Book Description

Geographical Weighted Regression (GWR) is a new local modelling technique for analysing spatial analysis. This technique allows local as opposed to global models of relationships to be measured and mapped. This is the first and only book on this technique, offering comprehensive coverage on this new 'hot' topic in spatial analysis.

• Provides step-by-step examples of how to use the GWR model using data sets and examples on issues such as house price determinants, educational attainment levels and school performance statistics
• Contains a broad discussion of and basic concepts on GWR through to ideas on statistical inference for GWR models
• uniquely features accompanying author-written software that allows users to undertake sophisticated and complex forms of GWR within a user-friendly, Windows-based, front-end (see book for details).

  
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Book Description

Biomimicry is a revolutionary new science that analyzes nature's best ideas -- spider silk and prairie grass, seashells and brain cells -- and adapts them for human use. Science writer and lecturer Janine Benyus takes us into the lab and out in the field with the maverick researchers who are applying nature's ingenious solutions to the problem of human survival: stirring vats of proteins to unleash their signaling power in computers; analyzing how spiders manufacture a waterproof fiber five times stronger than steel; studying how electrons in a leaf cell convert sunlight to fuel in trillionths of a second; discovering miracle drugs by observing what animals eat -- and much more.

The products of biomimicry are things we can all use -- medicines, "smart" computers, super-strong materials, profitable and earth-friendly business. Biomimicry eloquently shows that the answers are all around us. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Inspires us to look to nature for solutions to our problems
Where can we find the best solutions to the many technical, environmental, social and economic problems that beset us?

In this wonderful book Benyus shows us that nature can teach us valuable lessons. "In the 3.8 billion years since the first bacteria, life has learned to fly, circumnavigate the globe, live in the depths of the ocean and atop the highest peaks, craft miracle materials, light up the night, lassoo the sun's energy, and build a self-reflective brain...living things have done everything we want to do, without guzzling fossil fuel, polluting the planet, or mortgaging their future. What better models could there be?"

By adopting a little humility and treating nature as a model, a measure, and a mentor, she argues, we can catch up on the lessons nature has had millions of years to learn. Benyus writes like an angel, her prose conjuring vivid images as she takes us with her on a journey to explore what Biomimics are doing in material science, medicine, computing, energy, agriculture, and business. Her journalistic style does not shrink from the intricacies of photosynthesis and relishes the wonders of mussel tethering techniques, but always keeps the wider picture in view.

I found myself wanting to push the fast-forward button - to the time when prarie-style agriculture is widely adopted; materials are made at room-temperature in life-friendly conditions with no toxicity; and our economy is modelled on a rainforest, not a ragweed. Readers of this book could be those who will help get us there faster. Enjoy!

Realistic, innovative solutions for a sustainable world
With the eloquence of an angel, Janine Benyus captures and describes the rapidly emerging field of biomimicry. In this beautifully written "seed of hope", Janine reveals how Nature--in her complexity and intricacy--can provide the innovative solutions we as a society desperately seek as we strive for sustainability. Through clear, clever, and enjoyable writing, Janine tackles difficult scientific information and presents it in a manner digestible to even those that fear science! The book is full of wonderful examples ranging from biomimetic materials to agricultural systems to pharmaceuticals to industrial ecology. After reading this book, I can no longer look at the natural world in the same way. With over 3.8 billion years of research and at least 30 million case studies, Nature probably has the answer we are looking for. Every roadblock presented to me is now countered with the following question: "What would Nature do if she had to tackle the same problem?" As a biologist and a business person, I'm finding that the two have more in common that I previously thought. This book is on my number one list for life. I find myself carrying my page worn copy everywhere I go just so I can recommend it to everyone, including strangers! This book gives me hope for our society. If we can learn to look towards Nature as model, measure, and mentor, we might just stand a chance.

Learning from the Genius of Nature
Before even reviewing the book, it seems as though I must explain its raison de'etre; for some negative reviews disclaim the very import of looking to nature as a model for life. For starters, nature runs on sunlight and creates no waste. To me, this alone is reason enough to mimic nature, since our profligate energy use has caused a global eco-crisis. Not only does the combustion of fossil fuels pollute the air breathe (leading to some 3 million deaths from air pollution annually according to the WHO), but it also floods the atmosphere with CO2, leading culprit in the greenhouse effect. Moreover, being that the supply of crude oil is finite, the very foundation of our economy will one day run dry. Nature, on the other hand, runs on the unlimited bounty of sunlight. Unlimited clean energy is just one example of the genius of nature which author Benyus points out in this book.

Nature does many other wonderful things we would do well to learn from. Arctic fish and frogs freeze solid and then spring to life, having protected their organs from ice damage. Black bears hibernate all winter without poisoning themselves on their urea, while their polar cousins stay active with a coat of transparent hollow hairs covering their skins like the panes of a greenhouse. Chameleons and cuttlefish hide without moving, changing the pattern of their skin to instantly blend with their surroundings. Bees, turtles, and birds navigate without maps, while whales and penguins dive without scuba gear. How do they do it? How do dragonflies outmaneuver our best helicopters? How do hummingbirds cross the Gulf of Mexico on less than one tenth of an ounce of fuel? How do ants carry the equivalent of hundreds of pounds in a dead heat through the jungle? How do muscles attach to rock in a wet environment? The answers to these questions may seem like trivia to non-expert, but "The difference between what life needs to do and what we need to do is another one of those boundaries that doesn't exist. Beyond mattes of scale, the differences dissolve."

Like every other creature, humans cause a lot of commotion in the biosphere: creating, moving, and consuming. But our species is the only one that creates more waste than nature can safely and efficiently recycle. Ours is only one that ignores ecological limits, exceeds the carrying capacity of the land, and consumes more energy than nature can provide. The ideology that allowed us to expand beyond our limits was that the world -- never-ending in its bounty -- was put here exclusively for our use. But after the topsoil blows away, the oceans go lifeless, the oil wells go dry, and the air and water we depend on are utterly fouled, what will we do? Will we be able to survive? Unlike the impact of a car, is crisis is cumulative. The mounting effects of this ideology are rising temperatures, decreasing grain yields, rising cancer rates, falling fish harvests, dwindling forests, worsening air pollution, and rising oil and water prices. A most resilient creature, I believe we (or some of us) will survive this ecololgical "bottle-neck" squeeze, to use Harvard scientist E.O. Wilson's phrase. But the questions this book seeks to answer is, can we flourish?

As mentioned by other reviewers, some parts were overly technical. However, much of it is written with the layperson in mind. Moreover, the book is rich in philosophy, like that of Wes Jackson, Bill Mollison, Masanobu Fukuoka, and writers Thomas and Wendell Berry (unrelated). And the main point of the book is simple enough for a child to understand. Does it run on sunlight? Does it use only the energy it needs? Does it fit form to function? Does it recycle everything? Does it reward cooperation? Does it bank on diversity? Does it utilize local expertise? Does it curb excess from within? Does it tap the power of limits? And is it beautiful? In order to right our wasteful and dangerously dysfunctional relationship with nature, these ten questions should serve as guiding principles for design and human interaction.

Although some of the science is now dated (e.g., hydrogen fuel cells are now a reality), this book will remain pregnant with philosophical and practical insights for years to come. It is far, far ahead of the times. My only criticism is that, much of the scientific history and intrastructure this book depends on actually helped create the eco-predicament we currently find ourselves in. The labratories she visits (not to mention the cars she uses to visit them) are not exactly eco-friendly. In other words, the author supposes more technology and "progres" will eventually help us out of this predicament.

This book is a landmark - and one hell of a good read. Dssential for anyone interested business, philosophy, ecology, science or engineering. And when combined with other books, like Lester Brown's ECO-ECONOMY, David Korten's WHEN CORPORATIONS RULE THE WORLD, Paul Hawkins' NATURAL CAPITALSIM, Hildur Jackson and Karen Svensson's ECOVILLAGE LIVING, and perhaps something on eco-education, it would fit well into my dream eco-philosophy course. Unfortunately, I'm not a teacher and very few universities have funding for such programs anyway.

Good subject but poor content
This book deals with an interesting concept which is 'biomimicry'. In summary, it says that Mother Earth offers many models on which we can base our innovation/creation. But the book is not so easy to read and not so well planned. I skip many parts which in my sense go to deep in details and some parts are a bit repeatitive. The book is quite large but offers only few interesting ideas that are then developed and so detailed to an end which you don't remember the purpose. Some parts don't have a conclusion so you finish the chapter quite frustrated because you have read a big technical part and uoi don't see what was the point the author wanted to demonstrate. If you are interested in technical sciences then you might like it but otherwise, the ideas on biomimicry in this book could be summarize in a more compact book.

nonsensical environmental manifesto
A book that purports to be about taking inspiration from nature for our inventions sounds like a scientific book about genetic engineering or nanotechnology. It's not. This book is really an environmental manifesto, taking "nature is good" as an axiom and going from there, to explain unpromising technologies that will allow us to be more like nature and live in harmony with the Earth. The pseudo-religious arguments presented for why we should do this are vacuous. It's just sort of assumed we all would rather make the required sacrifices to "be in harmony with mother earth". If that's your thing, this book is for you. Just don't make the mistake I did and buy something that you think has some scientific validity. ... Read more

Book Description

This book deals with the relationship between land use and land cover: between human activities and the transformation of the Earth's surface. It describes the recent changes in the world's farmland, forests, grasslands and settlements, and the impacts of these changes on soil, water resources and the atmosphere. It explores what is known about the importance of various underlying human sources of land transformation: population growth, technological change, political-economic institutions, political structure, and attitudes and beliefs. Three working group reports outline important avenues for future research: the construction of a global land model, the division of the world into regional situations of land transformation, and a wiring diagram to structure the division of research among fields of study. ... Read more

Book Description

This classic account describes the known exact solutions of problems of heat flow, with detaileddiscussion of all the most important boundary value problems. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Outstanding
This classic should be on every science and engineering bookshelf. The wealth of elegant analytical solutions is an invaluable resource for analysis as well as for informing numerical solutions.

A Must for Every Mathematicians, Physicists and Engineers
This book is a masterpiece of a collections of all the known analytical method applied to heat conduction. A must buy and collectable classic. ... Read more

Book Description

PHYSICAL GEOLOGY: EXPLORING THE EARTH, Fifth Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of the physical aspects of Earth's processes, not just on its surface, but above and below as well. In this acclaimed book, the authors link diverse material with the common thread of plate tectonics, an approach that provides a global perspective of Earth and allows students to recognize seemingly unrelated geologic phenomena as a continuum of interrelated events within a complete planetary system. In addition to providing students with a basic understanding of geology and its processes, the authors also demonstrate how geology relates to the human experience, affecting individuals as well as society as a whole. One of Monroe and Wicander's goals is to encourage the (primarily) non-scientists taking this course to become informed citizens. To that end, they ask the question "What would you do?" throughout the text to allow students to explore their reactions to particular situations. The authors also have an increased focus on practical, relevant applications. To further enhance the students' learning experience, this edition is now fully integrated, on a concept level and with book-specific interactivities, with a FREE brand-new, student tutorial system called Physical GeologyNow. Physical GeologyNow is Web-based, assessment-driven, and completely flexible, offering a personalized learning plan based on each student's quiz results to help students focus on the concepts they don't yet understand. The Active Figures in Physical GeologyNow animate the gorgeous, newly revised art program, drawing students in and bringing the study of physical geology to life. ... Read more

Book Description

The only comprehensive guide to Kalman filtering and its applications to real-world GPS/INS problems

Written by recognized authorities in the field, this book provides engineers, computer scientists, and others with a working familiarity with the theory and contemporary applications of Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Inertial Navigational Systems, and Kalman filters. Throughout, the focus is on solving real-world problems, with an emphasis on the effective use of state-of-the-art integration techniques for those systems, especially the application of Kalman filtering. To that end, the authors explore the various subtleties, common failures, and inherent limitations of the theory as it applies to real-world situations, and provide numerous detailed application examples and practice problems, including GPS-aided INS, modeling of gyros and accelerometers, and WAAS and LAAS.

Drawing upon their many years of experience with GPS, INS, and the Kalman filter, the authors present numerous design and implementation techniques not found in other professional references, including original techniques for:
* Representing the problem in a mathematical model
* Analyzing the performance of the GPS sensor as a function of model parameters
* Implementing the mechanization equations in numerically stable algorithms
* Assessing computation requirements
* Testing the validity of results
* Monitoring GPS, INS, and Kalman filter performance in operation

In order to enhance comprehension of the subjects covered, the authors have included software in MATLAB, demonstrating the workings of the GPS, INS, and filter algorithms. In addition to showing the Kalman filter in action, the software also demonstrates various practical aspects of finite word length arithmetic and the need for alternative algorithms to preserve result accuracy. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Best source of information on GPS
One of the students in my lecture came up to me and said he had studied this book all summer to learn about GPS. He found it to be very helpful to him and he said it was the best source of information on GPS he had come across.

GPS World Magazine reviewer recommends this book
Here are some quotes from a review of this book in GPS World, July 2001, pp 46-47, by Dr. John Angus, a consultant and researcher in the area of GPS-aided navigation systems, AND professor at Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA. Dr. Angus' credentials qualify him to review this book.

"Noteworthy is the comprehensiveness of the material on GPS, Kalman filtering and Kalman filter engineering, and the appendix on coordinate transforms...An instructor could easily develop a one-semester course on basic GPS or a full year course on GPS and inertial navigation, each of them "glued" together by the Kalman filter and enlivened by computer experiments with the MATLAB code provided."

"The writing...tends to be concise and the mathematics is kept to the minimum necessary to expose the theory and methods of filtering, GPS, and INS."

"...effectively addresses most of the basic engineering and performance issues relating to GPS/INS."

"...recommended for personal and professional libraries."

This is an application-oriented book, which as such, does not include detailed mathematical derivations. It does provide Kalman filter algorithms (on floppy and in text), but if one needs the theory of Kalman filtering behind these, one needs to use a Kalman filtering text, such as Kalman Filtering Theory & Practice Using MATLAB (Second Edition), Wiley 2001, by Grewal and Andrews. The latter book gives all of the methods in square root filtering algorithms and derivations and more. If the "Asian Reviewer" is most interested in Kalman filtering, he/she would be better advised to buy a book on Kalman filtering.

Almost completely useless book ...
Of course the experience of the authors is great but none of it you can use either in your study or research. It is impossible to learn about Kalman filtering from this book as well as to improve your knowledge in this area. Book is intended for professionals in this area but professionals will not need it. Many intersting facts but no detailed information. For example one can know that the square root filtering method came from James Potter but there is nothing more about this method from this book. Otherwise you have to study sources of the software (included). Book is written as advertizing of author's skills and nothing else. Too much about nothing ... ... Read more

Book Description

This book was written to increase your awareness about the potentially tragic, harmful effects of the numerous chemicals to which we are all exposed on a daily basis.

This book will help you figure out when and where you were exposed and discuss the many different ways chemicals can affect you and your loved ones. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Surprise! A true wake up call for everyone
Author Doris J. Rapp, M.D. is Board Certified in Environmental Medicine, Pediatrics and Allergies. In her book "Our Toxic World" she shares her knowledge of how everyday toxins in our environment affect us. The reality is that chemicals are everywhere in our lives and it is nearly impossible to completely escape them. It would surprise most people to find that these chemicals not only affect our physical health but also our actions, behavior (aggression, fatigue, hyperactivity, etc.), fertility, and even our memory. Through this book Doris Rapp rings the alarm about how pesticides and chemicals have become major factors in chronic illnesses of all kinds.

Of course the book is not just about all the problems of toxins but also includes sound advice on how to choose safer products and protect yourself. She also dedicates several chapters to discussing wildlife research data and lab data. While this is interesting information to a point, she includes so much detail and so many examples that it starts to read like a research paper instead of a book for the general public.

I did like her summarizing statement that we are creating stronger more chemically-resistant pests and weeds and weaker, more unhealthy humans. In addition to the toxins she also discusses genetic engineering and the potential health problems it may cause. If you are concerned about the toxic environment and how it may be affecting your health you will be hard pressed to find a more informative, better-documented book than "Our Toxic World". ... Read more

Book Description

First published in 1982, Don Turcotte and Jerry Schubert's Geodynamics became a classic textbook for several generations of students of geophysics and geology. The authors bring this text completely up-to-date in this second edition. Important additions include a chapter on chemical geodynamics, an updated coverage of comparative planetology based on recent planetary missions, and a variety of other new topics. Geodynamics provides the fundamentals necessary for an understanding of the workings of the solid earth, describing the mechanics of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building in the context of the role of mantle convection and plate tectonics. Observations such as the earth's gravity field, surface heat flow, distribution of earthquakes, surface stresses and strains, and distribution of elements are discussed. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

One of the Outstanding Textbooks in Geophysics EVER
Turcotte and Schubert updated their 1982 edition to account for new developments in geoscience, and the result is the most comprehensive textbook on geophysics for the upper level undergraduate/graduate student. It is an outstanding reference, and is clear and concise in its treatment of a variety of geophysical phenomena. Stress/Strain, Elasticity and Flexure, Fluid Mechanics, Heat Transfer, Gravity, Rock Rheology, and Planetology are all treated with detail and provide the student with a tremendous introduction to geophysics. I recommend it to all geologists and geophysicists!

Life in the real world...
"Geodynamics" has been a classic text in the field of, well, Geodynamics since the first edition came out, and it remains a brave attempt to squeeze a large amount of detail into one volume. In many ways however, this attempt is misguided. The material suffers from overcrowding in many chapters, and different approaches are used to solve the same problem, giving wildly different answers, with no attempt made to qualify which method is accepted as the most realistic.
A fairly comprehensive set of questions are liberally sprinkled throughout each chapter, although the one-number answers at the back of the book are usually insufficient, and some brief explanation would greatly enhance user-friendliness.
The main problem I found with this textbook however, is the inability to link the numerical methods presented with real world situations. The complexities of plate deformation for example are reduced to a set of sections on beam-bending, with little or no attempt at the end to draw the lessons learnt from the exercise back into some meaningful discussion of how the earth behaves. This is a common failure of analytical approaches to Earth Science problems, that the construction of a mathematical framework becomes an end in itself, and that real data are ignored or manipulated to shoehorn them into the predictions of the model. "Geodynamics" is a good summary of the techniques used to try to understand the workings of the earth, but often leaves one with a hollow feeling that one hasn't really learned anything about the earth itself at the end of each chapter.

This is a magnificent book. I am pleased to see new edition.
I have known the first edition of this remarkable book, and am pleased to see the revised and improved version out. I hope that many Geophysicist will have a copy in their library eventually.

May I wish all Earth Scientists a nice research work.

Tuncay Taymaz ... Read more

Reviews (2)

great guide for planners and environmental studies
first chapter is dry but the rest of the book is a thorough compilation of techniques, history, design, purpose and review.

A good handbook for any planner
Dunne & Leopold's "Water In Environmental Planning" is a great tool of reference for the planner of any type. It addresses key issues in the role of water during the planning process and also includes important formulas for solving water problems. If you can get past a boring first chapter, this book is well worth the money and makes a great reference for the urban, rural or environmental planner. 4 stars. ... Read more

Book Description

Watch out for natural climate change. From warm to cold, wet to dry, it doesn't behave the way scientists thought it did. A drastic climate shift more sudden and troublesome than we'd ever imagined could already be underway.

As scientists carefully search for clues in the sun and storm patterns from our distant past, they are gradually writing a new history of Earth's climate. Layers extracted from cores drilled into glaciers and ice sheets, sediments collected from the shores of lakes and oceans, and growth rings exposed in ancient corals and trees all tell the same surprising story.

It is now apparent that alterations in our climate can happen quickly and dramatically. Physical evidence reveals that centuries of slow, creeping climate variations have actually been punctuated by far more rapid changes. While this new paradigm represents a significant shift in our picture of Earth's past, the real question is what it means for our future.

Many researchers are now quietly abandoning the traditional vision of a long, slow waltz of slumbering ice ages and more temperate periods of interglacial warming. While they've long recognized the threats posed by global warming, they must now consider that the natural behavior of our climate is perhaps a greater threat than we'd imagined. And though there is no need for immediate alarm, the fact that changes in our climate can happen much more quickly than we'd originally thought—perhaps in the course of a human lifetime—makes it clear that science has a lot of questions to answer in this area.

What are the mechanisms for triggering a significant climate change? In what ways should we expect this change to manifest itself? When will it likely happen? Climate Crash seeks to answer these questions, breaking the story of rapid climate change to a general public that is already intensely curious about what science has to say on the topic. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the first introductory volume to outline the fundamental ecological principles, which provide the foundation for understanding environmental issues. A strong framework of applied ecology is used to explore specifics such as habitat fragmentation, acid deposition, and the emergence of new human diseases. The volume addresses all aspects of biodiversity and physical setting, population and community ecology, ecology and society, environmental legislation and peering into the future.For those interested in pursuing knowledge in ecology and biodiversity. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Interesting and Easy to understand
It was an interesting book that I am going to use also after graduation. Even if I don't speak fluently English, the book was easy to understand. I had the book as recommended litterature in a Geology course. And after reading it I did pretty well on the exam. ... Read more

Book Description

The book is a compact compendium of factual data for commercial vegetable growers, with most of the data presented in the form of tables and charts. It is filled with information on topics like transplant production, planting rates and spacing, methods for controlling diseases, insect pest identification, and a multi-language vegetable dictionary. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A helpful reference tool
First published in 1956, this handbook is an indispensable, up-to-date companion both in the field and in the marketplace. Topics include the vegetable industry, greenhouse vegetable production, soils and fertilizers, water, pests, weed control, harvesting, storage, and seed production. Packed with quick-access graphs, tables, charts, and line drawings, the 4th edition offers new information on drip irrigation, seed germination, plant tissue and sap testing, windbreaks, and weed management. It also gives advice on allowable pesticide and herbicide use and on the latest worker protection standards. The appendix contains sources of vegetable information, providers of vegetable seeds, periodicals for vegetable growers, and U.S. units of measurement and the metric conversion factors. A change from the spiral-bound 3rd edition is a sturdy, flexible cover to help hold pages flat.

Fantastic reference work to answer disease&insect problems
I use this book as my first reference work to answer disease and insect problems in vegetables for the public. The layout is extremely easy to use. Each section is very clear and concise. This work is also used for establishing small plot research design that is comprable to the large scale production fields. All the information one needs is in this handbook for vegtable trials and for large scale production. There is very little else on the market that is as comprehensive as this publication and as accurate regarding information provided. ... Read more

Book Description

In the wake of the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire, the city of San Francisco desperately needed reliable supplies of water and electricity. Its mayor, James Phelan, pressed for the damming of the Tuolumne River in the newly created Yosemite National Park, setting off a firestorm of protest. For the first time in American history, a significant national opposition arose to defend and preserve nature, led by John Muir and the Sierra Club, who sought to protect what they believed was the right of all Americans to experience natural beauty, particularly the magnificent mountains of the Yosemite region. Yet the defenders of the valley, while opposing the creation of a dam and reservoir, did not intend for it to be maintained as wilderness. Instead they advocated a different kind of development--the building of roads, hotels, and an infrastructure to support recreational tourism. Using articles, pamphlets, and broadsides, they successfully whipped up public opinion against the dam. Letters from individuals began to pour into Congress by the thousands, and major newspapers published editorials condemning the dam.The fight went to the floor of Congress, where politicians debated the value of scenery and the costs of western development. Ultimately, passage of the passage of the Raker Act in 1913 by Congress granted San Francisco the right to flood the Hetch Hetchy Valley.A decade later the O'Shaughnessy Dam, the second largest civil engineering project of its day after the Panama Canal, was completed. Yet conflict continued over the ownership of the watershed and the profits derived from hydroelectrocity. To this day the reservoir provides San Francisco with a pure and reliable source of drinking water and an important source of power. Although the Sierra Club lost this battle, the controversy stirred the public into action on behalf of national parks.Future debates over dams and restoration clearly demonstrated the burgeoning strength of grassroots environmentalism.In a narrative peopled by politicians and business leaders, engineers and laborers, preservationists and ordinary citizens, Robert W. Righter tells the epic story of the first major environmental battle of the twentieth century, which reverberates to this day. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A classic of environmental history
Robert W. Righter has extended his reputation as a leading American environmental historian by this informative and well written account of the building of the Hetch Hetchy dam in Yosemite National Park in the early 1900's. He is candid and even handed in admitting that there were and are no easy answers in this complex history of building a dam in a national park. This book follows his earlier and acclaimed book (Crucible for Conservation, The Struggle for Grand Teton National Park) which contains the compelling story of the establishment of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming in which the issue was whether the Park as a contiguous and viable entity would ever be established over the objections of local and regional political and other interests. ... Read more

Book Description

Acidification is a universal problem at all mining sites in which oxygenated water comes in contact with sulfide minerals or other reduced sulfur compounds. An International Workshop was held in September 1995 at the Department for Inland Water Research of the UFZ-Centre for Environmental Research in Magdeburg on the limnology of lakes created by open-cast lignite mining, emphasizing the often observed geogenic acidification after oxidation of pyrite. The volume has 25 chapters including a chapter with results of group discussions about the topics mentioned above and further problems that were identified during the meeting. The monograph gives a baseline of the state of science on the worldwide problem of geogenic acidification of lakes following human mining activities. ... Read more

Book Description

This companion book to Voyageur Press’ "The Snowflake: Winter’s Secret Beauty" features new, super-detailed photographs of snowflakes, detailed captions containing the science behind their beauty, and literary quotes relating to nature and snow. ... Read more

Book Description

Wildlife researchers and ecologists make widespread use of multivariate statistics in their studies. With its focus on the practical application of the techniques of multivariate statistics, this book shapes the powerful tools of statistics for the specific needs of ecologists and makes statistics more applicable to their course of study. Multivariate Statistics for Wildlife and Ecology Research gives the reader a solid conceptual understanding of the role of multivariate statistics in ecological applications and the relationships among various techniques, while avoiding detailed mathematics and underlying theory. More important, the reader will gain insight into the type of research questions best handled by each technique and the important considerations in applying each one. Whether used as a textbook for specialized courses or as a supplement to general statistics texts, the book emphasizes those techniques that students of ecology and natural resources most need to understand and employ in their research. Detailed examples use real wildlife data sets analyzed using the SAS statistical software program.

The book is specifically targeted for upper-division and graduate students in wildlife biology, forestry, and ecology, and for professional wildlife scientists and natural resource managers, but it will be valuable to researchers in any of the biological sciences.

Kevin McGarigal is Assistant Professor and Sam Cushman is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management at the University of Massachusetts. Susan Stafford is Head of the Forest Science Department at Colorado State University. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

grad students
I am an ecology grad student and I have returned to this text again and again. ... Read more

Book Description

This user-friendly book makes a current and comprehensive introduction to the atmosphere—its components, problems, and applications. It contains easy-to-understand and everyday examples that reinforce basic concepts and related science principles.Chapter topics include moisture and atmospheric stability; forms of condensation and precipitation; air pressure and winds; weather patterns; thunderstorms and tornadoes; hurricanes; air pollution; and global climate change.For weather watchers who want to know why. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Don't buy it unless you have to!!!
As a college student I was forced to buy the textbook per my professor's curriculum and request. He often cited inaccuracies claiming he often had called the publisher to complain. The answers to the review questions (at the end of the chapters) were very challenging to find within the chapter. It's rough reading (I love to read and read often.) Unless you are required to buy the book, DON'T! I hope this helps.

The best intro to meteorology out there
If you are looking for a nice intro to weather or even a nice thorough review then this would be the book for you. Clearly defined and many illustrations available to help you grasp the info without reading it over several times.

An excellent introductory weather text.
Lutgens and Tarbuck made this a very readable text by writing in a stratightforward manner and by focusing on fundamental principles. The typical non-science major undergrad or general reader should be able to grasp the important concepts, while the more scientifically literate readers will find plenty of material to wrap their minds around. For example, much of the quantitative stuff is presented in separate boxes, for those who want to go beyond the basics as presented in the text. The illustrations by Dennis Tasa are, of course, excellent, as are most of the photos. I used this text for a weather and climate class I taught and would use it again. ... Read more