Amazon.com
Robert Sapolsky, the author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers and other popular books on animal and human behavior, decided early in life to become a primatologist, volunteering at the American Museum of Natural History and badgering his high school principal to let him study Swahili to prepare for travel in Africa. When he set out to conduct fieldwork as a young graduate student, though, Sapolsky found that life among a Kenyan baboon troop was markedly different from his earlier bookish studies. Among other things, he confesses, he had to become a master of shooting anesthetic darts into his subjects with a blowgun to take blood samples, a mastery that required him to become "a leering slinky silent quicksilver baboon terror." He also had to learn how to negotiate the complexities of baboon politics, endure the difficulties of life in the bush, and subsist on cases of canned mackerel and beans.
His memoir is, in the main, quite humorous, although Sapolsky flings a few darts along the way at the late activist Dian Fossey--who, he hints, may have indirectly caused the deaths of her beloved mountain gorillas by her unstable, irrational dealings with local people--and at local bureaucrats whose interests did not often coincide with those of Sapolsky's wild charges. It is also full of good information on primates and primatology, a subject whose practitioners, it seems, are constantly fighting to save species and ecosystems. "Every primatologist I know is losing that battle," he writes. "They make me think of someone whose unlikely job would be to collect snowflakes, to rush into a warm room and observe the unique pattern under a microscope before it melts and is never seen again." --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
"I had never planned to become a savanna baboon when I grew up; instead, I had always assumed I would become a mountain gorilla," writes Robert Sapolsky in this witty and riveting chronicle of a scientist's coming-of-age in remote Africa.
An exhilarating account of Sapolsky's twenty-one-year study of a troop of rambunctious baboons in Kenya, A Primate's Memoir interweaves serious scientific observations with wry commentary about the challenges and pleasures of living in the wilds of the Serengeti -- for man and beast alike. Over two decades, Sapolsky survives culinary atrocities, gunpoint encounters, and a surreal kidnapping, while witnessing the encroachment of the tourist mentality on the farthest vestiges of unspoiled Africa. As he conducts unprecedented physiological research on wild primates, he becomes evermore enamored of his subjects -- unique and compelling characters in their own right -- and he returns to them summer after summer, until tragedy finally prevents him.
By turns hilarious and poignant, A Primate's Memoir is a magnum opus from one of our foremost science writers.
Customer Reviews:
Highly Recommend A Primate's Memoir.......2007-06-02
Sapolsky's humor, wit, and intelligence blend beautifully in this entertaining yet eye-opening novel about his years spent following baboons in Africa. He brings out the human-primate connection that so many people forget or never realize exits, and he's a great testament that scientists can be funny and smart! A really great story for anyone, especially biologists, animal lovers, and anyone with an interest in animal behavior and research.
funny and moving.......2007-05-20
I bought this book completely on a whim and just loved it. I keep telling people about it, but I just can't quite convey what is so great about a book about babboons. Sapolsky doesn't take himself too seriously as he tells us about his amazing adventures.
Warm, Funny, Informative.......2007-05-14
For three months of each year over a couple of decades Robert Sapolsky studied a troop of olive baboons in Kenya. His main interest was stress-related disease and he darted male baboons to take blood samples. Unfortunately, female baboons could not be a part of the study because of the dangers involved to mothers and infants. The insights into this baboon troop are fascinating - the different personalities and behaviors clearly do away with the simplistic ideas of the anthropologists of the 60s and 70s. We have some males less interested with the battle for top rank, preferring the company of youngsters, and savvy females outmaneuvering undesirable top-ranking males during estrus. Though it should be added there is plenty of male battling and bullying too.
Much of this book is also about east Africa - particularly Kenyan history and the local tribes, including the Masai. The various human individuals and the various adventures of the author make this a far wider study of primates than baboons. It is impossible not to become involved in these adventures as well as the lives of the baboons. I felt enormous sympathy with the author when he ultimately has to face the relative insignificance of his baboons to anyone else when tragedy struck.
Excellent warm, funny, informative book.
Interesting and Educational!.......2007-03-29
What a life! This guy lived with baboons, Masai, and other "people"! Fascinating! boland7214@aol.
You'll Wish You Had Finished That Degree In Biology..........2007-03-03
What a great book! An absolute pleasure to read! The writing is honest and humorous, the stories are great, his baboons are complex and fascinating, and you close the book each time with a taste of real Africa and its peoples. For everyone who secretly wishes they had become a biologist instead, it's a wonderful adventure story for regrets and daydreaming.
Product Description
Author's life in science, especially with baboons in Africa. By one of the best science writers.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining and enlightening memoir of primate life........2005-09-19
As much fun to read as any book by Redmond O'Hanlon or Gerald Durrell, A Primate's Memoir is funny, irreverent, and full of adventure, while also being a serious scientific study of the savanna baboons of Kenya. Sapolsky's goal is to determine the relationship of baboon stress levels to their overall health over a period of years. A neuroscientist, he observes the social hierarchy and interactions of his baboon group, guesses which individuals appear to be most stressed or most relaxed and then checks their hormones and blood chemistry, not an easy procedure, given his clever and not always co-operative population. Sapolsky, who works alone, must first outwit the baboon, use a blowgun to dart him, follow and wait for him to become unconscious, and then carry him half a mile or more to his portable lab facilities, where he then draws blood and does measurements. The baboons, of course, react to stress the way humans do.
The title of A Primate's Memoir is deliberately ambiguous--it is both Sapolsky's memoir and that of his baboon population, and his experiences and interactions with the outside world are remarkably similar to theirs. Leaving the relative safety of the game reserves and hitchhiking into dangerous territories during his "down time," Sapolsky describes his travels with enthusiasm, impeccable timing, and great, self-deprecating humor, subtly selecting details which show how similarly he and his baboon population deal with their worlds' uncertainties. Kenya is experiencing civil unrest and corruption; Uganda has just deposed Idi Amin; the Sudan is in the midst of a long civil war; the border of Zaire is under siege; and the Somalis refuse to accept any borders at all, stealing lands and property wherever they go--all dangerous and stressful atmospheres for their populations and for visitors like the author.
Sapolsky is a great story teller, however, equally entertaining in presenting both his adventures and his research, his world and that of his baboons. While life may be "nasty, brutish, and short," Sapolsky shows us it's a lot more fun if one keeps a sense of humor--and a lot less stressful. Mary Whipple
Average customer rating:
|
Travels with a Primate
Terry Waite
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Canada, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Religious
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Travel
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Travel
| Writing
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Christian Living
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Essays & Travelogues
| Reference & Tips
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0007106335 |
Book Description
In contrast to his earlier bestseller Taken on Trust, this amusing new book shows another side to the man who was a hostage in Beirut for five years, yet it retains his carefully written prose and powers of description. In Lagos, Terry Waite had to stop an official motorcade in order to lean out of the Archbishop's car to be sick. In Scotland, Waite is recognized on the street by a passerby, but the Archbishop, dressed in open-neck shirt, is not. Every story amuses, and in doing so the ancient Episcopalian Church of England is revealed in a new light. All too rarely does the Church laugh at itself.
Book Description
Great Gardens of the World is a survey of some of the greatest gardens of the world, presented through magnificent photographic images and the descriptions of legendary garden designer and writer Penelope Hobhouse. Here is shown the oases of the Middle East, the gardens of Chinese scholars, Japanese sages and Renaissance humanists
Customer Reviews:
A VOLUME TO SAVOR AND RETURN TO AGAIN AND AGAIN.......2006-12-07
The ideal garden we are given to understand is a paradise - "a haven of comfort, abundance, and beauty." Many of us try to achieve that paradigm in our own way, as have countless others before us. Now gathered in one gorgeous volume are the results of those endeavors gleaned from diverse cultures and climes.
We begin our armchair tour with "Gardens Through the Centuries," a journey covering four thousand years beginning with the earliest gardens alive in the deserts of the Middle East. The first Mughal Emperor Babur (1483 - 1530) had a number of gardens including the Garden of Fidelity which was divided into four parts with a central pool.
Of course, the gardens designed in China and Japan expressed a respect for nature, evidenced in vast areas where the placement of each stone had meaning. Places for contemplation, stroll and moss gardens were found in Japan.
For this reader what can compare with the gardens of Italy? Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli boasts open porticoes, enclosed atriums, fountains, basins, statuary. It is a wonder. La Mortola on the Italian Riviera is a place for dreaming with a steep slope to the sea rich in agaves, aloes, white roses, salvias and citrus trees. A virtual Eden on earth.
Ms. Hobhouse continues our tour with a look at modern garden design as represented by such designers as Roberto Burle Marx, Fernando Caruncho, and Beth Chatto.
"In Search of Paradise" holds 240 pages and 200 illustrations all in glorious color contributed by the world's foremost garden photographers.
The is a volume to be savored and returned to again and again.
- Gail Cooke
Book Description
A fascinating, definitive history of garden development and design. From the earliest documented gardens of ancient Mesopotamia to the eclectic landscapes of the 21st century, The Story of Gardening is an engaging tale of the development and design of the garden. Brimming with glorious full-color photographs, intriguing timelines that chart the histories and fashions of individual plants, and evocative narratives, Hobhouse draws on a lifetime of work to create an enlightening overview of designers and styles that have inspired her creations and forged her gardening philosophy.
Customer Reviews:
I love this book........2007-06-10
Hobhouse is one of my favourite gardening writers. This book is another fine example. Great photos and comprehensive research.
Gang Chen, author of Planting Design Illustrated
Book Description
The elements of garden architecture—paths, walls, gates, fences, terraces, sheds, lighting, furniture, waterworks, and art—together form the backbone of any well-designed garden. In this beautifully illustrated and accessible book, legendary landscape architect James van Sweden explains how to design and build a garden like a professional. He leads his readers on a tour through some of his most exquisitely designed gardens—in the country, in the city, in the suburbs, and by the shore. “When it comes to planning a comfortable and rewarding garden,” van Sweden writes in his Introduction, “the challenges that confront the owner of an estate or a weekend cottage are often substantially the same. The principles and techniques used for organizing a large site work equally well in a more modest setting.”
Each case study highlights a particular architectural element, breaking it down into practical ideas that any gardener can apply to his or her own garden or yard. The book includes dozens of detailed schematic drawings that can be used to build many of the elements described by the author, along with an extensive, illustrated glossary.
Architecture in the Garden is sure to inspire you with its many practical ideas on how to domesticate your landscape and design an outdoor space that suits your taste as well as your lifestyle.
Customer Reviews:
A Van Sweden Classic.......2007-10-04
Landscape architect Van Sweden's description of his signature process and approach for harmonious gardens immerses us in a new dimension of garden design. This book is a valuable tool for virtually any garden lover or garden designer -- whether transforming a blank slate or just reviving a tired garden. Van Sweden shows us the importance of understanding the underlying architecture of our gardens.
My favorite reference book.......2005-09-03
I am a landscape designer and I use this book constantly, not only for inspiration, but also for the illustrations provided on how to construct many of the architectural features shown.
This book has a permanant place on my drafting table and has so many paper clips marking pages--it is by far the most useful book about landscape architecture I have come across.
Excellent primer.......2004-07-30
This is a great book to get you thinking about the underlying structure of your garden or outdoor space. Van Sweden's style is low-key yet elegant, and his ideas inspirational.
Making good bones.......2003-11-02
James van Sweden has been designing gardens for over 30 years and he is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. In this book he shares with the reader the essential role that architecture plays in organizing the garden landscape. With carefully chosen examples he shows how man-made features of the garden - paths, walls, gates etc. - create the framework for a garden that is both beautiful and easy to live with.
This book is readable and anecdotal in style, yet it covers the fundamental principles of design and shows how they can be put into practice to enhance many different types of garden. It is extensively illustrated, mostly with the author's own photographs, and these support the text in clearly delineating the applications of design principles to town gardens, seaside gardens, country gardens and so on.
Despite the author's relaxed approach this is a very thorough book and it will be invaluable to anyone planning a garden. My only quibble is that many of the gardens might be called estates, measured in acres, and to some extent this limits the book's practical value to the gardener with a standard city lot, or less.
But good "bone structure" is important in all gardens and this book will help any gardener pull together the significant man-made pieces of the garden into a graceful and beautiful whole.
Making good bones.......2003-11-02
James van Sweden has been designing gardens for over 30 years and he is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. In this book he shares with the reader the essential role that architecture plays in organizing the garden landscape. With carefully chosen examples he shows how man-made features of the garden - paths, walls, gates etc. - create the framework for a garden that is both beautiful and easy to live with.
This book is readable and anecdotal in style, yet it covers the fundamental principles of design and shows how they can be put into practice to enhance many different types of garden. It is extensively illustrated, mostly with the author's own photographs, and these support the text in clearly delineating the applications of design principles to town gardens, seaside gardens, country gardens and so on.
Despite the author's relaxed approach this is a very thorough book and it will be invaluable to anyone planning a garden. My only quibble is that many of the gardens might be called estates, measured in acres, and to some extent this limits the book's practical value to the gardener with a standard city lot, or less.
But good "bone structure" is important in all gardens and this book will help any gardener pull together the significant man-made pieces of the garden into a graceful and beautiful whole.
Average customer rating:
|
On Gardening
Penelope Hobhouse
Manufacturer: Macmillan General Reference
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Garden Design
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
English Gardens
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0025519352 |
Customer Reviews:
A book of inspiration for the perennial gardener.......1997-05-11
I have pored over the pages of this book and learned volumes from it. Hobhouse's discussion of color theory and its relationship to the garden is a revelation, and her suggestions and illustrations of garden companions are inspirational.
When you get serious about designing your borders, this is essential reading.
Average customer rating:
|
The Country Gardener
Penelope Hobhouse
Manufacturer: Little Brown & Co (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Flowers
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Garden Design
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Penelope Hobhouse's Natural Planting
-
Garden Style
ASIN: 0316367516 |
Book Description
Back in print after fifty years
Old Herbaceous is a classic British novel of the garden, with a title character as outsized and unforgettable as P. G. Wodehouse’s immortal butler, Jeeves. Born at the dusk of the Victorian era, Bert Pinnegar, an awkward orphan child with one leg a tad longer than the other, rises from inauspicious schoolboy days spent picking wildflowers and dodging angry farmers to become the legendary head gardener “Old Herbaceous,” the most esteemed flower-show judge in the county and a famed horticultural wizard capable of producing dazzling April strawberries from the greenhouse and the exact morning glories his Lady spies on the French Riviera, “so blue, so blue it positively hurts.” Sprinkled with nuggets of gardening wisdom, Old Herbaceous is a witty comic portrait of the most archetypal—and crotchety—head gardener ever to plant a row of bulbs at a British country house.
This Modern Library edition is published with a new Introduction by
Penelope Hobhouse, a renowned garden designer and lecturer and the author of numerous gardening books.
Customer Reviews:
Husband loves book.......2007-01-12
I bought this book for my husband, the real gardner in the family, who has an penchant for doing things the "old fashioned way" or "old school" way. He loves the main character and has picked up some great ideas for the garden this spring.
JS
A Nice Old Story About A Nice Old Time.......2004-08-31
Old Herbaceous was first published in about 1950. It is the fictional chronicle of the life of Old Herbaceous, the head gardener at an English manor house. He begins life as a foundling child, early develops a love for flowers which grow along an abandoned canal, and then becomes a gardener at the manor house after impressing the Lady of the Manor at a garden show. Gradually he rises through the ranks of gardeners to eventually become head gardener.
This book is pleasing for several reasons. First, it helps us understand what a complex thing an English manor house must have been, with its ranks of servants and underlings. Secondly, it has beautiful descriptions of flowers, shrubs, trees, and other elements of the English countryside. Finally, its a great social history in microcosm of the changes England underwent from the 1870s through the World War II era.
In many ways Old Herbaceous is another Goodbye Mr. Chips: a short quiet book about a seemingly unimportant individual who turns out to be much more than he appears.
Unique perspective on gardening and the "grand manor"...........2003-12-28
Reginald Arkell's lovely book OLD HERBACEOUS is unusual as it is a novel about gardening with a gardener protagonist. Michael Pollen and company have added this book to their ever expanding collection of gardening gems-The Modern Library Garden Series. OH was first published in 1950.
At the opening of the book, Pinnegar the protagonist has retired and is living in a cottage on the estate where he gardened for over 60 years. He reflects on how he began his gardening career when Mrs Charteris instructed her head gardener, a Mr. Addis, to hire him after he won a wild flower arrangment contest she judged. Sixty years later, Pinnegar has replaced Addis and acquired his nickname `Old Herbaceous' from the younger gardeners who view him as a relic of a bygone era.
The book provides a different perspective on the "new" gardens promoted by the garden designers and owners such as Jeckell, Bowles, and Robinson who became prominent at the end of the 19th century and in the early 20th century. In their books and correspondence, these individuals often write "I did this" and "I did that" but in reality they mostly instructed head gardeners who supervised a crew of under gardeners and carried out their instructions. Frequently, these designers and their gardeners were at odds with each other. As anyone who has ever gardened knows, to really understand gardening you must get your hands dirty. Learning to garden is an acquired skill gained via trial and error and cannot be learned by observation alone.
Furthermore, the "new" gardens designed by Jeckell, Bowles and others which superceded "bedding out" (the hallmark of Victoria's reign) and formal 19th century gardens drew their inspiration from the cottage gardens of the working class. Cottage gardens consisted of a mix of herbs and perennials growing informally side by side. Sometimes, the `new' gardens incorporated plants from exotic locales. The tender nature of these plants led to the invention and promotion of glass houses, cold frames, and bell jars. In OLD HERBACEOUS, Pinnegar acquires Ipomoea (morning glory) seeds and grows them in the main green house to please his mistress.
The book covers a period from the end of Victoria's reign until just after WWII. While Arkell has a good deal to say about the business of gardening on a large estate, his book is also a study of the relationship between a family retainer his overseer. Pinnegar presents the workers view, or the view Arkin, himself a member of the middle class, believed a man like Pinnegar would hold. OH is a fascinating study.
Average customer rating:
|
Colour in Your Garden
Penelope Hobhouse
Manufacturer: Frances Lincoln
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Flowers
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Garden Design
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Landscape
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
By Plant
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
| Begonias
| Berries
| Bonsai
| Cacti
| Citrus Trees
| Clematis
| Dahlias
| Ferns
| Grapes
| Grasses
| Greens
| Hostas
| Hydrangeas
| Irises
| Lavender
| Lilacs
| Lilies
| Magnolias
| Orchids
| Palm Trees
| Peppers & Chiles
| Roses
| Tomatoes
| Tulips
Similar Items:
-
Flower Gardens
-
Garden Style
-
Penelope Hobhouse on Gardening
-
Penelope Hobhouse's Garden Designs
-
Succession Planting for Year-Round Pleasure
ASIN: 0711220581 |
Book Description
In Flower Gardens, one of England's foremost garden writers provides a beautiful and informative guide to choosing the best flowering plants for any garden and arranging them harmoniously in a given setting.
Customer Reviews:
Wide Ranging and Authoritative.......2001-07-09
I have an extensive library of gardening and landscaping books and this wonderful book is one of the best for how to incorporate flowering plants effectively into your garden whether it be natural or formal. The carefully chosen photographs illustrate points in the text and show garden situations achievable by the average gardener. The A to Z guide of selected plants for the flower garden review more than seven hundred plants, many not often contained in such complilations or in such usable detail, but all are obtainable with an little search. It is a shame Flower Gardens is no longer in print, but Amazon was able to locate a pristine copy for me within two weeks.
Average customer rating:
|
Cafes. Arquitectura E Interiores
H. Kliczkowski , and
Hugo Kliczkowski
Manufacturer: H. Kliczkowski
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Interior Design
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Spanish
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Diseño Interior
| Hogar y jardinería
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
No-Ficción
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
| Automotriz
| Ciencias Sociales
| Crimen y Criminales
| Educación
| Estudios de la Mujer
| Feriados
| Filosofía
| Gobierno
| Hechos Verídicos
| Planeamiento Urbano y Desarrollo
| Política
| Sucesos de Actualidad
| Transportación
General
| Arquitectura
| Profesional y Técnico
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
Diseño Interior
| Arquitectura
| Profesional y Técnico
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
ASIN: 8496241874 |
Books:
- Afghan Hounds (World of Dogs)
- Afternoon on the Amazon (Magic Tree House (Paperback))
- Amber, a Very Personal Cat and Conversations With Amber
- Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia
- Animal Tracks of the Great Lakes States: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin (Animal Tracks)
- Applied Pharmacology for the Veterinary Technician
- Australian Snakes a Natural History
- Autobiography of a Georgia Cat
- Bear in Mind: The California Grizzly
- Before and After Getting Your Puppy: The Positive Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, and Well-Behaved Dog
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Cinema of David Lynch : American Dreams, Nightmare Visions
- Practical Candleburning Rituals: Spells and Rituals for Every Purpose
- Human Body Systems 3 CD-ROM
- High-Temperature Superconductivity in Cuprates: The Nonlinear Mechanism and Tunneling Measurements
- Nickel and Dimed: On
- Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency
- Love of Labs: The Ultimate Tribute to Labrador Retrievers
- Batman The Complete History: The Life and Times of the Dark Knight
- Landscaping Makes Cents: Smart Investments that Increase Your Property Value
- A Horse Around the House: Second Edition
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Third Edition
The Trouble With Testosterone: And Other Essays On The Biology Of The Human Predicament
Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals
The Little Friend
Oblivion
