This book is just simply superlative in every respect, bar none. It comprises a survey of the world's wetlands, continent by continent, following a comprehensive introductory section. You will surely read about wetlands areas of which you have never been aware. You will see pictures of them that will simply amaze you by their beauty and form. Each chapter contains vignettes on that area's most important wetlands, as well as a detailed map of each continent and its wetlands. The written text is excellently organized and easily readable.

Depending on the reader's preference, however, the most attractive feature of the book may be its incomparable color photography. Some of it is so compelling as to present an almost surreal effect. A good example is the cover photograph of the baobab tree, standing like a huge bottle over lily pads in an African pond.

Each chapter, as well as the book's conclusion shows the harm that is being done to wetlands, and the consequences that follow such activity. This is a must read part of the text.

In summation, the book is endlessly fascinating. I received it as a Christmas present a few years ago, and I have enjoyed it endlessly since that time. I am sure this experience will apply to any person of a high school education with an interest in nature.

My recommendation is so high as to be off the scale.

This is a most worthy companion to the visitor's guide to CALIFORNIA'S EASTERN SIERRA, previously reviewed by this writer. Written in the same clear, direct, organized style, and similarly divided into sectional analyses of various attractions and history, this guide also has the same outstanding color photography.

It is difficult to sufficiently praise the clear travel directions given to find each discussed attraction. Not only directions, but anticipated road conditions, are set forth at the conclusion of the section addressing each feature.

As you will discern, Death Valley should have been made a National Park a long time ago. It is the hottest, driest, and lowest place in North America. It has recent volcanoes, enormous sand dunes, totally indigenous wildlife, great mineral deposits, a playa where the stones move about from unknown forces (called the Recetrack), marvelously beautiful rock formations and salt flats, and even a castle. Each is discussed in riveting detail that beckons the reader to come there.

You will also read about the history of Death Valley, including marooned pioneers, borax mining and the twenty-mule-team methods of transporting out the borax, old ghost towns, etc, etc. Each section is endlessly fascinating.

The book also takes the reader to many facinating areas outside Death Valley, including the now-dry Searles Lake, with its eroded towers of tufa resembling a city, the Pamamint Range bordering Death Valley, various canyons, and even a waterfall in the desert. You will repeatedly enjoy vicariously wandering this enormous, desolate, but incredibly beautiful and peaceful region.

There is some small overlapping between this book and EASTERN SIERRA, but the effect is magnify the fascinating nature of the regions, and not too distract or bore the reader.

I recommend purchase of both guides before taking any trip to these areas. Reading the guides first and during the trips will increase your enjoyment and understanding manyfold, and help tremendously in planning the trip.

Needless to say, both books are recommended to the hilt.

I was fortunate enough to purchase this book on the first day of two-week vacation in the Sierra. Since part of the vacation was a planned visit to Mono Lake, the title attracted me. A brief perusal demonstrated the exquisite color photography throughout the book.

After reading sections of the book, plans were changed to include much more time in the Owens Valley and kindred points. We saw and experienced many things that I had never imagined, such as the Long Valley hot springs, the Owens River Canyon, rockhounding areas galore, Fossil Falls, the Coso Domes, Convict Lake, etc., etc.

The book is well writtten, and very well organized, taking the reader from south(Mojave Desert) to North(Bridgeport area, about 100 miles south of Reno) in successive chapters. Although written for any person with a high school background, the book is particularly well suited for students of earth processes, including physical geology, weather, and field biology. Attractions such as the Ancient Bristlecone pine forest, home of the worlds oldest trees, and the Mono Lake volcanic domes, one of America's most recent sites of volcanic activity, are especiall.y well discussed.

One of the most impressive features of this work is the careful road directions included at the conclusion of each subsection discussing a particular attraction. Without these guideline, finding some of the areas would have been much more difficult.

Mixed in with the recitation of attractions, and things to see and do, is a history of the area, where you will find discussion of the various mining ventures in area mountains and dry lakebeds, as well as a narrative of the Owens Valley Earthquake of 1872. America has not experienced a quake of this magnitude since that date.

The book was a treat to possess, both during my vacation and now. Its photography and text rekindle memories of this wonderful region of our country, and I recommend it as highly as possible.

For all the (...) hullaballoo, this book simply presents another example of the oldest story there is; the Eternal Triangle, and its consequences. Granted, some of the facts are novel, i.e., a law clerk having repeated intercourse with a judge who was manifestly unqualified to be such, but who, even so, should have known better. Of course, the law clerk tires of his wife, and so he kills her. THE CONVICTION HAS SINCE BEEN UPHELD ON APPEAL, to no one's real surprise.

I live in the county where the law clerk and judge worked. She was suspended, and then left office before the voters could throw her out. We feel sullied by what took place.

The book is an effort to bolster the defense's case after the facts were adduced and the case decided. Despite its one-sided nature, the book fails in its quest. Mr. Fletcher is where he belongs, and the only amazing thing is that he didn't try to take the judge with him, so as to bring down his own sentence. Apparently, even cold-blooded killers have some small vestige of morals.

The book addresses nothing really new in the human experience, caters to the tawdry, and I'm sorry I spent the few hours I did on it. Don't even bother, unless you are really bored, and have absolutely nothing better to with your life.

This is a collection of short stories by J.G. Ballard, whose surrealistic approach to science fiction reaches its apex in this effort. "End Game", a story of executions in the future, leaves the reader not exactly knowing if the imprisoned political leader is about to be executed at its end, but the character development borders on the fabulous.

Also recommended most highly are "Now Comes the Sea", and "Chronopolis", the latter being the story of a society where time measurement is outlawed, and of the outlaw who wants to bring it back.. You will never forget any of these stories. V

Very, very highly recommended. This is a genius at his best.

Mention the word "volcano", and most people think only of the Earth. However, as this fine book shows, such is hardly the case. Indeed, the phenomenon of volcanic activity is widespread in our own solar system.

The text is introductory in nature, and the book is unconfounded by spates of hypertechnical language. Anyone with an average scientific backgound will easily understand the great bulk of the matters discussed. Excellent photography, both from telescopes, as well as manned and robotic space vehicles, closely follows the text and contributes to its comprehension.

I believe the author occasionally leaves technical terms unexplained, however. Also, the photography is largely in black and white.

The book begins with chapters on Earth's own volcanism, and then proceeds to other planets and moon, including our moon, Venus, Mars, Io, and Triton. I found the chapters on Venus especially fascinating, given the wide variety of igneous features.

Any reader will come away with a well enhanced understanding of both our solar system and the part that vulcanism plays in its ongoing development. Recommended highly, especially for student of and devotees of planetary astronomy and volcanic processes.

Name the subject; lawyers, Boston, poetry, Joan Crawford, clothes, rhubarb, etc., it will be criticized in a quote by someone. From "absolute" to "zoo", some wit's remark castigating it will be found in this book. But the remarks aren't just a compendium of negativity. Most are genuinely witty and comical. Every page turned is an invitation to laughter. No sacred cow is spared; none. You will be amazed how many of these remarks enter your memory, to be used or parphrased by your own sharp pen or tongue. This book is a true treasury of satire.

Very, very highly recommended, except for the stupid and humorless.

Author Elias is an expert in Ice Age ecology, and has published seeral books on the subject. This is one of the best. Beginning with a four-chapter section on why it is important to study ecological systems of the past, the book takes its reader through the various Ice Age fossils of the Southwest, the types of material in which they are found, how they are dated, and nicely sums up this data with a chapter on how this data is pieced together to provide a tableau of past ecologies in an area.

Attention then turns to various national park localities in the Southwest, including Canyondlands, Grand Canyon, Big Bend, and various Anasazi ruin parks. Each chapter discuss the various extinct animal finds in and around the named park area, and also includes information on past climates, flora, and effect of human cultures. Among the vanished animals expertly discussed are the short-faced bear, shrub ox, American lion, American camel, and two varieties of ground sloth. Locations of finds for each of these creatures are described and shown on generalized maps.

I was impressed by the depth of research and the excellent writing style. The maps are somewhat vague, however, and I was disappointed in a lack of color photography. These are small detractions from the overall quality of the book, and I would heartily commend the book to anyone with an interest in the Ice Age, paleontology or ecology, or in the Southwest. If this describes you, then I especially recommend that you buy the book before you go to any of the named parks on a trip.

There are a good many textbooks in the highly competitive market for this subject. This is probably the best. The writing is clear and easily understood. Needed definitions are introduced at appropriate junctures. The excellent diagrams and color photographs are carefully selected to follow the text and add much to its substance. Finally, the broad subject matter of physical geology, including plate tectonics, vulcanism, earthquakes and faulting, mountain building, various forms of erosion and sculpting, minerals, and rock-making processes, among many others, are all encompassed in this book.

Physical geology is the study of the Earth's physical processes, and is the opening door to further study of geology. You can't understand the rest of geology until you understand physical geology. Count yourself fortunate if your instructor selects this text as your guide. Even if you aren't taking the formal course, this book will enhance your understanding of our wonderful Earth. I highly recommend this superb book for anyone who has a highschool education.

The San Andreas Fault, one of the largest transform faults in the world, runs from the Mexican border north to northwest California, where it finally enters the Pacific. Millions of people live by ths fault and its branches, and are subject to its powerful earthquakes at any moment. Yet few are familiar with its exact route, what it looks like on the surface, and how to take simple steps to protect against its spasms of movement.

"Earthquake Country" addresses these things in a simple, direct, and easily understandable fashion. The photographs are well-chosen and striking, and the directions to various places discussed are highly accurate.

A few years ago, I took a trip along the fault, from Pearblossom, northeast of Los Angeles, to Point Reyes, northwest of San Francisco. I saw hills ripped in half, streets that had moved, fault lines in roads, streams that followed the fault, lines of sag ponds crossing hills, and many other amazing features and things. Without this remarkable, carefully crafted book, I would have passed many of these features without knowing of their significance, or even their existence. The chapters on the central sections of the fault around Cholame and Parkfield were especially informative.

As he takes you along the fault, the author also discusses earthquake protection, and seismic geology in a crisp, professional fashion. This book is must reading for any Californian, or any tourist who visits that wonderful state. I really enjoy the book, and recommend it very, very highly.