San Francisco Bay: Portrait of an Estuary

Book Description

With its shimmering vistas of fog, light, and cityscape, San Francisco Bay is famous worldwide--yet very little known. The bay, together with its inland delta, is one of the largest estuaries in the Americas. It is a crucial bird habitat, a vital fishery, a major shipping center, a source of precious water, a playground for its cities, a natural treasure in trouble, and a stirring challenge to our human stewardship.
John Hart's lyrical writing and David Sanger's eye-opening color photographs reveal this marvel hidden in plain sight--its varied past, its complicated present, and its promising future.
Hart and Sanger journey back through the bay's history, introducing its native cultures, describing its ecology, and tracing its urban and industrial development. They take us with them on a tanker bound upriver, to a duck hunter's blind at dawn, to a delta island when the migratory sandhill cranes come in, to the strange white fields where salt is harvested. And they tell the story of how the plucky local movement to save the bay began and evolved into a grand effort--maybe the grandest yet attempted--to repair a damaged organ of the living world.
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contributions of the Audubon Society, of The Bay Institute of San Francisco, and of the Director's Circle of the Associates of theUniversity of California Press in support of this publication.

Customer Reviews:

The Bay I thought I knew..........2003-10-02

I bought this book as a fan of David Sanger's photography. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Sanger and Hart were able to show me parts of the area I've lived in for 20+ years that I did not know existed. While San Francisco Bay is an exceedingly urban area, it also abounds in wilderness and wildlife. I was particularly taken with the descriptions of several ways of daily life in and on the bay.

The tone of the book is factual without being dry. John Hart's writing style felt like a wonderful conversation with someone I've known a long time. I learned a great deal about how the bay is changing and why those changes are occuring. There are several very detailed maps of the bay that correspond to the areas discussed and I referred to them often. The photographs are exquisite. The bay is always beautiful in those golden hours before sunrise and sunset and David Sanger must have spent a great deal of time to capture so many evocative images.

After reading through the book and spending time with the images, I felt like I wanted to participate in the restoration of this unique area. The appendicies are helpful, offering a list of 20 places to visit and a comprehensive list of agencies and organizations that are central in the preservation and restoration of the bay. All in all, a very satisfying book.

Average customer rating:
San Francisco Bay Portrait of an Estuary
Hart John
Manufacturer: University of California
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UF3E9Y

Book Description

· A critically acclaimed budget travel guide with attitude, mixing an irreverent look at culture and politics with brutally honest dining, lodging, and sightseeing reviews; original, socially aware.
· Covers Italy from the Italian Riviera to Sardinia.
· Researched, written, and edited by University of California at Berkeley students.
· Packed with sidebars full of trivia and fascinating facts on everything from the Festival of San Gennaro to a history of the Roman emperors.
· Up-to-date information on politics and culture.
· Hundreds of recommended cheap eats and sleeps plus suggested splurges.
· What's low-cost or free.
· Loaded with outdoor activities.
· Travel information for gays, women, people with disabilities.
· 46 pages of maps.
· Complete destination/topic indexes.

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Drake's Special Delivery (Court of Queen Elizabeth)
Karen Wallace
Manufacturer: Franklin Watts Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0749638796

Book Description

“We share a common bond with even the most bizarre beetle of the Peruvian rain forest,” asserts John Janovy Jr. “A belief in that common bond might, in fact, be the most fundamental characteristic of a biologist.” And biologists see the worth of a plant or an animal not in monetary terms but in its contribution to our understanding of life. The famous naturalist brings a humanist’s vision to this superbly written book.

On Becoming a Biologist is grounded in reality, cognizant of practical matters (education and jobs) as well as the ideals that inform the profession—a reverence for life and a responsibility to humankind and its future. Throughout, Janovy draws on his experiences as a graduate and postdoctoral student, on his rewarding relationships with teachers, and on his field work as a naturalist. He has written a new foreword for this Bison Books edition.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Book for the Prospective Biologist.......2006-03-19

John Janovy has written a book in "On Becoming a Biologist" that I could have used profitably when I was doing just that- becoming a biologist. I depended on my own enthusiasm, that of my instructors and two major professors, and my fellow graduate students. Indeed, this was sufficient, but having Janovy's book would have also offered a significant boost in times of doubt and uncertainty.

Certainly no one goes into biology (or art, or literature, or any other academic activity) if one wants to get rich. Few biologists are wealthy. However we do have one thing (of several) in our favor- we generally like what we do (at least in teaching and research- now faculty meetings and committees are another thing entirely.!) We can, in fact, always find something of interest in any vacant lot, pond, river, woods or desert. We are very seldom bored. Janovy catches this excitement well in his book and he has done all potential biologists, professional or amateur (and I think a lot of nuts and bolts biology- taxonomy, life history, ecology, ethology, etc. will be done by amateurs in the future) a great service. He also brings out an issue that is often overlooked- a true field biologist should be an observer and in doing so, should not overlook art courses to sharpen that ability. Art is not in antipathy to natural science despite some modern notions otherwise. The famous ornithologist and artist George Sutton is a fine example of a scientist who mixed the two disciplines with profit.

Janovy introduces the reader to the naturalists, the practice of biology, teaching and learning, making a living, and responsibilities, in five gem-like chapters. I recommend this book highly to anyone who contemplates biology as a career or avocation. If you were enthusiastic before, you will be all the more so after you read Janovy's prose!

An Excellent View into a Career in Biology.......2000-10-28

I am stuck in what can only be called (generously) a mid-career crisis and changing to a career in biology is one of the possible directions I've been considering. Reading this book not only helped me to understand what life would be like if I chose to pursue a career in biology but it also talked about the details of a life that are hard to learn from the outside: the world-view, the ethical code, the experience of the daily life of a biologist. One of the best things I learned from this book is that for a person interested in biology there are many options, including being a devoted amateur. I still don't know what the future holds for me. This book was only one piece of the puzzle but it is an important piece and the lessons I learned go beyond biology.

This book should be read by every college biology major!.......1999-05-15

Janovy presents an enjoyable, readable overview of how one becomes a biologist. He also provides suggestions about what and how to do things once you become a biologist. Janovy's comments are practical and insightful. This book should be required reading for all first-year college biology majors -- it is for mine! The going is smooth, the examples are clear, and the overall message is that it's no only OK, but fun and exciting to become a biologist. This is a great little book.

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On Becoming a Biologist
John Janovy
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF0L3C

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Becoming a biologist
Ruth B Wildman
Manufacturer: Paladin House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

The first edition of this book covered in depth the mathematical theory of nonblocking multistage interconnecting networks, which is applicable to both communication and computer networks. This comprehensively updated version puts more emphasis to the multicast and multirate networks which are under fast development recently due to their wide applications. This comprehensively updated new edition not only introduces the classical theory of the fundamental point-to-point network but also has a renewed emphasis on the latest multicast and multirate networks. The book can serve as either a one- or two-semester textbook for graduate students of information science, (electronic) communications, and applied mathematics. In addition, as all the relevant literature is organized and evaluated under one structured framework, the volume is an essential reference for researchers in those areas.

Book Description

Who Needs Greek? is an interdisciplinary study of arguments on what ancient Greece has meant to western culture from the ancient world to today. The battles between artists and literary critics, historians and journalists, politicians and scholars, are often violent, hilarious, and always passionate. This cutting-edge cultural history ranges from ancient Greece via the Renaissance to modern opera, and treats a central question of culture in a way which will intrigue academics as well as a more general audience.

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Who Needs Greek?
Simon Goldhill
Manufacturer: Cambridge University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K71W28

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Her daughter's tender account of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's final 22 months is a fitting epitaph for an author who revealed her inner life with an honesty and sensitivity that have inspired generations of readers since Gift from the Sea was first published in 1955. This new volume also makes a fine companion for Under a Wing, Reeve Lindbergh's previous memoir about her parents' complex marriage and her own struggle to grapple with the legacy of her famous father, Charles Lindbergh. Yet it's not necessary to know anything about Anne's writing or Charles's exploits as an aviator to be moved by No More Words, which chronicles a day-to-day drama of worry, guilt, anger, and unexpected joy that will be familiar to anyone who has cared for an elderly, ailing parent. Drawing on a diary she kept from the time her mother came to live with her in May 1999 until Anne's death at age 94 in February 2001, Reeve Lindbergh deals first and foremost with her shock that her literate, articulate mother no longer had much use for words. "From the beginning of my life," she writes, "everything I understood was made plain to me in her language.... at each moment of my need she spoke the words I needed." But after a series of strokes, Anne spoke less and less, and not everything she said made sense. Reeve had to find meaning for herself; she had to accept her mother's increasing remoteness and take pleasure from the moments when Anne seemed to come back to her. She traces that process in spare, eloquent prose complemented by excerpts from her mother's works: "It was very important to me that her writing voice, too, should be heard," Reeve states. "The truth about this book is that it is not mine but ours." --Wendy Smith

Book Description

No More Words is a moving and compassionate memoir of the final seventeen months of Reeve's mother's life. Reeve writes with great sensitivity and sympathy for her mother's plight, while also analyzing her own conflicting feelings. Anyone who has had to care for an elderly parent disabled by Alzheimer's or stroke will understand immediately the heartache and anguish Reeve suffered and will find comfort in her story.

Download Description

In 1999 Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the famed aviator and author, moved from her home in Connecticut to the farm in Vermont where her daughter, Reeve, and Reeve's family live. Mrs. Lindbergh was in her nineties and had been rendered nearly speechless years earlier by a series of small strokes that also left her frail and dependent on others for her care. As an accomplished author who had learned to write in part by reading her mother's many books, Reeve was deeply saddened and frustrated by her inability to communicate with her mother, a woman long recognized in her family and throughout the world as a gifted communicator. No More Words is a moving and compassionate memoir of the final seventeen months of Reeve's mother's life. Reeve writes with great sensitivity and sympathy for her mother's plight, while also analyzing her own conflicting feelings. Anyone who has had to care for an elderly parent disabled by Alzheimer's or stroke will understand immediately the heartache and anguish Reeve suffered and will find comfort in her story.

Customer Reviews:

An open account of a private and confusing time.......2006-12-11

This is a touching memoir of the time when Reeve Lindbergh was helping to take care of her aging mother, the famous Anne Morrow Lindbergh in the last year(s) of her life. This book is a look inside the private lives of a very well known family during a difficult transition in their lives.

The story is about how Reeve is trying to make sense of this time. It contains her thoughts and reflections and fears about the change in her mother's condition. I appreciate the honesty in which this book is written, I feel like the author held nothing back in relating her story. I was surprised and delighted at the openness of it. She wrote about things in dealing with this situation that people think, but would rarely admit to.

I found this book to be very comforting, as I recently experienced a similar situation in my own family. There were so many times, as I read this, I was shaking my head thinking....I know exactly what you're saying. Throughout the ordeal, there are sad times, but there were also light and funny times as well. Dealing with the aging and decline of a loved one that you have known so well all of your life is difficult. They change, and when it happens, we don't always know how to deal with it or what to think, and we wonder what they are thinking. It's hard and it's confusing when you are trying to guess at what is going on in their world. Reeve writes beautifully about it all.

I had not picked this book with the intention of experiencing what I did...the comfort of reading about someone else going through a similar situation as me. I initially picked this book because I love Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book 'Gift of the Sea' and I wanted to read more about her life. Once again, as I am a firm believer of...the right books come along at just the precise moment that we need them and so often they come in an unexpected way as this one did for me.

A remarkabley Evocative Memoir.......2006-07-16

Reeve Lindberg has succeeded in giving us a marvelous journey through the last two years of her mother's life. It is also a very helpful description of what it is to deal with someone who is deep in the fog of an Alzheimer's like state. I plan to give copies to many of my friends, most especially those with elderly parents. Reeve's language is lovely and crisp in the strokes of its portraits. It is easy to see she that is her mother's daughter. I am so happy to have discovered this book and I would recommend it to anyone who is seeing or will see an elderly parent or friend through his or her last days and months. Tasha Halpert

Simply Lovely.......2004-10-17

This is a fast reading book concerning Mrs. Charles Lindbergh's last few years of life. Written by youngest Lindbergh sibling, Reeve, she tells of living on her own farm in Vermont, with a smaller house on the property her mother lived in during that time. Reeve Lindbergh is a wonderful writer - she doesn't need the famous last name to prove that. When she isn't writing about her mother, which is riveting for some reason, her writing of anything else in the book has such a fresh, emotional spirit behind her words. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a legend in her own time both in flying, her husband, and her many published works, did not talk much in her last years. It is a story of how the family felt and coped with her condition, letting go of the vibrant mother they once knew. An excellent book for those who have been a caregiver to a parent or sibling. Anne M.L. was such a famous figure, it was both interesting and heartwrenching to have the privilege of reading about her day to day living. Thank you, Reeve Lindbergh, for sharing this story that you could have kept to yourself, but chose to share. It's a book that will be remembered long after it's read.

Beautiful Tribute.......2002-02-19

I have read Reeve Lindbergh's work before in her memoir, "Under A Wing". I was surprised at her candor regarding her father, and what was equally clear was her fondness for her mother. "No More Words", which records the last 17 trying and rewarding months of her mother's life, is a tender tribute that is notable for what it includes and for what it omits.

The only photograph of Mrs. Lindbergh is the one that appears on the cover. The photograph depicts a young woman at the start of what would prove to be a life as fascinating as it was lengthy. The closing months of this woman's life are chronicled above all else with a great deal of respect. This is a most private family event, and just as the book is devoid of any pictures for the voyeur, the narrative too is informative without taking away any of the dignity of her mother. This would seem to be an obvious manner to write of one's parent, but a person does not have to look far to find books written with sales as the first goal, and exploitation of the subject left unconsidered.

Reeve Lindbergh is a poet, she is reflective, and these aspects of her personality provide a narrative that is unique. This book is not simply a diary; it is not a chronological description of the systematic health decline of her mother. It is more of a story that is driven by the limited interactions she was able to have with her mother, and the memories that were either hers or recollections of her mother's life. This is not a sugarcoated story of what was a very trying time. The book is a balanced memoir about how difficult it is to deal with not only the death of a parent, but also the very real difficulties and frustrations that caring for an elderly, ill parent involves. Mrs. Lindbergh had the best care available which took much of the moment-to-moment care off of the family. It did not remove many of the difficulties, and the reader can easily imagine what it would entail to care for a parent with little, or no outside help.

This is a very contemplative book that moves at an associated pace.

Reeve is most definitely her mother's daughter!.......2002-02-06

I was enchanted by "Gifts from the Sea," by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. While reading "No More Words," I could not tell the difference between mother and daughter's writing. Each has the gift of attentive observation, along with the ability to put these observations into words that had me shaking my head with their frankness. Reeve's observations about her mother's deteriorating health were imbued with such love and devotion. She spoke truthfully and without guile of her wish that her mother meet her end soon, not just for her mother but for her, and her family. Yes, Anne Morrow was indeed fortunate, as Reeve pointed out, to be able to afford excellent, around the clock care in her own home. It made me wonder why this level of care isn't available to anyone who would need it, regardless of their income. It gave Anne Morrow's last years a sense of dignity that most of our elderly will never experience. I wondered what the point of this book really was - and then realized that it didn't need one, to be enjoyed.

Average customer rating:

Leaves a lot to be desired

ANOTHER GREAT REPRINT FROM OSPREY BOOKS

Soldiers of the Dragon: Chinese Armies 1500 BC-AD 1840 (General Military)
C.J. Peers
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
General | China | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Military Science | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1846030986
Release Date: 2006-06-27

Book Description

The turbulent history of China has seen many dynastic struggles over the centuries, ever since the semi-nomadic tribes of ancient China were unified under the first emperor, Cheng. From the Great Wall to the terracotta army at Xian, monuments to China's many wars, and the men who fought them, litter the landscape. This book tells the incredible story of China's armies form the first documented civilization over 3,000 years ago to the outbreak of the first Opium War with Britain in the middle of the 19th century. Written by an acknowledged expert on Chinese armies, this volume offers details of their colourful uniforms and fascinating weaponry with colour and black and white photographs, artwork, maps and diagrams.

Customer Reviews:

Leaves a lot to be desired.......2007-07-01

I am writing a military novel that is set in the Qing period and bought this book in order to get a clear visual grasp of Qing miltary garb, weapons, and tactics, including the endemic terms used to denominate such things. Much to my disappointment, these expectations turned out to be rather high. There are a few pictures, but no terms given for the objects described therein, and a minimum of historical context. There is a grand total of one sentence describing Qing troop formations. The Qing banner armies were arguably the most colorful, most visually striking armies ever to take to the field, with their tall banners and heavy damask battle gowns, yet the author conveys no description of these things. Rebel Han armies of the period, such as the White Lotus Society, are known to have used astonishing martial arts techniques during this period, yet there is no description of this. There is not even a single mention of the famous Shaolin monks who clashed with the Qing at this time. In the end, I was able to take away only two valuable tidbits that I hadn't already gleaned from other Chinese history books.

The book is really more of a sumary of the main military events of each dynastic period, listing names and dates, and outlining things in a very broad and circumspect way. It may have considerable value as a crib sheet or a quick reference for lay readers who just want to get a general idea of Chinese history, but it does not achieve what it purports to do.

ANOTHER GREAT REPRINT FROM OSPREY BOOKS.......2006-09-02

This recent book from Osprey publishing is another in the series of previously published material from softcover now being re-released in hardcover.

This wonderful hardcover book is comprised of the following previously individual books:

Men At Arms 218: Ancient Chinese Armies 1500-200 BC
Men At Arms 284: Imperial Chinese Armies (1) 200 BC-AD 589
Men At Arms 295: Imperial Chinese Armies (2) 590 - 1260 AD
Men At Arms 251: Medieval Chinese Armies 1260 - 1520 AD
Men At Arms 307: Late Imperial Armies 1520 - 1840 AD

This listing above is the exact table of contents for this magnificient book, all being written by C. J. Peers, an author who "studied Oriental history at Cambridge University and is now an acknowledged expert on ancient Chinese armies". While reading another reviewer's opinion that some of Mr. Peers' books are suitable for the lay reader and not the academic may be true, this particular book is more than adequate for someone such as myself not well versed in Chinese military subjects. And for me that is part of its value, it gives me more than I will ever need to know concering this subject. One book does it!

As with every recent oversized book from Osprey, included as standard are maps, illustrations, pictures, paintings, and a very good chronology; and for a book of only 248 pages, it is a real treat for any reader's eye and mind.

As I've stated before when reviewing both THE NORMANS AND THE VIKINGS from Osprey, someone at that publishing house is very wise; wise in reissuing previously published softcover material into a more durable hardcover edition.

If a reader has any interest in the subjects covered by these reprints, be it B-17s, U-Boats, Normans, Vikings, and now, Chinese armies, no better books at an afforable price exist. Anywhere. At any price!

Recommended.

Semper Fi.

Book Description

Ever wonder if you're being told the whole truth about supernatural phenomena, new developments in biological and chemical warfare, and atrocities like Heaven's Gate? This all-new anthology features 31 provocative and engrossing articles from the pages of PARANOIA, the world's most popular and respected conspiracy journal. For the first time, you'll get the real story behind the important cultural and political events that shape our world, including:

- I-Spies, Espionage, and 9/11
- The New West Nile Virus: Bioterrorism or Mother Nature?
- The NASA Cover-Up of Planet X
- Economic Interests Behind the Yugoslavian Conflict
- Thought Control in American Education
- Richard Nixon and Conspiracy in the Kent State Shootings.

Compelling, controversial, and featuring a wealth of documentation and sources, The New Conspiracy Reader will convince you that the truth is indeed out there and may be stranger than you ever imagined.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent compilation of marginalized research........2004-05-23

Al Hidell and Joan d'Arc have done a wonderful job compiling some of the most intriguing articles from Paranoia Magazine. Highlights include an interview with Peter Levenda (author of Unholy Alliance, which examines the occult roots of the Third Reich), Randy Koppang's examination of the police state as a "work of art," and an expose of TROLL camras by John Paul Jones (one of my favorite Christian philosophers).

As the author of the article over Darwinism's occult origins (which acts as excellent primer for my full-length book), I am proud to be a contributor to this comprehensive anthology. Even if you don't agree with every author in this compilation, there is still plenty of important data within the pages of The New Conspiracy Reader. IF you have an open mind, check it out!

Book Description

A natural and human history, and a richly documented cautionary tale, of a once-great watercourse that is now, for at least half its length, a dead river. "Absolutely essential to anyone's environmental library."--Jim Harrison. 32 pages of black-and-white photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Wide ranging historical survey -- intense final chapters.......2004-02-17

As a recent arrival in Southwest New Mexico and an occasional hiker along the Gila River and its watershed, I had high hopes for this book. Seeking it out (it's out of print) also provided a chance to discover all the used book stores in a 150 mile radius. But here the river is, at first, only an organizing principle. Ancient geology, Native American history, early European exploration and settlement, the rise and ebb of mining, wild west tales - all merit more than peripheral mention in this slim volume. If a concise, somewhat arbitrary visiting of all these topics in a readable style is what you're looking for, this book will satisfy. The title makes clear the author's environmental concerns, but these dominate only in the final chapters.
Those final chapters make up a damning indictment of those who have caused and/or contributed to the drying up of the lower Gila. Blame is laid at the foot of personalities from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles Keating. The writing picks up steam and has visceral impact. A series of paragraphs dealing with government subsidies to ranching interests packs the greatest punch.

I had already made myself somewhat conversant in Southwest history. So I found the reexamination of the related topics unnecessary, even if well-done. I would have liked one summary chapter on the more distant history, then more details and evaluation of the environmental impact wrought by 20th century development. Whether you will agree depends of course entirely on your own expectations and prior knowledge of the background.

The book is well-illustrated and has a comprehensive (if now somewhat out-of-date) bibliographical essay. Perhaps his publisher will allow McNamee to reissue this volume with an updating of the Gila's fortunes and outlook.

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