as "A guide for beginners and experts alike" is a bit of an overstatement in that regard. (At least that's my opinion.)

My conclusion is that I like it for what I got it for - pictures of possible additions to my aquarium with a general description of needs, behavior, etc of each fish. I didn't buy it as a comprehensive guide or a guide to setting up my aquarium. In my opinion, if you want that information go elsewhere. There may even be better pictoral fish guides, but I liked the compact size of the book and the easy to swallow ($$) price tag. Happy Fish Keeping

Great reference guide for those who keep pet shops to kids!
Awesome reference guide (I have a 1977 edition).

Over 300 full-color photos of freshwater & marine fishes, plants, reptiles and invertibrates. Includes common names, scientific names, families, distribution in the wild (where do these things live), a good verbal description, as well as a good photo, pH, temperature, water hardness, light and other pertinent info about where it lives, and what it needs in an aquarium, feeding info (a bit sketchy there, unless you are already knowledgable), as well as behavioral and compatability information (a MUST for keeping social fishes with others, and keeping those that don't get along apart from each other!)

Basic aquarium knowledge is not required to enjoy the book, but to use the technical stuff for fish keeping, one must have some other background info (another book on the basics, or several trips and brain picking of a reputable pet shop employee is helpful!)

Basic chemistry knowledge (especially dilutions [YES! There really is a use for all that math you took through jr. college!] for the disease treatment section is a must of using this to treat diseases)

Fish diseases section is small, but to the point, and covers most common diseases one will see in aquarium fishes, especially fresh water.

If you want to keep a salt water aquarium, this is a good reference, but you'll also need a great salt water aqaurium book!

My edition also does not cover Chloramines, which were added to our tap water after the book was published - use GOOD, distilled bottled water whenever possible, or perhaps a reverse osmosis system w/ filteration, if your house is so equipped. For salt water, I've found it best to change out water directly from the ocean (away from the coastline and rivers), but then too you risk getting diseases in your aquarium that way... I did keep a star fish (sea star)and a Spanish Shawl nudibrach in a goldfish bowl this way for about 3 years, then when we moved sent them back to the ocean... They were awesome, but required we change the water abuot every 2-3 days.

This is an awesome book, great pictures, but I'd suggest also getting another to supplement this one... My supplement is about 30+ years old, and is no longer in print, and I've not seen one in years. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals / Pets   2. Aquarium fishes   3. Aquarium plants   4. Aquariums   5. Aquatic invertebrates   6. Fish & Aquariums   7. Fishes   8. General   9. Nature/Ecology   10. Reference   11. Fiction / General   

Subjects:  1. Architecture   2. Architecture Of Specific Structures   3. Domestic   4. Individual Architect   5. Individual Architectural Firms   6. Architecture / General   

Customer Reviews (2)

Will delight fans of photography
Hiroshi Sugimoto is known for his long-exposure photos of empty movie theaters and museums: his blurred masterpieces of public places depict both familiar, major structures and lesser-known buildings. Sugimoto: Architecture is an impressive collection of his art offers full-page unsullied black and white reproductions of his finest works and will delight fans of photography, architectural representation, and the Sugimoto style in particular.

The best photo is on the cover
This book is definitivelly for funs of Sugimoto's work. I don't say the photographs are not interesting, but such publication ("Architecture") needs a bit more. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architectural & Industrial   2. Individual Photographer   3. Photo Essays   4. Photoessays & Documentaries   5. Photography   

Subjects:  1. Fiction   2. Literary   3. Literature - Classics / Criticism   

Customer Reviews (5)

Actually Superior to a Retrospective
For those intrigued by Clemente, this may be the best book. The huge retrospective volume published from the Guggenheim exhibit does not necessarily contain as many of his better works as it should and can really leave you frustrated. There are paintings in here that are quite beautiful and they are often enhanced by the photographs that show them in the studio context. The photography is excellent and the book well done. Highly recommended and a good deal to boot.

fransesco clemente: painter of life.
he's an amazing artist, one of the best ever. period. i could sit here and describe for you, in excrutiating detail, the appeal of his use of color/contrast, the manner in which his forms are represented, and other such compliments. however, i will cut myself short, and simply say that his work propogates emotion like no other, and i hope everyone gets a chance to look at his creative vision at least once before they die. this book is a good way to make that happen.

A rare, informative glimpse at a talented, reclusive artist.
Lucia Babini's photos accompany Ricard's essay on the life of Francesco Clemente, published simultaneously with a major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum. Splendid full-page color photos of his works provides in-depth access to the Italian painter, creating a catalog which stands alone and provides a rare glimpse of the reclusive artist. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1952-   2. Art   3. Art & Art Instruction   4. Catalogs   5. Clemente, Francesco,   6. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General   7. Individual Artist   8. Clemente, Francesco   

Subjects:  1. 1900-1999 (20th century)   2. 19th century   3. 20th Century Architecture   4. 20th century   5. Architecture   6. Architecture, Modern   7. City planning   8. History - Specific Styles   9. Reference   10. Architecture / General   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics   2. Business / Economics / Finance   3. Business/Economics   4. Computer Engineering   5. Computer Simulation   6. Economics   7. Economics - General   8. Finance   9. General   10. Mathematical Models In Economics   11. Mathematical models   

Customer Reviews (2)

nothing wrong with the book
I don't know why the earlier reviewer had such a problem with this book. The blurb describes it accurately as reviewing estates and their gardens. There's nothing wrong with the photography and some of the architecture is quite noteworthy. The book didn't change my life or anything, but I'm giving it four stars to balance its rating a little.

Could be better
Poor quality photographs of inexpressive gardens and palaces. We expected to find the lovely small houses and gardens of the portuguese villages and countryside. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture   2. Country homes   3. Domestic   4. Gardens   5. International Architecture - European   6. Landscape Architecture And Design   7. Manors   8. Photography   9. Portugal   10. Regional - General   11. Residential Buildings Architecture   12. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Europe   

Subjects:  1. 1900-1999 (20th century)   2. 19th century   3. 20th Century Architecture   4. 20th century   5. Architecture   6. Architecture, Modern   7. City planning   8. History - Specific Styles   

Subjects:  1. 1578-1660   2. Albani, Francesco,   3. Art   4. Art & Art Instruction   5. Catalogues raisonnes   6. Criticism and interpretation   7. European   8. Individual Artist   9. Individual Painters - 17th Century   10. Albani, Francesco   11. Catalogues raisonnés   

Customer Reviews (3)

COULDN'T FINISH
I couldn't finish the book. It started good but it was full of history and that frustrated me a bit. It is sure one of the best of its genre but not my style.

History exciting and humane
After a gentle start, reminding us of the ways of life in baroque Europe with fascinating details of medicine, gastronomy, and life at court, this book develops into a not-put-downable story of high crime. On the way we observe a directly involved small group of people during their quarantaine in a Roman inn. Their day time labours are interspersed with (sometimes excitingly incredible) clandestine action at night. While their interaction is sketched with much humanity and psychological insight, the highly dramatic plot begins to overflow onto the world stage of the time, against the background of the Turkish siege of Vienna. We are forced to re-evaluate characters in the course of developments and we learn that politics is not a matter of blind, daring action, but of balance. This work goes further than ordinary fiction, because it includes an illuminating reappraisal of 17th century history. The story is also underpinned musically, as a main character is a singer (and one of the authors a musicologist) and known efforts to encode messages in music leads to a daring poetic hypothesis. For those interested (and for doubters)a solid appendix underpins historical details, and finally the authors ask some questions of the real world, regarding material archived in the Vatican. This is a well-rounded work which keeps all its initial promise, and my bet is the authors will not write another quite like it.

Imprimatur
A stunning historical novel that takes the reader to the mystery atmosphere of 17th-century Europe, the intrigues of royal courts and the church. It also combines alchemy, medieval astrology and baroque music. Once you start reading you cannot let it off your hands! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics   2. European - Italian   3. Fiction   4. Literature: Classics   5. 16th to 18th century fiction   6. Italian   7. Colonna, Francesco   8. d. 1527   9. Wood-engraving, Italian   10. Illustrations   11. Hypnerotomachia Poliphili   12. Art   13. History - Renaissance   14. Techniques - Printmaking   15. Rare Books   

Subjects:  1. Genetics   2. Life Sciences - Biology - Molecular Biology   3. Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics   4. Practice Of Medicine   5. Science   6. Science/Mathematics   7. Science / Genetics   

Customer Reviews (7)

Finally a good English Petrarch!
This edition of Petrarch's Canzoniere (trans. Mark Musa) is the best English rendering I have seen. Durling's edition, while useful in different ways (I would certainly reccommend both to anyone seriously interested in Petrarch), doesn't provide translations that are nearly as poetic or comfortable as these. Musa's experience from translating Dante's Divine Comedy and Vita Nuova, Boccaccio's Decameron, and even, previously, portions of Petrarch's Canzoniere, definitely shines through here - Musa knows his way around the Italian greats, and it shows in this translation.

Should be read as a novel from start to finish
While there are other good translations of selections from the Canzoniere, Petrarcch's masterpiece needs to be read as a whole from start to finish in order to be fully appreciated. Petrarch planned and rewrote these poems in order to fit into an overall plan.
Usually I skip introductions to works that I read but I read the first paragraph of the extensive introduction and was quickly drawn in. This introduction was actualy a helpful prologue to the poetry which descibed Petrach's styles and intentions.
A blurb on the book cover says that Musa's treanslations read so well that you are unaware that they are translations. I certainly agree. I do not read Italian but this edition does conain the originals on the adjacent side.
I was surprised at the modernity and musicality of the poems. Petrarch was not just inflouential in his versification but also in his language. Much of his humanistic language has become second nature to us but he invented it.
I rank this book as not only some of the graetest poetry but as one ofthe great works of Western llterature.
These "little songs" are highly readble and like a said before form a sort of novelistic story that I would highly recommend to not just poetry readers but all readers.

essential to western poetry
Musa's translations preserve all the brilliant visionary beauty & humble humanness of Petrarch's voice. & where would western literature be without Petrarch? He was one of the main people to bring Europe out of the Middle Ages. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient and Classical   2. Continental European   3. Literary Criticism   4. Literature: Classics   5. Poetry   6. Literature   7. Italian literature   

Customer Reviews (1)

totally a good book to buy
odd but awesome book! an expressionistic piece of art. a book filled with a colaboration of photographs that show the feeling of being an adolesent and shows real life in action. a fun book to look at with friends. also in this book is diary entries from different people and old magazine covers. an allover nifty buy. i promise youll love it! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adolescence - General   2. Art   3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth   4. Popular Culture - General   

Subjects:  1. Diet / Health / Fitness   2. Diets - General   3. Diseases - Heart   4. Health & Fitness   5. Spanish: Adult Nonfiction