Masterpieces of the Mineral World: Treasures from the Houston Museum of Natural Science

Book Description

The collection of natural mineral crystals housed at the Houston Museum of Natural Science is the finest and best known in the world. Now the treasures of this singular collection are shown in resplendent photographs that will seduce both the connoisseur of beauty and the student of natural history.

The spectacular and rare specimens on display here, from a huge imperial topaz crystal weighing more than 2,000 carats to a crystallized gold cluster that is one of the most highly coveted objects in the mineral kingdom, are true masterpieces, the Rembrandts and Picassos of the natural world. Like fine art, minerals are prized for their aesthetic qualities-color, luster, sculptural composition-and for their provenance. Avidly pursued by naturalists throughout the centuries, precious metals and gem crystals have a fascinating history. Stories regarding the pursuit and discovery of these precious natural objects, including tales of good luck and hardship, are related in these pages. Essays that explore connoisseurship in the mineral kingdom and chronicle the history of this noble pursuit add to the appeal of this unique volume. AUTHOR BIO: Wendell E. Wilson is editor and publisher of The Mineralogical Record. Joel A. Bartsch is curator of gems and minerals at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Customer Reviews:

a treasury of great specimens.......2007-03-17

The specimens shown in this book from the Houston Museum are truly the top of their class. This is a coffee-table book for the mineral collector, and only falls short of a visit to the museum itself.

Masterpieces of the Mineral World.......2007-01-12

Excellent detail and photography. Very good section on attributes of mineral specimens, locations,and collections through the centuries.A wonderful table top book for everyone to enjoy.

Masterpieces is a masterpiece.......2004-12-26

Minerals and crystals are among the most beautiful objects on the planet. Their sculptural shapes and intense colors can be mesmerizing. Amazingly these specimens haven't been "enhanced" by cutting or polishing. They are as God made them. These magnificent photographs of the world's greatest collection capture their beauty as well as any book I've ever seen.

Regarding the Land: Robert Glenn Ketchum And the Legacy of Eliot Porter

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Stunning, simply stunning; splendid and challenging
A Retrospect of Environmental Activism Past

Regarding the Land: Robert Glenn Ketchum And the Legacy of Eliot Porter
John Rohrbach , and Robert Glenn Ketchum
Manufacturer: Amon Carter Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0883601001

Book Description

The work of two great American landscape photographers presented together for the first time—revealing an artistic progression from one generation to the next

· 88 color and duotone reproductions of works from a major exhibition organized by the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas
· Both photographers are celebrated for creating art for environmental activism
· Includes an introductory essay by John Rohrbach, senior curator of photographs at the Carter, and closing remarks by Robert Glenn Ketchum
· Includes chronologies of both artists along with lists of their publications and major exhibitions

Eliot Porter (1901-1999) was the first established artist-photographer to commit to exploring the beauty and diversity of the natural world with color film. Widely exhibited, Porter set the standard for color landscape photography. But he was also a passionate ambassador for environmental causes: in 1962, the Sierra Club's publication of his book "In Wildness is the Preservation of the World" set him on a lifelong path. His artistic vision in service of environmental activism inspired generations of photographers, and Robert Glenn Ketchum counts himself among them.

Ketchum is recognized as one of the leading contemporary photographers of the American landscape. Like Porter, Ketchum creates portraits and publications of ecologically significant places. The images in Regarding the Land reveal how Ketchum has honored Porter's pioneering use of color and graphic composition, but moved beyond Porter's careful description of place. Ketchum presents landscapes as ideas that can be shaped, even defined, by the imagination. An essay by John Rohrbach, senior curator of photographs at the Amon Carter Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, illuminates the development of these two artists. Rohrbach reveals how Ketchum has expanded upon Porter's visual vocabulary, both with his photographs and with magnificently embroidered translations produced by China's renowned Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute.

Customer Reviews:

Stunning, simply stunning; splendid and challenging.......2006-12-14

First, I can review this book without even cracking its spine (though I have), as I have seen the Porter/Ketchum exhibit at the Amon Carter in Fort Worth, Texas. (I live in suburban Dallas.)

Eliot Porter was the country's first color nature photographer. This was when photographers such as Ansel Adams were moving near their peak and color film shooting was considered askance, suitable only for things like fashion magazine slicks.

But Porter showed what could be done with color, including building on Adams' work at places like Glen Canyon to jump-start environmentalism into a new era.

He was a seminal influence on Glenn Ketchum, who then took his camera to places like the Cuyahoga River south of Cleveland, documenting efforts in the '60s and beyond to bring national parks and other preservation to scenic areas of the East that had already suffered human encroachment and alteration. Ketchum even went beyond that in spots, in some cases juxtaposing stereotypical "Rust Belt" industrial development with land still showing environmental quality.

Ketchum then went on to be a leader and pioneer in aerial nature photography. His Arctic and Antarctic shots are simply incredible.

His and Porter's photos are displayed in sizes as large as six feet wide at the Carter exhibit; should this show move on the road and come to your area, you must go see it.

The essay in the book by John Rohrbach, senior curator of photographs at the Amon Carter, is a definite must-read. (The Carter has one of America's best museum collections of photographs, and works much more with photographic exhibits than the typical art museum.) Rohrbach discusses how Ketchum has built on and moved beyond Porter, as good students of photography can readily determine. This includes working with China's renowned Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute, which has created some difficult and highly creative tapestry reproductions of some of his scenes. (About 8-10 of these tapestries, ranging from display piece size to triptych room screens, are also on display as part of the exhibit.

Environmentalists will love to see what both photographers were trying to say about different aspects of preservation and how they were "speaking." Nature photographers will gain new ideas for lighting and perspective angles.

Contrary to another reviewer here, neither photographer represents an "all or nothing" version of environmental activism, and in fact, the idea that there is such a thing, while not strictly untrue, is as much a caricature as reality.

Indeed, Ketchum's photography on the Cuyahoga River National Recreation Area, before it became a national park, and elsewhere in the northeast, puts the lie to the idea that environmentalists of his generation never included human artifacts or aftereffects in their artistic work, or that they thought the only true environmentalism was environmentalism that totally eradicated all human traces and touches. Ketchum does NOT present "simply preservation and destruction" as the only alternatives in photographs such as on the Cuyahoga "The Indian Point Atomic Power Plant," and others. Showing the ugliness of ugly development implies nothing as to whether or not Ketchum thought there was a "third way" of man-made artifacts being incorporated into environmental preservation.

And, the fact that this reviewer holds up discredited global-warming skeptic Bjorn Lomborg as an intellectual grounding point for a new environmental ethos should show just how much his comments are to be trusted.

A Retrospect of Environmental Activism Past.......2006-12-11

For most people, environmental photography starts and ends with Ansel Adams. His famous black and white prints of Yosemite and the High Sierra, and his advocacy for national parks and wilderness areas has made him a household name among conservationists and a perennial calendar favorite among the broader public. But color photographer Elliot Porter was nearly as influential, even if less popular. His work helped preserve much of the Glenn Canyon area. He also helped inspire Robert Ketchum whose work is the focus of this book.

Ketchum differed from Elliot in that he made color the central focus of his study. For Elliot, color was but a medium, whereas for Ketchum it was the main element of his work. But like Elliot, Ketchum also used his photography to capture scenes for the express purpose of furthering environmental activism. This book contains numerous photos from two of Ketchum's published works, 'The Hudson River and Highlands' and 'The Tongas" which were both used to further environmental causes in the 1980s. Finally, this collection explores how Ketchum has tried to caputre his photographic images on a new medium: Chinese embroidery. The resulting embroidery is every bit as revolutionary as Ketchum's own photographs.

If Ketchum's technique was influenced heavily by Porter (many plates of the latter's work also grace these pages) his environmental philosophy, like many others in his generation, comes from Rachel Carson (Silent Spring) and Aldo Leopold (Sand County Almanack). These works portray nature as a seemless web always tending towards stasis or "balance." Only man's activity destroys this seemless web. Whereas Porter (and Adams) had tried to promote conservation by capturing the beauty of nature, Ketchum has gone further and attempted to show the ugliness of civilization. Readers of this book will be treated to "The Indian Point Atomic Power Plant," "Railroad adjacent to Beacon Landing," and many similar works of this sort. But this sort of vision is problematic in many ways. Man can be a destructive influence on nature, but the alternatives are not simply preservation and destruction. A third possibility also presents itself, surprisingly within Ketchum's own work. Humanity can contruct attractions which actually complement the beauty of the natural surroundings. The plates "Taconic Parkway" and "Popolopen Bridge" illustrate this well.

And this raises a larger problem with the environmentalist heirs of Carson and Leopold in general. For them, conservation is an all or nothing issue; a zero sum game. "Preservation" means not merely conserving resources for future enjoyment, but eradicating the influence of "man." Little consideration is given to man's creative powers to actually augment the beauty of nature, as Bill Bryson suggested in his book on the Appalachian Trial. What is needed now is a new environmentalism: one which truly incorporates people into the world we try to protect and preserve. The intellectual groundwork for such an environmentalism has already been laid by Bjorn Lomborg (Skeptical Environmentalist) and Alston Chase (Playing God in Yellowstone and In a Dark Wood). All that remains is for some talented photographer to capture the reality these writers describe. Just as Ketchum looked to Elliot Porter for inspiration, so future photographers may find in Ketchum a glimpse of the coming new environmental movement.

Texas Then & Now: Text And Contemporary Rephotography (Then & Now (Westcliffe))

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Texas Then & Now: Text And Contemporary Rephotography (Then & Now (Westcliffe))
Richard Reynolds
Manufacturer: Westcliffe Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1565795512

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Bird Book for Beginners
This is the best first book to get on Texas birds.
Beautiful photographs!
A Great Resource
Beautiful photographs; not so handy in the field

The Birds of Texas
John L. Tveten
Manufacturer: Shearer Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0940672634

Customer Reviews:

Bird Book for Beginners.......2007-06-27

This is a very fine book with photographs taken in the field. Another reviewer suggested this book "if you're only going to have one bird book." My wife and I prefer another book, but this one contains excellent information to supplement the other which is more of a field guide. This book also describes the evolution of the bird classification system, and how the names and designations of some birds have changed with DNA evidence. The author is clearly an expert in his field. Some sources list a hardcover version, but when we tried to get it, it was out of print.

This is the best first book to get on Texas birds........2005-08-02

This the book to get if you want answers to the questions "what bird is that in my yard/in the park/at the beach?", and "what makes that bird special?". Even the best field guides give no answer to the second question, and their answers to the first question are often frustratingly complicated to the casual or beginning birdwatcher. Most people who call themselves birdwatchers (92% of them according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) can't even identify 40 species. You can use this to identify the easiest and most common 150-200 or so of Texas birds, and then go out and get a field guide to take you through the more difficult identifications.

However, you'll never find a field guide that will show you what makes each bird unique, and where each bird fits into the landscape. The descriptions are engaging, personal, and informative regarding behavior and location, and the photographs catch much about the lives of birds that can only be seen otherwise in the field. Tveten's pictures, including mockingbirds attacking raptors, songbirds calling from brush, and the activities of feeding and nesting birds, catch the essence of why people go out and look at them over, over, and over again.

This book will make you enjoy finding and looking for birds.

Beautiful photographs!.......2003-09-26

The photography in this book is superlative and the main reason to purchase it is to admire the lush color photos of Texas's birds. However, I also enjoy the book because it allows me, as a novice birder, to learn to correctly identify various species. This book is much superior to an Audubon guide or a National Geographic Filed Guild to birds because each photo is huge and shows the birds to their best advantage. The photos of the various migrating birds aresimply outstanding!

I recommend this book for anyone who has an appreciation of birds in the Lone Star state and wants to vicariously see them through this medium. It will definitely prompt every armchair birder to take to the field and spy these wondrous creatures in their natural habitat. There are several birds I saw in this book which captured my fancy immediately. By seeing these photos, it prompted me to go out and beat the trails and shorelines to see each of these birds up close and "in person." A great book!

A Great Resource.......2003-03-21

This book has beautiful photographs of Texas birds. It describes their songs, how they eat, mate, nest, care for offspring, and all in an interesting manner. The way the author describes birds, you know he has a great love for these winged creatures. Cedar Wax-wings are "courteous", Loggerhead Shrikes have "the inclinations of a hawk", Grackles are "bullies", Carolina Chickadees are "acrobatic", Horned Larks have a "rakish, devilish air", etc.. Believe it or not, these descriptions actually help me remember what the birds look like and what they are called. Highly recommended.

Beautiful photographs; not so handy in the field.......2001-01-14

The remarkable thing about this book is the beautiful close-up colour pictures of almost every species. Not all the pictures are flawless--anyone who's ever photographed birds knows how hard it is to get a good, detailed, well-lit close-up shot--but they are very high quality and make this both a gorgeous coffee table book and a valuable identification aid.

The coverage is not as complete as, say, Peterson's Field Guide to the Birds of Texas, which I also own. The Peterson has, for example, many more of the confusing fall warblers; the Tveten explicitly says that detailed coverage of the warblers is outside its scope. But the differences in coverage are generally of the rarer birds; anything a casual bird-watcher is likely to see will be in the Tveten; and the Peterson has few good colour plates.

Book Description

Whether it shows a summer thunderstorm rolling across the plains of the Llano Estacado or a full moon rising on a clear winter night, the sky is the most commanding presence in the Texas landscape. As Georgia O'Keeffe once wrote from Canyon to a friend, "I am loving the plains more than ever it seems—and the SKY—Anita you have never seen SKY—it is wonderful." Wyman Meinzer observes that "recording the vibrant and sometimes forbidding nature of the sky has been one of the most enjoyable photographic endeavors of my career."

The one hundred breathtaking color images in this book reveal the beauty, drama, unpredictability, and sheer expanse of Texas' sky. Meinzer observes the sky from first light to the star trails in a night exposure. He presents the full palette of sunrise and sunset hues, the endless variety of cloud formations, and the cobalt blue of the sky after a winter norther. Most of all, he captures the feelings of freedom and power that so many people experience under the Texas sky.

In a beautifully written essay, John Graves connects Meinzer's photos to the land and the people of Texas. Meinzer's preface describes the careful planning and lucky chances that yielded many of these photographs, while interspersed among them are quotes from Texas skywatchers past and present. Taken together, the stunning images and eloquent words say all there is to say about the Texas sky.

Customer Reviews:

beyond words.......2000-05-16

When I received this book as a gift and initially thumbed through the pages I was in awe. Though I was familiar with the work of Wyman Meinzer and was already a fan of his, I really didn't beleive that anyone would ever have the talent to put a book like this together. Truthfully, many of the photos made me swallow hard with emotion because the images elicited such special feelings. Though the photos could easily stand alone, the quotes are very well chosen and compliment each image well. John Graves is wonderful of course. When I escape to Texas Sky, I think about the pure exhiliration in being able to stand at each of the places in the precious few moments when the sky was so spectacular. Have you ever regretted not having your camera in your hand, or perhaps ran to get it but were too late, or even snapped the shot only to realize later that you didn't get it right? Well, all of our missed shots are captured flawlessly by Wyman Meinzer in Texas Sky. The only disappointment was that Mr. Meinzer didn't write more. Just read the preface, page 61 or the acknowledgment, you'll want more too. In my opinion he is the photographer by whom all others should be judged and the writer all writers should strive to be like. I will forever be envious. Everyone should own this book. PS I just got Texas Seasons...one of his most recent books....awesome again, Wyman.

Such art deserves it's own easel........2000-04-06

Texas is my home. One doesn't have a home somewhere in Texas. Once you claim it the entire state is home. I wasn't certain exactly why that was true, until I received this book as a gift today. The Texas state of mind has as it's roof the Texas Sky. Wyman Meinzer has captured through his impeccable lenses the beauty that makes us hurry home. It is a book with a catch in it's throat on every page. I'm purchasing a new easel to do it honor.

Beautiful Book.......1999-12-02

I bought this book for my father, who is a friend and fan of the photographer. Now I have to go buy one for myself! The pictures in this book are incredible, and truly capture our magnificent Texas sky. Way to go Wyman!

Texas Rangeland (Advisory Council supported book)

Average customer rating:

Disappointing

Texas Rangeland (Advisory Council supported book)
Renée Walker Pritzker
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0292765959

Book Description

"If, upon completing your passage through this book, you believe that this work is solely about cattle, then you must go back and start seeing instead of just looking."

—from the Foreword

Drive any highway from Austin to El Paso, and you'll find the Texas of the imagination. When the towns string out like barbs on a wire fence and the cattle outnumber the cowboys, stop and you're there. Squint in the sun's glare, rest your eyes in the shade of a mesquite. Feel the day's heat and the southwest wind that cools your skin. Breathe in the good smell of earth, and listen to the lowing of the drowsy cows. This is the Texas of dreams.

And when you can't go there, open this book. Burton Pritzker has sojourned in the Texas of dreams and brought it all back in these evocative, black-and-white photographs. In making pictures of those most Texan of icons—cows, bulls, and steers—Pritzker captures whole moments in time and place with all their play of forms, textures, and light. In his cattle, you'll find sweetness, fragility, bravado, strength, and monumentality—the underlying essence of Texas itself. Accompanying the photos is a running commentary that blends the voices of many Texans looking at the images into a single voice telling stories of ranch life, of working with cattle, and of learning to see the realm of dreams in the everyday world around us.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2006-01-08

This book is a great disappointment for those looking for photographs or artistic representations of Texas rangeland. The Texas range is art of itself, it doesn't need the embellishment of poor photography. The photographs just don't do justice to the subject matter. Mr. Pritzker's work consists of taking blurred photographs, adding some rambling nonsensical text and calling it art. It's no wonder that Mr. Pritzker has had his work welcomed in places like the San Jose California Museum of Art (per the back cover of the book).

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texas wildflowers

Texas Wildflowers
Richard Reynolds
Manufacturer: Farcountry Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Nature & Wildlife | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Wildflowers of Texas

ASIN: 1560372575

Customer Reviews:

texas wildflowers.......2000-04-05

This book is a great resource if you live in Texas and want to learn about wildflowers. It has facts and it shows pictures of them all. If you would like to know about Texas wildflowers, then get this!

Toxic Plants of Texas: Integrated Management Strategies to Prevent Livestock Losses

Average customer rating:

great info
Native Plants of Texas

Toxic Plants of Texas: Integrated Management Strategies to Prevent Livestock Losses
Charles R. Hart , Tam Garland , A. Catherine Barr , Bruce B. Carpenter , and John C. Reagor
Manufacturer: Texas A&M University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0972104909

Book Description

Written for ranchers, landowners, 4-H-ers, veterinarians, and anyone interested in wild or ornamental plants, Toxic Plants of Texas is a complete, practical guide to 106 of the most common poisonous plants in Texas.

In a handy, well-illustrated format, experts Charles R. Hart, John C. Reagor, Bruce B. Carpenter, A. Catherine Barr, and Tam Garland provide descriptions of each plant, explaining where it grows, what makes it toxic, and how much an animal must eat to be affected. They also offer a primer on different kinds of poisoning, lists of symptoms, and strategies for treatment and prevention. An overview of integrated toxic plant management summarizes an economical and environmentally sound approach to reducing livestock losses by controlling toxic plants. At the back of the book, a field key cross-references animal symptoms with plant species.

An abundance of excellent color photographs aid in the identification of each plant's toxic features, including the flowers, fruits, pods, and roots.

Customer Reviews:

great info.......2007-07-18

This book is very specific about what animals each plant is toxic and how toxicity shows up in that animal. It gives tips on how to help that animal and when to call the vet. The opposite page usually shows three views of the plant being talked about - the bloom, the whole plant, and the leaves.
This information is available online, but is much handier in book form.

Native Plants of Texas.......2004-10-22

This is a marvelous book for anyone interested in the native plants of Texas. The color pictures are superb. This book covers many of the common Texas range plants that are not often considered toxic except when eaten by livestock to excess. It also describes the really poisonous ones in detail with clear photos.

Texas Seashore Life: An Introduction to Familiar Plants and Animals (Pocket Naturalist - Waterford Press)

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Texas Seashore Life: An Introduction to Familiar Plants and Animals (Pocket Naturalist - Waterford Press)
James Kavanagh
Manufacturer: Waterford Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1583552952

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Wildflowers Across Texas
Patricia Caperton Parent
Manufacturer: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1558688382

Book Description

From Amarillo to San Antonio, from El Paso to Houston, the Texas landscape lights up almost year-round with thousands of delicate, dazzling wildflowers. Whether you seek quantity or diversity, no state can boast more wildflowers than Texas, where more than 5,000 species thrive. WILDFLOWERS ACROSS TEXAS brings us Texas photographer Laurence Parent's most spectacular wildflower images: fields of bright, beloved Texas bluebonnets, lakes full of wild water lilies, and rare, isolated agave blossoms. The beauty of the Texas landscape is here in its full glory. This stunning book will be cherished by visitors to Texas, those who hail from the Lone Star State, and those who simply love the splendor of wildflowers. A delightful foreword by First Lady Laura Bush pays fond tribute to her native state and to the tantalizing allure of the flowers springing up along the roads and across the hills and plains of this great state.

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