Book Description
More than the story of how people and rats live together, this book takes a serious and intriguing look at science and scientists, the problems they solve and fail to solve, and the scope and imperfections of our scientific knowledge of the world. It answers questions such as: Are rats still a threat to human health? Do rats think? Is it true that wild rats sometimes die, unwounded, from social stress? Can studies of rat societies tell us anything useful about our own social lives? This compelling historical and social study will capture the interest of all readers—from those fascinated by rats to those who cringe—by explaining the delicate and sometimes volatile impacts humans and rats have had on each other over the centuries and into the modern age.
Customer Reviews:
Small, interesting book about a small, interesting rodent..........2004-10-02
I bought THE STORY OF RATS by Anthony Barnett for my 14 year old granddaughter who is in an advanced placement science class at her high school, and who has an affinity for repulsive animals (she has a pet lizard she feeds live crickets). I ended up reading the book before I handed it to her, and, what an interesting little book it is. RATS is a paperback with reasonably large type, so easy to read and filled with illustrations and photographs, but more than that it's filled with interesting material (even though it may not be up to AP standards).
Did you know that not only do rats eat human foods such as corn, rice and other grain, but, according to Barnett, humans have been known to eat rats? (The Hindu God Ganesha is accompanied by a rat, but Hindus have a proscription against eating them.) When Britain ruled the waves, British sailors found rats appetizing alternative to hard tack or starvation (apparently, rats cannot board modern ships as easily as they could board the old wooden ships, so they are no longer part of the sea-faring cuisine). However, even today, some folks in the far-flung places the British ships visited and populated with rats still eat them. Photos show markets where vendors sell rats roasted and strung up by their tails along with other butchered meat.
Barnett discusses the bad things rats do such as eat human food stores and spread noxious diseases like the Bubonic Plague and Hanta virus, as well as the good things rats do, such as become pets or lab rats. The author includes chapters discussing the use of rats in experiments, so if you are squeamish about animal testing this may not the book for you (most of the experiments involve psychological studies, not physical torture). Nuclear testing by the US Navy suggest that if and when humans destroy the planet, rats will probably survive. On the other hand, Chernobyl, deserted by humans after the nuclear accident a few years ago, has returned to it's natural state of "wilderness" sans `Rattus' who just can't get along without humans. So, it seems even if rats can survive manmade follies, they may perish because they rely on humans for food and shelter.
Wonderful, A Must Have for Rat Lovers.......2004-07-17
Barnett has spent most of his life studying rats and writes an excellent book on their society, habits, and impact on humans. Although hated and feared by most people, Barnett's work with and observations of these rodents seems to have given him appreciation for the survivors rats are. Unsensationalized and respectful, Barnett offers an honest view of rats place among us and ours among them.
They love us!.......2003-01-02
At any rate they should since we have created their habitats in, around and under our cities, towns and farms, and we feed them well. Occasionally we try to poison them but it never works for long. Usually, as Barnett, who is Emeritus Professor of Zoology at the Australian National University, explains they reject our poisons outright as something new in a familiar environment ("neophobia")--one of their clever tricks--and when we counter with one of OUR tricks (pre-baiting) we kill them all right, but they counter by upping their breeding schedule and soon the losses are made up.
I think Barnett does a good job of making this an interesting read although the latter parts of the book are perhaps more scientific than some would like. He begins with the rat in history and literature, recalls the black plague and other rat-carried diseases, and then tells the story of how the rat became domesticated in the nineteenth century primarily as a laboratory animal to run mazes and push levers for rewards and punishments. He explains how this white albino rat has come to differ in its habits and traits from its wild counterpart, the so-called Norway rat, noting, for example, that lab rats are usually not neophobic. Instead they approach just about anything new. There is some interesting material on the black rat which tends to live in trees or on or near the top of dwellings while the Norway likes the ground and sewers. The material on the mole rat of India and the rice rat of Malaysia and some other species could have been expanded.
Barnett goes into some of the research done on rats, both in the lab and in the field, and demonstrates just how hard it is to conduct useful and rigorous experiments and how easy it is to misread the findings. He looks into the mystery of rats seemingly dying because of stress and suggests that what kills them is a lowered immune system response to disease agents. (p. 170) There might be an unstated suggestion that stress can do the same thing to humans, perhaps to a lesser degree.
I think that Barnett's excursion into the philosophy of science and the limitations of applying animal research to humans (with quotes from philosopher K. R. Popper and geneticist R.C. Lewontin) toward the end of the book might have worked better in some other volume. At any rate I would have preferred instead more material on Barnett's personal experiences with rats. The material he does give us from his early days in London during World War II and from his lifelong research and experience is interesting and could have been expanded, especially in a book like this aimed at a general readership.
There are a number of black and white photos and drawings of rats, a Glossary, a list of References, and an Index. Bottom line: interesting and not nearly as repellant as a work on rats could easily be.
Overratted........2002-04-16
I picked up this book thinking it would be an elegant blend of science, history and philisophical musings a la Lewis Thomas--but Barnett has failed utterly. He shifts from psuedo-philisophical ponderings to sounding as though he's lecturing to a bunch of college freshman. I can't possibly give it a one star because I did find a lot of the information interesting, but on the whole, I put down the book rather dissatisfied.
Excellent.......2002-04-08
Whether you love rats, hate rats, or have no understanding of them at all, this is a great book. It's very objective, written in an accessible format, and absolutely fascinating.
This book should be a must read for anyone who keeps rats as pets, as it lends a much better understanding of "rat psychology" than one would get from simple pet care books.
Customer Reviews:
Not the best guidebook for the area........2007-07-15
This seemed to be a decent guide...and then after using it, it was found to be lacking. The routes are sometimes awkward, and missed better routes that are easier to trek, and thus safer. Some of the trails are either poorly noted, or have changed since publicaton in 2001.
This is a guide that can be greatly improved upon.
There are locals in the area who can give far more accurate directions, and better yet, guide you to the places safely, if you are not experienced at hiking this terrain. This optionis highly recommneded to photographers or those hiking with children/teens and weekend warriors/older folks.
Kelsey's Canyon Guide is thought of more highly by those with both books.
Buy the Kelsey guide instead.......2007-04-16
I recently completed an outing to the Cedar Mesa/Comb Ridge area for which I had specifically purchased this guidebook. On first glance it appears more comprehensive then the Kelsey "Non-Technical" hiking guide, but first impressions can be deceiving. Most annoying were the UTM co-ordinates. Aside from the fact that they are inaccurate, see below, they are also largely worthless. An example from the "Fish Mouth Cave" description includes these handy co-ordinates: carpark-0,620,633E;4,142,890N, 1st Alcove-none, 2nd Alcove-none, Fish Mouth Cave-none, carpark-0,620,633E;4,142,890N! Why bother? Kelsey has no UTMs at all, but he obviates their need by providing accurate and helpful written descriptions of the hikes he describes. The Tassoni descriptions are, imho, MUCH less helpful. Kelsey also provides clear, color "fotographs" (Kelsey spelling--kind of annoying, really) of the features/attractions on the hikes he describes. Page 80 of the Tassoni guide includes a picture of the Abajos mislabled as the La Salles, and p.85 features a picture of Comb Wash-somewhere. In one fell swoop Tassoni has become inaccurate AND irrelevant! Oh, the Tassoni pics are also grainy B&W images of the wrong, irrelevant feature. The Tassoni guide is not entirely unhelpful, but your money would be MUCH better spent on the Kelsey guide.
Good resource; be careful with GPS coordinates.......2007-03-25
This guidebook is definitely a good resource for exploring this fascinating corner of Utah. I largely agree with Tom Budlong's earlier review.
A word of warning to GPS users. This guidebook is copyrighted 2001. In May 2000, the US military discontinued GPS "selective availability", greatly improving the accuracy of civilian GPS signals from that date on. Unfortunately, it appears that the author recorded many of the GPS coordinates in this book prior to this date. Thus, the author's GPS coordinates are frequently inaccurate- I've found some errors of 200 meters or more. The author's coordinates are still helpful, but GPS users accustomed to (spoiled by?) high accuracy should be wary.
Author advocates too much wilderness.......2004-08-31
I was dismayed to find, in the Introduction, urging from the author for readers to contact their congressional representative to designate excessive amounts of Utah acreage as wilderness areas, thus rendering them useless to much of the population that lives in these areas, of which I am one, and many who visit. While I believe that these areas should be kept from vandalism and destruction, I also believe educating the populace on the proper treatment of the land is a better alternative to closing off access to many who do not have the physical ability to hike long distances to see the beauties of nature.
Not wishing to support those who want to keep my family and I from enjoying and responsibly utilizing the land around us, I considered returning this book. But in spite of the author's extremist environmentalism views, the book offers good descriptions, maps, and photographs of some beautiful sites that I am anxious to explore with my young family. So, I will keep the book and try to ignore the preaching.
Good News - Bad News.......2004-03-15
Bad news first.
-- Directions to trail heads are infuriatingly compressed, hard to read, and in some places silly (ex: Major state route paved highway intersections are identified with GPS coordinates.)
-- Despite the 2001 copyright, 7-1/2' maps names are not given, but the obsolete and no-longer-available 15' maps are given.
-- Some of the detail maps are not oriented north-up -- hard to use for our north-up oriented minds. Worse yet, the maps don't say where north is, despite the north arrow in the map legend that lies, since it always points up. Hard to orient yourself, even after you discover the lying arrow.
-- The maps have no scale.
-- No index. Unpardonable sin, especially in these days of computers.
OK, now good-bad news:
-- Lots of GPS coordinates. But they are in a table following each route description, not embedded in the description. So you have to flip pages back and forth, and try to figure which set of coordinates apply to which text passage.
-- This is the only book that covers the area efficiently. Mike Kelsey's books cover larger areas. (Perhaps there are others that I have not found.)
Ready for some good news?:
-- It appears appropriately comprehensive. I say appropriate, since it is not totally comprehensive about the area. This leaves room for independent exploration, and does not divulge secret last best places.
-- Use the nicely made table and overview map starting on p.45 to efficiently sort through the walks he describes in the rest of the book.
Book Description
Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace reflects the wisdom and clear authorial voice of Williams best-selling book, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, while streamlining every chapter to create a very brief, yet powerfully direct guide to writing with style. The brevity and clarity of this book make it a quick and ideal read for freshman composition courses, as well as for writing courses across the disciplines. Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace covers the elemental principles of writing that will help students diagnose their prose quickly and revise it effectively. The ten lessons feature principles of effective prose written in William's hallmark conversational style, offering reason-based approaches, rather than hard and fast rules, for successful, effective writing.
Customer Reviews:
very clear.......2006-08-14
I am a non native speaker, and even though my grammar is not too bad, my writing style has always been a source of frustration. At work, when comparing the texts I would write with the one of good native writers, I could see that theirs were better, but could not find why.
I bought this book based on the high reviews it got on amazon, and I was not disappointed. After reading a few pages, I scanned the research proposal I was writing at the time, and could already make significant improvements on it. The advices that the author give are sometimes quite simple, especially at the beginning of the book (for example : the main character should be the subjects of the verbs, which themselves should correspond to the main action). But surprisingly, I realized that I was rarely applying these simple rules of clarity. The author is never dogmatic, and insists that the only thing that matters is that the reader easily understands what we're writing. All throughout the book, numerous examples illustrate the concepts just introduced so that it is quite easy to test whether one has really got the point.
a gem.......2006-07-21
I found an used copy of " The Basics of Clarity and Grace" at bookstore. After reading 3/4 of the book I ordered two more copies. One copy for my son who is a journalist major and the other for my eldest son who writes good comedy. I liked its size and its no nonesense approach.
Better than Strunk & White, better than Turabian.......2005-12-19
The longer version of Joseph Williams "Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace" has been justly praised for many years. But as a director of writing programs at NYU, Princeton, and Yale, I never felt right adopting that text: it was too expensive, and more than the average student needed. This "Basics" Style is the perfect solution. All the brilliance of the longer book at 1/3 the price, "Style" perfectly balances explanations of style rules with practical examples. The rules that Strunk and White encourage are good ones, and American prose would be leaner if their precepts were universal. The problem with that book is that the advice is not explained systematically. You can use their suggestions when you face similar cases, but only Williams' text breaks down topics like elegance, coherence, and cohesion in ways that will let you carry the ideas into every text you write. I would not recommend this book for the casual 10th grader; although it's clearly written, its ideas are somewhat advanced. But for professionals, college writers, and any teenager who takes writing seriously, "Style" is an indispensable tool, a book you'll use for the rest of your life. For learning to write good college papers, I also highly recommend his "Craft of Research."
How Style Ought to Be Taught.......2005-07-13
Teaching style is not an easy task. Just look at the number of books on the market that portend to do this task, and it becomes obvious that not all authors succeed in their efforts. Some manuals attempt to teach by rules, others by persuasion, and still others by example. This book takes all three approaches and illustrates that the art of stylistic writing is a matter of know-how. Unlike most books in the field, I find this one generally successful.
The book's method is heuristic. It begins with causes of bad writing, and progresses to clarity, cohesion, emphasis, coherence, concision, length, and elegance. Each principle is given a bad examples compared to a good one. Direct, subject-verb-object writing is extolled, and certain anathemas of other texts are approved under the right circumstances. While I disagree with one its principles: That it is acceptable to begin a sentence with "There" and "It," these are minor quibbles in an otherwise strongly argued case.
Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" now has a major competitor, and this book is it. Whether one writes in fiction or non-fiction, the principles and examples given throughout this book are to be commended. I know of one author, a philosopher, who took these principles to heart. What once was ambiguous and contorted writing is now lucid, clear, and vivid. If this book can make this kind of progress, I certainly recommend it to all writers.
While on the subject of good writing, I also recommend Corbett's "Classical Rhetoric" for those authors who want to write convincing arguments. One on style, the other on substance. While William's book on style will make prose more readable, Corbett's book will make it more intelligible.
Truly great, smaller but updated version of his bigger book.......2004-01-24
This smallish book summarizes and updates "Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (7th Edition)." I rank both books at least a "5 out of 5" ranking. I bought the "Style: Ten Lessons" book first and after reading his previous book, I wanted more from this author. This new book is a fitting treat; it is destined to be a classic in the field of writing.
This smaller 150 page book presents many easy-to-apply principles and, for me, were easier to understand.
The principles that I liked most were:
+ How nominalizations can be very good or very bad, depending on their purpose, or lack of it.
+ How to re-arrange sentences putting the new and most important ideas on the end; thus sometimes flipping the sentence around and making good use of the passive tense.
+ The importance of aligning the characters of your story with the subjects of your sentences, and using active verbs to make "interesting subjects do interesting things."
+ Why and how to keep the distance between subject, verb and object short.
There are many, many other writing principles that you will find very useful. Although this book is written for someone with writing experience, a beginner will also find it MOST helpful.
I recommend any budding writer to buy both books. The bigger, older book has more discussion. But I found this smaller, newer book easier to read and understand. I'm now reading his Craft of Research book, and it looks like a winner too.
This is an author whose books you should collect. He has become a highly recommended expert in the field of writing. Look at the reviews of the bigger book to see what others are saying. I am so happy that I found his books.
John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX
Amazon.com
Author Kenneth Libbrecht's microphotographs of real snowflakes show the amazing beauty and science behind nature's creations. This year his photos were honored by the U.S. Postal Service in a set of holiday stamps.
Amazon.com is celebrating the author's work with an exclusive, free holiday snowfall in our store this season, along with a free activity sheet for snowflake fun with the whole family. Click here to open up the virtual snowfall we've created, and forward this page to share the snowfall with friends and family. If there is real snow where you live, print out the activity sheet (in color or black and white) for easy snowflake identification tips and fun for all ages. Be sure to check out Libbrecht's Field Guide to Snowflakes to see what types of snow crystals are falling!
In this season we're reminded how special everyone is in our lives--and that we are all one of a kind, just like snowflakes. We hope you enjoy our virtual snowfall and share the fun with all the unique people in your life. Happy holidays to you and yours from Amazon.com!
 |
Pictured here is a beautiful example of a stellar dendrite, the largest and most familiar variety of snowflake. Click on the snowflake to open our virtual snowfall, and consult Ken Libbrecht's Field Guide to Snowflakes to see detailed photographs and descriptions of dozens more types of snowflakes, some familiar and some surprising. |
|
Book Description
Snowflakes may be an everyday, common subject, but youve never seen them like this! A collection of amazing photography of snow crystals using a unique system designed to take super-detailed micro images of these miniature ice masterpieces, "The Snowflake" is an extraordinary look at a seemingly ordinary object. Author Kenneth Libbrecht, a physics professor at Caltech and the pre-eminent snow-crystal researcher, discusses the physics and mythology of snow and how snow crystals are made. Photographer Patricia Rasmussen presents remarkable color micro-photography of snowflakes, and also discusses the history of snow-crystal micro-photography as invented by farmer Wilson Bentley.
Customer Reviews:
A Most Beautiful Book.......2007-07-27
I have read this book quite many years ago, or just two, and I can honestly say it's beautiful in the most breath-taking way. The photographs are seriously impressive and I don't think you've ever seen snowflakes quite like that. The text is great as well and you get to learn a lot of things about snowflakes.
Don't think this book would "steal" the mystery of snowflakes, as with everything in life, the more questions are answered, the more questions. So with this book.
I recommend it to anyone interested in snow and snowflakes in particular. It would make a wonderful gift, also. I can't recommend this book enough.
Another reason to love snow.......2007-07-18
Well written, with unparalleled photos of snow crystals. The book contains accurate physics, nice insights into snow crystal morphology and growth and is at a level that will engage almost everyone. Enough information here for a physicist to enjoy the book, but presented in a way that will not intimidate the layman. Just gazing at the pictures of the snowflakes will inspire wonder at the beauty of these little ephemeral creations, and is an antidote for frazzled nerves any time of the day, in any season. I've bought several to give away and one for myself, and it probably won't be the last one.
The reviewer below who thought the author doesn't give enough credit to God for the amazing design of the snowflake, may be a little too demanding. Perhaps the author thought the little crystals speak for themselves, and lets the reader draw his own conclusions. I can't look at these beautiful pictures without marveling at a God who is so creative He doesn't "know when to quit"!
Every snowfall is an opportunity.......2007-03-11
This handsome book should motivate the reader to appreciate -- perhaps even delight in -- every snowfall. The photos are superb; they are often curiously interesting and always a visual feast. Libbrecht provides an easy to understand description of the formation of snow crystals (not all of them are flakes, he points out.) The book will encourage some readers to want more, and Libbrecht provides a companion volume -- a Field Guide -- for that purpose. This is more than a mere coffee-table volume. Libbrecht makes the physics behind the snow crystals not only understandable, but charming. Libbrecht uses clear prose without "dumbing down" the science. Now, if Libbrecht will only produce another volume with 3D or stereo views...!
Amazing photos.......2007-02-22
The photos in this book are breathtaking! This makes a great gift for a hard to buy for person. I bought it for my father and he loves it!
lovely.......2007-02-06
Very lovely book for all fans of the unseen. The pictures are fantastic. All you ever wanted to know about snow is written in this little jem of a book...
Book Description
Remarkable revelations of nature's diversity, revealed in hundreds of snowflake images taken by American photographer Bentley during a 50-year period. Over 850 illustrations of snow crystals, with no two designs exactly alike, will inspire artists, designers, and craftspeople in search of extraordinary patterns for textiles, wallpaper, and other creative projects.
Customer Reviews:
Children loved it........2007-03-20
I read Snowflake Bently to a group of four year old children. They loved the idea that it was a true story. The next day I presented this book and the kids couldn't get enough.
bently snowflakes.......2007-01-13
Good glossary of snowcrystals. You can spend hours with them. Given the technology of the time, they're best suited for studying by catagory as opposed to individual morphology. (Libbrect does surpass this work-better photographic technology)
Gotta have it!.......2006-02-25
The wonderful thing about this book is that Snowflake Bentley actually took these photos. It is a "must have" companion to the book named after him.
A collection of snowflake photographs.......2005-08-25
This is basically a 72 page book with b/w photos of snowflakes. With 12 crystals on each page it has quite a varied collection of snowflakes.It is not a coffee table book - but a great reference book.
"Snowflakes in Photographs" just a dusting compared to "Snow Crystals".......2005-07-21
"Snowflakes in Photographs" is a beautiful book with some history on Bentley and his photography; featuring stunning black and white photographs of snowflakes. Ironically however, the book "Snow Crystals" (also published by Dover) contains a great deal more text and more than twice the number of photographs than this book "Snowflakes in Photographs". I bought the two books at the same time thinking that other one focused more on Bentley and this one focused more on the pictures but it was a mistake. This is a case of "you get what you pay for" and the only reason to buy this one is that it is a bit cheaper than the other. On it's own, this book is still a smaller but nice collection of photographs without much 'text' support.
Books:
- The Undercliff: A Naturlist's Sketchbook of the Devon to Dorset Coast
- The World of the Polar Bear
- The World of the Polar Bear
- Through Glacier Park in 1915
- Throwim' Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds
- Tiger: The Ultimate Guide
- Toxic Contamination in Large Lakes/World Conference on Large Lakes Mackinac'86
- Tracks of the Unseen: Meditations on Alaska Wildlife, Landscape, and Photography
- Ty Beanies Tracker: The World's Most complete Ty Guide
- U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Jaguar Books on Latin America)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Built for Growth: Expanding Your Business Around the Corner or Across the Globe
- The Gardener's Year
- Road to ASEAN-10: Japanese Perspectives on Economic Integration
- The Cat's Meow: Purr-fect Quilts for Cat Lovers, 10th Anniversary Special Edition
- The Language of Letting Go
- Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog
- The Pride of Lions
- Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented Then Ignored the First Personal Computer
- Shareholder or Stakeholder Value
- Encyclopedia of Associations Regional, State and Local Organizations: Souther and Middle Atlantic St
General
| Animals
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants
Rats!: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Rats: Complete Care Guide
Training Your Pet Rat
Rat
