Books

Freshwater Fish Distribution

Fish occupy virtually every lake, stream, pond, river, creek, and tributary known. Because of their global distribution and their sensitivity to pollution and other sorts of disturbances, fish are excellent indicators of aquatic environmental health. Freshwater Fish Distribution includes details of the classification, identification, and distribution of nearly 170 families of fish. Each account includes an accurate and high-quality illustration of selected members of that group as well as a distribution map and accompanying commentary on classification, distribution, and diversity.

Key Features:

• High-quality illustrations of representatives from each family
  <<click here for examples from the book>>
• Distribution map provided for each family
• Commentary for each family

Praise for the book:

• “…an excellent guide to the distribution of fishes in fresh water . . .an informative text. . . highly recommended [for] all those interested in fish, including students and professionals.”
  --Joseph S. Nelson, University of Alberta
• “ . . . vast improvement…filled with just those-nuggets of information that every professor will want to pass on to their student…reflect[s] the major changes in classification that have taken place over the last 20 years.”
  -- Bruce B. Collective, National Museum of Natural History
• “…of critical importance to anyone interested in fishes and biogeography.”
  -- Gene Helfman, University of Georgia

ACADEMIC PRESS ISBN 0-12-093156-7

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A Natural History of Australia

As the title says, A Natural History of Australia takes a comprehensive look at the sometimes bizarre, often spectacular and always fascinating natural history of the island continent. It describes in words, illustrations, tables and charts, and with some truly inspiring photographs Australia’s geography and geology, the Aborigines, the Great Barrier Reef, and the continent’s fauna and flora. From the perspective of an American visitor to Australia, it also takes a fresh look at our colorful history, laidback lifestyle and our unique brand of English.

A Natural History of Australia is a serious but accessible book that describes how isolation and aridity have shaped Australia’s fauna and flora. It explains the principles of Australia’s biodiversity and the complexity of its Great Barrier Reef. It compares the biology of Australia’s unique monotremes (egg-laying mammals) with those of the marsupials and with placental mammals. This fascinating book also reviews the latest discoveries in paleoanthropology. These are but a few of the topics discussed in Natural History of Australia.

Tim Berra, Professor of Zoology and two-time Fulbright Scholar, has a long-held affection for Australia. Over years, he has clocked up 160 000 kilometers of driving throughout Australia, camping for extended times in the bush. These experiences have given him the opportunity to observe much of Australia’s fauna in its natural environment. A Natural History of Australia is lavishly illustrated with more than 200 of the author’s own photos, as well as 220 line drawings.

A Natural History of Australia will appeal to all Australians and all lovers of natural history, travelers and tourists, and anyone interested in Australia and its wildlife. Readers will find Tim Berra’s writing personal, informal and friendly. <<click here to view some pages from the book>>

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Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: A Basic Guide to the Facts in the Evolution Debate

What should an informed person know about the theory of evolution? This clear, candid, and generously illustrated book is written for the open-minded reader who does not understand the technical issues of evolution, but would like to, who sees everywhere the signs of a bitter political, philosophical, and educational debate, but does not know what evolution is, how science knows that it has occurred and continues to occur, and what biologists can point to, in fossils and in the living world, as hard evidence of evolution.

For its content and foundations, the book draws judiciously on zoology, botany, genetics, embryology, geology, geophysics, cosmology, astronomy, astrophysics, history, religion, and science education—everything expressed with a clarity that enables the general reader without a science background, as well as high school students and their teachers, to understand the argument from the first page to the last.
<<click here to view some pages from the book>>

Praise for the book:

• “ Berra’s brilliant exposition offers a refreshing, lucid, and insightful view of one of the most important ideas in the history of science. After reading this superb book, anyone with prior qualms about the scientific validity of evolution should be convinced that evolution is the explanation for the diversity of life on the planet. This is not an anti-religion book, but a very successful attempt to assist us all in understanding the scientific basis for evolution—an understanding essential to all inquisitive people concerned to know their place in nature.”
  -- Donald C. Johanson, Institute of Human Origins

• “ Berra provides a powerful antidote to those who imagine there is a controversy in the scientific community over evolution. Anyone who wishes to be in touch with his or her humanity should be thoroughly familiar with the evolutionary origins of human beings and with the process that created the diversity of life around us. Creationism is a dogmatic view that attempts to rob people of the glory of their origins.”
  --Paul R. Ehrlich, Stanford University

Stanford University Press ISBN 0-8047-1770-2

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