Book Description
If animal behavior is mostly instinctual, why do animals need to communicate? Is it possible that there is a universal language spoken and understood by all animals on earth, including humans? Do barks, growls, rumbles, chirps, yips, and meows have communicative meanings?
"No matter what species," writes acclaimed science journalist Tim Friend, "we're all concerned with the same topics of conversation -- sex, real estate, who's boss, and what's for dinner." In Animal Talk, Friend draws upon years of field research, interviews with preeminent scientists, and lively personal anecdotes to find out how our animal neighbors communicate and what their languages mean. From bird calls to whale songs, laughing hyenas to rattling snakes, an elephant cry in the jungle to the bark of a Chihuahua in his own backyard, Friend tells the grand story of animal communication through the sounds, stripes, scents, and signals of the animals themselves.
Customer Reviews:
Scaling nature's tower of Babel.......2006-02-28
A subtle theme occasionally parodied in cartoons and comic strips is how pets often look like their owners. Did this physical similarity lead to the pairing, or did it occur after the pairing? This book might suggest the latter. Specifically, Tim Friend, the author of this book, argues that many animals, especially those closely related to each other, share a common language of sounds, facial expressions, body postures, chemical signals, and other signals not tradionally classified as a verbal language. This form of interspecial communication evolved thru the same Darwinian mechanisms as physical features such as arm length, skin color, and eyesight.
The author looks at specific behaviors among various animals, both within and between species, to prove his point. For example, many dog owners truly believe they can understand their dogs, and vice versa. Bad behavior can be corrected by growls or orders, depending on who is scolding whom. Could all these people be wrong? Likewise, in the wild, animals of different species often interact thru sounds and smells as part of living in a shared environment. This can include the division of prey among different predators, or the sharing of a field by different herbivores.
All in all, this is an interesting book. It is good reading; quite interesting with enough science to keep you interested, but not too much to warrant a science degree. I highly recommend it.
Probes all the potentials of animal communication methods.......2005-06-07
Have you ever wondered if animals are 'talking' and if so, what they're saying? Scientists have been trying to decipher 'animal talk' for centuries, as scientist Tim friend explores in his Animal Talk: Breaking The Codes Of Animal Languages. Here's his Rosetta stone for understanding this language, fostering a readable, fun language while exploring serious scientific breakthroughs on the topic of animal communication. From biology to chemistry and beyond, Animal Talk probes all the potentials of animal communication methods.
A must for scientists, biologists, and enthusiasts!.......2004-03-25
This book was superb. It is written so that any reader could understand and follow yet is interesting and accurate so the professional can enjoy and not lose interest. A truly great read, anyone who is remotely interested in animals will enjoy this book.
Easy going style, organization & science explanations suffer.......2004-03-16
A well-travelled science writer with an enjoyable style discusses various types of animal communication, from vocalizations to pheramones. Unfortunately the light-hearted writing sometimes gets in the way of presenting interesting information. (But there's some great stuff about the sex lives of dolphins in chapter nine.) If you usually find science books too dry or are interested in animals, give this a try.
Who Needs Dr. Dolittle?.......2004-03-10
Current understanding of human language says that we all have portions of our brains directly assigned to language processing, and that every human language is at foundation the same, with nouns, verbs, and so on all doing the same job in each. As described by one theorist, a man from Mars examining humans might find we were all speaking the same language, only in different dialects. What if we looked at an even broader sample of creatures on the planet? Tim Friend, a science journalist, in _Animal Talk: Breaking the Codes of Animal Language_, reviews all the many ways that animals have of talking to each other (not just by sound), to find that there is a far broader understanding between animals of different species (including humans) than we may have guessed before. Humans have developed remarkable and complex verbal languages, but it's the nonverbal communication that we often share with animals. It is not too surprising, given that natural selection and sexual selection have operated on us all from the beginning, that we animals share a range of signals. Not only that, but we talk about the same things every day: "... that is, sex, real estate, who's boss, and what's for dinner."
To be sure, reviewed here are many ways that animals communicate in which humans cannot participate. We don't use the pheromones that bacteria use to exchange information, nor do we signal bees with dances. But insects and animals use yellow or red colors as a universal signal for "stay away," and everyone knows what a rattlesnake's noise means. More significant, however, in Friend's book are the sounds that we share with other animals. Many of these are obvious. For instance, imagine you are talking to a baby; you instinctively use a high pitch and soft, smooth tones. On the other hand, if you are warning a child against touching a hot stove, you use a low pitch, harshness, and staccato. This is the sort of thing that all we animals do, universally. We humans might apply words to the sounds we emit, but we have growls, barks, and whines just as birds, dogs, and lions do. Friend draws upon the work of Eugene Morton to illustrate many instances of the grammatical rules of this nonverbal language. For instance, harsh, low frequency sounds mean the animal is thinking of attacking; high frequency sounds mean submission and lack of hostility if approached. A boss who is angry uses a low voice and stops at every word. A child who wants candy uses a high pleading voice, "Please, please, please." Using the grammar, it is possible for humans to make noises as interspecies communications, modifying the behavior of squirrels or even wolves.
In one species after another, Friend describes the different ways that dominance is asserted and settled. We aren't above such nonverbal communication. A couple of researchers went back to all the presidential debates since 1960. They found that they could pick, by deeper pitch and by voice accommodation patterns, the dominant speaker in each debate, and that the dominant speaker always went on to win the popular vote. (Perhaps the candidates now preparing for the debates ought to spend less time memorizing statistics and more time practicing pitch.) Friend's entertaining book shows that animals all over are using all sorts of surprising ways to talk to each other, and to us, and that if we will but listen, they have plenty to teach us, even about our own ways of communicating to each other.
Average customer rating:
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"Hello they-ah!".(Behavior)(Animal Talk: Breaking the Codes of Animal Language)(Book Review): An article from: American Scientist
Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
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ASIN: B0008259JC
Release Date: 2005-07-31 |
Book Description
The Unofficial Guides® are the "Consumer Reports" of travel guides, offering candid evaluations of their destinations' attractions, hotels, restaurants, shopping, nightlife, sports, and more, all rated and ranked by a team of unbiased inspectors so even the most compulsive planners can be sure they're spending their time and money wisely. Each guide addresses the needs of everyone from families to business travelers, with handy charts that demonstrate how each place stacks up against the competition. Plus, all the details are pulled out so they're extremely easy to scan.
Who better than the Unofficial Guides® to bring you an behind-the-scenes look at how the Disney empire runs? The essays in this fascinating, completely updated guide reveal how the parks were created, how Walt Disney and his successors have run the company, what it's like to be a Disney character, what imagineering is, and much, much more. If you love Disney and Mickey or pop culture in general, Inside Disney is for you.
Other Unofficial Guides® to Disney and the rest of the central Florida parks include The Unofficial Guide® to Walt Disney World®, The Unofficial Guide® to Walt Disney World® for Grown-Ups, The Unofficial Guide® to Walt Disney World® with Kids, Mini Mickey, and Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal, Sea World, and the Best of Central Florida.
Customer Reviews:
It's OK.......2006-03-31
Review from my wife:
The only reason I give it 3 stars and not 2 is that it has the basic "Behinds the Scenes" information in it that most Disney buffs know already - but a newbie would not know. So for a new person, it would be interesting for them.
Yes, there are factual errors in it and some "smugness" in certain areas. Take it with a grain of salt - all of the UnOfficial Books are like this.
It was fun to read in retrospect. It talks about future plans, etc. So that was interesting.
I read it while on the treadmill. It kept me entertained for a few 45 minutes for a few days.
Rushed and incomplete.......2005-07-22
Don't get this book if you're a Disney nut, because you're going to get a rehash of 99% of what you already know. You're not going to find much in the way of insider secrets or funny antecdotes about Disney or the theme parks. Also, the book has a number of glaring factual errors, once you come across one of them, your faith in the rest of the material isn't going to last long. Skip this one.
Little new, with condescension to boot.......2003-09-25
I came to the book looking for interesting inside tidbits. What I found was a book not well-researched, with a number of outright factual errors, such as the old urban legend that the top of the castle can be removed in the event of a hurricane.
All this is wrapped up in a post-modern smugness that makes the reading experience, while fast-moving, downright unpleasant at times.
AUTHOR DOES NOT MAKE THE CUT.......2003-07-15
This book COULD have been so much better. This book SHOULD have been a lot better. I am a big Disney World fan, and was looking forward to reading this book when I first saw it, but I was very disappointed in it. The author in this book, Eve Zibart, is not very good. She shares her opinions way too much, which don't even make sense, and she is trying to write this book like she is turning it into her english teacher. The phrases and words she uses are too complicated at times, and again, do not make any sense. You get the feeling she is trying to impress someone with that. Those kind of things are not suited for this type of book. Also, she does not cover nearly as much as she should in a book like this. This book is a great concept, and if done right, would have been very interesting. I was expecting to learn some behind-the-scenes things about Disney World, but throughout the whole book I probably learned one thing. If someone else writes a book with this same concept, I would love to read it, but I do not recommend reading this one.
A Fun and Interesting Read.......2003-03-04
This little book is packed with lots of fun and interesting history and trivia about Disney. It covers everything from parks to rides to hidden Mickeys to the main players such as Walt Disney and Michael Eisner. I've read many books about the parks, Walt, Eisner, etc., and I honestly expected this to be a condensed re-hash of all that. I am pleasantly surprised to find that's not the case. I am also surprised that some of the other reviewers mentioned negativity on the part of the author. I didn't find it negative at all -- and as a Disney enthusiast, I surely would have picked up on that! In contrast, I found it fresh and just an incredibly FUN book. And the price can't be beat!
Average customer rating:
- Good intro to the instrument
- Don't use this for Biological Applications
- CLSM for Dummies
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Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (Microscopy Handbooks)
C. J. R. Sheppard ,
D. M. Hotton , and
David Shotton
Manufacturer: BIOS Scientific Publishers
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0387915141 |
Customer Reviews:
Good intro to the instrument.......2004-11-20
I don't need to use the microscope, I just need to understand the instrument and the 3D images it produces. This book gave me the introduction I wanted.
It starts with a brief discussion the basics: illumination, scanning, and rejecting out-of-plane light. The next chapter describes a bit more about the pieces that go into the instrument and a little about the optical theory. That chapter is nowhere near what an instrument designer would need to know. It does, however, give a user enough information to use the tool effectively. The next sections discuss fluorescence, including the problems that arise when handling long and short wavelengths at through the same optics, and a little about specimen prepration using nanoparticles. The final sections briefly discuss applications and possibilities for the future of confocal microscopy.
The authors do not have much to say about specific protocols for specific applications - the level is more general and centered more on the microscope itself. Anyone who wants a how-to book for the lab bench is going to be disappointed. I wanted different information, and I got what I wanted from it.
//wiredweird
Don't use this for Biological Applications.......2002-09-09
I was dissappointed by this book. It has very little about applications, and more about the physics of the microscope. I find better explanations of the basic concept of CLSM at web sites of some of the microscope manufacturers like [manufacture names]...
CLSM for Dummies.......2000-07-26
An excellent primer for those who have just a little knowledge, but are missing the background to handle CLSM data with confidence. Readers with some knowledge of the jargon of microscopy will find the book to be an easier read, but this reviewer had no prior knowledge and found the book extremely helpful. It gives enough fundamental information to let the potential CLSM user know where s/he is going to get into trouble. If you are going to image something for the first time, get this book. It'll keep you from interpreting artifacts.
Average customer rating:
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Atlas of Confocal Laser Scanning In-vivo Microscopy in Ophthalmology
R.F. Guthoff ,
C. Baudouin , and
J. Stave
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 3540327053 |
Book Description
Confocal microscopy with laser scanning technology yields in-vivo images of ocular and ocular adnexal surfaces that are so brilliant that they rival histology in terms of quality.This unique atlas and textbook demonstrates normal in-vivo anatomy of the cornea, limbus and conjunctiva, quantifies various cellular structures using cell-density calculations and establishes correlations between novel optical sections of various diseases of the ocular surface and clinical findings. Furthermore, it supports the interpretation of novel high-magnification optical sections by comparing corneal and conjunctival imprint cytology with in-vivo images and describes early inflammatory changes in corneal grafts, as well as corneal conjunctivalisation in limbal stem cell deficiency, corneal dystrophies or infections, flap interface and margin characteristics after laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK). In addition, it instructs the reader about diagnostic and therapeutic follow-up strategies and provides a brief introduction to applications in other fields such as dentistry and ear, nose and throat surgery.
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Atlas of Laser Scanning Ophthalmoscopy
A.F. Scheuerle , and
E. Schmidt
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 3540018689 |
Book Description
Glaucoma remains one of the leading causes of blindness. Laser scanning tomography has gained an indispensable role in the ophthalmologic diagnosis, especially in the long-term follow-up of glaucoma. Confocal laser scanning ophthalmoscopy provides key insights into the three-dimensional anatomy of the optic disc in vivo. This unique atlas contains superb images of all clinically relevant diseases diagnosed by current models of the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph. It correlates classical diagnostic tools like perimetry and fundus photography with state-of-the-art studies including digital retinal angiography, optical coherence tomography and laser scanning tomography. Special features include the illustrated coverage of:
Diseases of the optic nerve head; different types and stages of glaucoma, non-glaucomatous neuropathy and papilledema; automated classification procedures for the detection of glaucoma; strategies for the interpretation of follow-up results in optic disc monitoring.
Macular diseases: the shortly released Retina Module expands the diagnostic spectrum of laser scanning ophthalmoscopy significantly, adding measuring and monitoring of diabetic and cystoid macular edema.
This atlas is the most comprehensive up-to-date reference of laser scanning ophthalmoscopy available, ideal for residents and general ophthalmologists who want to enhance their diagnostic skills.
Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Desalination, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Description:
Book Description
This digital document is an article from JCT Research, published by Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology on October 1, 2004. The length of the article is 5653 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Use of laser scanning confocal microscopy for characterizing changes in film thickness and local surface morphology of UV-exposed polymer coatings.
Author: Li-Piin Sung
Publication:
JCT Research (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2004
Publisher: Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology
Volume: 1
Issue: 4
Page: 267(10)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
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Chemistry of the Carbon-nitrogen Double Bond (Chemistry of Functional Groups)
Manufacturer: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0471669423 |
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Goodness-of-fit-techniques (Statistics: a Series of Textbooks and Monogrphs)
Dagostino
Manufacturer: CRC
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An Introduction to the Bootstrap (Monographs on Statistics and Applied Probability)
ASIN: 0824774876 |
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Goodness-Of-Fit Statistics (Concepts and Techniques in Modern Geography,)
A. Stewart Fotheringham
Manufacturer: GEO
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ASIN: 0860942228 |
Book Description
The first book John Steinbeck read as a child was the Caxton Morte d'Arthur, and he considered it one of the most challenging tasks of his career to modernize the stories of King Arthur. "These stories are alive even in those of us who have not read them. And, in our day, we are perhaps impatient with the words and the stately rhythms of Malory. I wanted to set the stories down in meaning as they were written, leaving out nothing and adding nothing."
Also included are the letters John Steinbeck wrote to his literary agent, Elizabeth Otis, and to Chase Horton, the editor of this volume, about his work on King Arthur.
Customer Reviews:
An overlooked pleasure..........2007-09-22
I read this book as a teen and loved it and forgot about it until I came across it again recently. I forgot what a little jewel it is. Steinbeck, with his own inimitable style, has taken the ancient stories and retold them with his own wry, wise perspective of live and of human frailty.
I am particularly partial to the story of Sir Marhalt, an under-appreciated knight in the romantic pantheon. Marhalt is a fierce warrior and a great knight but he is very independent and doesn't want to be part of the Round Table. He goes adventuring with a "damsel" he meets in the forest and the results are both comic and exciting. When he is forced to do battle with the Lord of the South Border and his six sons, his damsel worries but Marhalt does not. Finally he tells her that he would rather fight seven men than one beecause if any one of the seven thought he was any good, he wouldn't need the other six.
A knight after my own heart.
I have a pile of these King Arthur books!.......2007-06-01
I've read Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" several times and Malory's "Le Morte D'Arthur"
too. The other more modern classic is T. H. White's two books " The Once and Future King" and
" The Book of Merlin". John Steinbeck is an unexpected scholar here:
he has translated the classic so that they make sense in modern prose.
It is hard to say if he "got it right" as there are several versions of these tales historically
in everything from Welsh folk tales to classic literature.
I do know that he has brought his feel for story telling
and understanding of people to a place where it was needed.
Comparing his narrative to one I just read by Andrew Lang
makes me appreciate his work more.
The Arthurian myths' new life.......2005-12-08
Working from original sources such as the Winchester manuscript and the famous book by Thomas Malory, Steinbeck recreates the essential mythical stories of Britain's literature and history. They are seven interconnected but independent stories, which unfortunately form an unfinished book, that ends just at the beginning of the fatidic romance between Lancelot and Guinevere. Steinbeck modernizes dialogues without, apparently, interfering with the plots, and along the way he introduces a sense of humor, British style, which makes the stories all the more enjoyable. It is a world of wonders, the realm of dreams and the magical, populated by errant knights, princesses in distress and danger, childish giants, wizards, as well as terrifying witches, especially the beautiful but sinister witch-queen Morgan Le Fay, King Arthur's half-sister. Arthur, by the way, is far from being a perfect or hieratic hero. He is a young man astonished by his peculiar destiny, who ages bitterly among betrayals and misadventures. The several knights also constitute different kinds of types. There is the arrogant and scheming Gawain; the experienced and gentleman Marhalt; the young and hard-working Ewain. Also the heroic, ironic and tragic -and very tired- Lancelot, the one with the tragic fate. Several female figures are remarkable, especially the three guides of the tale "Gawain, Ewain and Marhalt": the capricious teenager; the solicit and ultimately annoying mature woman; and the strict old woman who trains Ewain, a true military monster who takes a timid, insecure young man and turns him into a war machine. Of course another distinguished character is Merlin the wizard, who is also political consultant and military strategist.
It is a pity that death surprised Steinbeck before finishing this masterful reinterpretation of very old myths, a great homage to his childhood and to the origins of his vocation as a reader. These are very entertaining tales, full of insightful reflections on the art of chivalry, women, war, and the concepts of honor, virility and dignity.
Another return of the king..........2004-07-08
John Steinbeck is noted for many things - The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, The Pearl, Cannery Row; he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 - most are not familiar with (or are unaware of) his literary life beyond novels. Steinbeck was an avid reader, reviewer, and turned the occasional time to translation. That is where this text comes in - Steinbeck had a long passion for the Arthurian legends. In 1958-59, he began the (still unfinished) task of reworking the tales of Arthur and his knights, spending time in England with the famous Winchester manuscripts of Mallory's 'Le Morte d'Arthur', and continuing his work in various stops and starts until his death in 1968. The text here is unfinished, and for some part unedited by Steinbeck; his literary heirs have kept the project more or less as Steinbeck left it. Hence, only part of the tales of Arthur are included here.
Steinbeck began with primary tales that come from the first section of Mallory's text, entitled 'The Tale of King Arthur'. This tale in fact only covers the early part of Arthur's life - the search for the Holy Grail and the final battle of the death of Arthur are not included here, as they were in separate sections of Mallory's text, from which Steinbeck did not live to complete translations.
This story includes the tale of Merlin, including Merlin's 'death', Uther Pendragon and the birth of Arthur, the sword-in-the-stone event, the wedding of Arthur and Guinevere, the advent and plotting of Morgan Le Fay, and tales of three knights - Gawain, Ewain, and Marhalt. From another text of Mallory's comes 'The Noble Tale of Sir Lancelot of the Lake', including the beginning part of the love affair of Lancelot and Guinevere.
Steinbeck's translation is interesting and full; many renditions of Mallory's text (including the popular standard by Baines) eliminate a lot of the material to make the narrative speed along - Steinbeck does not do this. He keeps to the original in substance while recreating the world of Arthur. Steinbeck said that it was not his intention to out-do Mallory - 'I believe the stories are great enough to survive my tampering'. Choosing the Winchester manuscript over the more common Caxton one also provides a key difference between Steinbeck and Baines.
A rare treat for those who enjoy the process of literary production is the appendix to this volume, compiled by his friend Chase Horton, which consists of letters to Horton and to Elizabeth Otis, Steinbeck's literary agent, from late 1956 to 1965, as Steinbeck continued this project (almost 70 pages of the correspondence is printed, including the wonderful final entry in which Steinbeck says that, even though he is excited by the Arthur project, he isn't going to show it to anyone, lest it be badly done, and he might want to destroy it!).
Hail Arthur! Hail Mallory! Hail Steinbeck!
Enjoyable retelling of a classic.......2004-06-25
I had been looking for a readable rendition of Malory's Morte d'Arthur and my husband suggested reading Steinbeck's version. Yes, the same Steinbeck as in the Grapes of Wrath. At the time, I honestly didn't even know that Steinbeck had written a "translation" of the original Malory text. From what is explained in the introduction, Steinbeck not only used the Winchester Manuscripts of Malory's works but also a number of other sources as well in creating this modern rendition of the book. What was nice is that he kept a lot of it in the same type of structure as the original Malory and just updated some of the words and sentence structures to help make it more enjoyable for the 20th century reader.
I truly did enjoy Steinbecks version and it looks like he kept not only the spirit of Malory alive and well but also made it much easier and enjoyable to read (I tried reading the Malory version...ugh!...I wanted to bang my head on the table). Unfortunately, though, this isn't a complete reworking of Malory's work. He covers the early stories of Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot and the earlier knights, but doesn't cover the Grail Quest nor the death of Arthur. Steinbeck just never completed the work and nobody knows why. What he did finish was published in this version. I wish Steinbeck did finish the tale because he did a fantastic job.
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- Crossing the Next Meridian: Land, Water, and the Future of the West
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