Transparency Masters to Accompany Fundamentals of Quality Auditing: Fundamentals of Quality Auditing

Book Description

Two of the world's leading team building facilitators bring you their best icebreakers, assessments, games, and exercises in a user friendly format. Team Workout is for facilitators, team leaders, trainers, and managers who want all the necessary materials and a step-by-step protocol for fast and easy implementation of effective team development. It's all here…the goals, time required, room set-up, materials, and detailed instructions to ensure a no-fault experience. There are even debriefing questions to facilitate the transfer of learning back to the workplace.

Book Description

In "The Great Gypsy Moth War," Robert J. Spear presents the untold story behind the importation and release of the gypsy moth in North America and the astonishing series of coincidences that brought the state of Massachusetts to a decade-long war against this tenacious insect. Spear traces the events leading up to the beginning of the war in 1890, notes the causes for its failure, and shows the terrible legacy it left as the precedent for all subsequent insect-eradication campaigns.

During the Civil War, when the supply of cotton from southern fields was disrupted, the owners of northern textile mills looked elsewhere for raw fiber. One source was silk. Among those experimenting with silkworm production was a Frenchman named Etienne Leopold Trouvelot, who had settled outside of Boston. It was Trouvelot who imported the gypsy moths and inadvertently allowed them to escape. Soon the invasion was on and a counteroffensive was required.

Spear reveals the turbulent undercurrents in the eradication campaign when the enthusiasm of the entomologists in charge turned into desperation upon the discovery that their alien adversary was much tougher than they thought. Fighting a war they could not win and dared not lose, the leaders of the campaign resorted to political maneuvering, cheap tricks, and outright misrepresentation to maintain a façade of success, urging the Commonwealth to continue funding the war long after any chance of victory had faded.

More than just reviewing the important events of this historic episode, Spear tells the story in an engaging way, often through the first-hand accounts of those who were directly involved. Much of what Spear has written is new, the recounting is lively, and the information he presents shows that almost all of the previous beliefs about the campaign to eradicate the gypsy moths are myths. In the process, he also traces the rise of modern economic entomology and the birth of the pesticide industry.

Customer Reviews:

Well researched: but be willing to get all the details.......2007-03-08

This is a fascinating topic and one of those 'lost stories' that, thanks to this book, is no longer lost. Spear's research is impeccible. Here is my warning: if you want all the gory details about the equipment and the politics and the characters (and you will want to make your own scorecard) then you will love this book (5 stars!). Otherwise, you may find yourself starting to skip some paragraphs, and maybe even some pages, as the bureaucratic skirmishes wax and wane. Overall, Spear has done a good job of weaving together a complicated story and I would recommend this to anyone interested in the control of invasive species or anyone interested in the intersection of science and public policy.

A great read! .......2006-05-13

I have worked on gypsy moth for over 20 years and thought I had read everything about this species. But I have to say R. J. Spear has done a fabulous historical work in this book. Using personal letters from most of the early workers, he totally puts a new spin on the old published papers. I can't say enough good things about how well this book is researched! I have no idea how the author found these early communications, but it totally paints a new (and honest) story of the early years. This is a must read for historians on how to do research and really dig for the truth, a must read for entomologists on the front lines of new invasives, a great insight into Massachusetts politics, and a great story for anyone that has known the "pleasures" of this species. OK, so maybe Oprah won't choose it for her book club because of all the horror stories of marching/munching caterpillars, but this is a really important writing and I can only thank the author for such a wonderful work! Well written, amazingly researched, I only wish I could give it 6 stars! It makes me want to read anything else this author researches and writes. To Mr. Spear, I have no idea where you came from, or how you saw through the old published "facts", but thank you for a really valuable look into the early years of entomology. Please write more.

When Trouvelot met the gypsy moth.......2006-01-06

We may never know the full story behind THE GREAT GYPSY MOTH WAR that ended up being fought in eastern Massachusetts during the years 1890-1901. Even our oldest living World War I veterans were too young to tell all on their own. It'd come down to drawing on the same sources author Robert J Spear found: writings from the time. These writings were in the forms of [1] eyewitness accounts; and [2] "the gypsy moth" report. Moth fieldwork director Edward Forbush and economic entomologist Charles Fernald wrote the report in 1896. And that report, as the official spin, has long been the more important of the two sources. For it influenced later private and public first-responses to nuke problem bugs `til they glowed.

In the late 1860s, American businessmen had wanted to set up an American silk industry. American scientists had wanted to prove science solved all. And some bug scientists had thought the only good bug was a dead one, except for honeybees, insects from which red dye and shellac were respectively made, lady beetles, and silkworms. One visiting scientist in particular, E Leopold Trouvelot, had tried to bring business and science together, by looking for a good silk-making worm. He considered that of the gypsy moth. These imported moths probably escaped, during the windy spring of 1869, from holes in the nettings with which he covered his back yard, open air moth study in Medford.

Massachusetts had been a state of white pine in the south and mixed fir and spruce in the north. But the state's softwoods had been more than 80% cleared, for farming or for commercial logging. Hardwoods had grown up in some places. The most common hardwood had become the thicker-barked, shade- and poor soil-tolerant, more fire-resistant oak. And that was the gypsy moth's favorite food, along with the state's orchard fruits and field crops. So gypsy moths were able to eat their way to plague proportions, what with mild winters killing very few of their eggs and what with no natural controls, such as native diseases, enemies and parasites.

Citizens couldn't stop the moths from eating almost everything green in sight. So legislators and scientists got together to pay for and set up an all-out bug war. It became the model for all other later anti-insect campaigns. How could this be since this first "eradication" fell way far short of its goal of wiping out the gypsy moth? The scientific community closed ranks with the report's authors, who blamed the state legislature for stopping funding and citizens for getting in the way. And yet eradication by hazardous materials was as costly and dangerous as it was unsuccessful. For example, each gypsy moth caterpillar needed 12 times the poisonous dose fatal to an adult human. That meant chemically drenched neighborhoods, contaminated soil and water supply, damaged green things, dead honeybees, and sick people.

Despite all this, the gypsy moth made Massachusetts and the rest of the United States its new home. It learned how to become part of the American woodwork. In comparison and according to the author, we may have learned nothing other than the only way to stop problem insects is disease. For in 1989 the fungus Entomophaga maimaiga fought and won the good fight against gypsy moths trying to take over Connecticut.

As much a story of Massachusetts politics as of gypsy moth facts.......2005-11-04

The release of the gypsy moth in North America prompted a series of circumstances which brought Massachusetts into a decade-long war against the insect, here recounted in The Great Gypsy Moth War: A History Of The First Campaign In Massachusetts To Eradicate The Gypsy Moth, 1890-1901. From the early influences on the campaign when entomologists were fascinated by the alien invader to growing frustrations with its tenacity and a series of political and social interventions which affected the fight, The Great Gypsy Moth War is as much a story of Massachusetts politics as of gypsy moth facts.

One of the best books I have read.......2005-10-20

I read a lot of non-fiction, and this book is one of the very best. It is well written, and it covers a fascinating topic that is timely, even though the events happened over 100 years ago. When should we listen to "experts"? How should we develop public policy and decide how to spend tax dollars? This book would be a great case study for college classes in entomology, forestry, political science, history, environmental studies, and others.

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Jungle Bugs

Jungle Bugs: Masters of Camouflage and Mimicry
Bruce Purser
Manufacturer: Firefly Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Nature & Wildlife | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Insects & Spiders | Animals | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Ecology | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Camouflage and Mimicry (Phoenix Series)

What are Camouflage and Mimicry? (The Science of Living Things)

Secret Weapons: Defenses of Insects, Spiders, Scorpions, and Other Many-Legged Creatures

Buzz: The Intimate Bond Between Humans and Insects

Firefly Encyclopedia of Insects and Spiders

ASIN: 1552976718

Book Description

During roughly 400 million years on this planet, one million species of insects have developed with a great diversity of shape and color to protect them from predators.

Bruce Purser spent years traveling through tropical forests studying insects and photographing their ongoing quest for survival as they blended into tree trunks and imitated sticks, leaves, other bugs, and even bird droppings. Taken in exotic locales including French Guyana, the Peruvian Amazon, Malaysia, Kenya, Morocco, and Venezuela, his dazzling photographs are accompanied by thoughtful text as he traces the insects' efforts to hide from or scare off their predators.

In this charming and informative book:

Explore the dangerous and little-known world of insects
Experience exotic tropic tours
Discover animal behavior in lively and understandable language
Find out how a good disguise or a good impersonation can make the difference between life and death in the animal world

Stunning color photographs reveal insect secrets that we would never get a chance to observe ourselves: such as a harmless moth that looks exactly like a stinging wasp or an inoffensive butterfly that's protected from predators because its coloring is almost identical to that of a highly poisonous variety.

Customer Reviews:

Jungle Bugs.......2006-01-30

For those who like to look at photos of real-life bugs up close and in their environment, this is the book for you. The pictures are amazing. There are more photos of camouflage and mimicry than in any other book of its kind that I've looked at--and I've looked at many! It's appropriate for all ages because it contains good information, but it is also worth it just for the pictures!

Biology of the Plant Bugs (Hemiptera : Miridae): Pests, Predators, Opportunists (Cornell Series in Arthropod Biology)

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Biology of the Plant Bugs (Hemiptera : Miridae): Pests, Predators, Opportunists (Cornell Series in Arthropod Biology)
Alfred G. Wheeler
Manufacturer: Comstock Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Outdoors & Nature | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0801438276

BIOLOGY OF THE PLANT BUGS (HEMIPTERA: MIDRIDAE)

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BIOLOGY OF THE PLANT BUGS (HEMIPTERA: MIDRIDAE)
ALFRED G. WHEELER JR
Manufacturer: CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N5BRZE

Average customer rating:
And Nobody Got Hurt 2!: The World's Weirdest, Wackiest Most Amazing True Sports Stories
Len Berman
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Sports & Activities | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Mystery & Wonders | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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And Nobody Got Hurt!: The World's Weirdest, Wackiest True Sports Stories

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Spanning the World : The Crazy Universe of Big-Time Sports, All-Star Egos, and Hall of Fame Bloopers

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Sports Illustrated for Kids: The Amazing World of Sports (Sports Illustrated Kids)

ASIN: 0316067067

Book Description

An Olympian who sacrificed a medal to save a competitor, a professional soccer player who was bribed out of retirement with pizza, a runaway pig who disrupted the start of a baseball game -- truth is stranger than fiction, especially in sports! In this sequel to his first compilation of sports bloopers and unbelievable stories, And Nobody Got Hurt", Today Show regular and Emmy Award-winning sportscaster Len Berman shares more of the funniest and most amazing stories in the history of sports, including favorite moments from his popular Spanning the World segments on NBC-TV.

And Nobody Got Hurt!: The World's Weirdest, Wackiest True Sports Stories

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And Nobody Got Hurt!: The World's Weirdest, Wackiest True Sports Stories
Len Berman
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1417678240

Average customer rating:

And Nobody Got Hurt! The World's Weirdest, Wackiest True Sports Stories
Len Berman
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SQRGZI

Amazon.com

Just looking at the hauntingly sculpted blues, vast horizon-touching Shelves, and towering behemoths of Antarctica's ice formations makes the traveler know why she wants to go there and why she needs a good guidebook. Lonely Planet has once again done its homework. In addition to a thorough and succinct history section, useful overviews of Antarctic tour companies, information about how to plan your trip, detailed maps, and interesting facts about the places you'll visit, this book includes a 32-page color wildlife guide that introduces you to Chinstrap penguins, elephant seals, and eight types of whales.

LP has sought out the experts on Antarctic issues to write about science, environmental, and exploration issues. Shaded boxes offer in-depth highlights about topics such as traveling by zodiac (the small inflatable boats used by tour companies--ideal for cruising among "bergy bits"), Antarctic fiction, glaciology, and icebergs: "The Antarctic ice sheet is the iceberg 'factory' of the Southern Ocean. The total volume of ice calved from the ice sheet each year is about 2300 cubic km, and it has been estimated that there are about 300,000 icebergs in the Southern Ocean at any one time."

This book offers sage advice and is not afraid of the stark and sometimes dangerous realities of traveling to such a harsh and foreboding land: "If you fall overboard, you will die. Although this may not be true in every single case, it is almost certain, for human survival in the -1.8°C water of the Southern Ocean is calculated in minutes. Since drowning is thought by some to be preferable to freezing to death, one bit of only half-cynical advice for those who fall overboard is to swim as hard as you can for the bottom."

Book Description

This new city guide gives you all the tips for getting the most out of a visit to this radical and picturesque city.

Includes: background notes on history and culture; where to eat, from canalside cafs to international restaurants; how to get good value out of Amsterdams limited accommodation; extensive notes on galleries and museums; entertainment venues, from "smoking" coffee shops to live jazz to opera; and full guide to the city's public transport

Customer Reviews:

close to excellent.......1999-03-15

When the book came out, I wrote themthat I wished it had been around beforemy first trip to Antarctica! What ahelp it would have been. They respondedvery quickly to my criticisms of whatthey had left out.

close to excellent.......1999-03-15

Absolutely best and most complete travel guide to The Ice........1998-12-22

If you plan a trip to The Ice, you will find this book invaluable. If you do not, you will find it fascinating, and it will make you want to go. In addition to all manner of practical advice for travelers, it is packed with thorough and interesting history of the continent, its wildlife, its geography, and also contains tempting suggestions for further non-fiction and fiction reading, films and videos, and even CD's. It is written with grace and humor, and contains really useful maps and charts. (How about that map of "Non-Existent Islands"!) Highest recommendation.

Average customer rating:
The Roommate and the Cowboy (Girls of Canby Hall, No 27)
Emily Chase
Manufacturer: Scholastic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books
Fiction | Girls & Women | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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But She's So Cute Canby Hall (The Girls of Canby Hall, No 23)

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Help Wanted! Canby Hall (Girls of Canby Hall, No 26)

ASIN: 0590413902

Book Description

Volume 1 of the basic study of American grasses, both indigenous and escapes, cultivated and wild. Over 1400 species. Full descriptions, information. Total in set: over 1100 maps, illustrations. "A definitive work invaluable to both amateur and professional botanists." — American Reference Books Annual.

Customer Reviews:

Necessary for anyone interested in the grasses........1998-08-03

The two volume set published by Dover is a reprint of A.S. Hitchcock's 1950 Manual of the Grasses (2nd Ed.). But don't let that fool you. Perhaps some names have changed in the last 50 years, but the grasses remain the same. Here is one of the greatest sources of informaton on US grasses in the most compact form that can be found anywhere: descriptons, illustrations, distribution (which may be more of historic value than current), and, in the case of many exotics, history of introductions. There's even a synonymy. Yes, you'll need a current manual, but if you are interested in grasses in the US, then Hitchcock belongs on your shelf, too.

Manual of the Grasses of the United States Volumes 1 and 2

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Manual of the Grasses of the United States Volumes 1 and 2
Albert Spear Hitchcock
Manufacturer: Dover Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OA31CU

Manual of the Grasses of the United States: Volumes One (1) & Two (2) (2-Volume Set)

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Manual of the Grasses of the United States: Volumes One (1) & Two (2) (2-Volume Set)
A.S. Hitchcock
Manufacturer: Dover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

Field Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes of the Northern United States

ASIN: B000N91WQY

Manual of the Grasses of the United States Vol. 1 (Volume 1)

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Manual of the Grasses of the United States Vol. 1 (Volume 1)
A. S. Hitchcock
Manufacturer: General Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SSR002

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