4 comments about Setup and Care of Freshwater Aquariums (Animal Planet Pet Care Library).

1. 25 years ago I kept 12+ aquariums and thought I would buy a couple of books to get back in the swing of things. I bought this book thinking it was going to be refresher...man was I wrong. As soon as I saw the fake color of the fish on the cover I knew I was being hooked by a slick "Animal Planet Book"
   
   This book poorly attempts to instruct the reader by explaining topics only half way. For the "Absolute Uniformed" this will seem like lots of good information, however the key points could be made much more simply and clearly in half the number of pages.
   
   This book completely misses the opportunity to include "How To Pictures" and illustrations to support the text. A picture is worth a thousand words...but I guess that well known clique is missed by the "Animal Planet's" publication staff.
   
   I would strongly recommend as an alternative "Setting Up a Tropical Aquarium Week by Week" by Stuart Thraves. This book has 10 times the information in twice the number of pages and has excellent illustrations to support the text. It is well organized so that it can be used as a reference because undoubtedly the average new enthusiast will need to read sections as issues arise.



2. I bougth this book because I am planning to buy an aquarium and I don't have any idea abouth this subject. I really enjoyed reading this book because it is simple, and gave me a very good picture of the things that I need to do to set up an aquarium successfully. It gives a very good introduction if you are not familiar with aquariums. This book is a must if you are getting your first aquarium.



3. This book gives a very comprehensive overview of all aspects one would want to explore when keeping a freshwater fish tank.



4. If you're a first-time aquarium owner interested in the basics of setting up a freshwater aquarium, Freshwater Aquariums is the perfect starting point. Envision a simple, easily-followed book packing in colorful photos to illustrate fish care and set-up, tips on species selection and maintenance, and colorful charts and sidebars of fish information and you will realize what a useful, attractive and easy manual you have here.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

2 comments about The Voice of the Dolphins: And Other Stories (Stanford Nuclear Age Series).

1. Leo Szilard wrote the famous letter to Franklin Roosevelt in 1939, signed by Albert Einstein, urging development of nuclear weapons when he thought the Nazis were already underway on such a program. Once it became clear, however, that Hitler was nowhere near getting one Szilard became one of the foremost opponents of their use. In 1945 he wrote the Szilard Petition, signed by 155 Los Alamos scientists, urging Truman to demonstrate the A-bomb on an uninhabited atoll rather than use it in war. He was also a signatory to the Franck Report that urged the same thing.
   
   After the war, with the government classifying "Top Secret" almost everything relating to Los Alamos, and Senator McCarthy publicly accusing anyone pro-peace of being a "Communist sympathizer," it was very difficult for Szilard to get his pacifist views heard. He was greatly troubled by the Cold War, which he foresaw and correctly predicted would be disastrous. His clever solution was to embed his views in a series of short stories, which are not only amusing tales in themselves but gain esteem when you realize why they had to be written.
   
   The first story, written in 1961 following John C. Lilly's pioneering research, starts with the idea that dolphins are discovered to be more intelligent than man and they begin dominating human politics through an uneasy alliance. In this story he not only anticipates the politics of the Cold War but also the whole era of petro-diplomacy which is still ongoing.
   
   The other stories, dating back to 1949, are similarly thought-provoking. Szilard was a very smart man, and it's a shame his views were not more widely respected and followed in his own time.



2. He's the world-class physicist who got Einstein to send a letter to Roosevelt about building a Bomb before the Nazis. He's also a world-class writer. These short stories are superb; prove one doesn't need to lead the life of a writer to write magnificently. A great read on a rainy night. Transparent and stylish, these stories will last.

5 comments about Horse Behavior, 2nd Edition.

1. Not many recent researches are cited. Hundreds are and it makes the reading quite dry. It is like a list of results of old researches. The layout is not fantastic, most of the photographies and drawings and charts are the same as the first edition (1984) so the visual quality is poor. A bit dry, and the section about vices and bad habits is just a chart of listing them. The book by McGreevy is far more interested.



2. "One of the people out there studying horses is Dr. Waring, a professor at Southern Illinois University. He uses big words such as polyphasic, but defines them, "The daily sleep cycle of horses is polyphasic, that is, with more than one period of sleep occurring per 24-hour period." He gives the academically correct citations of studies, yet describes the results in language the rest of us can understand. I dare any horseperson of any experience level to read it and not learn something."



3. This is a great source book for veterinarians, students of animal sciences, especially those interested in animal behaviour and researchers needing a reference book. Every topic has extensive references from both the recent and older literature. If you want to know some fact about normal horse behaviour such as how long a foal suckles, duration of copulation, how much an adult horse sleeps - the experimental data will most likely be in this book. There are numerous tables, illustrations and photographs and a comprehensive index and bibliography.
   The first edition of this book as published in 1983 and this second edition has been updated in every section. There are new sections on ecological influences on activity patterns, habitat utilization, social behaviour and reproduction. An expanded section on applied ethology and behavioural considerations for management, horse well-being and health is a useful addition.
   The book is in seven parts consisting of three to five chapters. The index in the front of the book gives a clear understanding of what subjects are covered in each part. Part I covers the ancestry, special senses and motor patterns of the horse with a useful table on horse taxonomy and related species of living equids. There are detailed line drawings and definitions of all the motor patterns. In the discussion of the special senses, the horse's use of them is put into the ecological, morphological and physiological contexts. There is also detailed descriptions, including good drawings of the different gaits. Part II includes the development of behaviour patterns: play, post- and peri-natal development, learning, memory and often difficult to find data on foal development. The section on learning covers useful information on habituation, classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning (operant conditioning). Maintenance activities (resting, sleep, ingestion, elimination, comfort behaviours) are discussed in Part III. A term used that I found in appropriate, was `self-indulgent' to describe sunning, shelter seeking, licking, nibbling, scratching and rubbing - these are maintenance behaviours. An interesting section is included on the symbiotic relationships of horses with birds, such as cattle egre, and humans.
   The section on reproductive behaviour (Part IV) is full of useful data which covers the sexual behaviours of mares and stallions and a detailed account of maternal behaviour. Both normal and abnormal behaviours are discussed. The stimuli that can affect sexual behaviour are commented on, including age, colour and sexual signals.
   Social behaviour in Part V covers herd behaviour, social attachment, home range and territoriality, social dominance and agnostic behaviour. Mare-foal and foal-mare attachments are discussed and there is a small section on interspecies relationships. The excellent line drawings of facial expressions, head and ear positions add useful information. Part VI, the interaction of horses and their environment, includes an excellent section on the influence of native horses on various environments. However, the destructive effect of introduced feral horses in countries like Australia is not mentioned - this would have completed the discussion. The chapter on ecological influences and the effects on reproduction and social behaviour is a useful addition.
   The expanded section (Part VII) on applied ethology provided behavioural considerations for management and insight regarding behavioural indicators of horse health and well-being. An appendix after this chapter categorizes many equine behavioural signs and possible problems they may indicate. The behavioural signs include facial expressions, posture, changes in motor co-9ordination, changes in maintenance behaviour and social behaviour.
   There is no specific section devoted to behaviour problems -these are discussed in the appropriate chapters along with the normal behaviour. This arrangement works well and gives a good understanding of how the normal behaviour has changed.
   This is an easy-to-read, hard-back book, packed with useful information written by an author, who not only has conducted research, but is also an educator. I am lucky to have it on my shelf - Associate Professor, Animal Behaviour and Welfare, School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland -- Australian Veterinary Journal April 2003



4. Understanding horses' behavior is something that all people who own or work with horses want to be able to do successfully. Our own observations have taught us that horses remember their experiences and make associations that can stay with them their entire lives. George Waring, a founder of the Animal Behavior Society and an educator at Southern Illinois University, explores a horse's ability to learn and remember as well as examines all aspects of horse behavior in the wild and in the managed stable environment. Although written by an academic, Horse Behavior, 2e is an enjoyable and accessible book that takes the reader from the horse's ancestry to behavioral manipulation and everyday horse concerns.

   I particularly enjoyed the sections on learning and memory and would recommend that all horse owners and horse professionals read Horse Behavior, 2e, if not in its entirety, than simply for these chapters. Waring has thoroughly researched the available data in this area (from the late 70s to the 90s), all which is beneficial to horse people working with (and building trust with) horses. Although worthwhile for all, Horse Behavior, 2e is a must for horse breeders, Waring presents a comprehensive study of sexual traits, behaviors, and anomalies in feral herds as well as at home in the barn. Horse Behavior, 2e is one of the first books that I have read that freely explores and identifies stallions' and mares' sexual behaviors and parenting patterns.

   The first edition was published in 1983, the second this past fall. There are several new sections including chapters on horse management, ecology, habitation, and social behavior. I read Horse Behavior, 2e straight through, but each section stands independently and can be used easily as a reference text. The only downside to this book is that the photographs are not of the highest quality. Those photographs depicting feral herds are understandably insufficient but others illustrating animal husbandry could have been better and more numerous. That aside, I strongly encourage all horse people to give Horse Behavior. 2r a place of prominence on the bookshelf.

   ...




5. Horse Behavior, 2nd edition, is a very well researched book that
   addresses a through review of normal horse behavior. Dr. aring brings together references from a wide variety of disciplines, often from very difficult to get sources, and integrates them with his own research into a comprehensive picture of the horse. Each chapter is well orgainzed in its contents, resulting in a book that will be an excellent reference. This is a "must have" for any serious student of horse behavior and for those who just enjoy the animal.

   Professor, Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery
   Texas A&M University

2 comments about The Presence of Whales: Contemporary Writings on the Whale.

1. Poignant and deeply satisfying. After reading just one chapter I ordered another copy to give as a gift.



2. This collection, described as "contemporary writings on the whale," is full of fine writing.
   Not good. Fine.
   Awed, as they all are by the size of whales, almost all the writers feel obliged to say something awesome. Since they don't have any really big thoughts, they fall back on "creative writing" as taught in the lit'ry schools.
   Thus we get the inane adjective: "luminous sunlight" (Frank Stewart, the editor, a professor of English literature at the University of Hawaii); and the simile more obscure than the event it purports to clarify: wind rattles a hut until the "walls gyrated like a rocket during liftoff" (Diane Ackerman, writing for the New Yorker).
   And padding, including half a paragraph devoted to explaining how "the spout's character changed with wind conditions" (Kenneth Brower).
   And unclassifiable nonsense, of which my favorite instance is Charles Bergman's description of a leaping whale as "unavoidably phallic." Now there, despite what I just said, is a man with a big idea.
   Despite this, the book is readable, thanks to the whales, about which it is possible to write badly but not dully.
   The whales, however, are not the stars of "The Presence of Whales."
   The star is Roger Payne, the scientist who turned humpback whales into recording artists in the '60s.
   This apparently is because Payne and his wife, Katherine Payne, keep open house for vagrant nature writers, several of whom came away with the impression that Payne discovered the fact that cetaceans make a lot of noise.
   Credit for that really is due to Kenneth Norris, one of the two writers in this book, along with Farley Mowat, whose writing is unpretentious. (Norris is not merely good; at his best, he's wonderful. He's the man who described humpback whales as "shaped like a big, grooved tadpole," which beats even the description I heard once from a crewman on the Maui Princess ferry: "Look for a black Cadillac with a radiator problem." None of the professional writers in "The Presence of Whales" comes close to that sort of mastery.)
   I don't think that Payne, whose own contribution here is workmanlike, deliberately claimed credit not due. It's all too obvious that most of the writers came to Payne knowing next to nothing about whales, listened to the Paynes, and then did no more checking.
   Stewart, with an indifference to consistency that is startling in an editor, lets all their statements stand as written, whether two years earlier or 30. As a result, many assertions about whales in one essay are contradicted in other essays.
   K.C. Balcomb, a Washington investigator of killer whales, wrote (in 1991), "It is hard to imagine now, but 30 years ago it was generally thought by both laymen and scientists alike that killer whales hunting in packs were the most ruthless predators of the sea."
   They may still, if they believe Gerard Gormley, writing for the Sierra Club in 1990, who describes how a pack of killer whales skins a minke whale and then eats the tongue, all so deftly that though the attack takes a long time, the minke whale stays conscious almost to the end. The killer whales do not bother to eat the blubber or the flesh, and the minke goes into shock and sinks, whereupon sharks rip it to pieces, coincidentally jolting the suffering whale into consciousness for a few last minutes of torment.
   Gormley's is the most gruesome portrayal of a death I have ever read that was not inflicted by humans on humans, and many readers may also have seen a remarkable film of killer whales tossing a live sea lion pup back and forth while its mother snuffles pathetically on shore.
   Balcomb doesn't say what his standards of ruthlessness are, but they must be pretty high.
   As a result of this unselective selection, a casual reader is likely to come away from this book knowing less about whales than when he went in.
   Even the essays by professional scientists are unreliable. The Paynes have been careful not to claim that humpback whale sounds are a language (and the fact that they are repeated over and over without variation suggests strongly that they are not); but their acolytes are not so careful. And who can blame them when Katherine Payne is so incautious as to write that the seasonal changes in humpback songs are "not unlike linguistic drift"? In fact, they are nothing like linguistic drift, a complex phenomenon that results from a number of things going on simultaneously, none of them demonstrably mimicked by whales.
   Stewart didn't do Roger Payne any favors by reprinting Faith McNulty's 1974 essay, either. McNulty, another New Yorker stablehand, is a very fine writer indeed, describing whale songs as "a medley of ethereal calls such as tiny translucent fairies might make."
   McNulty reports Payne as saying that "the whales can't afford to collide" because of their delicate skins, and that they have to "stay far apart while feeding." Those were airy speculations even in 1974, and today every schoolchild on Maui has seen the films contradicting such ideas.
   Stewart also did no favors for W.S. Merwin by reprinting his 1967 poem (antipoem, really, since it has no metrical organization) "For a Coming Extinction." This effort is not rendered more comprehensible by its lack of punctuation, but it is about California gray whales. Unfortunately for the antipoet, but fortunately for the whales, they did not go extinct and today are so numerous as to constitute a nuisance.

5 comments about Riding Logic.

1. As a rider, a student of biomechanics and dressage judge, I have my copy of Museler and do not regret purchasing it. I do understand that it is a classic publication. However, if you have limited cash, you would do much better to purchase the platinum standard book for the independent seat of dressage, AN ANATOMY OF RIDING by Heinrich and Volker Schusdziarra (father and son medical doctors). They wrote their book after being given a copy of Museler. In order to settle discussions about dressage riding by referring to Human Anatomy, they found fundamental problems with the Museler account. These problems include Museler's invention of "sacral muscles" which do not exist. They also shed light on Museler's term, "bracing the back," which can lead to problems with the dressage seat. Their critique of Museler is sensitive and detailed, with much clearer diagrams. My copy of Museler has such tiny illustrations that they are hard to make out. On second thought, you may wish to purchase both the Museler book and the Schusdziarra book and make up your own mind. I fervently hope the second Schusdziarra book "Reitergesprache: Der Weg zum unabhängigen Sitz" (Conversations with Riders: The Way to An Independent Seat) will be translated soon, as it continues the ideas from "An Anatomy."



2. This is the best primer for riding that I have read. It is the only book that I have read that explains the kinesthetics of riding and explains why certain actions cause a result. There is a lot of excellent advice for improving your riding skill and improving your horse. This is the only book that I buy for people who like riding and want to learn the mechanics.



3. This book is an excellent book, and explains collection in clear terms. Collection is so often misunderstood as simply bringing the horse's head down into position, instead of learning how to get your horse to shift his weight into his hindquarters, really push with his back end, round his back, and lift his forehand. This book is a must-read for any rider in any discipline, english or otherwise.



4. Mueseler of the German School writes a useful text in understanding dressage & riding in general. It has long been a classic & should be considered a must-read.



5. This book is super for anyone who truly wants to become a good rider. It has helped me numerous times to understand what my trainer was trying to tell me. A simple, logical explanation is given for the horses' reactions to my actions. I find myself referring to it regularly and understanding something new each time.

3 comments about The Power of Positive Horse Training: Saying Yes to Your Horse (Howell Equestrian Library).

1. This book gives good incite to the person who is trying to partner with their horse. Trying to find your way when everyone has an opinion is hard. This approach is a balanced approach, good for you and the horse.



2. I did thoroughly enjoy this book. I have done and read a significant amount of natural training methods so some of the ground work stuff was fairly elementary and sometimes not as 'natural' as I would like - found it to be a little incongruent with the 'positive' and 'saying yes' part of the title.
   
   None-the-less the under saddle training suggestions - especially teaching the half halt and circle work - were invaluable and made this book a worthwhile purchase. Like any book I its important to take away what is useful to you and not be too critical of the remainder which may work very well for others.



3. What a great book! With so many books available on natural horsemanship, horse behavior and training it's easy to accummulate a whole equestrian library rather quickly. There are really only two books you can't go without though:
   Gincy Bucklin's What Your Horse Wants You to Know and Sarah Blanchard's The Power of Positive Horse Training.
   Not only are both books full of great suggestions but more importantly they help bridge the language barrier between horse and human. Wonderful books to own, easy and interesting to read and great reference tools and morale builders when you and your equine partner hit a road block.

No comments about Pekingese: A Comprehensive Guide to Owning and Caring for Your Dog (Kennel Club Dog Breed Series).

1 comments about Pot Bellied Pigs in Your Home.

1. I enjoyed this book very much and learned things that I can apply to the training and up-keep of my porcine friend. My family is adjusting to him and his somewhat unusual actions due to the pertinant information we recieved from the book.

1 comments about Doin' Texas With Your Pooch: Eileen's Directory Of Dog-friendly Lodging & Outdoor Adventure In Texas (Doin' Texas with Your Pooch).

1. This publication was very helpful in planning our family vacation, and saved us a lot of hassle and money. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling with their pets!

No comments about Aquarium Keeping & Rescue: The Essential Saltwater Handbook & Log.