Science & Technology

Many people are aware that horses sleep standing up (which makes it easier to flee from danger), But how many know that they must spend some time sleeping lying down in order to have REM sleep? This is one of the topics of the 101 questions answered in this readable compendium of equine facts, the third volume in the publisher's pet series, after Why Do Cats Always Land on Their Feet? and Why Do Dogs Drink Out of the Toilet?, also coauthored by Good Morning America veterinary contributor Becker and Gina Spadafori. The other coauthors are former Horse Illustrated editor Audrey Pavia (Horses for Dummies) and writer Teresa Becker (Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul). While Ian Whitelaw and Julie Whitaker's The Horse: A Miscellany of Equine Knowledge is more comprehensive, the price of this modest volume makes it affordable for even the smallest library. Recommended for small to medium-sized public libraries.—Patsy Gray, Huntsville P.L., AL

Exquisite color photos of enchanting bonsai specimens abound in this attractive, glossy paperback, truly showcasing the art of bonsai. Unfortunately, there's a lack of the kind of informational substance that would have made it a grand-slam winner. Chan is an accomplished British authority on bonsai with several books, 21 Chelsea Flower Show gold medals, and an exhibit at the Royal Horticultural Society garden to his credit. Here, he covers how to care for these curiously tiny trees, including their propagation and common problems and descriptions of over 80 species, grouped into "Indoor" or "Outdoor" and accompanied by photos and care instructions. His emphasis on the outdoor bonsai of temperate hardiness zones makes this a poor choice for much of the U.S. North and South, where hardiness zones are not suitable for most of these selections. Thus despite the fabulous photos and inclusion of a nice variety of species, it is not recommended for general public library collections, which may be better served by Colin Lewis's Bonsai Survival Manual: Tree-by-Tree Guide to Buying, Maintaining, and Problem Solving.—Tracy Mohaidheen, M.L.I.S., West Bloomfield, MI

Husband and wife Sandra and Harry Choron (Planet Dog) have teamed up with Arden Moore (The Cat Behavior Answer Book) to create a "cat-alog" of all things feline. Divided into four parts—"The Culture of Cats," "Top Cats," "Cat Anatomy and Behavior," and "Tender Loving Care and Training"—the text mixes 400 trivia lists, factual information, cat humor, and cat tales. Some of the information might be difficult to find elsewhere (e.g., "23 Cat-Friendly Hotel Chains" and "29 Breeds of Dogs That Generally Don't Like Cats"), while other sections compile practical material (e.g., "119 Plants That Are Potentially Poisonous to Cats" and "17 Steps You Can Take If Your Cat Is Missing"). A few lists are just plain silly (e.g., "15 Cat Dreams and What They Mean" and "5 CDs Just for Cats"), but that's part of the fun. With charming cartoons, photographs, and enjoyable quotations, this cat-alog is a browser's delight. For public libraries.—Eva Lautemann, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Clarkston

Readers expecting a typical dog training how-to or dog psychology book are going to be surprised and challenged by this new book by the host of National Geographic's Dog Whisperer. It is a compelling but sometimes confusing blend of training method, psychology, and case studies covering both canine and human partners in Millan's "pack leader" concept. The text is divided into two parts—"Balancing Your Dog" and "Balancing Ourselves"—with the most important discussions centering on discipline, reward and punishment, and the proper use of training tools and techniques. The chapters that focus on human balance and energy are going to be harder for the average person to understand or accept, although to his credit, Millan has provided several references and notes for those chapters. The appendix serves as a quick reference guide to managing common situations such as meeting a dog for the first time, dealing with obsessive and fixated behaviors, and going to the dog park. Whether you agree with his approach to training or his assessment of canine psychology, Millan's new book is worth reading. It will likely hit the best-sellers lists just as his first title, Cesar's Way, did. Highly recommended for all public libraries.—Edell M. Schaefer, Brookfield P.L., WI

In a period of one month, author Summers (Casanova's Women; Dear Sister) lost her husband and her father and was left to fend for herself and her eight-year-old son, Joshua. Her memoir recalls her emergence from grief and her son's journey to adulthood with the help of one bossy, poorly trained, beautiful Cavalier King Charles spaniel named George. Not knowing how to rouse herself from her paralyzing mourning, Summers agreed to her son's request to purchase a dog. From the start, George was demanding. Roasted chicken was his diet of choice. Summers's bed, even when it was occupied by a new romantic partner, was his chosen spot for rest. Shredding papers, particularly notes for a new book, was his preferred form of exercise. George was accident prone and disposed to skin and ear problems, and the vet bills added up. Yet, Summers concludes, "George found us when we were lost, and anchored us when we were adrift." Humorous and poignant, reminiscent of John Grogan's Marley & Me, this charming book is highly recommended for public library pet and self-help collections.—Florence Scarinci, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY

With a diagnosis of celiac disease comes one large don't: don't eat gluten, which means no more bread, baked goods, or beer. But living gluten-free isn't as easy as just avoiding a few trigger foods. Gluten is everywhere, often hiding in processed foods and in places one might not think to look. Ahern has been blogging since 2004 about living gluten-free on her popular, award-winning food blog, Gluten-Free Girl (glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com). Now her story makes the transition to book, and it's a successful venture that centers on the idea of what it takes to love food while living with food restrictions. Readers with or without celiac disease will appreciate the recipes, advice, and inspiration for eating well. After all, "everyone deserves good food." Part food memoir and part how-to, Ahern's story traces her journey from processed-food-fed child to gluten-free gourmet after her celiac diagnosis. Engaging and passionate, this book will make everyone who reads it remember the pleasure of food. Highly recommended for public libraries.—Mindy Rhiger, Minneapolis

In a much gentler approach than the title would imply, Bausell (senior research methodologist, Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore) takes on the emotional, science-resistant topic of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with cold logic and a sense of humor, drawing on his expertise in constructing and evaluating clinical trials. He briefly traces the history of CAM, introduces the placebo effect, then lays out in some detail the pitfalls faced by even the most conscientious researchers in producing valid, unbiased trials. After a more detailed look at the placebo effect, he lists and analyzes as many "high-quality" trials of CAM therapies as he can identify. The result is what he sees as a clear verdict that any positive results for CAM to this point have been owing to the placebo effect. Bausell's casual writing style and dry wit produce a lively but scientifically sound, well-documented work that objective readers should find informative. A good companion to Robert Park's Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud, it is highly recommended for public and medical libraries.—Dick Maxwell, Porter Adventist Hosp. Lib., Denver

This anthology's content is aptly described by its title, and the quality of its prose is what makes it distinctive. Both published novelists, editors Bender (Like Normal People) and de Gramont (Of Cats and Men) have assembled essays by 24 professional women writers who illuminate their deeply personal stories of relationships and sexuality with insight and grace. The narratives encompass the trauma of illegal abortion before Roe v. Wade, life in a Florence Crittenden home for unwed mothers, agonizing decisions to seek now-legal abortions, and a horrific experience with RU-486. A concluding essay by Francine Prose on the language of Roe v. Wade provides a more explicitly political tone to an otherwise evenhanded collection. The cumulative stories of women of different ages, ethnicities, and sexual orientations reject the easy polarities of "choice" and "prolife" for the complexities of lived experiences. The Choices We Made: Twenty-Five Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion is a similar but more narrowly focused title; Bender and de Gramont's attention to the full range of women's reproductive choices should be welcomed in most libraries.—Kathy Arsenault, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib.

Most of us fear aging itself less than the deterioration that is an inevitable accompaniment. Recent research, however, indicates that we can actively stave off much of this by properly attending to diet, exercise, and mental and social stimulation. These two titles, like Mark Liponis's Ultralongevity and Sanjay Gupta's Chasing Life, examine the current thinking in the field and outline plans for maintaining vigor well into the eighties and even beyond. The team behind the best-selling You: On a Diet, Oz and Roizen spend a lot of time describing the chemical and neurological processes of the aging body before dipping into various related topics (e.g., the 14 "Major Agers," aging myths, good sleep, hygiene, and a detox plan). Their style is nonlinear, with many sidebars and cartoon illustrations that baby boomers will find reminiscent of R. Crumb. This title is suited to perusing rather than reading from start to finish.

Flanigan (cardiology, Univ. of Colorado Health Sciences Ctr.) and Sawyer (codirector, Heart and Health Prevention Ctr.) are more straightforward and economical in style, zeroing in on the ten most deadly diseases (e.g., heart disease) and how to elude them. Both books emphasize the importance of regular physical exercise, a diet rich in fiber and antioxidants and low in fat and processed foods, and sustained mental and social activity. Most public libraries will want to stock a few titles on increasing longevity, a big headline maker. Flanigan and Sawyer's title is the more accessible of the two based on approach, yet Oz and Roizen's latest will no doubt be a best seller, as the authors are scheduled to launch the book on Oprah the first week of November.—Susan B. Hagloch, formerly with Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, OH

For five years in Lesotho, South Africa, and Botswana, reporter Itano spent a considerable amount of time with families who have been touched by the African AIDS pandemic. Although it would be impossible to remove a Western bias completely from her observations, Itano felt that following individuals' day-to-day activities in their native communities would provide a more personal perspective than what is offered in the media. Her reporting has culminated in this book that discusses AIDS within the context of modern political and economic realities without losing sight of the very real people involved. Through her chronicle, orphans are no longer nameless children; readers learn to care about young people dying before they have a real chance at life. This singular book illustrates the despair of poverty and death but also inspires hope for the future, as AIDS treatment becomes a reality for many HIV-positive Africans. Itano concludes with speculation on whether African AIDS programs will endure and grow or whether international funding and interest will dry up as improvement in AIDS treatment makes the disease seem less of a crisis. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries.—Tina Neville, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib.

How do you help someone who is sick? What do you say to a friend who has lost a parent? Finding ways to assist the sick, the bereaved, and those caring for the ill or disabled can be difficult. Sharon Langshur and Eric Langshur, a pediatrician and a health-care services provider, respectively, had a son born with congenital heart disease. To keep family and friends informed about his condition, they created a "care page" web site and found that the messages received in response provided much-needed support. That homegrown endeavor gave rise to the million-plus-member CarePages.com for patients, families, and health-care providers. This book presents stories of people who have used the service, which furnishes examples of providing care and support in a variety of contexts. There are also lists of tips for helping both patients and caregivers. Calling, emailing, bringing food, and having family meetings to plan care are among the actions suggested. This information is readily available in other sources, but the firsthand accounts offer a unique human dimension that will make readers realize they are not alone. Recommended for public and consumer health collections.—Barbara M. Bibel, Oakland P.L.

Former publishing executive and cancer survivor Rapkin attempts to close the gap between current cancer books that are personal narratives (e.g., Margie Levine's Surviving Cancer) and those that are medical references (e.g., Peter Teeley and Philip Bashe's The Complete Revised and Updated Cancer Survival Guide). This slim guide succinctly addresses such concerns as diagnosis and treatment, mental and spiritual challenges, and the reactions of well-meaning people. About one-third of the content is devoted to short lists, including organizing personal medical information, questions to ask health-care professionals and insurers, and coping tips for a range of issues (e.g., nausea, chemotherapy, visitors). Rapkin emphasizes proactive care and making informed health-care and lifestyle choices. While encouraging and inspiring, her book comes up short on medical information; the resources are slanted toward coping, and none is health-related. A Cancer Survivor's Almanac: Charting Your Journey, edited by Barbara Hoffman, is much more comprehensive. Recommended with reservations for comprehensive consumer health collections.—Janice Flahiff, Univ. of Toledo Health Science Campus Lib.

Wyllie, a pediatric neurologist and an epilepsy specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, makes a strong contribution to the Cleveland Clinic line of books (see also Bonnie Sanders Polin and Frances Towner Giedt's Cleveland Clinic Healthy Heart Lifestyle Guide and Cookbook). She explains in lay reader's terms exactly what epilepsy is (a chronic disorder of the brain and nervous system), is not (a mental illness), how it affects different population groups, and what possible treatments might be used to control it. Not just meant for those with epilepsy, the book provides patient vignettes for readers unfamiliar with this medical condition, tips and advice for living with epilepsy at the end of each chapter, and a helpful glossary of terms that health-care providers might use. Suitable for all public and medical-center libraries with collections in consumer health.—Rachel M. Minkin, Graduate Theological Union Lib., Berkeley, CA

In this inspiring culinary memoir, complete with recipes, Clark, chef and owner of Colorado Kitchen, a popular restaurant in Washington, DC, shares her long road to success. She tells of her start in her parents' kitchen as a teenager, learning to cook watching her dad prepare meals and becoming fascinated with food. Fast-forward to her thirties, and she's married with two daughters and has a home-based consulting firm. But the job becomes too stressful, and she finds relief at her stove. She then realizes that cooking is her true calling, so she closes her company and enrolls in cooking school. Later, she is abandoned by her alcoholic husband and left with no child support and a mortgage to pay. Clark reflects on her various kitchen jobs (four in four years) and her staff, comparing them with her daughters, who were all in need of discipline. This book about the trials and tribulations of a single parent, her struggle to make ends meet, and her eventual rise to the top of her profession is an uplifting resource for aspiring chefs. Recommended for all public libraries. [For an interview with Clark, see "Editors' Fall Picks," LJ 9/1/07.]—Ann Burns, Library Journal

While there are plenty of wine books on the market to educate the novice, Cochran, a certified sommelier who owns her own wine catering business in San Francisco, offers a delightful addition. What sets this work apart from other wine guides is its light touch that engages, entertains, and teaches amateurs about wine appreciation. Cochran packs in a lot of commonsense, tips, and solid advice for the novice short on time but keen on getting up to speed on the essentials of wine. The usual topics are covered, including vintages, food pairing, serving, storing, and buying, in breezy, hip, and easy-to-digest prose. She does a good job debunking myths surrounding cork vs. screw cap and table wines. An appendix includes phonetics tips for difficult-to-pronounce wine terms and recommended producers in various regions. The author gives budding wine enthusiasts enough information to get started in just a few sips. Recommended for public libraries.—Christine Holmes, San Jose State Univ. Lib., CA

Most of us know little about spelt, its health benefits, and least of all, how to cook and bake with it. This fabulous introduction to the flowing grass, a relative to wheat, whose fruit is a grain includes information on the historical use of spelt, the arguments for its place in a healthy diet, and simple and complex ways to integrate it into a recipe. The recipes allow the reader to indulge in comfort foods, but Cosentino, a field archaeologist and historian, is conscious of staying away from prepackaged items. At the end of the book, there is a convenient appendix with a listing of nutrition information for each recipe. This is not only for the serious cook but also for those with an affinity for natural, whole, and slow-cooked foods. It is also good for readers who follow the blood-type diet, because each recipe is marked for its ideal blood-type match. Recommended for every public and academic library with a cookbook or nutrition collection.—Claire A. Schaper, Franklin Inst., Philadelphia

Coffee fuels the Western world, while tea defines the East and is the second-most consumed beverage in the world, outgunned only by water itself. In this everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-tea-but-were-afraid-to-ask volume, a husband-and-wife tea-merchant team covers all aspects of tea—its growth, cultivation, and curing and how it's sold as well as its vast cultural and historical significance in China, Japan, Korea, and beyond (including the Colonial United States). Not simply used to jolt your brain awake with a caffeine infusion, tea and its traditions date back centuries. Although hundreds of different varieties exist, there are six basic classes of tea all stemming from the same plant (Camellia sinensis). This book functions as an encyclopedia, a history, a travelog, and a recipe guide to both properly brewing and steeping all varieties of tea in addition to using the leaf as an ingredient in many dishes. An absolutely exhaustive yet readable study, the Heisses' book is at once the best and only one you'll ever need on the subject. It's a well-brewed and tasty pot indeed.—Michael Rogers, Library Journal

Diabetes is one of the fastest-growing health problems facing the United States. Newgent, in conjunction with the American Diabetes Association, presents an innovative cookbook designed to provide diabetes-friendly recipes that emphasize fresh and organically grown produce. The author, a culinary nutritionist and consultant, defines "natural" ingredients as those that have been minimally processed, grown without antibiotics, contain no trans or hydrogenated fats, and are free of artificial or synthetic ingredients. Each recipe includes the diabetic exchanges and a detailed nutrition analysis. Mixed in with the recipes are lots of tips labeled as "Fresh Facts" or "Food Flairs." A wide variety of food styles are presented, ranging from Southern Black-Eyed Pea Salad to Vietnamese-Style Beef and Soba Noodle Soup. Even desserts are here, with such enticing options as Fudgy Brownies and New Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies. Highly recommended for all cooking collections.—Deborah Lee, Mississippi State Univ. Libs., Starkville

Galvanized by the October 4, 1957, Soviet launch of Sputnik, the U.S. government formed a civilian agency to oversee the exploration of space. Dick, NASA's chief historian, and his team searched the NASA archives to find the most extraordinary photos that document the agency's story from its start in October 1958 to the present. Aside from the photo captions, the book has little text. The volume is large (38 x 29 centimeters), which helps illustrate the vastness of space. The pictures are mesmerizing, especially the ones that show the extreme clarity of spacecraft in orbit. Arranged chronologically, the book documents the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs and features photos from the Skylab and space shuttle eras as well. NASA's history includes enormous successes and tragic failures, events this work faithfully records. The human element is covered, too, and the astronauts' smiling faces will be familiar to those who grew up with NASA. Despite a few flaws—the captions often appear several pages before the pictures they describe, and a couple of minor editing errors slipped past the copyeditors—this is recommended for all libraries. [For other lavishly illustrated volumes commemorating 50 years of space exploration, see also After Sputnik: 50 Years of the Space Age, Xpress Reviews, 5/1/07, and Giles Sparrow's Space Flight: The Complete Story from Sputnik to Shuttle—and Beyond, Xpress Reviews, 5/29/07.—Ed.]—Jeffrey Beall, Univ. of Colorado at Denver & Health Sciences Ctr.

How much can DNA analysis tell us about ourselves? How prepared are we to accept alternative family histories it suggests? Most important, how many of us are equipped to examine and interpret the findings critically? Surprised to discover locks of long-deceased relatives' hair concealed within a family heirloom, Ball (Slaves in the Family) decided to use forensic science to investigate his genealogy. The results caused him and his kin to reconsider both their "thoroughly white" ancestral origins and their confidence in DNA testing. Some readers may be offended by the central story of this book, while others may view it as a tempest in a teapot. Nonetheless, Ball's portraits of aristocratic forebears and contemporary geneticists are fascinating, and his wry commentary on pre-20th-century, white, upper-class South Carolinian mores entertaining. Nonscientists will benefit from his lucid explanations of genetic techniques and terminology. The final chapter, however, disappoints, as the author abandons his inquisitive approach to indulge in complaints about how scientists interpret genetic data and communicate their conclusions to the public. Recommended for public and academic libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/07.]—Nancy R. Curtis, Univ. of Maine Lib., Orono

In an updated revision of the 2000 Strolling with Our Kin: Speaking for and Respecting Voiceless Animals, with an added author's preface, a foreword by Jane Goodall, a small glossary, and updated relevant print and online resources, Bekoff (The Emotional Lives of Animals) a specialist in animal behavior, cognitive ethology, and behavioral ecology, discusses topics pertinent to the animal-rights movement and differentiates between animal rights and animal welfare. Using relevant statistics to bolster his argument to treat animals with more respect, he addresses such themes as animal experimentation, the pros and cons of species reintroduction programs, and vegetarianism. Designed as a call to action for the young animal-rights activist, this book would make a nice addition for public libraries.—Diana Hartle, Univ. of Georgia Science Lib., Athens

If you enjoy delving into small crevices of the past looking for little-considered gems of history, then Burleigh's (The Stranger and the Statesman) latest is for you. Focusing on Napoléon's expedition to Egypt in 1798–1801 and particularly on the scientists who accompanied the military forces, Burleigh illuminates an unfamiliar moment in the history of science. It is well known that Napoléon's expedition uncovered the Rosetta stone, but the 151 scholars who accompanied the expedition also described for the first time the physics of a mirage, developed descriptive geometry, and laid the foundation of modern scientific archaeology. They did all this while learning to live with sand storms, leech-infested water, sometimes hostile Egyptians, and the plague. Burleigh's storytelling ability is mesmerizing; she skillfully fills in the backstory of the region in artfully crafted paragraphs, summing up thousands of years of history without slowing the flow of the narrative. This is not an in-depth study of the subject, but it would fit well in the popular science section of a public library.—Ann Forister, Roseville, CA

In 1934, a 26-year-old bird-watcher created the first modern natural history field guide, wildly successful and of high quality. In 1977, John C. Devlin and Grace Naismith celebrated the naturalist with a biography, The World of Roger Tory Peterson. Somewhat shallow, verging on hagiographic in comparison with the present volume, it nevertheless showcased 11 of his thousands of color paintings of birds and plants. Retired writing teacher Carlson's excellent study, while short on illustration, does a much more thorough analysis of Peterson's art styles, writings, influence, and development as an artist, author, lecturer, photographer, and environmental advocate, as well as his lasting legacy. Peterson's complex personal life—three marriages, children, extensive world travel, childhood, temperament, early mentors, army service—also receive due attention, but the book focuses more on his professional life than Devlin and Naismith did, and with a perspective of 30 years later. A product of intense research, this deep study of a brilliant, influential man is highly recommended.—Henry T. Armistead, formerly with Free Lib. of Philadelphia

The rediscovery of a collection of some 4000 eggs, representing 467 species of birds, stored for 35 years in a boarded-up farmhouse in Iowa is the point from which this study of the obscure hobby of oology begins. The Ralph of the title is Ralph Handsaker, a farmer, taxidermist, naturalist, and egg collector, who gathered his hoard in the years between 1898 and 1963 by hunting, trading, and buying eggs, as was the custom among "eggers." This rather folksy narrative makes for an engaging account of early birding traditions and the beginnings of bird conservation in North America. Henderson (Field Guide to the Wildlife of Costa Rica), who is a wildlife program supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, argues that the "citizen science" practiced by the collectors—the protocol they followed collecting eggs, blowing out the contents, and carefully labeling them—now provides ornithologists baselines from which to measure changes in the numbers, distribution, and nesting patterns of many avian species. Brief descriptions of 60 of the species represented in the Handsaker collection take up nearly half the book; nothing new here, but the illustrations, some of which include bird trading cards (a tradition begun in the 1880s), may be fresh to some eyes. A solid choice for Iowan or Midwestern popular natural history collections and an optional one for public collections elsewhere.—Robert Eagan, Windsor P.L., Ont.

The Middle Path in Buddhism is neither optimistic nor pessimistic but focused on understanding the mutual dependence of opposites. In his book, Lambin (geography, Univ. of Louvain, Belgium; fellow, Ctr. for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford) looks at environmental degradation from the perspectives of both the optimist and the pessimist and steers a balanced path between each. He explores the intricate relationship between human beings and their environment on a global scale and at the community level and discusses the roles of technology, institutions, environmental markets, and cultural change in solving potentially fatal environmental problems. Whether writing about the collapse of a civilization or sustainable development, Lambin employs references to history, scientific studies, theories, and data that in a less-skilled hand might prove too overwhelming to the reader. This is geography at its best. Highly recommended for university libraries and for public and specialized libraries seeking a substantive environmental work for their collections.—Robin K. Dillow, Rotary International Archives, Evanston, IL

Surfer, Vietnam War medic, and founder of Celera Genomics, Venter is probably best known for his role in the private sector's sequencing the human genome prior to the federally funded Human Genome Project. His autobiography is a colorful, firsthand account of intense egos and competition among research labs and national governments and at sea, where his J. Craig Venter Institute sponsors a sailboat equipped with sequencing machines to investigate marine microbial populations. While not overly modest, Venter does acknowledge many of his collaborators and paints an intriguing picture of the challenges, complexities, and dilemmas of cutting-edge science and medical research. What may surprise readers is the tentativeness and uncertainty of his conclusions about potential impacts of his genes on his health (one of the genome samples sequenced was his own), but that's the reality of the early developmental stage of today's genome sequencing. Venter argues convincingly that it will take decades to get a big-picture view of what our genes can and will tell us about ourselves. Patrons who enjoyed James Shreeve's The Genome War, John Sulston and Georgina Ferry's The Common Thread, and/or Robert Cook-Deegan's The Gene Wars will find Venter's account a readable, provocative addition to collections.—Mary Chitty, Cambridge Healthtech, Needham, MA

Conservation and biodiversity expert Wilcove (ecology and evolutionary biology, Princeton Univ.) follows his 1999 The Condor's Shadow: The Loss and Recovery of Wildlife with this highly readable report on the status of the world's great migratory species: songbirds, butterflies, locusts, bison, wildebeest, whales, sea turtles, and salmon. Citing both anecdotal and scientific evidence, he describes what these spectacular migrations were like at their peak, what they have dwindled to today, and what they are likely to become in the future. This historical context is crucial to understanding large-scale migration as a "phenomenon of abundance." Wilcove documents the significant scientific progress made in our understanding of why animals undertake migratory journeys and how they do it, yet he acknowledges that in some respects large-scale migration remains one of nature's most awe-inspiring mysteries. But there is no mystery as to how the unrelenting pressure of human activity—hunting, fishing, logging, fencing, damming, farming, and building—has reduced almost uncountable numbers to remnant populations. Skillfully balancing breadth and depth, Wilcove has written a fascinating and authoritative work for the general reader. Strongly recommended for natural history collections in academic and public libraries.—Cynthia Knight, Hunterdon Cty. Lib., Flemington, NJ