Steller's Sea Cow (Gone Forever Series)

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Steller's Sea Cow (Gone Forever Series)
Gabriel Horn
Manufacturer: Crestwood House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Nonfiction | Mammals | Animals | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Nonfiction | Marine Life | Animals | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Nonfiction | Environment | Nature | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Zoology | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 089686460X

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Contributions to sirenology,: Being principally an illustrated natural history of Rhytina (symbolae sirenologicae quibus praecipue Rhytinae historia naturalis illustratur)
Joanne Friderico Brandt
Manufacturer: Acad ́emie Imp ́eriale des Sciences
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007AFSZK

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Selected references on the Sirenia: Dugong, manatee, Steller's sea cow, and relatives
Joy P Gold
Manufacturer: Smithsonian Institution
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006XRL4E

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Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) of late Pleistocene age from Amchitka, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (Geological Survey professional paper ; 1036)
Frank C Whitmore
Manufacturer: U.S. Govt. Print. Off
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Fossils | Animals | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Geology | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006CX32O

Book Description

An interdisciplinary approach, integrating biochemistry, biology, genetics, and engineering for the effective production of protein pharmaceuticals. The volume offers a biological perspective of large-scale animal cell culture and examines diverse processing strategies, process management, regulator

Book Description

The 20th century saw tremendous achievements and progress in science and
technology. Undoubtedly, computers and computer-related technologies acted as
one of vital catalysts for accelerating this progress in the latter half of
the century. The contributions of mathematical sciences have been equally
profound, and the synergy between mathematics and computer science has played a
key role in accelerating the progress of both fields as well as science
and engineering.

Mathematical sciences will undoubtedly continue to play this vital role in this
new century. In particular, mathematical modeling and numerical simulation will
continue to be among the essential methodologies for solving massive and
complex problems that arise in science, engineering and manufacturing. Underpinning this all from a sound, theoretical perspective will be numerical algorithms. In recognition of this observation, this volume focuses on the
following specific topics.

(1) Fundamental numerical algorithms

(2) Applications of numerical algorithms

(3) Emerging technologies.

The articles included in this issue by experts on advanced scientific and
engineering computations from numerous countries elucidate state-of-the-art achievements in these three topics from various angles and suggest the future directions. Although we cannot hope to cover all the aspects in scientific and engineering computations, we hope that the articles will interest, inform and inspire members of the science and engineering community.

Customer Reviews:

Sense & Sensibility hardback 01/03/07.......2007-01-03

The type was readable, illustrations interesting. Most of the pages were slightly misprinted in that a word(s) that belonged on the following pages were printed by themselves at the bottom of each page. No part of the text appeared to have been lost by this mistake.

I did not find the comments, appendix useful.

Book Description

On the clearest nights in the darkest places you can see as many as two thousand stars. On what scaffolding are they hung? Jan DeBlieu began to wonder. Her husband had become enveloped in a depression of his own, and both he and DeBlieu were struggling to find points of light out of that darkness. DeBlieu discovers it in the sky above, a firmament of order and beauty that prompts her to consider the worlds inside our minds, the delicate framework of neurons and synapses that support our fragile selves. Year of the Comets is her record of the journey she and her husband take from pain to healing.

Customer Reviews:

Darkness and light.......2006-08-02

I really appreciated the author's humility regarding her knowledge of astronomy. She takes us on her journey of self-education which, for someone like me who knows very little about the stars, allowed me to keep pace with her discoveries. Her writing is descriptive but not overly flowery; I appreciated the directness and succinctness.

My only regret is that she did not share more of her experiences in dealing with her husband's slide into deep depression. Her description of what she went through seemed muted, too measured. Didn't they argue? Wasn't she angry? Didn't she feel helpless? She touches on these but I would have liked her to go a bit deeper.

Nonetheless, it is a very well-written, engaging combination of memoir and scientific discovery.

Interesting Mix.......2006-04-19

This is an "enjoyable" book. Given its subjects of depression and astronomy, one would expect a heavy read; however, I zipped through the 200 pages with ease. Perhaps it is because I enjoy astronomy and cosmology, but I rather think it is because the book is well written and edited.

It is not a light read by any means, both subjects are serious and DeBlieu treats them as such. However, she describes them in layman's terms and only provides enough technical information to explain her views of the concepts. That approach makes it easy for any reader to grasp the insights she presents.

The book is more about her experience with her husband's depression, than his experience. I appreciate that approach, as it is first-hand and personal. She does not try to write the book on his behalf nor does she pretends to understand what he is going through. In fact, her own confusion and suffering comes to the fore every now and then, but she never dwells on it or look for sympathy. It provides wonderful perspectives for spouses and family members of depression sufferers. But be warned, DeBlieu does not provide a cure for depression nor does she have the ultimate answer for living with a depression sufferer. This is not what the book is about. It is rather about a personal experience and how she coped with it. At best, it registers empathy with those who suffer from depression and their loved ones who are affected by it without choice.

Having suffered from depression for a number of years myself, the glimpses that DeBlieu provides of her husband's experience are startling real. Her rather `gentle' description of the impact on the people around us is even more startling - in a state of depression one tends to focus on oneself and forget about those around you. And the fact that depressed people can do little about it is downright frightening even though they (we) know it is true.

I particularly appreciated the way she aligned the complexity of the human mind with the complexity of cosmology and astronomy. It is true that it is non-scientific and rather her way of coping with and thinking about depression as an illness of the mind, but her views are easy to relate to and provides that little bit of a different perspective to the everyday sadness of depression.

I recommend this book strongly for anyone who is living with or close to a depression sufferer as well as to anybody inclined towards depression. It is uplifting to both parties to see that it is possible to deal with depression even if it might require adjustments and sacrifices. If you are interested in astronomy it will be a huge bonus, but if you are not, do not let it put you off the book. You will most likely understand DeBlieu's astronomical and cosmological descriptions relatively easily, but if not, it will not lessen the value of the book. The book is certainly not for readers who are looking for astronomy and cosmology in terms of scientific subjects.

The Healing Power of the Cosmos, New Discoveries........2005-12-31

This is part memoir concerning her husband, Jeff's bout with clinical depression (deep sadness) over the impending death of his mother. "I read somewhere ...that soliders dying on the battlefield cry out for their mothers. People walking throught the carnage at Normandy heard grown men calling out, 'Mommy!'" She asks him what it felt like to know his mother's dying. He says it is scary; he's scared of not having a mother. "It's like being caught in a vortex and being sucked down; it's more out of control."

She philosophized about how many centuries ago, "people often turned to the stars to allay their fears and chart their paths." They had used stargazers not just to 'allay their fears' but to find answers to life's most pressing questions and sought wisdom about the best treatment of illnesses.

Since she is the Cape Hatteras Coastkeeper in North Carolina where that spectacular lighthouse stands tall, she started observing the night sky. "We now have the skills to examine the stars in more than a half-dozen ways, with scans for radio signals, microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays. Telescopes capture infrared and ultraviolet light, as well as visible light." The edges of the cosmos have been pushed back farther and farther with the advent of each new telescopic tool. "The various light waves that penetrate space give us glimpses of what lies beyong Earth's atmosphere... We are watching celestial events that would have startled our grandparents, never mind the first stargazers whose intellects were set ablaze by the objects they saw through their crude telescopes." She learned from an astronomy "history" book about the composite photograph called 'Hubble Deep Field' made from some 342 exposures over a ten-day period of December 1995, into the deepest parts of Space. "In that one tiny keyhole of the sky, the telescope detected hundreds of previously unknown worlds." In 1930, we knew of nine planets which made us our universe. Today's astronomers are now certain that the solar system is a lot more interesting than just a list of nine planets. There is no precise definition of the word, 'planet,' and astronomrs are thinking and re-thinking about where comets actually come from; in addition to the planets and their moons, there appear to be lots more to our solar system. In June 2002, Quaoar was discovered, as was Xena in October 2003, with its own little moon and is the most distant object ever found orbiting the sun. In February 2004, DW was discovered by a robotic telescope with an orbit farther out in Space of Sedna, discovered in March 2004. These new world have been found by looking far outside the plane of our solar system.

By studying the stars, she writes, "I imagined the whole of our tiny, perfect world -- people, animals, plants -- watching the sky together, saying as one, "Oh!" A diamond torch exploed in Orion and fell, leaving a misty,savering path as long as a comet's tail." With her new interest in the universe and by writing this account, she says that she embarked on "an unusual literary journey" and had some help from friends to "realize that my journey was indeed at an end."

Jan Debliue has also written MEANT TO BE WILD, HATTERAS JOURNAL, and WIND: HOW THE FLOW OF AIR HAS SHAPED LIFE, MYTH AND THE LAND. Her natural history/science articles have appeared in 'Audubon,' 'Orion,' and the 'New York Times Magazine.'

Unusual.......2005-10-21

This is an interesting and unusual book in which the author
weaves together an account of her husband's depression with
observations on her hobby - Astronomy. One gets the strong
feeling that her marriage would not have survived the impact
of depression had she not had some interest to turn to for
fulfillment.

Clear, readable and sympathetic.......2005-06-07

Jan Deblieu is a gifted nature writer whose straightforward, accessible prose can make both the tangle of the galaxies and the tangle of neurons in a person's brain comprehensible to the lay reader.

As a mother, wife, and amateur astronomer, Deblieu walks a fine line between personal revelation (about her husband's depression and its effect on her and their young son) and abstract explication (about the complexities of contemporary astronomy and physics).

Year of the Comets effectively links these two seemingly disparate subjects, presenting both with clarity and vitality. Highly recommended.

Customer Reviews:

A Rare Pesonal View Before the Civil War.......2003-05-01

One of the few accounts of the Mexican War, Kirkham's journal contains many unique descriptions of U.S. military activity. He graduated from West Point in 1842. After serving on garrison and frontier duty, he participated in the Mexican War, where he was took part in the battles at Contreras and Clmrubusco and was wounded in the battle of Molino del Rey. He was noted for gallant and meritorious conduct in the storming of Chapultepec and assisted in the capture of Mexico City. While in Mexico he was one of a party of six American officers who climbed to the summit of Popocatapetl which hadn't been climbed since the time of Cortez.

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USA is A-OK

America: Does Get It Right

True and accurate American history

Alexander gets it right

America's Journey to Prominence

How America Got It Right: The U.S. March to Military and Political Supremacy
Bevin Alexander
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | United States | Military | History | Subjects | Books
U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
International Security | Freedom & Security | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

How Great Generals Win

How Wars Are Won: The 13 Rules of War from Ancient Greece to the War on Terror

How Hitler Could Have Won World War II: The Fatal Errors That Led to Nazi Defeat

The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War

THE BOYS OF POINTE DU HOC

ASIN: 1400052890
Release Date: 2006-08-22

Book Description

The lies of anti-American propagandists are proven false once and for all.

Left-wing critics relish blasting our country for being the world’s sole superpower, or even an “imperialist” power. But as acclaimed military historian Bevin Alexander shows in How America Got It Right, the United States has done and continues to do exactly the right thing in military and foreign affairs. As the world’s only dominant political and military power, he says, we are the only nation able to go out into the world and strike down evil. And we must not shirk that responsibility—especially because we cannot rely on our so-called allies to defend our freedoms.

How America Got It Right reveals:

• How in the War on Terror we’re simply repeating the process of World War II: going wherever we have to in the world to destroy those who threaten our safety

• How unpatriotic critics of American foreign policy fail to understand the clear threats we now grapple with—but how our leaders get it

• How a policy of securing other people’s freedom is in fact grounded in American tradition, not a dangerous departure from precedent

Covering more than two centuries of history, How America Got It Right refutes those critics who suggest that America has somehow gone off course and shows how our government has, in fact, gotten it right at every turn from the American Revolution to the War on Terror.

Customer Reviews:

USA is A-OK.......2007-05-13

For people who have never read a book from Brevin Alexander this would be a good place to start and from there one should explore the author's other excellecent books. This books enters us onto the American experience into world politics and domination. How it got their and why it will remain their for a long time to come. Let's not make illusions because with great power comes great responsibility and this books shows us what is the US's responsibility and what may happen if this country does not step up to this role.

If you seek peace, prepare for war. Some people may be offended by that but it is what this book tells us must be the path taken by this nation in order to survive. The author tells us the risks, why we can't count on the Europeans, why if a party gets weak on defense in this country than the worst can happen. It is understandful that those are his opinions and he could be wrong in them, once one reads the entire book though one will come out with a better idea as to why America is the only world leader left.

The book is much more than the last paragraph though, it is a consice History of the United States. From the revolution, Mexican-American War, Vietnam War, every aspect is covered in a good flowing manner. The author also lets us know of some mistakes taken by the U.S and why they must not be repeated again. Overall and excellent examination into U.S politics and world Politics concerting U.S interest.

America: Does Get It Right.......2007-04-06

The political left has often charged that the United States is a world bully and in its attempts to spread American style democracy to thuggish regimes is no more or less imperialist in its designs than Rome ever was. Bevin Alexander in his HOW AMERICA GOT IT RIGHT replies to this canard by pointing out that those who subscribe to this creed simply have misunderstood the essential character of the historical American mindset. Alexander points out that from the very beginning of the American republic, a unique phenomenon occurred. For the first time in recorded history, a country was born in which the inhabitants sized up their current strengths and found that they could not compete militarily against what was then the world's strongest power, Great Britain. But these early Americans recognized that from their starting base in the thirteen colonies, they could see that if they could maintain their inner core values of hard-won freedom, they could expand westward and gradually become a world power. Alexander traces this decades long drive westward, from the War of 1812 to the Mexican War and then the Civil War. He notes that with the closure of the Civil War, the United States achieved its primary goal of sea to sea expansion, yet paradoxically encountered a problem that would appear in one form or another that would bedevil us right up to the current turmoil in Iraq. He sees this problem as nothing less that making foolish decisions that would threaten to derail our republic. In the case of the Civil War, it was the bitterness of the legacy of slavery. In the case of World War I, it was the equally foolish actions of President Wilson that resulted in requiring Germany to pay such a heavy load of reparations that the appearance of Hitler became inevitable. In short, Alexander pictures the United States as a country that set out to take advantage of a unique and fortuitous set of economic and technological circumstances to become a Great Power, but once having achieved that goal determined not to travel down the same road of imperialism that doomed Rome in the third century and England in the nineteenth. America, as Alexander sees it, has always acted in ways that must protect its own sovereignty (the Monroe Doctrine for example) and yet must realize that with great power comes great responsibility. Rome's responsibility lay only in maintaining its imperial hegemony over Europe. Ditto for a later England. In America's case, every president, even those that were afflicted with a misguided vision of how to use that power, at least recognized that they had to pick and choose when and where to use that power that would not only ensure the continuity of this country but that of the rest of the world as well. American then became a sort of international Clancy, a beat cop who decides which drunks to roust and which itinerants to merely boot down the avenue. It is no surprise then that every time that America makes this decision, that there will be opponents who complain that America is doing either too much or not enough to correct all the world's ills. Alexander notes that this ability to jump in and out of foreign intrigues is a dicey affair. but to remain perpetually isolationist as we were at the end of the First World War or to attempt to micromanage every country's internal affairs as we did in Vietnam are simply opposite extremes of the same paradox, and thus unacceptable. He closes by noting that America will continue to walk this fine line between under and over involvement, and as his book title suggests, the result will probably be getting it right far more often than not. HOW AMERICA GOT IT RIGHT is an insightful overview of and response to the leftist charge that America solely because of its pre-eminent position as the world's only superpower must be Rome reborn in the twentieth century. Bevin Alexander suggests that the difference between the eagle of Rome and the eagle of America is the difference between intelligently addressing the world's problems and foolishly trying to bludgeon them away.

True and accurate American history.......2006-10-09

Bevin Alexander delivers a summary of America's short yet rich history that would make any patriot proud. He details our history, but also describes the motivation for the things that occured in that history thereby explaining how the American character developed over the years. He isn't afraid to point out mistakes along the way, but the overall theme is that America is good and so are our intentions.

The 'blame America first' crowd will have a field day with this, but they will find it difficult to argue with history. Alexander points out that those who feel we are imperialists simply don't have the historical record to support that contention. Yes, there are some who may feel wronged by our actions but no one can argue that America has consistently been on the side of good whenever good came under attack. Even today, it seems as though the world is incapable of confronting bad people and bad governments without America taking the lead. This is just one of many truths that Alexander points out with flavor.

All in all, this book is well worth the reader's time. It's inspiring and educational and it's a welcome rendition of American history free from one-sided criticism and hatred of our past actions.

Alexander gets it right.......2006-05-26

This is an unabashedly unapologetic review of America's political and military rise to the foremost prominence in the world. That being said, Alexander is more than willing to acknowledge America's faults, both great and small, like slavery and Korean war. However, he doesn't dwell on them but sees America's history as an overall steady progress in the right direction. Many of the historical facts in the book will be familiar to anyone who studied American history, but Alexander manages to bring some fresh insights. Thanks to this, the book reads like a novel, and several chapters are veritable page turners. It's a history book that is a great entertaining read as well. I highly recommend it.

America's Journey to Prominence.......2005-10-10

Starting with colonial America and ending with today's omnipresent war on terror, Bevin Alexander summarizes centuries of American history in one convenient book. While some history books are plagued with details ad nauseam, often producing mountains of text that can reach over 700 pages in length (Howard Zinn's "A People's History..." comes to mind), Alexander managed to keep his narrative of American history under 300 pages long.

While most of the nation's important details are still mentioned in the book (such as the American Revolution, Louisana Purchase, westward expansion, etc.), there are several things left out from the final cut. For instance, in the beginning of the book, there is hardly any emphasis placed on the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, yet the document still stands today as the supreme law of the United States. Also lacking is the amount of attention the author gives to pre-Revolution America; this means that many events that had set a precedent to American secession from Britain are missing from the book.

All things considered, with about 250 pages to work with, Alexander delivers a respectable body of research with interesting analyses to guide the reader, as well as a complete reference guide in the appendix where readers are treated to texts from inaugural addresses, document clauses, and other important historical events.

4 of 5 stars.

Book Description

Demonstrating how geographic information systems (GIS) captures, stores, analyzes, manipulates, updates, and displays all forms of geographically referenced information, this visually stunning book is a unique resource for national park visitors and managers. Filled with colorful maps, charts, and photographs, this book documents the spread of GIS into every corner of the National Park Service and details its use in repairing trails and roads, locating artifacts, restoring American battlefields, guiding development, understanding wildfires, and protecting fragile lands. Dozens of detailed examples illustrate the invaluable role of GIS mapping in national parks.

Customer Reviews:

Knowledge is power, but geographic knowledge shows the way.......2004-10-24

This beautiful and intense book, stuffed with full-color maps in many formats, is not just for national park managers, those of us who are map addicts, and tech-types attracted to anything computer-based. Anyone who loves the outdoors, uses natural resources, or ponders wildlife biosystems will see how geographic information systems (GIS) have -- and will even more -- shape the future of our national park system. Although not for the purely casual reader, Mapping the Future illustrates so well the surprisingly diverse GIS applications already used in many of our parks... from snow-removal in Glacier Park to wildfire management in Southern California. The National Park Service plans extensive GIS information access for use by the general public. This book is a step towards understanding the amazing data available to all of us.

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