Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth

Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth
Average customer rating:

Definitely not just a children's book

A fun factual read

Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth
Nicola Davies
Manufacturer: Candlewick
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Zoology | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Nonfiction | General | Animals | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor

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Adventures Of Marco Polo

ASIN: 0763630675
Release Date: 2006-08-22

Book Description

The creators of POOP are back with an entertaining look at the most incredible survivors on Earth.

Are you ready for the competition? From the persevering emperor penguins of the South Pole to the brave bacteria inside bubbling volcanoes, from the hardy reptiles of the driest deserts to the squash-proof creatures of the deepest seabeds, animals have adapted to survive in conditions that would kill a human faster than you can say "coffin." Discover how they do it in this amazing natural history book from a celebrated team — and find out who wins the title of the toughtest animal of them all!

Customer Reviews:

Definitely not just a children's book.......2007-06-06

I love this book. It is fun to browse through (cartoon-like illustrations make it fun). But it is definitely a book chock full of information. How do seals dive so deep and not get the bends? How do frogs survive winter after being frozen like popsicles? Can an organism really survive temperatures exceeding 230 degrees or as low as absolute zero, -459 F? Not only does this little book provide these answers and explanations, it will leave the reader hungry for more mind-blowing revelations about life on this planet, and perhaps on the next. Warning: It will be difficult not to read snippets to whomever is in the room with you.

A fun factual read.......2007-03-01

Lots of people have written about penguins, polar bears, and bacteria--but not this way! Nicola Davies has written stories about the roughest, toughest, baddest animals there are, so funny I was laughing out loud and so good I couldn't put it down.

She brings life to the dullest subjects. Is a sponge an interesting creature? It never was to me, but her account is. She says, "To be honest, even live sponges don't do much. They just sort of sit there and grow. But put one in a blender and you'll see that they do something no other animal can: pour your sponge smoothie back into its seawater home, and it will put itself back together..."

Explanations that are accurate but make sense to a non-scientist (animals with "antifreeze" in their bodies, for example) and deceptively simple illustrations by Neal Layton make this one of my new favorite books.

Extreme Gardening: How to Grow Organic in the Hostile Deserts

Average customer rating:

Extreme Gardening
One of the best gardening books I have ever read!
Good tips...not only for Desert Gardeners

Extreme Gardening: How to Grow Organic in the Hostile Deserts
David Owens
Manufacturer: Poco Verde Landscape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

The Garden Guy: Seasonal Guide to Organic Gardening in the Desert Southwest (Outdoor and Nature)
Desert Gardening: Fruits and Vegetables
Month-By-Month Gardening in the Desert Southwest (Month-By-Month Gardening (Cool Springs Press))
The Desert Gardener's Calendar: Your Month-By-Month Guide
Gardening in the Desert: A Guide to Plant Selection & Care

ASIN: 0970501609

Book Description

Extreme Gardening is the quintessential gardening guide to organic gardening against all odds. Written by the well-known gardening guru, the "Garden Guy," David Owens shows the experienced and novice gardener how to grow organic foods in hostile climates (all desert climates) and land. Simple to understand with user-friendly spine, the book covers all topics from watering, design, tools, schedules, fertilizing, companion planting, and soils.

The book is easily divided into three main sections-vegetables, fruits and nuts, and controlling extreme pests organically. Each section is full of useful tips such as: each plants nickname; when they are available; how they should be supported; when to plant them; how to properly shade or unshade it; and how to fertilize it, etc. The controlling extreme pests section is broken down into sections by bug name and how to use organic, insect, and sensory-distracting controls.

The author, David Owens is a familiar face on local Phoenix television and radio as one of the foremost experts on organic gardening.

Customer Reviews:

Extreme Gardening.......2007-07-18

This is a great book for any gardening endvor using organic means. This autor knows and understands planting for an enviroment that is both beautiful and harsh. I follow his inspiring garden methods using this book and his companion book.

One of the best gardening books I have ever read!.......2002-03-22

David Owens has written a real winner with this book! He tells us which plants will survive in our harsh desert environment and how to plant and take care of them. The book is easy to follow and I'm having good luck with all the trees and vegetables I have planted using his guidelines.

If you thought that gardening was not an option since you moved to the desert you need this book to show you the way!

Good tips...not only for Desert Gardeners.......2001-04-08

I live in Phoenix and have the opportunity of catching Dave Owens tips for gardening on Channel 3 on a weekly basis. Dave has so many tips for gardening that the only way to harness his knowledge is to purchase this book. I have come to find that these tips work not only for those of us living in the desert, but I pass them along to my Mother in Wyoming, and she has as much success as I do with them. Dave is an extremely knowledgable gardner and his book reflects that, the layout was very thought out and takes you step by step from the "what do I need", to "now I've got what I need, what do I do" stages. Bravo, Dave!

Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder

Average customer rating:

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Birds
Different than expected
Great book for birders
A road book with a passion
Kaufman Becomes a Birding Fanatic

Kingbird Highway: The Biggest Year in the Life of an Extreme Birder
Kenn Kaufman
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Adventurers & Explorers | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession
The Feather Quest: A North American Birder's Year
To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifetime Obsession
Wild America: The Record of a 30,000 Mile Journey Around the Continent by a Distinguished Naturalist and His British Colleague
A Field Guide to Advanced Birding: Birding Challenges and How to Approach Them (Peterson Field Guides(R))

ASIN: 0618709401

Amazon.com

As ornithologist Kenn Kaufman recounts in his lively memoir Kingbird Highway, he's managed to do what other birders only dream of doing: take a year and chase winged creatures from one end of the country to another. The year in question was 1973, when Kaufman was 19 years old, and a few dollars and an outstretched thumb could go a long way. Armed with binoculars, notebook, and the blessing of birder patron saint Roger Tory Peterson, Kaufman set out to capture the record for most species spotted in a single year. He came close, closing with 666 species sighted from Alaska to Florida and back again. More important, he racked up a lifetime's worth of adventures on the road. These stories form the heart of his book, a narrative in which spotted redshanks, white-eared hummingbirds, marbled murrelets, and black-capped gnatcatchers are among the chief supporting players.

Book Description

Now revered as one of North America's top birders, Kenn Kaufman hit the road at age sixteen and spent a year crisscrossing the country to see as many birds as he could, in a birding competition known as a Big Year. In what has become a classic among birders, this memoir chronicles the subculture of birding in the 1970s and a young man's search for his place in the world, complete with wild adventures and some quirky characters.

Customer Reviews:

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Birds.......2007-02-10

Written many years after the fact, this book is well worth reading many years after the fact. Kingbird Highway is an autobiography, a travelogue, and a `where-to-bird' guide for 1973. It is a tale of life, liberty, and the pursuit of birds. Kingbird, alias Kenn Kaufman drops out of high school to pursue his dream (obsession) of seeing more birds in a single year than anyone had ever seen before. There are several catches to his liberty and pursuit of birds. He must see the birds north of Mexico, a technicality that affects his dream. He has almost no money, so he does cheapest Big Year ever with the lowest dollar to bird ratio ever. He spends only about $1000 by hitchhiking everywhere and living off Little Friskies in a can of cold soup for dinner. Kingbird Highway provides a wonderful map of where to bird even now over forty years later. For example, the Brownville Texas Municipal dump is still the place to see Tamaulipas crows. Read in conjunction with a field guide, Kingbird Highway opens a world of birds, their habits, and habitats that might otherwise escape notice.

Different than expected.......2006-11-04

This is a good book, but not what I expected. It's about a specific time in birding and America. This makes Kenn Kaufman's experience unique. This was during the "early days" of birding and bird listers. There was not the instantaneous information of the location of rare species we have now. If you are interested in birding, the search for rare bird species, or the effort to see bird species out of their normal range, I would recommend this book.

Great book for birders.......2004-10-19

Kenn Kaufman began birding at an early age, and as a young teenager he hid his "geeky" habit from his friends. Eventually, as he became older, he realized that there was a birding fraternity and he began to bird with others who loved it as much as he did. At 16, with his parents' blessing, he dropped out of school and began doing cross-country birding by hitchiking around the country. His knowledge of birds grew and his contacts with other birders increased. In 1973 he decided to go for a Big Year, that is a year in which he attempted to break the record for most birds seen in a year. The pace of Kaufman's quest was amazing and he relates his adventures in an interesting and down-to-earth style. Towards the end of his Big Year, Kaufman begins to question his own motives for building up his list and his introspection brings a new maturity to him and his methods of birding. This is a great book for any bird enthusiast.

A road book with a passion.......2003-10-18

I read this book a couple of years ago ,haven't been writing reviews for long;but thought I would go back to this fine effort.I've read a lot of " road" books by some of the best; such as Heat-Moon,Kerouac,Mc Murtry,Peterson/Fisher,Steinbeck,Teale,Caldwell ;but as good as these were, none were written with the passion and self involvement that Kaufman brings to this book.He didn't set out to roam the country to escape,find himself,to discover the people or country.He set with the purpose of finding as many bird species as he could in one year ; wrote a book about it,and even though the goal was not just to write a book; he produced one that is as good as the "best".As a Birder ,we have all experienced many of the things he did ;but without the endurance,passion and commitment that he did.I thought I experienced cold along the Niagara River looking for Gulls in the Winter;but this was mild compared to sleeping in a car on the East coast when it was "cold as an Eskimo's tomb",eating from a can of cold soup at the ABA onvention,or having "his" scope blown away during a storm while doing the Christmas Bird count.If you like road books;but even more so if you enjoy nature/birding you just gotta read this gem !In my opinion he is right up there with the best of them.

Kaufman Becomes a Birding Fanatic.......2003-08-02

Great read. Any serious birder will like it as will a general audience that likes books along the lines of William Least-Moon.

Dark Life: Martian Nanobacteria, Rock-Eating Cave Bugs, and Other Extreme Organisms of Inner Earth and Outer Space

Average customer rating:

Politics, personalities, and science of the dark world
Geology & Biology Intwined
Damn interesting, heavy on the human drama
Nanobacteria, A New Form of Life and Its Pathology in Humans
Space science can still be an adventure - here's your guide.

Dark Life: Martian Nanobacteria, Rock-Eating Cave Bugs, and Other Extreme Organisms of Inner Earth and Outer Space
Michael Ray Taylor
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Collection & Preservation | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Microbiology | Basic Science | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Spelunking | Outdoor Recreation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0684841916

Amazon.com

The microbes that caver Michael Ray Taylor calls "dark life" are found deep in the earth, in boiling oceanic vents, Antarctic ice, and lots of other places far from the reach of the sun's energy. These "extremophiles" are energy opportunists, subsisting on chemicals, radioactivity, or the faint light of molten rock. The study of these organisms is quite new, and scientists are learning that examining them may provide hints about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Dark Life is a first-person tour of the places Taylor has looked for archaebacteria and other strange microorganisms--Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico, the hot springs of Viterbo in central Italy, NASA laboratories, and the halls of academia. Taylor met with passionate scientists searching for answers about how things can live deep in the earth and if they can survive in the unimaginable cold of outer space while hitchhiking on meteors. Dark Life chronicles the triumphs and disappointments of this new field of science with engaging and personal stories.

The steady but frustrating progress of science is never more apparent than in the passages relating to the rise and fall of ALH84001. The potato-sized meteorite from Mars (and the scientists who analyzed it) enjoyed brief but frenzied attention when it was announced that microscopic forms in the rock may have indicated the presence of nanobacteria. But if you're expecting resolution to this question in Dark Life, be warned: to Taylor, it's the journey that's most exciting. --Therese Littleton

Book Description

In a narrative that combines cutting-edge science with intense physical adventure, Dark Life tells the fascinating story of the quest to find life far underground and deep in space.

Able to thrive without sunlight or oxygen, dark life is a mass of subterranean bacteria that would likely tip the scale if weighed against all other living matter combined. Journalist Michael Ray Taylor takes us from Antarctic lakes to Hawaiian volcanoes to the satellites of Jupiter in search of these mysterious underground creatures that are redefining our understanding of evolution.

Taylor serves as a field assistant on several key scientific expeditions. He descends deep into New Mexico's tortuous Lechuguilla Cave and focuses powerful NASA microscopes on never-before-seen life-forms. He accompanies a young NASA intern who unknowingly kicks off a raging international scientific debate when she uncovers traces of dark life in a rock extracted from nearly two miles below Washington State -- traces that appear identical to the "micro-fossils" found in a Martian meteorite. He meets another scientist who has staked his reputation on using dark life to generate a cure for breast cancer. Throughout his adventures, Taylor gains unique insight into a growing controversy about the very definition of life itself -- an issue that scientists had long ago considered settled. Whether he is exploring the structures of a mysterious cell or reconnoitering tropical caves, Michael Ray Taylor is an adventurer for the new millennium.

Customer Reviews:

Politics, personalities, and science of the dark world .......2004-12-18

_Dark Life_ by Michael Ray Taylor was a very interesting book. The author began it writing as a science journalist - having written a previous book on cave exploration as well has having articles published in such magazines as _Audubon_ - but over the course of the two and a half years he worked on this book went from becoming an observer to an active participant, a point he himself made several times in amazement and wonder. Originally he had set out to chronicle what was known about "dark life," microorganisms that dwell far underground or in the deep sea, organisms that derive their nourishment from sources independent of sunlight. These organisms, which have been found in such varied places as salt domes, Antarctic ice cores, and in highly acidic caves, have continually challenged notions of what life can tolerate, organisms so common that they may outnumber surface organisms (indeed Taylor rejected the commonly used term "extremophile" as he believes the term implies that these organisms are a "rare curiosity"). Taylor wrote of the history of the search for these microbes, the personalities involved, and where current research was in the field (as well as possible applications of this research).

Somewhere along the way he became part of the story, as he became the friend and later colleague of several of the researchers he covered. While not a trained scientist per se, at least not in the field of microbiology, he assisted in and even proposed a number of experiments in the search for controversial nanobacteria (microbes with a size of less than 0.2 micrometers, once thought to be too small to be an independent functioning organism or at least too small for a prokaryotic organism, including known bacteria and archaea; not a virus) in a variety of environments, mostly notably Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. By the end of the book he was regularly exchanging email with researchers, providing samples for them, and even had co-authored a few presentations at various seminars.

Much of the book is focused on personalities - understandable given Taylor's increasing personal involvement in the story himself - though mainly in the context of research on the topic at hand. The main characters (if you will) in the book were Larry Mallory (a scientist who had devoted his career to harvesting and culturing cave microbes in a promising search for a cure for cancer, particularly from microbes from the fascinating Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico, an interesting place described in great detail in the book), Bob Folk (a colorful scientist who discovered nanobacteria and their presence in a number of substances and had been in the lead in efforts to prove that microorganisms are vital in the formation of travertine in caves and hot springs as well as in some cases at least entire caves and cave systems), and Anne Taunton (an undergraduate student who as part of a NASA internship became embroiled in the efforts to determine whether or not the famed Martian meteorite ALH 84001 contained fossils of extraterrestrial nanobacteria). Others are followed to lesser degrees, among them Finnish nanobacteria expert E. Olavi Kajander, who had done pioneer work showing that nanobacteria may be the possible agents of many maladies such as kidney stones, Alzheimer's, and Mad Cow Disease that involve mineral precipitation in the body. In large measure these and other personalities faced considerable skepticism, criticism, and worse in their studies, as scientists found it hard to accept (in different instances) what was thought of as "impossibly" small bacteria, biological origins for various types of minerals and mineral formations, and the presence of microfossils in ALH 84001. Mallory had to leave his university because he was essentially denied tenure, the administration not believing his study of cave microorganisms important, Folk faced considerable criticism for suggesting that such substances as travertine owed their origins to bacteria, and Taunton (and the team she worked with) had a very difficult time with several scientists - including even her own undergraduate academic advisor - over efforts to demonstrate that the ALH 84001 microfossils were evidence of Martian life or even life of any kind. Although Taylor did a good job of showing the fact there was sometimes intense and even rather personal criticism in science, I don't know if he always showed why people had such a hard time accepting bold new theories. In particular some of the opposition to ALH 84001 fossils was quite heated.

Though much of the focus was on personalities, politics, and the process of research the microbes were much discussed as well, many with bizarre biologies. Some cold-loving organisms were termed "psychrophiles," capable of growth below freezing, at -5 degrees Celsius, organisms that exhibit slower metabolisms at temperatures above freezing and death at anything approaching human body temperature (organisms that for years - like many other examples of dark life - proved difficult to study and culture in the lab). Some organisms found in apparently solid rock two miles deep, existing only on hydrogen and water, have unbelievably slow metabolisms, appearing to divide cells no more than once per century. Though many caves and indeed individual pools in caves produced unique microorganisms there were also astonishing similarities; the closest relatives to some sulfur-oxidizing thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria from a cave in Kentucky were found to be a sulfur-oxidizing, symbiotic bacterium from a deep sea polychaeta worm, a relationship that has not yet been explained.

At least as far as this reader is concerned Taylor made his case that nanobacteria exist, that they are key in the formation of some minerals and many caves, and I am very open to the idea that ALH 84001 may indeed contain Martian microfossils. I enjoyed reading about the discussions scientists had about whether or not subsurface Antarctic lakes such as Lake Vostok and Jovian moon of Europa might have dark life and hope that both can be analyzed in the not too distant future.

Geology & Biology Intwined.......2001-05-21

For starters I will never look at my mineral collection quite the same again. Dark Life has shown that nanobacteria (only recently confirmed)is the absolute frontier of a new world. Minerals and "life" coexist and the nanobacteria "feed" upon the chemical compositions of minerals. The scientific world will be turned on its' head in the near future as a whole new science emerges. This book is easy to understand for those of us who aren't scientits but who are interested. As one who also has Multiple Sclerosis the possible connection with nanobacteria and mineral plaques in the brain was astounding as I read it.

Damn interesting, heavy on the human drama.......2001-01-21

I read this book after buying on a discout shelf in some clearance book seller. It was a pleasant surprise. It, as I wrote in the title, a little heavy on human drama and soap operatic themes. The science behind it is absolutely interesting and has spurred me to read further on the topic of nanobacteria. This is a great starting out book, but not a great book for those reading for the science of it.

Nanobacteria, A New Form of Life and Its Pathology in Humans.......2000-10-16

Nanobacteria have been researched by many prominent scientists worldwide. This book looks at the findings of scientists with respect to Nanobacteria and the science of Geology. Nanobacteria, specifically Nanobacterium Sanguineum, have been studied by scientists and medical researchers as they pertain to causing human disease or Pathology as well. Nanobacterium Sanguineum is a Nanobacteria that is approximately 10,000 times smaller than regular bacteria. It replicates from 1000 to 10,000 times slower than regular bacteria as well. It grows in the human system in blood, and has been found by various medical researchers and scientists to cause many human problems. Some of the various diseases that it has either been implicated to be involved with or to cause are: Calcification in atherosclerotic plaque, kidney stones, calcification in the lenses of eyes that ultimately causes "cataracts", soft tissue calcification in scleroderma, calcification in tumors, calcification in arthritis or osteoarthritis and other pathological disease states in humans. These Nanobacteria colonize and secrete a "biofilm" over themselves that causes them to be covered by a calcium "shell". These Nanobacteria are implicated to be the cause of all calcification in the human system that you were not born with, that you subsequently develop as you age. These Nanobacteria are also implicated in causing some forms of cancer and "apoptosis" or cell death. Scientists are now working on ways to eradicate Nanobacterium Sanguineum with prescription medications. Please keep your eyes open for further research regarding Nanobacteria. Try surfing on the web for "nanobacteria". Sincerely, Gary S. Mezo, President of the Academy of Medical NanoScience, Tel:813-264-2241.

Space science can still be an adventure - here's your guide........1999-12-02

This book documents journeys of discovery and transformation at several levels. It documents a journalist's personal journey from observer to active participant. It also serves as a chronicle of the journeys being taken by scientists all over (and underneath) the Earth and across our solar system to obtain an understanding of life's amazing ability to exist and thrive in the most improbable places.

The author starts out as a spelunking (cave exploring) science journalist and ends up as an active participant in the science he had originally set out to cover. In so doing he has provided an interesting mix of observer and participant perspectives. Being a seasoned cave explorer, the author is at home and adept at describing the techniques and hazards of natural laboratories such as Lechuguilla Cave located in New Mexico.

Astrobiologists have found caves to be excellent laboratories for the extreme environments that may be found on other worlds such as Mars. Moreover, the amazing adaptations Earth life has made to these environments also serve as indicators of what is possible in terms of life's ability to adapt - and may be indicative of what we might find underneath Mars. Getting around in these caves is not your run of the mill field trip. Sulfurous and caustic fumes, anoxic conditions, temperature extremes, risk of injury, and a myriad of other hazards all combine to make these explorations something that only skilled individuals should undertake. In so doing, the rewards to the risk takers are obvious - and are thoroughly documented by the author.

There is much more to this book than crawling around stinky caves with excited astrobiologists. There is tedious work back at the lab, and the inevitable politics that accompanies academic life and government-sponsored research. Given that the discoveries being made about life in extreme environments are brushing aside long held views about biology, the politics can get rather nasty at times. The author provides a cogent description of what happens when the politics and dogma of science collide with new data and ideas. As you read this book you can almost hear the old paradigms crumbling as life's very definitions get an overhaul.

In describing some of the research done at NASA on the ALH84001 Martian meteorite, Taylor provides a classic description of paradigm crumbling - and the threat it can represent to the status quo. The events described surround the work of a student involved in a career-making discovery (possible fossils within a piece of Mars) and an advisor who disputes the findings and seeks to thwart her education at every turn.

While not nearly as dramatic, the author describes many other situations wherein old accepted notions about what life is and where it can be found are challenged. As you travel around - and under - the world with Taylor, you learn about life at abyssal ocean depths, within rocks miles under the Earth's surface, in the cold dry Antarctic, within volcanic deposits, and within highly radioactive environments. Such are the abodes of Earth's so-called "extremophiles".

If astrobiologists have learned anything in the past decade or so, it is that Earth life is capable of existing everywhere that it can theoretically exist. Since some of these "extreme environments" may well pass for "normal" elsewhere in the solar system, the chances of finding life elsewhere start to become quite probable. It is that exciting prospect which is woven by the author throughout the fabric of this book.

The author has gone to great physical extremes to write this book - and it shows. If you want a status report on how astrobiologists are using the Earth as a laboratory for what life may be possible on other worlds, this is it. Moreover, if you are looking for proof that science can still be a bona fide adventure in this Internet-shrunken world, then this book offers that as well.

Book Description

This grossly entertaining book depicts in vivid detail the thousands of tiny microorganisms living on — and in — every single person, no matter how many baths they take or how often they brush their teeth. Extreme close-ups of all the weird stuff that's set up shop under their nails and in their mouths teach children about their bodies, and are bound to have a positive effect on personal hygiene. Special 3-D glasses enhance the incredible SEM (scanning electron microscope) photos.

Extreme Nature: Images from the World's Edge (Discovery)

Average customer rating:

Extreme Nature
Astonishing
Extreme Nature by Bill Curtsinger
First and Finest Looks at the Hidden and Extreme World
Incredible Gift

Extreme Nature: Images from the World's Edge (Discovery)
Bill Curtsinger
Manufacturer: White Star
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Extreme Nature (Smithsonian Institution)
Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio 15 (Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
Light on the Earth: Two Decades of Winning Images (Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio 16 (Wildlife Photographer of the Year)
The World's Wild Places

ASIN: 8854400785
Release Date: 2005-09-27

Book Description

Lovers of marine life and connoisseurs of photography will delight in this beautifully produced book dedicated to the surprising elements of the "unseen." In Extreme Nature, National Geographic photographer Bill Curtsinger takes us to locations around the globe, from the North to the South Poles, where he reveals in amazing detail the lives of elusive water creatures-some never before photographed-and those that are ubiquitous but rarely observed close up. These images represent some of the best of his thirty-year career, and here he reflects on the subtle elements that make his art so powerful.The splendid photography in Extreme Nature is the result of a profound sensitivity to the aquatic environment. "I worship the single-minded effort that still photography embodies," Curtsinger says, "the challenge, the solitary immersion in an animal's world and the rewards that are often found in such an adventure." The reader accompanies him on these adventures, plumbing the depths around icebergs and volcanoes, meeting sharks, sea turtles, seals, narwhals, whales, and many others along the way. As he shares his wondrous visions, the author also explains his approach to the photographic artistry. "My goal," he says, "is to immerse myself in an animal's world so that I can extract from those moments a new image, or a new insight into behavior heretofore unseen. I become the creature I pursue, in theory anyway . . ." This elegant book becomes a journey not only into aquatic wildlife but also into the art of photography itself.

Customer Reviews:

Extreme Nature.......2006-01-23

Amazing photography and stories from some of the wildest ecosystems in the world. This book really provides an unusual and illuminating window on a part of nature that few have an opportunity to see.

Astonishing.......2005-12-06

This astonishing compilation of a life's work left me amazed and grateful. The photographs--some of them already iconic--will fill you with awe, and the accompanying prose adds color and poignancy to this photographic journey. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

Extreme Nature by Bill Curtsinger.......2005-11-18

I loved this book of photographs and suggest it ought to go on everybody's Christmas and Hannukah lists. Curtsinger was one of the pioneers of underwater photography (he's shot something like 35 National Geographic articles and six covers), specializing in the strange and marvelous polar regions. The cover alone is worth the price of the book. It's a shot of two penguins, not cuddly tuxedoed stuffy toys, which we've seen a lot of lately, but two rockets jetting down through the water amid a stream of bubbles. Amazing. Curtsinger is a wonderful writer, too, so after looking at the pictures, plan on spending plenty of time on the text.

First and Finest Looks at the Hidden and Extreme World.......2005-11-16

This book is so much more than a book of pretty underwater photographs. Mr. Curtsinger shares with us his view of the world in places where other-worldly things live. Many of these photographs were the first of their kind; from the first pictures from beneath the Antarctic ice, to the first images of many elusive mammals like the leopard seal and the walrus, all in their secretive, hostile marine habitats. What is astonishing and powerful about these images, many now decades old, is that they are more than just documents from a wild unseen, uncelebrated world; they are artful and aesthetically moving images that capture attention in form and composition; they are timeless in their beauty and truth. Weaving the imagery together is a collection of essays which tell the stories of some of the Earth's toughest creatures, as well as Mr. Curtsinger's journey in photographing them. These are not encyclopedia entries, rather, they are deeply personal and honest accounts of one man's experience in the magnificant natural world. Filled with struggles and epiphanies, the book is the confluence of a human story and a celebration of nature, in words and fantastic imagery. More than something to sit on your coffee table or shelf, it is a book you will revisit again and again and share with others. My copy is already well worn.

Incredible Gift.......2005-11-15

This book is wonderful visually and has a real story to tell. Mr Curtsinger captures many creatures in their natural habitat - things I could never dream of seeing. This diversity makes it an appealing book for multiple ages and family members. My teenagers have even shared it with friends.It will make a lasting impression on anyone - more than just a pretty coffee-table book. Glad I bought it and I will be giving it as a gift this season.

The Cloud Garden: A True Story of Adventure, Survival, and Extreme Horticulture

Average customer rating:

True Adventure Fun Read
Not Where I Want to Go
can't put it down
Interesting story of survival lacks suspense
Guns and orchids

The Cloud Garden: A True Story of Adventure, Survival, and Extreme Horticulture
Tom Hart Dyke , and Paul Winder
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1592287891

Book Description

"Clearly, surviving a nine-month jungle kidnapping requires courage and endurance. But Hart Dyke and Winder came equipped with something else in addition: pluck. It's that quality, crackling on every page, that makes The Cloud Garden one of the strangest and most satisfying adventure reads in recent memory."--Men's Journal magazine

The Darién Gap, the only break in the Pan-American Highway, is a place of legend. In this almost impregnable strip of swamp, jungle, and cloud forest between the land masses of North and South America, stories of abduction and murder are rife. In recent years, more people have successfully climbed Everest than have crossed the Darién Gap.

In 2000, Tom Hart Dyke, a young botanist, set off to Central America with one thing in mind: orchids. To find the rare and beautiful species he so fervently admired, he would have to visit some of the most inhospitable places on earth. At the same time, another young explorer, Paul Winder, was backpacking through the area. Though he sometimes worked freelance in the City of London, Paul was essentially a fearless traveler. Pure chance brought Paul and Tom together in northern Mexico; they formed an instant bond and their fate was sealed.

Ignoring a final succinct warning from the Lonely Planet guide--"Don't even think about it!"--Tom and Paul set off into the Darién, Tom in search of orchids, Paul in search of adventure. They would find plenty of each. For six days, they made good progress. Then, just hours away from Colombia, the dream ended and the horror began. Ambushed by FARC guerrillas, they were held hostage for the next nine months. From that day on, their survival was a matter of extraordinary endurance, incredible ingenuity--and not a little good luck . . .

Customer Reviews:

True Adventure Fun Read.......2005-06-22

The Cloud Garden came to my attention through a review in Outside Magazine. True adventure books make for an excellent break from novels and heavier literary works. This one is a perfect example. The story is gripping, the characters are likeable, and the book is hard to put down. The bad guys are painted honestly and roundly as real people. No one is all good nor all bad. This is a story about survival, wits, humanity and the romantic ideals of adventure of which so many of us dream. Find your synopsis elsewhere.

Not Where I Want to Go.......2005-01-16

The discoveries made by eccentric British naturalists down through the years have literally turned the scientific community on its ears. But not all exploring trips have yielded spectacular results. In 2000, a young botanist set off to Central America in search of rare and beautiful species of orchids. He met up with another young explorer in northern Mexico. Where else to go but the Darien Gap, the only place where the Pan-American Highway isn't finished.

Traveling through the Gap, collecting along the way, they were just hours away from the Colombian border when they were ambushed by FARC guerillas who were to hold them hostage for the next nine months. From then on, their survival was a matter of extraordinary endurance, incredible ingenuity and not just a bit of luck.

The book written by this pair is a combination of travelogue, adventure store, and surprisingly not without a bit of humor.

can't put it down.......2005-01-07

I am half way through and I love it, well written, fun, exciting.

Interesting story of survival lacks suspense.......2004-10-05

The book's topic caught my interest as did a good magazine review. (The copy we purchased from Amazon.com was without pages 118 to 179 so check before you begin to read. Amazon.com was great and sent us a replacement volume which also was missing the same pages. We finally found a bookstore that exchanged it for a correct version.) The story here is about two young men who choose to hike into the guerrilla held The Darien Gap between Panama and Columbia. The gap where there is no longer any Pan-American Highway. At the end of their telling (I'm not giving anything away, after all the authors wrote the book so you know they survived) the authors make the comment that the British press caught on to the story because of Tom Hart Dykes love of flowers. It was the "hook" all newspapers look for in such stories, and that is also the hook they use in telling their story. But your not going to learn much about Orchids from this story is told in parallel first person narrative which centers on their immature decision to tempt fate and danger and then tests their ability to survive. In a strange way the book reminded me of Jon Krakauer's excellent "Into the Wild" about a youth who graduates from College and ends up alone, dead in the wilds of Alaska. Both books share that same desire to decipher why some young males make such choices. Overall I would recommend the book as an interesting first person adventure, but it is strangely lacking suspense and I really was let down that we really learn nothing about the band of guerillas who hold them captive. I certainly missed that insight which is so strong in the novel "Bel Canto".

Guns and orchids.......2004-09-23

On maps, the Darién Gap doesn't look like a hotbed of armed guerillas. But you have to ask yourself why the Pan-American Highway, which runs otherwise unbroken from Alaska to the bottom of South America, takes its one and only break between Central and South America-at the Darién Gap. The gap's jungles have been effectively off-limits even to the hardiest backpackers for the past 10 years. Guidebooks and Central American officials alike have just two words for it: "Don't go."

So why would Tom Hart Dyke and Paul Winder, two well-brought up British lads, disobey so many direct orders and venture into the Darién Gap with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a couple of packs? In their "true story of adventure, survival, and extreme horticulture," The Cloud Garden, Dyke and Winder explain themselves. Dyke's passion is orchids. For him, the untrammeled jungles and wetlands of the Darién Gap represent a botanist's dream-an opportunity to see rare flowers undocumented by any other scientists. Winder, an escapee from a boring bank job, is in search of the ultimate adrenaline rush. The fact that almost no one dares traverse the gap makes it an irresistible challenge. Both adventurers get what they are looking for-and a lot more than the original bargain.

Just as Winder and Dyke are about to cross into the relative safety of Columbia, they are kidnapped by a band of FARC guerillas. What follows is a harrowing tale of torture and a fight for survival. The young men know enough Spanish to hear the kidnappers talking matter-of-factly about murdering them on an almost daily basis. For months, Winder and Dyke are marched from one makeshift camp to another-deprived of clean water, threatened and humiliated.

Cloud Garden is not, in the end, a travel documentary or an orchid study. Nor do Winder and Dyke take any position on South American politics. Their tale is one of two men figuring out how to make it out of the jungle alive. What makes the book interesting reading is the sense of humor the writers bring to even the most sordid aspects of their capture. While making an outward show of cooperation, Winder and Dyke assign belittling nicknames to their captors, like "Tank Bird," "Space Cadet," "Nutter," and "Lost Cause." When asked for English lessons, they teach their kidnappers obscenities. When the opportunity presents itself, the captive Brits even pee into their tormentors' drinking water. By maintaining an invisible, inner resistance to their capture, the two men keep their high spirits intact, even in the face of constant death threats.

But Dyke and Winder emerge, in the end, as more than just adolescent pranksters; they are also incredibly brave. Their kidnappers form the wild notion to ask for $3 million dollars in ransom. Dyke's family could, technically, raise that amount of money and more-by selling Lullingstone Castle in Kent, their ancestral home. When ordered to write home, demanding millions for his return, Dyke writes: "Dear Mum and Dad. Our kidnappers are all idiots. They are a bunch of gits. Give them absolutely nothing. We are well. Don't worry about me."

Readers will find themselves turning pages and delaying dinner while Winder and Dyke slowly blossom into the heroes of their own misguided adventure.

Time: Nature's Extremes: Inside the Great Natural Disasters That Shape Life on Earth

Average customer rating:

Better than Inconvenient Truth, A Tremendous Contribution

Time: Nature's Extremes: Inside the Great Natural Disasters That Shape Life on Earth
Editors Of Time Magazine
Manufacturer: Time
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Time: Exploring the Unexplained
Time: Hurricane Katrina: The Storm That Changed America
An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

ASIN: 193340504X

Book Description

The killer tsunami of 2004 and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina remind us of the fragility of mans place on his home planet.Now Time explores the past, present and future of this unpredictable planet, tracing the rise and fall of ancient civilizations, exploring earths most extreme environments and flying with scientists into the wildest of weather systems. An attractive volume that combines Times world-famous writing with a collection of powerful photographs Time has been at the forefront of modern discoveries and is uniquely positioned to provide a fascinating look back at the discoveries that changed the world

Customer Reviews:

Better than Inconvenient Truth, A Tremendous Contribution.......2006-07-08

The ideal combination for anyone seeking to understand what Al Gore calls "Inconvenient Truth" is the video by Gore and this book. I would supplement that with J. F. Richard's "HIGH NOON" and E. O. Wilson's "The Future of Life."

Unlike the Gore book, which is admirable in its content and purpose, but got lost with an explosion of varying font sizes and color schemes that block knowledge transmission rather than aid it, this book by TIME has the investigative journalistic rigor and the editorial maturity that I look for in Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) products--tailored knowledge helpful in making major public policy decisions.

The structure of this book is perfect: Inside the Planet; The Water Planet; The Land Planet; and Above the Planet. There is an index and the maps and graphics are world-class. The content is presented in a straight-forward analytic fashion. CIA should do work this good.

I have often wished that TIME might adjust its editorial mind-set to be the de facto Public Intelligence Agency for the planet. This book addresses threat number three of the ten threats identified by the High Level Threat Panel of the United Nations. The other threats, in order, are poverty, infectuous disease, [environmental degradation], inter-state war, civil war, genocide, other atrocities (e.g. trade in women and children, kidnapping for body parts or forced labor including prostitution), proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and crime. I would be quite thrilled if TIME committed to doing books on each of these threats, and creating an interactive Public Intelligence Website that tied the books together and to the actual budgets of the United States and other nations, in that way showing how our USA national budget is badly mis-directed, and perhaps inspiring other nations once we get our priorities right ourselves.

This book is a joy to read, intelligent, a real keeper.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Extreme Weather (Complete Idiot's Guide to)

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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Extreme Weather (Complete Idiot's Guide to)
Julie Bologna , and Christopher K. Passante
Manufacturer: Alpha
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1592575536

Book Description

ItÂ'll blow readers away. CD-ROM included!

The past few years have delivered some of the most awesome and destructive weather patterns in history. From blistering heat and icy blasts, to hurricane winds and the Greenhouse Effect, The Compete IdiotÂ's GuideÂ® to Extreme Weather enables readers to experience the incredible ferocity of big, bad weather without getting soaked, wind-tossed, thunderstruck, or frozen. And with the CD-ROM that accompanies the book, theyÂ'll learn what itÂ's like to be a real- life storm tracker.
Â• Includes a CD-ROM that explores extreme weather in all its frightening glory
Â• Features a listing of record-book extremes, from the worst storms in history to the wettest, hottest, coldest, driest, and snowiest places on Earth

Extreme Structures: Mega-Constructions Of The 21st Century (Science Frontiers)

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Extreme Structures: Mega-Constructions Of The 21st Century (Science Frontiers)
David Jefferis
Manufacturer: Crabtree Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0778728722

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