The Biology of the Cycads

Book Description

Thoroughly referenced and generously illustrated, this book discusses all aspects of cycadology. A small group of ancient palmlike seed plants noted for their beautiful foliage and often brightly colored cones and seeds, cycads are believed to have been among the first seed-bearing plants. Seed bearing was the basis for their worldwide dominance from about 300 million years ago to about 70 million years ago, when today's familiar flowering plants gained ascendancy. In recent years, interest in cycads has increased, partly as a result of the need for a more complete identification of the range of toxic and carcinogenic substances these plants produce and partly because of the recognition that some compounds from cycads may prove valuable in biomedical research. Many cycads have recently been identified as endangered species, including some that seem to have survived virtually unchanged since the Mesozoic era. Cycads have a specific importance, now at risk of being lost forever, for the information they offer on the origins and evolution of seed plants. Knut J. Norstog and Trevor J. Nicholls discuss cycad anatomy, reproduction, physiology, and growth. They also focus on population biology and the fossil cycadophytes, as well as genera and species from both the Old World and the New World. The Biology of the Cycads is illustrated with numerous maps, diagrams, and drawings, as well as more than 350 photographs, in black and white and in color.

Customer Reviews:

Review: biology of the cycads.......2000-05-05

The Biology of The Cycads represents a compendium of data on all aspects of cycad biology, summarising very concisely a vast repertoire of widely scattered and very diverse research information. Despite this extensive coverage, the book is clearly written and well organised into readily digestible sections. Topics covered include morphology, anatomy, reproductive processes (especially pollination and insect associations - a special interest of Norstog's), population dynamics, toxicity, cytology, cytogenetics, cycad fossils and species descriptions of cycads grouped into Old World and New World taxa.

As a novice in the field of cycad colelction/conservation, I found the book very handy and usefull. Some of the content may be a little to scientific for the general person out there, but otherwise this is an excellent book.

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The Biology, Structure, and Systematics of the Cycadales: Proceedings of the Symposium Cycad 87, Beaulieu-Sur-Mer, France, April 17-22, 1987 (Memoirs of ... (Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden)
Dennis Wm Stevenson
Manufacturer: New York Botanical Garden Pr Dept
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Botany | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Trees | Plants | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0893273503
Release Date: 1990-07-30

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The Biology of the Cycads
Knut J. Norstog
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUTOJQ

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Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Cycad Biology: Held in Pretoria, South Africa, 5-9 July 1993

Manufacturer: Cycad Society of South Africa
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Plants | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Botany | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0620192283

Book Description

Perceptions of the Caribbean have long been determined by Eurocentric concepts and prejudices. In this book, James Ferguson tries to redress this imbalance by writing the Caribbean people themselves into their own history. The book follows the development of the Caribbean from its pre-Columbian period, encompassing the experience of conquest, colonization, slavery to emancipation, and finally political independence.

This modern history of the Caribbean is unique in its treatment of the region as a whole and the author covers the French, Spanish, Dutch and English-speaking countries with equal authority. It is a concise and authoritative work complete with historical maps, line illustrations, an A-Z historical gazetteer and a chronology of major events.

Customer Reviews:

Good introduction to complex area.......2007-02-14

A good read, suitable for beach or pool-side, especially if in the Caribbean. Covers many topics, loops back to important islands more than once. Covers Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti in some detail. Dutch Caribbean also well covered. Smaller islands (Barbados, French Caribbean, etc.) not as well-covered because of smaller populations. Basically focuses most on islands, with little detail about adjoining continental nations. Very good place to start (or think about beginning) more Caribbean study.

The Traveller's Tree: Island-Hopping Through the Caribbean in the 1940's

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Fermor's a great writer but this isn't his best

The Traveller's Tree: Island-Hopping Through the Caribbean in the 1940's
Patrick Leigh Fermor
Manufacturer: Narrative Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

19th Century | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Expeditions & Discoveries | World | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1589762487

Download Description

Find out what might make a cannibal eat his meal in depressed silence in Fermor's narrative of his experiences wandering around the Caribbean in the 1940's.

Customer Reviews:

Fermor's a great writer but this isn't his best.......2005-05-13

I love Patrick Leigh Fermor. His book "A Time of Gifts" about his travels in the 1930's across Europe mostly walking was what got me interested in travel writing in the first place. And "A TIme of Gifts" is still the best travel book I have ever read.

This is not his best, though since it is Fermor, it is still very, very good. One of the problems is that Fermor is travelling to check off places visited. There is a little of the "If it's Tuesday, I must be in Belgium" frame of mind. Too many islands, in too little time. There are excellent descriptions of a few things like the history of some of the islands and voodoo. But this book lacks the depth of "A Time of Gifts" or "Between the Woods and the Water".

Also, Fermor is travelling with companions rather than alone like the above books. This means that he doesn't meet and get intimately acquainted with the people in the places he visits. When you are travelling with people, you converse with them and bounce ideas off of them rather than the strangers you come in contact with. And the interesting person who might invite you to his home if you were alone won't if you are with a group.

Part of the problem lies with the Caribbean islands themselves. This was a time when there were no cruise ships, tourism or Club Meds. Also, World War II had meant years of no involvement with the wider world.

Anyway, this book read slowly and was not as insightful as Fermor's other books, and I really did not find much other than the history that really seemed to have anything to do with the Caribbean islands I have experienced.

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Cuba: A Concise History for Travellers
Alan Twigg
Manufacturer: Bluefield Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Tourist Destinations & Museums | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Cigars, mojitos, beaches, baseball and Hemingway haunts are all very well. But for those who want to pack along 500 years of history with their sunscreen, here is a lively and unbiased primer on Cuba that reflects the island's remarkable history.
Covering Cuba's history from the first tourist--Christopher Columbus--to the latest of the CIA's 40 assassination attempts against President Fidel Castro, Cuba: A Concise History for Travellers covers Cuba from the off-limits birthplace of El Presidente to the country's most sacred site, the Virgin of Copper church.

Accompanied by more than 30 black and white photos, Cuba contains a one-of-a-kind Dictatorship Index, a CIA Hit (& Miss) List and information on:

* How and why Che Guevara died
* Fidel Castro's family tree and love life
* Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis
* The Mafia, gambling, prostitution

For tourists and armchair travellers alike, Cuba provides a thoughtful and fascinating look into the Caribbean's largest and most controversial country.

The English-American: A New Survey of the West Indies, 1648 (Broadway Travellers)

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The English-American: A New Survey of the West Indies, 1648 (Broadway Travellers)
Thomas Gage
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

17th Century | World | History | Subjects | Books

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0415344808

Book Description

First published in 1928.

The publication in 1648 of the first authentic account of the provinces of New Spain and Central America by a well-known and educated Englishman excited widespread interest, and The English-American found many readers even though the country was in the midst of revolution. It played an important part in reviving the anti-Spanish policy of Elizabeth and describes at first hand a stage of American society that was virtually unknown.

A.P. Newton's introduction places the book against the background of its time, which is vital in order to understand many of Thomas Gage's allusions. Although abridged from the original, the full chapter headings of the First Edition and the original numbering have been preserved.

Book Description

M. Elaine Davis presents a useful text that demonstrates the importance of contemporary learning theory and educational research to the development of effective programs in both formal and informal history and archaeology education. Chapters cover teaching and history education theory, and apply this to various case studies and program examples. A valuable tool for school teachers, museum educators, archaeologists, and historians.

Customer Reviews:

A Valuable Study.......2007-06-30

This is an excellent resource for teachers and museum educators alike. Davis's experience with 4th grade students at the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, and in their traditional classroom settings, provides great insights into how students make meaning of what they see in museums and at historic sites. Her study notes are very detailed, organized, and well-written, and my own experiences in observing children in museum educational programs provides further support to Davis's research findings. Highly recommended.

Book Description

Get your relationship right with your horse and he'll try to get it right with you, too. It's not about following five steps to success or using a special piece of equipment. It's about very subtle signs that you give your horse that show him you are on his side, and when you're with him he can let you take responsibility for his safety. This is the heart of great horsemanship.

Be with Your Horse is a clear and accessible guide to finding the best relationship with your horse. Tom Widdicombe invites the reader to embark on a search for the perfect partnership, learning how to make your horse a willing friend, and find the balance between leadership and respect. The book is full of practical advice applicable to all horse owners and horse lovers, and peppered with accounts of Tom's own experiences with horses and how they shaped his ideas about training horses and humans to achieve a greater understanding of one another.

Customer Reviews:

A perfect gem.......2007-05-21

Even if you are a participant in the growing "Natural Horsemanship" movement, (as am I) you will find lots of valuable insight in this little volume.

Simple, thoughtful, inspiring.......2005-10-28

In this book Tom Widdicombe mixes brief stories from his working life with horses and explanations of how and why people and horses can work together successfully. He is not pushing a particular system or style of training- there are no sets of exercises here and time and again he observes that completely different approaches can yield equally successful results- but in his clear, easy-going way his writing gets as close to the essence of horsemanship as anything I have ever read. The anecdotes that illustrate his ideas or raise questions for the reader have a parable-like quality that leaves you thinking about them long after you have put the book down. His honest, down-to-earth explanations of how he has learned to work with horses and how he has helped other people to work with them will show you things you had never noticed about how you relate to them in your life.

Time and again, from many different directions, he returns to the point that horses are simple animals and that it is us who make them complicated. He never wanders off into incomprehensible spiritual meanderings, he just describes the things he has seen and felt and learned through experience and through observation. Rather than offering any kind of fixed system or rules he suggests that you make your own decisions and take responsibility for your own choices.

Reading this will make you want to go out and just spend time with your horse. It is a brilliant book- profoundly simple yet simply profound.

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Dinky Toy Compendium (The Hornby Companion Series)
Patrick Trench
Manufacturer: New Cavendish Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Models | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Classic Cars | Automotive | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Bibliographies & Indexes | Publishing & Books | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0904568857

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Dinky toys & modelled miniatures 1931-1979 (The Hornby companion series)
Mike Richardson
Manufacturer: New Cavendish
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007C6HFS

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The Hornby Companion
Roger Beardsley
Manufacturer: New Cavendish Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J36XRM

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Hornby Companion Series Volume 3 Hornby Dub
Michael Foster
Manufacturer: NEW CAVENDISH BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PKWDSM

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Hornby Dublo 1938-1964. The Story of the Perfect Table Railway. The Hornby Companion Series
Michael Foster
Manufacturer: New Cavendish
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KDM2WG

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Hornby Dublo 1938-1964. The Story of the Perfect Table Railway. The Hornby Companion Series
Michael Foster
Manufacturer: Guild Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J2GISC

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Hornby Dublo trains (The Hornby companion series)
Michael Foster
Manufacturer: New Cavendish Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Transportation & Highway | Civil | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00069WSQ4

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The complete Hornby reference to the 'O' gauge system

The Hornby Gauge O System (Hornby Companion Series)
Chris Graebe , and Julie Graebe
Manufacturer: Pincushion Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Model Trains | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Mechanical | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0904568350

Customer Reviews:

The complete Hornby reference to the 'O' gauge system.......1998-09-09

If Hornby 'O' gauge trains are your passion, then this is the book for you. It chronicles the history of Frank Hornby and his dream of creating the perfect model railway system. With ample colour illustrations the book will provide a constant source of reference to identify and date nearly every Hornby item from the 1920's to the 1950's. I say nearly as previously undocumented items do still arise from time to time. The book provides a window onto an era of history that is fondly remembered by many. If Hornby 'O' gauge is your hobby then buy this book, you will find it hard to put down.

London Commuter Lines (Silver Link Travelling Companion)

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London Commuter Lines (Silver Link Travelling Companion)
Frank Hornby
Manufacturer: Silver Link Publishing Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

The Meccano Magazine Anthology (The Hornby Companion Series , Vol 7a)

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The Meccano Magazine Anthology (The Hornby Companion Series , Vol 7a)

Manufacturer: P E I International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Models | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1872727808

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Victoria Moments in the Garden
Victoria Magazine
Manufacturer: Hearst Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Landscape | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Garden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Collections & Readers | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Victoria The Pleasures of Tea: Recipes and Rituals

Victoria Intimate Home: Creating a Private World (Victoria Magazine)

The House in Bloom: Decorating with Floral Themes

Jenny Walton's Packing for a Woman's Journey

Christmas With Victoria 2000 (Christmas with Victoria)

ASIN: 0688097367

Book Description

As enticing as a stroll through a garden on a beautiful summer day, Victoria Moments in the Garden is a delight from start to finish. Romantic descriptions of this country's most exquisite public gardens complement sumptuous photographs by Toshi Otsuki that capture each landscape at its visual peak.

In this photographic tour of a dozen of America's most special gardens, horticulture writer Tovah Martin unveils all that is extraordinary and inspired in the art of botanical display. Moments in the Garden explores a vast range of gardening styles, from the classic formality of Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania to the adventurous informality of Joana Reed's Longview Farm also in Pennsylvania; from the wilderness delights of the Garden in the Woods in Massachusetts to the wildlife gardens at the Wing Haven bird sanctuary in North California. Readers can visit Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, surrounded by magnificent Italianate sculptures and fountains, and are invited guests at the Emily Dickinson garden, where an eclectic combination of perennials prosper much as they did in the poet's time. The history and development of each is explored, its spirit and beauty captured at its most brilliant. All have been diligently preserved, maintaining the textures, shades, and forms of the original gardens, some first planted more than 150 years ago.

But Moments in the Garden has its practical side as well. Classical plant combinations, selected for their beauty, hardiness, and fragrance, are presented, along with suggestions for planing layout, and ornamentation for your own garden. You'll find expert advice on herb gardening with heirloom varieties, and ideas for using dried plants and flowers in decoration.

Customer Reviews:

The Alchemy of Light.......2003-10-16

Publisher's info:

This study concerns the late Renaissance metaphysics of light in its adoption to a Paracelsian alchemical context by John Dee, Heinrich Khunrath, Michael Maier and Robert Fludd. Their alchemical theosophy is contextualised within Protestant reformism of the 1590s to 1620s, specifically that of Valentin Weigel and Johannes Arndt. This results in a re-assessment of the Rosicrucian movement which challenges the existing historiography and problematises the character of the movement. The volume includes fifty illustrations from alchemical treatises of the period, the emphasis being placed on Khunrath's Amphiteatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (1595-1609). In an innovative manner, the study investigates these images using analytical tools drawn from semiotics, structuralism and post-structuralism. This method yields an unusual interpretation of the geometry, optical diagrams and spatial structures employed in such alchemical engravings.

Would interest those concerned with intellectual history, Renaissance theology and religious movements, the history of hermeticism, occultism and alchemy, as well as Renaissance art and science.

The Alchemy of Light: Geometry and Optics in Late Renaissance Alchemical Illustration (Symbola Et Emblemata Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Symbolism)

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The Alchemy of Light: Geometry and Optics in Late Renaissance Alchemical Illustration (Symbola Et Emblemata Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Symbolism)
Urszula Szulakowska
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUDYSI

Book Description

The choice of wedding photography styles, packages, and vendors can be overwhelming for brides without a background in photography. This useful guide helps them make smart decisions every step of the way, from determining photo preferences and finding and communicating with the right photographer to choosing dress styles and colors, bouquets, and shades of makeup that positively impact portraits. Suggested time lines help brides stay organized and prepared, and budget advice safeguards the couple against costly mistakes. Tips for displaying images at the reception, creating thank-you albums and framed portraits for parents and bridal parties, proofing and ordering photos, and designing albums are provided.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic Wedding Resource.......2006-04-10

When I selected our wedding photographer, I had no idea how to evaluate a studio or even which shots I wanted to capture before, during and after the ceremony. With Kathleen Hawkins book these two important bridal issues are quickly resolved, with a must-have photo list and specific interview questions that will make professional photographers share the same vision as your own.

Having the most intimate event of one's life preserved in film and trusting a studio to do so is one of the most challenging tasks anyone can undertake. Kathleen understands the potential frustration of couples and explains the contractual obligations of the photographer in every day language, but then she goes one step further and details how to make the engagement photo session a trial run for the wedding. Personally, I found it hard to warm up to my wife during our session, but with Kathleen's tips on what to bring and how to relax during the session, we could have had much more memorable engagement photographs.

The tone of the book is how to get the most out of your wedding experience and preserve those memories in photographs. Kathleen illustrates her commitment to readers and this tone by dedicating a chapter to creating three different timelines of events depending on your wedding ceremony style and traditions. At just over 100 pages, The Bride's Guide to Wedding Photography: How to Get the Wedding Photography of Your Dreams, delivers essential information in a quick read format.

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