Bay Area Wild: A Celebration of the Natural Heritage of the San Francisco Bay Area

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Hunted for their meat and hides, Tule elk disappeared from much of California in the wake of the Gold Rush of 1849. Many varieties of waterfowl, grasses, fish, and reptiles once lived in tidal wetlands now swallowed up by metropolitan growth. Yet the elk are back in small numbers after a herd was reintroduced on the Point Reyes Peninsula; wetlands are being restored; and the area around San Francisco is benefiting from a growing awareness that its natural wealth has been needlessly squandered--and that something can be done about it. Wildlife photographers Galen Rowell and Michael Sewell document this story in a wonderful collection of plates, backed by a well-written, informative text.

Book Description

Nestled among the cities and suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area is the most extensive system of wild greenbelts in the nation. Galen Rowell, renowned adventurer and wilderness photographer, has created the ultimate tribute to the area where he was born and raised. His inspiring text and the book's 170 spectacular color photographs present a unique view of the Bay Area.
Chosen from more than 20,000 images, these extraordinary photographs make clear why so many have worked so hard to preserve the Bay Area's wildlands, and why this work must continue. Miles of rugged coastline, valleys, deltas, bays, islands, mountains, and ocean are captured in stunning images, such as a full moon setting through the pines over Mount Tamalpais, a ray of sunlight illuminating brilliant poppies in Tilden Regional Park, and winter storm waves crashing against the rocky San Mateo coast at Pescadero State Beach.

Customer Reviews:

Good book for great cause........2003-06-14

This book was very interesting. Not only did it have plenty of photos, the text was actually useful and have a great message. Reading Galen's work is just as great as looking at it. I had never even heard of or seen most of the places in the book until I got the book. Now, I'm walking some of the same trails I discovered in the book.

Wild in the Streets!.......2002-09-07

An incredible photographic argument that nature is ever-present, fecund, and indomitable! Rowell and Sewell capture the majesty of one the world's most beautiful urban areas to describe nature's ability to adapt and thrive next to mankind. A surprising array of wild animals are photographed within the ex-urban landscape and combine with dramatic Bay Area landscapes to make a compelling story of the beauty that surrounds us--if only we can take time out from our busy lives to see it! This is a great gift to bring back East for the holidays.

Love and landscape photography.......1999-01-20

Galen Rowell is showing here surely the nicest landscape shots I have ever seen. The Bay Area, that I didn't know, is here in spades, and if you know a little bit of tech, you see several uses of Galen special shooting way (flash, A2 Nikon filtering, s.o.)

An excellent collection of photography and text........1999-01-08

Galen Rowell and Michael Sewell have compiled their photography of the San Franisco Bay Area's remaining natural areas into an excellent book. The photography in Bay Area Wild illustrates the Bay Area's vast greenbelts and natural areas. For someone who has only been involved in still photography for eleven years, Sewell is an amazing wildlife photographer. The text is extremely interesting and informative--Rowell reminds those of us who live in the Bay Area how lucky we are to have such a wonderful backyard abundant with a great diversity of flora and fauna. However, conservation of our wild places didn't come easy. Rowell discusses the many struggles involved in preserving these places. This is a book I've been waiting for!!!

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Discovering New Worlds

Travel Unlimited--Indeed!

Great resource

Travel Unlimited: Uncommon Adventures for the Mature Traveler (Travel Unlimited)
Alison Gardner
Manufacturer: Avalon Travel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
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Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can't Get Unless You're over 50, 2005-2006 (Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures ... Absolutely Can't Get Unless You're over 50)

ASIN: 1566912121

Book Description

Travel Unlimited is a first-of-its-kind guidebook, offering a worldwide menu of alternative travel opportunities for older vacationers. Detailed reviews offer hundreds of possibilities for ecological, cultural, and volunteer experiences, plus educational opportunities in seminars or schools-all geared for those 50 and over. Ranging from primitive to luxurious, adventures are offered for every taste and are spiced with a collection of tips, insights, and essays by alternative tourism experts. Tours, travel wholesalers and clearinghouses, and nonprofits have been personally screened by the author for quality.

Customer Reviews:

Discovering New Worlds.......2001-12-16

Are you looking for a travel destination away from throngs,
glitz, and touristy bric-a-brac? Are you willing to concede, after booking that glorious vacation at an absolute rock-bottom price that there's no such thing as a free lunch, while watching the bills for the optional extras pour in as the whole cut-rate experience leaves a bad aftertaste? Then you're ready to do your travel shopping in Alison Gardner's painstakingly assembled book, "Travel Unlimited". Alison's book provides dozens of alternatives to the "been there, done that"s of familiar byways.
Whether your preference is hiking, biking, camping, horseback riding, or boating, and whether you opt for a sun-baked or snow-covered perspective, detailed listings are here, carefully indexed, along with the approximate cost and e-mail and fax numbers of tour operators. All of the trips catalogued are supportive of the environment in their respective locales. The book is aimed at the mature (i.e., over 50) traveler; however, the profile of the average group for each trip suggests that a substantial number of younger people - often including children - find these tours appealing. You don't have to be an old dog to learn a new trek.
Having done the 8-day, 80-mile walking tour from Leon, Spain, to Santiago de Compostela (pp. 165-6), I can say that I gleaned far more conversational nuggets hiking through the Pyrenees than I would have if I had hit the tables at Vegas. When I returned home, it wasn't necessary to corral a captive audience for listeners to show interest in the trip and in the book.

Travel Unlimited--Indeed!.......2001-12-08

Travel Unlimited presents an almost irreistible smorgasbord of vacation possibilities--if you want to go beyond the standard tourist itineraries and activities. The guidebook focuses on worldwide educational, cultural, eco- and voluntourism opportunities, on land and at sea. Each tour company entry includes an overview of its philosophy and scope, destination details, level of amenities ("comfort zone"),a fellow traveler profile, costs and complete contact information. Complementing these well organized factual entries are brief first hand accounts of particular trips. I wanted to take them all!
I found this guidebook so stimulating, I sent a copy to my oldest friend as we want to commemorate 50 years of friendship with a trip. From so many appealing choices, we booked the Universe Explorer Alaskan cruise next August Can't wait!

Great resource.......2001-03-16

First edition guidebook aimed at the "mature traveler" -- roughly 50+. This travel encyclopedia offers abundant suggestions on alternative travel -- including ecotourism, educational vacations and volunteering. Kudos to the author for showcasing the finest "uncommon adventures" around the globe.

Book Description

This manual encompasses an integrated series of molecular biology laboratory exercises that involve the cloning and analysis of the bioluminescence (lux) genes from the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri. The manual is divided into discrete units with each demonstrating one or more aspects of the cloning project. The manual is based on one of nature's most fascinating biological phenomenon: the biological production of light. This results in a recurrent theme of interest and makes the project very relevant to interdisciplinary topics such as fish symbiosis, biochemistry, biophysics, etc. Includes instruction in the basic techniques of modern molecular biology: DNA isolation and analysis, DNA restriction, agarose gel electrophoresis, ligations, transformation of recombinant DNA, preparation and screening a genomic library, restriction mapping, Southern blotting, hybridization, DNA sequencing, pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Designed for a one semester course in Molecular Biology. Also appropriate for a molecular biology component of Microbial Genetics, Genetics, Biochemistry, or Advanced Microbiology courses.

Customer Reviews:

This book badly needs revision.......2002-03-20

The material in the introductory text preceeding most of the exercizes lacks clarity, is poorly written and sadly confuses the reader. The introduction to the lux operon seems to be a very good example to illustrate the point. This book was made possible by a grant from the NSF and if the authors continue to market this book without revision it would be just be a travesty and an insult to intelligence. Please take note of the shortcomings of this book before decinding to buy it.

Two thumbs up.......2002-03-14

One of the best lab texts around. Provides a thorough exposure to the most commonly used molecular laboratory techniques. Highly recommended for faculty, who focus on creating a hands-on learning environment.

Wonderful Lab Manual.......2001-02-27

This is a wonderful text clear and concise, it explores the bulk of the basic lab techniques and procedures in molecular biology. This highly readable text builds on the cumulative experiences of some highly skilled academicians and researchers. Highly recommended for any molecular biology lab course or as a useful reference.

Unraveling DNA Molecular Biology for the Laboratory

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Unraveling DNA Molecular Biology for the Laboratory
Michael R. Winfrey
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7GFUE

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Unraveling DNA: Molecular Biology for the Laboratory
Michael R. Winfrey
Manufacturer: Benjamin Cummings
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIML32

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The basis of modern atomic theory,
C. H. Douglas Clark
Manufacturer: Methuen & Co. Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General & Reference | Chemistry | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006AJT56

Book Description

This book presents new soft computing techniques for system modeling, pattern classification and image processing. The book consists of three parts, the first of which is devoted to probabilistic neural networks including a new approach which has proven to be useful for handling regression and classification problems in time-varying environments. The second part of the book is devoted to Soft Computing techniques for Image Compression including the vector quantization technique. The third part analyzes various types of recursive least square techniques for neural network learning as well as discussing hardware implementations using systolic technology. By integrating various disciplines from the fields of soft computing science and engineering the book presents the key concepts for the creation of a human-friendly technology in our modern information society.

Amazon.com

A novelist, essayist, playwright, and public intellectual, James Baldwin's writings on the subject of race in America undeniably made him one of the greatest African American writers of the 20th century. As the civil rights movement gained momentum in the two decades following World War II, Baldwin landed squarely in the public eye, and his prose communicated the hope and frustration of the fight for racial equality. In James Baldwin: Early Novels and Stories, editor Toni Morrison draws heavily on Baldwin's early work, including his first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, as well as Giovanni's Room, which was praised by the New York Times for its "unusual candor ... and intensity." As pertinent today as it was some 30 years ago, the fiction found in this collection is powerful, eloquent, and a fitting tribute to a consummate writer.

Book Description

With burning passion, the authority of experience, and a sharp, epigrammatic wit, these essays articulate issues of race, democracy, and American identity. This edition--the most comprehensive gathering of Baldwin's nonfiction ever published--presents the complete texts of the landmark collections "Notes of a Native Son" (1955) and "Nobody Knows My Name" (1961); "The Fire Next Time" (1963), a classic analysis of America's racial divide; "No Name in the Street" (1972); and "The Devil Finds Work" (1976); and 36 more essays, including nine never before collected.

Customer Reviews:

A valuable edition of some of the best writings on race........1998-04-14

The Library of America is engaged in publishing definitive texts of the best-known writing in the U.S. Including James Baldwin in this series - and having Toni Morrison edit these volumes - has generated considerable critical review. It is remarkable that James Baldwin can still exercise so much hold over us. Both the fiction and the essays have a kind of raw power: it makes us realize how sensitive the nerve of "race relations" still is. "Go Tell It on the Mountain" - one of the early autobiographical stories - has already become an American classic. Baldwin's homosexuality and his ambiguous feelings towards the white establishment makes this a painful coming-of-age novel. There is no easy access to some one so at-odds with himself and his society - and no greater rewards for anyone interested in the literature of self-discovery. These are fine volumes. They are well worth owning and belong on the shelves of anyone interested in American literature. Not all collections are worth having. The Library of America - and these Baldwin volumes - are worth owning, and they are certainly worth reading.

James Baldwin: Early Novels and Stories, vol. 1. (book reviews): An article from: American Scholar

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James Baldwin: Early Novels and Stories, vol. 1. (book reviews): An article from: American Scholar
Rosemary L. Bray
Manufacturer: Phi Beta Kappa Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000986F7K
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Scholar, published by Phi Beta Kappa Society on March 22, 1998. The length of the article is 1478 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: James Baldwin: Early Novels and Stories, vol. 1. (book reviews)
Author: Rosemary L. Bray
Publication: American Scholar (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1998
Publisher: Phi Beta Kappa Society
Volume: v67 Issue: n2 Page: p162(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Early Novels and Stories Go Tell It On the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, Another Country, Going to Meet the Man

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Early Novels and Stories Go Tell It On the Mountain, Giovanni's Room, Another Country, Going to Meet the Man
Baldwin James
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UD7APK

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James Baldwin: Early Novels and Stories
James Baldwin
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Book Description

Between the middle of January and the end of March 1912 five men died in the attempt to return from the South Pole to their base on the edge of Antarctica. Their leader, the last to die and the man whose diary described their agonies was Robert Falcon Scott. The expedition had been beaten to the Pole by a band of racing Norwegians, led by Roald Amundsen. The bodies of the last three to die were found seven months later and, ever since, Scott's men have been British heroes. It is that legend, as much as their ordeal that is the subject of this book. Scott's men and the supporting characters, Amundsen and Shackleton, his rivals; Clement Markham, his discoverer; his wife Kathleen—give a fascinating picture of English society before the First World War. The story of the drama becomes also an illustration of human and social character. And, to the extent that Scott is legendary in England, the book tells something about the English and their attitude to duty. "When Thomson writes a book, it is time for celebration."—Booklist " "Thomson is an expert: an expert storyteller, critic, thinker, investigator and observer of the all-too-human landscape."—Steven Bach

Customer Reviews:

The Race to the South Pole.......2006-01-09

David Thomson's "Scott, Shackleton, and Amundsen" is sub-titled "Ambition and Tragedy in the Antarctic", which nicely captures the thrust of the book. At the heart of the narrative is the race by a handful of competing explorers ambitious for the glory of being first to the South Pole.

First off is Shackleton's 1907-1908 expedition, which walked to a remarkable 88 degrees South latitude, literally within a few days march of the Pole. Shackleton made the hard decision to turn back because he correctly realized how desperately narrow his team's margin of survival had become. From Shackleton's attempt should have come hard lessons in just how strenuous and tenuous life would be in the extreme conditions of Antarctica.

Scott and Amundsen launched expeditions in 1911-1912. Amundsen, a Norwegian with considerable experience in the Arctic, learned from previous expeditions and traveled by the proven means of skis and dog sleds. His team made a remarkably fast and ultimately uneventful run, achieving the South Pole first.

Scott's expedition experimented with primitive motor vehicles and ponies, both badly unsuited to the conditions, and ended up dragging a sledge over the ice and snow. Scott's team persisted through a variety of challenges all the way to the South Pole and the crushing discovery that they had missed being first by a month. The struggle back from the Pole ends in tragedy, as insufficient supplies and cold weather sap the team into extinction just eleven miles from a vital depot of supplies. Ironically, Scott was at the time more famous than either of his competitors, thanks to the heroic cast given his failure by his journal, which was recovered and published by a rescue team. In retrospect, as Thomson brings out, Scott must take the responsibility for the tragedy, for failing to learn from the experiences of others, and very likely for letting pride and ambition overrun common sense.

Thomson's book is well-researched and highly readable, sown with the kind of excellent biographical detail that brings to life the men who participated in the expeditions. This book is highly recommended to those interested in polar exploration.

The Last Place on Earth "Lite".......2004-09-10

This is a pretty good review of the short era of Antarctic exploration. It's not nearly as detailed (or long) as Huntford's tome, "The Last Place on Earth," and so comparisons between the three explorers are a little more "watered down." Even so, Thomson is a tad more sympathetic of Scott without becoming a cheerleader; in fact, Thomson basically reaches similar conclusions about Scott's failings as an expeditionary commander, but manages to point out these failings without vilifying Scott (something that Huntford has been accused of doing). "Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen" also gives more detail about the men under Scott (the original title of the book was "Scott's Men") than is found in most other books about Scott et al., and I found this refreshing. If you're looking for a good review of the Antarctic saga that can be read in a few nights, then this is the book to read.

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the strange, the weird, and the legends

A fun read & a credible investigation by a non-conspiracy buff (thankfully)

Very interesting but still not what'd you expect.

A History of Area 51

Fascination

Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51
Phil Patton
Manufacturer: Villard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Roswell UFO Crash: What They Don't Want You to Know

Area 51: The Dreamland Chronicles

Disclosure : Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History

Roswell Ufo Crash Update: Exposing the Military Cover-Up of the Century

The UFO Magazine UFO Encyclopedia: The Most Compreshensive Single-Volume UFO Reference in Print

ASIN: 0375753850
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Amazon.com

Dreamland is journalist Phil Patton's chronicle of his road trip into the low deserts and dry lakes of southern Nevada in search of the truth (which, presumably, is Out There). It's a cultural history of the cold war, a psychoanalysis of the military, and an unswerving look at our fascination for UFOs. What happened at Roswell in the 1940s? What is the Air Force doing out at Area 51? Whether you join the "youfers," and decide that genuine aliens are here, doing their inexplicable thing, or the "Interceptors," who desperately seek sightings of stealth planes, or "black aircraft," you'll need to camp at the perimeters of the vast desert wildernesses set aside for secrecy to do your research. Patton explores the edges (and sometimes the insides) of these strange, lonely places in the same way he examines the psyches and motives of the people who inhabit them--with bemused semiobjectivity. Patton seems to be saying that human weirdness is roomy enough to encompass everything, from UFOs to top-secret military planes to global atomic destruction. He writes of Dreamland: "I came to believe that its legend and lore, its language and paradoxes, provided a strange and yet appropriate time capsule of a half century of cold war and black secrecy. Here, the cultures of nuclear power and airpower merged with the folklores of extraterrestrials and earthly conspiracies; their interference patterns formed a moiré of the weird. It was a place from which to see our own planet with the eyes of an outsider." --Therese Littleton

Book Description

A journey into the most secret place in America
A story of secrecy, suspicion, and conspiracy
A history of a place that does not legally exist

Dreamland zooms in on Area 51--the nearly four million acres of Nevada airspace that has been a base for experimental military aircraft, the fount of UFO rumors, and the alleged site of alien insurrection.
How this real-life legend came to exist is Phil Patton's tale. He explores the mystery and fantasy surrounding the place, peeks over the edge of paranoia, and tracks strange objects in the air above this country of the mind. He visits spies and counterspies, test pilots and secret agents, and tunnels into the subcultures of true believers and conspiracy buffs.
Reviewers have applauded Dreamland as "brilliant," "fascinating," "weird, wonderful, sometimes spooky," "curiously epic, frequently humorous, and always entertaining." Dreamland is a novelistic tour de force that makes us all rethink our convictions about American know-how--and alien inventiveness.

Customer Reviews:

the strange, the weird, and the legends.......2007-09-18

Much history, much conjecture - "Dreamland" is a series of loosely linked chapters about: the legendary Lockheed Skunkworks and the creation of the U2 and Blackbirds; the Lore of UFOology and all the obsessives that go with it; the depictions of various subcultures, like the "Interceptors"; and, many reports about the National Test Site, Nellis Air Force Base, Tonopah Testing Area, and of course, Groom Lake ie, "Dreamland".

Pattin has the journalistic credentials for putting a pretty good story together - he is a New York Times and Esquire reporter. He focuses on the psychology of believing as much as on what is, and what has happened, "out there". The writing does bog down, however, when he starts to muse about "culture" and how Hollywood has marketed the alien phenomena; the analysis and conjectures get too tangential and detract from otherwise good stories and reporting. So, perservere and the narrative will pick back up.

The discussions about UFO's and aliens in the context of America's obsessions and cultural concerns are well done, as is Pattin's take on Jung's UFO theory. For those into conspiracy theories and the New World Order, there's probably nothing new here; but it makes some interesting reading. 4 stars on this one.

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

The Cloud Reckoner

A fun read & a credible investigation by a non-conspiracy buff (thankfully).......2006-08-11

Dreamland is a fun read, thanks to Phil Patton's entertaining writing style and his dogged willingness to uncover the mysteries surrounding Area 51. It's also an important book in the sense that we finally have a credible investigation into the complex and elusive world of Area 51 - a world that Patton coins as "Dreamland." However, don't be fooled into believing that Dreamland supports any of the conspiracy theorist claims. In fact, much of Patton's findings do more to debunk them.

Patton's admirable efforts to gather as much empirical data on far-reaching claims of the existence UFOs inside Area 51 often and invariably lead him into very murky water. However, seeing this through the eyes of a journalist, you get the sense that the "youfers" and the higher-profile witnesses of UFOs are just plain full of baloney. Never once during Patton's campaign to find the hidden truth is the author surprised, amazed or taken aback by any tangible evidence or revelations.

Though it's no fault of Patton's, the lack of any shred of stirring evidence of the existence of UFO's in Dreamland makes this book just a tad anticlimactic. In this vein, I disagree with some other reviews of this book. For example, the back cover says, "Reviewers have applauded Dreamland as brilliant, fascinating, weird, wonderful, sometimes spooky, curiously epic, frequently humorous, and always entertaining." In fact, Patton's closing statement - the final sentence of the book, seems to contradict this notion: "...This seemed appropriate, but as with so much in Dreamland, it proved impossible to determine conclusively." (Patton pg 299). There's not much in Patton's findings that would leave a reader spooked or fascinated. I would temper the back cover comments down to "brilliant, interesting and entertaining."

The most famous figure that Patton investigates is an engineer/physicist named Bob Lazar. It's no surprise that Patton finds Lazar's job titles and credentials to be questionable. Lazar claims that he actually worked on flying saucers hidden near Groom Lake. While Patton collects interesting stories through former contacts of Lazar, he finds no evidence or accounts to corroborate or support Lazar's outlandish tales. Patton discovers that Lazar was eventually arrested in 1990 for pandering - around the time that Lazar tried to open a brothel in Los Alamos. Do most physicists have time for these types of endeavors?

Patton's assiduous and unrelenting study of Area 51, military aircraft, "youfers", UFO folklore and UFO history is full, thorough and colorful. It's likely that Patton would make a study on any topic readable and interesting. And perhaps as an unintended consequence, this book will educate the average reader on the history of military aircraft. Patton's in-depth inquiry left me skeptical about the existence of UFOs and it has given me a critical attitude toward the conspiracy buffs. The amount of conjecture is disproportionately large compared to the flakes of evidence that anyone can provide when it comes to the existence of flying saucers in Area 51.

I should add that Patton also deserves credit for putting himself at risk on several occasions when he tries to get himself as close as possible to key sites in Dreamland. He is often chased away or threatened by military security.

Dreamland is an enjoyable read. But be forewarned: It won't convert you to a conspiracy buff. Rather, it may turn you into a skeptic.

Very interesting but still not what'd you expect........2003-10-27

Ok, for those interested in the subject: if you expect to read all about aliens, conspiracies about strange beings governing from below, strange otherwordly craft being tested, or any such info, well, choose another book if this is what you seek.

If you happen to be a planespotter this book should be precisely right for your money. Furthermore, if you're looking for the purely conventional history of "area 51" then you've hit the bull's eye as well.
But this calls for some specification here. It all comes down to what you're ready to assume, believe, expect. Area 51 may have an unconventional side to it and it may not. This is all extremely open to discussion and anyone who has delved deep into all this phenomenon will know very well that this subject could span to lenghts and depths unimaginable. If it comes down to purely concrete evidence then area 51 remains a blurry subject, more so that other sides of the bigger scheme for which way more evidence exists.

Now, summing it all up, i find the cover of this book ridiculously misleading. Why put an alien on the cover if this precisely what you are NOT talking about inside this book??? This alone, leads me to thoughts it shouldnt lead me, it puts me in suspicion about the motives of the author. If you're going to go on for 400 some pages explaining that all that area 51 is is a secret giant facility for testing secret (but earthling made!) aircraft than what's with the alien hint on the cover mr.Patton?

I found myself reading an extremely interesting book about the history of fighting aircraft, stealth aircraft, cold war intrigues, test pilots of dangerous aircraft etc. For this i rate this book highly. But i still think that it doesnt address the ever-underlying question about "other" functions of the so called area 51. "Dreamland" does touch this underlying question but in a vrey superficial and selfunderstood dismissing way as if it was never an issue to begin with. Problem is, it IS an issue, and there are enough reasons for that (wrong or right, they aren't adequately dealt with in the book, to put it mildly).

A History of Area 51.......2003-07-29

The section of the Nellis Air Force base in Nevada labeled "Area 51" continues to fascinate everyone from lovers of military aircraft to UFO buffs, from Cold War military historians to surveyors of the delightfully weird. The American government's dedication to intense secrecy regarding this "Dreamland" further stokes the curiosity of the public. What goes on at this secret research facility out in the middle of the desert? Why are there signs on the borders of the base stating that a person caught trespassing faces a stiff prison sentence and fine? Are there really strange, unexplained lights in the sky over the base or are these supposed sightings of UFOs just test flights for the next generation of high tech aircraft, like the stealth planes of the last two decades? Author Phil Patton decided to examine the aura of mystery surrounding a base that the American government actually denied existed for so many years. What Patton finds is an amazing blend of Cold War philosophy, pop culture, and UFO lore. The only thing stranger than what possibly goes on in the hangers of this base is what goes on outside the fences amongst a quirky collection of conspiracy theorists, UFO buffs, and aircraft enthusiasts.

"Dreamland" is first a history about the American military during the Cold War. Patton discusses in detail the atomic bomb tests in the Nevada desert and their effects on the residents in the area, the colossus of secrecy that emerged in these years surrounding military programs, and the developments of various secret aircraft that led to the construction of this air base in the Nevada wastelands. Several chapters intimately describe the Lockheed Skunk Works and its projects in the desert. The reader learns about the SR-71 spy planes, the U2 project and Gary Powers, and the stealth aircraft (which came about because of a footnote in an article written by a Soviet physicist). Patton introduces us to the test pilots who flew the planes over the desert, tough as nails aviators who often died or suffered serious injuries during the course of their work. We meet Kelly Johnson, the penny-pinching head of Skunk Works and the driving force behind several of America's greatest military aircraft. For readers who find a history of military aircraft as boring as I do, Patton spices up his accounts with amusing and intriguing anecdotes about the engineers and pilots who made American air supremacy a reality. The author's visits to various testing grounds, bases, and local towns lend the book an authenticity sorely lacking from many of the accounts concerning America's military secrets.

"Dreamland" doesn't skimp on the kooks, either. Patton knows Area 51 is more than a testing ground for military aircraft in the minds of many Americans, recognizing that for many in the business of UFOs, Dreamland is the Holy Grail of all alien encounters. The author discusses the background of the UFO phenomena, writing in depth analyses on George Adamski, Roswell, MJ-12, and Bob Lazar. In what I found to be one of the best parts of the books, Patton discusses how descriptions of extraterrestrial encounters often changed to reflect broader concerns in American society. For example, during the height of the Cold War in the 1950s, some saw UFOs and their alien pilots as harbingers of peace set to deliver America from the threat of nuclear annihilation. In the 1980s, an obsession with sex and the cult of the individual within the larger society brought stories of alien abductions to the fore. An abduction was special because it showed that the aliens chose one person over millions of others, an idea Patton sees as part of the pop psychological influence of talk shows. Overall, the author takes a strong neutral stance about some of the crazy stories floating around Area 51, only sinking to incredulity when the account is so over the top that it begs for ridicule. This makes perfect sense when one thinks about it, for anyone who believes in George Adamski's contactee nonsense has serious problems. Ultimately, "Dreamland" is less concerned about the existence of UFOs than with how these stories fit in with the larger themes of secrecy and the Cold War.

Patton does a clever thing with his book; he convincingly argues that Area 51 with all of its mysteries serves as a nexus for America's love of the unknown, its love of technology, and its suspicion of the federal government. Moreover, the author makes a case that the government's mania for classification and secrecy, all in the name of "black programs" and "national security," is out of hand. The idea of "need to know" or "plausible deniability" are certainly not terms one would associate with an open, for the people by the people government we all want. Secrecy too often leads to an "us versus them" mentality incompatible with American ideals about government. I think this critique of the bureaucratization of the national security state is the best argument for reading this book. On a secondary level, the book also works for those interested in how our government constructed advanced aircraft in order to defeat the grim specter of world communism.

Fascination.......2003-02-22

This book provides lots of insight as to why people find Area 51 so fascinating, but doesn' really draw any conclusions.

Phil Patton interviews every type of person interested in the workings of the Air Force's facility at Groom Lake, from aviation buffs to "youfers," all the while maintaining objectivity. He doesn't seek to judge the conspiracty theorists, but rather gives a basic history of black projects in general and Area 51 in particular.

I found it an easy and fun read. If you're at all interested in the United States' most secret military facility, black projects or secret aircraft, this is a good read.

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Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51
Phil Patton
Manufacturer: Villard Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N796IC

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