Reviews (5)

The best introduction to human-animal studies
In the Company of Animals is the single best introduction to anthrozoology - the study of human-animal interactions. A woman once told me about her experiencereading it. She said simply, "That book changed my life." Serpell is a both a powerful writer and a leading scholar in this field. The first half of In the Company of Animals is largely concerned with the who, what, and why of maintaining non-human animals as companions. In the breadth of his coverage, Serpell displays an impressive command of psychology, ethology, history, cultural anthropology, and behavioral medicine. A brief sampling of a few representative topics illustrates the span of Serpell's intellectual vision: the role of pets in sixteenth century witchcraft, the effects of watching aquarium fish on blood pressure, bestiality, social parasitism, and why dogs rather than pigs became companion animals. Serpell argues that individuals who keep pets have often been viewed with scorn, suspicion, and pity. At times, pet owners have been subjected to persecution and even death. Thus, this part of the book is essentially a defense of companion animals. Serpell reviews recent studies documenting the benefits of pets to human health, psychological well-being, and the amelioration of loneliness. He concludes that the company of animals serves to buffer their owners from the interpersonal isolation all too common in modern industrial societies. The best introduction to human-animal studies
In the Company of Animals is the single best introduction to anthrozoology - the study of human-animal interactions. A woman once told me about her experience on reading it.She said simply,"That book changed my life."Serpell is a both a powerful writer and a leading scholar in this field. The first half of In the Company of Animals is largely concerned with the who, what, and why ofmaintaining non-human animals as companions.In the breadth of his coverage, Serpell displays an impressive command of psychology, ethology, history, cultural anthropology, and behavioral medicine.A brief sampling of a few representative topics illustrates the span of Serpell's intellectual vision: the role of pets in sixteenth century witchcraft, the effects of watching aquarium fish on blood pressure,bestiality, social parasitism, and why dogs rather than pigs became companion animals. Serpell argues that individuals who keep pets have often been viewed with scorn, suspicion, and pity.At times, pet owners have been subjected to persecution and even death.Thus, this part of the book is essentially a defense of companion animals.Serpell reviews recent studies documenting the benefits of pets to human health, psychological well-being, and the amelioration of loneliness.He concludes that the company of animals serves to buffer their owners from the interpersonal isolation all too common in modern industrial societies. A Classic by a Highly Esteemed Scholar
As a professor of anthropology who teaches a course on Anthrozoology at Western Illinois University, I highly recommend In the Company of Animals. Anthrozoology (the scientific study of human-animal interaction) is a dynamic new area of study and Dr Serpell is one of the founders. This book is required reading for my course, and students love it! Serpell's work explores the phenomena of domestication and pet keeping, or companion animals (as we prefer to call them now), from a cross-cultural and evolutionary perspective that is highly anthropological. Shame on us! An Anthropologist should have written this book! I highly recommend this work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animal Behavior (Ethology)    2. Animals    3. Applied Psychology    4. Cognitive Psychology    5. History    6. Human Geography    7. Human-animal relationships    8. Nature    9. Pet owners    10. Pets    11. Psychology    12. Reference    13. Social aspects    14. Animal behaviour    15. Animals & society    16. Human ecology    17. Pets--History    18. Psychology & Psychiatry / Cognitive Psychology   

Reviews (3)

Wonderful Reference Book
National Geographic Almanac of World History is a wonderful resource. The Chronological Chapters, Maps, Time-lines and Introductory Threads are easy to use. A very nice addition to add to your library.

I Rate and Compare World History Atlas Books
As a reader I like to have quick reference books at my finger tips including a new version of the Oxford English Dictionary about 3500 pages long - that I use almost daily. So I decided to add a "history atlas". In the process of doing my research I read the other amazon.com reviewers and then made three trips to two large book stores to actually look at the books and get a better feel for which was the best. I ended up buying the Oxford Atlas of World History. Here are my picks and rankings.
world history
Excellent work by Patricia Daniels and Stephen Hyslop for National Geographic.
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Subjects:  1. Almanacs    2. Ancient civilization    3. Civilization, Ancient    4. Civilization, Medieval    5. Civilization, Modern    6. History    7. History: World    8. Human Geography    9. Reference    10. World - General    11. World History    12. History / World    13. Reference works   

Reviews (14)

Good book
I used this book in my class, and like many people here had a poor teacher, used the Rubenstein textbook, etc.. This book covers the material well, and while I am bound not to talk about any AP Test Multiple Choice questions, I will say that the questions in the review portion of this book may or may not be *very* similar to questions that may or may not be on the test.
Great resource, really helped with the exam
This book is a great resource to use for the AP Human Geography Exam, and I also used it to coincide with the rest of the course. Our AP Human teacher was pretty pathetic, just about all he did was check his email all period, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and got this book. Well, did this change things or what. I realized I wasn't really even grasping the subjects, and gained a lot of useful information taking the practice tests and such. As a matter of fact, one of the questions on the test last year was in this book and I remembered it when I saw it! What a coincidence. Well, if you are debating on which book to get (there aren't many choices for this young subject) or whether to get it at all, I think it's worth it, I barely understood the material at first and I ended up with a 4.

Unbelievable
This book is the sole reason I got a 4 on the test. I read through only half of the book because I ran out of time. After the test I went back and looked through the book for answers and every question I remembered was somewhere in the book. Even some diagrams were exactly the same as on the test. This book is a must-buy for anyone taking the test. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Advanced Placement    2. Examinations    3. Human Geography    4. Study Aids    5. Study Guides    6. Test Prep    7. Examinations & assessment    8. Study & learning skills    9. Study Aids / Advanced Placement   

Reviews (1)

The seeds of Tuan's "humanistic geography"
After reading Yi-Fu Tuan's "Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience," delving into "Topophilia" is a bit like stepping backward in the philosopher's evolution of thought. There are astounding passages of wisdom here, about the nature of human experience as it relates to the environment -- interspersed, sometimes jarringly, with related histories and descriptions. The seeds of Tuan's "humanistic geography" are here, but are not as philosophically compelling as the mature synthesis found in "Space and Place."
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Subjects:  1. Geographical perception    2. Human Geography    3. Human ecology    4. Public opinion    5. Sociology    6. Science / Ecology   

Reviews (8)

The Language of miracles
Fantastic, Inspiring. Privilege to learn from Amelia and all the animals. Interspecies communication should be OFCOURSE in everyones normal daily life. Great job Amelia of getting word and training around the world. Love and light for your journey ;-) .
another hit !
Even if you really enjoyed Amelia's first book, you'll find more about animal communication in this new work, in theory, in practical details to apply straightaway, and in inspiring stories; and you'll find back her great humour which makes reading her pages such a great moment!

Another stunning book by Amelia
even better than her first.The leaps in her consciousness are a delight to behold.Discussions of quantum physics are seamlessly interwoven with the text, while her writing remains as vivid, immediate and engaging as ever and her soul as caring.As a doctor and researcher who has been among many scientists at Cambridge and London Universities, I would like to encourage everyone to buy and read this book - particularly those who work 'on', but not 'with' animals for a living.Taking this book into your world will change it - and please give yourselves that chance. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. Extrasensory perception in animals    3. Human Geography    4. Human-animal communication    5. Pets    6. Psychic aspects    7. Domestic animals & pets    8. Pets / Essays   

Editorial Review

Master how-it-works writer John McPhee has instructed his readers in the arcana of how oranges are commercially graded, how mountains form, how canoes are built and oceans crossed. In Read more

Reviews (24)

People's Efforts, People's Errors
McPhee examines three recent attempts by man to alter natural changes on the surface of the planet.The first is the Corps of Engineers attempt to control of the flow and course of the Mississippi as it heads, with ever increasing power, toward New Orleans, or Texas if it had its way.And if you think that there was not some early warning of eventual problems in New Orleans, note that this book was written in 1989. The second is the partially successful effort by the Icelanders to use water from fire hoses to halt the flow of lava from a very destructive volcano.Finally, the third is the battle between Los Angeles and one of natures weapons of mass destruction, the debris flows coming down from the San Gabriel mountains that, with the Pacific, frame the city.McPhee has also written intriguing books about the geologic histories of Nevada (Basin and Range), Wyoming (Rising from the Plains), California (Assembling California) and about tectonic plates, ice and oil (In Suspect Terrain). In the process he has portrayed the important English pioneers in the discipline such as Hutton and Lyell, in addition to Agassiz and his fascination with glaciers.
Read this one for pleasure
There are books that should be read for the value of the information they contain.There are books that should be read for the beauty and power of their language.There are few that achieve both.This intensively researched page turner never fails to combine clarity and eloquence.Mr. McPhee clearly loves the people and places he describes, and treats them in a witty, friendly way that left me laughing and wanting more.

Nature Bats Last
This is among my favorite McPhee books. Not only does he bring his superb skills at description, characterization and narrative flow to these three linked stories; he manages to set out a subtle subtext without ever being explicit.
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Subjects:  1. Environment    2. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    3. Environmental protection    4. Government policy    5. Human Geography    6. Influence on nature    7. Man    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. United States    11. Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection   

Reviews (32)

American Empire
Zbigniew Brzezinski's book "The Grand Chessboard: American primacy and its geostrategic imperative" serves as a blueprint for 21st century U.S. foreign policy. In the book, Brzezinski, a former National Security advisor to President Jimmy Carter, argues that Eurasia is the keystone to America's future as the world's first and (according to Brzezinski) possibly last global superpower. Eurasia is thus the geography-based chessboard upon which the "Grand Game" is to be played and Brzezinski's premise is that the United States and its allies are competing for global hegemony against other coalitions and major powers - principally Russia, China and Japan. Brzezinski states:
A clever and full of hate mind
This is a very interesting book.Brezinsky is a very clever person, everybody knows that is member of several almost secret organizations, but the hate to Russia that he feels like born in Poland is over all the book. It's curious that he fells more hate to Russia that to Germany, that killed very much more polish people that russians. I recomended to read the book of Jean-Francois Steiner , Warsaw 44, and you will see that the guilty of massacre of Warsaw are the nationalists polishs.
I can't wait to finish this
AS usual, Brzezinski is on his favourite horse: preserve imperialism and American capital, divide and conquer. It is good though, as there are at least 19 other nations who've read this book translated, and NOW THEY KNOW that America is after them. Asking about "why they hate us"? This book is IT, it is the answer! Can't wait to finish this spew of hatret.
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Subjects:  1. 1989-    2. 20th century    3. Geopolitics    4. History    5. International Relations    6. International Relations - General    7. Political Geography    8. Political Science    9. Politics - Current Events    10. Politics/International Relations    11. U.S. Foreign Relations    12. United States    13. World politics    14. USA   

Reviews (4)

Journal Of Real Estate Literature review of Thrall's Book
Book Review Of Thrall's Business Geography and New Real Estate Market Analysis
BEST BOOK Real Estate Market Analysis & Business Geography
This book defines and establishes business geography as an academic field, and lays the foundations for best practices in business geography and real estate market analysis. This book succeeds in bridging the gap between the academic and the practitioner. ???????????????????????
There is almost no resemblance between this the principals and tools presented in this book and the more advanced cutting edge spatial analysis currently being taught at some of the more advanced academic institutions and being practiced at some of the larger real estate investment firms.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Commercial geography    5. Earth Sciences - Geography    6. Evaluation    7. Real Estate - General    8. Real Estate - Investments    9. Real estate investment    10. Economic geography    11. Geographical information systems (GIS)    12. Geography | Economic & Historical    13. Science / Geography   

Reviews (1)

Terror and the fear of 'difference'
Appadurai draws on his former work on globalization inModernity at Large, to propose a set of exciting and innovatively original reflections on the agendas set by post-September 11. The way terrorism is a sequel to former globalizing tendencies, and has been used in local contexts to deal in a discriminating way with 'difference', and 'minorities', is set against larger issues, such as the question of the role of the territorialized nation-state, and deterritorialized global terror. The interest of his approach resides in the fact that it considers a wide range of examples from South Asia to Europe, and the US, thus making the more evident how reductive -to say the least- are views of contemporaneity derived from Huntington's Clash of Civilizations. Appadurai is a genuinely original thinker, an exception in a world which sees a daily proliferation of repetitive and obvious approaches to such issues. An inspiring book I strongly recommend! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Archaeology / Anthropology    3. Culture conflict    4. Ethnic conflict    5. Globalization    6. Human Geography    7. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    8. Political Science    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Social aspects    11. Anthropology/Ethnography    12. Cultural Studies    13. Ethnography    14. Popular culture    15. SOCIAL THEORY   

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Geography    2. Environmental Science    3. Human Geography    4. Philosophy    5. Psychology    6. Science    7. Space and time    8. Spatial behavior    9. Science / Geography   

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Reviews (1)

Applied Lefebvre
This book is not a bad book.It is an overly unoriginal one. An understanding of Henri Lefebvre's work on space (particularly _The Production of Space_) is required to understand what Soja is saying.Yet, if you have read Lefebvre, you probably do not need to read this book.About 1/3 of _Thirdspace_ consists of quotes from Lefebvre with a few conclusionary remarks made by Soja.Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Geography    2. Geographical perception    3. Human Geography    4. Life Sciences - Anatomy & Physiology    5. Postmodernism    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Social aspects    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - Urban    11. Sociology, Urban    12. Space perception    13. Cultural studies    14. Human ecology    15. LOS ANGELES (CALIF.)_SOCIAL CONDITIONS    16. Science / Geography    17. Urban communities   

Reviews (21)

A landmark (but dated) study on the ecological dimension of European expansion
Alfred Crosby is widely credited for popularising the ecological dimension of the history of imperial expansion. For this reason, and perhaps this reason alone, his book is worth a read.
Book Review:"Ecological Imperialism"

Triumph of the pig, the rat, the dandelion, the smallpox virus... and the European humans who gave them a ride across the ocean
The most impressive and pleasant aspect of this new approach to world history is the non-anthropocentric perspective Crosby adopts. He tells the story of the expansion of a tightly connected group of European organisms, which includes humans alongside with other domesticated animals, crops, weeds, viruses and bacteria.
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Subjects:  1. Adaptation To Environment    2. Europe - General    3. Europeans    4. History - General History    5. Human Ecology    6. Human Geography    7. Life Sciences - Ecology    8. Migrations    9. Science    10. Science/Mathematics    11. World - General    12. Animal migration - Europe - History    13. Europe    14. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    15. History / World    16. Modern period, c 1500 onwards    17. New Zealand    18. USA    19. World history    20. c 1000 CE to c 1500    21. c 500 CE to c 1000 CE   

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Reviews (2)

An Eye-opener
This book is a spectacular down-to-earth attempt to trasnscend positivism as well as Marxism. The very logic of the erudite author's argument alights in a blind alley, where the Heideggerian ambivalence remains the only saviour. This daring milestone in the history of thought would always be an inspiring read.

Excellent Review of the Concept of Justice in Postmodernism
Harvey presents an excellent review of the concept of justice (both social and environmental) and its survival in postmodern context.Also a nice treatment of dialectical reasoning. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Cultural relativism    3. Global environmental change    4. Social Science    5. Social change    6. Social justice    7. Social values    8. Sociology    9. Sociology - General    10. SPACE AND TIME    11. Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural   

Reviews (63)

Difficult but profound book
There's no doubt that this is a difficult book to read.However, I think books such as this should be required reading for everyone in our western culture, which places no emphasis on introspection.This book may help one to think more about his/her seemingly insignificant actions, and how one's behavior and activities effect others (others within a circle of family and friends, as well as strangers who may live halfway around the world).

frustratingly captivating
This book was recommended to me by a friend b/c he said it changed his outlook on life.After reading it I have a lot of feelings about it.Overall i think the book is a must read for any open minded person.Derrick Jensen touches on so many truths w/i both the lives and minds of most, if not all, americans.I felt Jensen's saddness on almost every page, but the great part is that it wasn't a pittying sadness, it was an honest sadness.Anyone who is truelly honest with themselves will get a lot out of this book.However, for the skeptic and the 'intelligent' person, Jensen will seem crazy, and many times, he goes out of the way to paint a picture as if he is crazy.
One of the most profound books you'll ever read!
By exploring his traumatic experience of childhood sexual abuse as a metaphor for the damage being inflicted on the planet, Jensen interweaves ecofeminist theory with eco-anarchism, a fusion of Susan Griffin, Chellis Glendinning and Starhawk with a heavy dose of John Zerzan. Though the subject matter of the book is grim (global warming, deforestation, femicide, ecocide, rape), it is ultimately a book about restoration, the restoration that comes from struggle, commitment and love. Reading this book will make you cry, will make you angry, will make you act. It will remind you that for every bird that disappears, a part of our humanity also disappears. To heal ourselves, we must heal the earth. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Effect of human beings on    5. Family violence    6. Human Geography    7. Human ecology    8. Literary    9. Nature    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Violence   

Reviews (6)

Interesting but incomplete (and with surprising ommisions)
This small book (a bit expensive at 25 bucks) has some interesting things to say about location and economic activity (though I wished there would have been more on the way of examples). It is surprising, though, that Krugman never mentions one reason why labor mobility it's not (and, in all probability, will never be) as high in the European Union as it is in the United States: the fact that European workers speak different languages (OK, many speak english, but many don't, and one almost surely is bound to be less good working in a second language than in a native one).

Its a start.
It is great that Krugman is promoting space to the world of Economics but he hasn't brought much to the table of economic geography that wasn't already there. However, as the author's knowledge increases in the subjectarea, geographers would be advised to keep tabs on his work as the field islacking in formal models.

Good summary treatment, overdue systems view, but wait....
That it has taken an economist to highlight the role of space in spatial economic development is an indication of the failure of geographers to do the same with mathematical models (they've had more time to do it...).Regional science has long held the view that space matters, yet geographyhas not come up with sufficiently rich models to explain why. Dr Krugmanhas provided a valueble service to making geography matter more inecomonics. Perhaps it is time for economics to matter more in space? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics /