Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* An introductory visual guide to the natural world, this volume's strength rests with original and compelling photographs and illustrations. A team of distinguished scientists renders the accompanying text informative yet concise and accessible to nonspecialists, including students and general readers. Six chapters make up the book. In the first, Living Earth, copiously illustrated introductory essays on topics such as climate change, evolution, and classification provide context. This is followed by chapters on Minerals, Rocks, and Fossils ; Microscopic Life ; Plants ; Fungi ; and Animals, offering picture galleries that profile about 5,000 specimens and living species ranging from topaz to oyster mushroom to sperm whale. Each chapter is divided into sections representing major groups (for example, Invertebrates ) with an introduction highlighting the characteristics that define the group. Each subgroup ( Sponges, Insects ) also has its own introduction. For living species, Classification boxes display the current taxonomic hierarchy. Picture captions provide information such as size, habitat, and distribution. Topics of debate are interspersed in sidebars throughout the text; for example, Did monocots have aquatic origins? and Are birds dinosaurs? The remarkable color photographs and illustrations, commissioned for this work, depict the natural world in its amazing beauty and diversity. In Feature Profiles, close-up photographs provide detailed images of some of the world's most interesting species, such as the fly agaric mushroom, the Mexican red-kneed tarantula, the Aldabra giant tortoise, and the six-banded armadillo. Appendixes include a 4-page glossary and a 24-page index of scientific and common names. Extensive scope and exceptional photographs distinguish this ambitious work. Succinct commentary, notable for its clarity and authority, deftly burnishes the visuals. Highly recommended for high-school and public libraries.--Cannon, Nancy Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Magnificent and intriguing photographs and illustrations put these titles on par with works of art and not just coffee-table art. Natural History was produced by Smithsonian scholars and other experts to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. This is an international encyclopedia of life-forms-e.g., fossils, fungi, plants, animals, mammals-that includes vital facts and two to three sentences about each as well as more than 5000 color illustrations in all. Each grouping is introduced by an essay that puts it in biological and evolutionary perspective. The initial introduction considers life on Earth, including basic principles of evolution, cladogram principles, and a large "Tree of Life." Invertebrates are given 65 pages in the Smithsonian volume, but take up the whole of Bugs Britannica's 500-plus pages. Even so, the volume considers just a portion of the 40,000 British species lacking a backbone: spiders, snails, worms, crabs, starfish, butterflies, and more. The arrangement is evolutionary order by common name; Latin names are in an appendix, and alternate forms of the common name are listed, as for instance, the penis worm. As with the preceding volumes in this series-Birds Britannica (2005) and Flora Britannica (1996), also coauthored by Mabey, "Britain's greatest living nature writer"-this is a quality product. Pictures are wonderful and intriguing, Marren's (Britain's Rare Flowers) writing is grand, and the paper is fine. There is another dimension here, too, documenting what we imagine and believe about invertebrates as illustrated by art, folklore, stories, literature, poetry, and advertising. For example, Botticelli's Birth of Venus illustrates the scallop shell, a 1900 ad for tapeworms touts their value for dieting, and a malaria awareness poster accompanies the mosquito article. These make the book fun to sit down with and simply page through. BOTTOM LINE Both books are gorgeous, fun, and so inexpensive it seems the publishers are prepared to lose money on each copy. Each page brings together illustration and develops information much better than a computer screen. Though Bugs is British, most of the species are also found in the United States. Everyone with eyesight, from children through scholars, will find something to enjoy. Buy with your allowance if you have to.-Janice Dunham, John Jay Coll. Lib., CUNY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5 Up-A dazzling visual introduction to natural history. This oversize volume, which marks the centennial of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, begins with an explanation of how the information is arranged, including a discussion of the measurements, icons, and abbreviations used throughout the text. The first chapter offers a brief introduction to Earth, and its geology and life-forms, followed by separate, extensive chapters devoted to minerals, rocks, and fossils; microscopic life; plants; fungi; and animals ("the largest kingdom"). Each chapter consists of sections representing major taxonomic classifications and within these sections lower taxonomic groups are discussed. Numerous pictorial galleries highlight varieties of specific species. Scattered throughout are feature profiles that offer in-depth analyses of single specimens (white water lily, cane toad, etc.). Pages dedicated to a specific life-form include a chart that indicates phylum, class, orders, families, and species. The information provided for each entry (both common names and Latin names are included) is generally brief and limited to two or three sentences. The stunning color photographs (totaling more than 5000) and the volume's encyclopedic approach make it a welcome addition.-Maren Ostergard, King County Library System, Issaquah, WA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
