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List Price: £37.50
Our Price: £35.70
Author:
Mina C.G.Davies Morel
By CABI Publishing
 Comprehensive publication for professionals and amateurs., 2001-07-20
This book, although technical, contains thorough and concise explanations of all important aspects of both producing healthy foals and their post-natal care. Veterinary content is elementary, but the focus on the reproductive cycles of both the mare and stallion in detail throughout the book make the reproductive workings of the equine easier to understand in day to day situations as well as emergency situations. Solutions to common problems are identified and this book is an invaluable resident on any equine based higher education student's bookshelf. Hormonal workings and artificial control:one of the most important aspects of successful breeding cycle management, especially in thoroughbreds is detailed in a clear, concise manner and no terminology is left unexplained. The oestrus cycle is made clear and as un-complicated as possible and manipulation of this is approached with caution in mind. A well-written source of knowledge with appropriate, clear photographs and illustrations with not only the horse in mind, but the handler as well.
List Price: £53.99
Our Price: £43.59
Author:
Karen Overall
By Mosby
Ultimate in general pet behaviour., 2001-09-23
Concentrating on canine and feline behaviours, this text is a valuable source of reference for the pet behaviour therapist and the animal science student (as I once was). Divided and subdivided into easily manageable sections, this text explains the behaviour as normally seen, progressing onto behaviour deviations and then to tried and tested methods of behaviour rectification (some acceptable, others not). It includes many marvellous references to studies conducted by those such as Borchelt, Voith, Houpt and Overall.
List Price: £18.99
Our Price: £4.50
Author:
Charlotte Uhlenbroek
By Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Reading Talking with Animals may provoke the questions: how do you like your biology? Rare or well done? Do you want to be astounded by the rich variety of life on earth, until you are punch-drunk on examples? Or do you want to get to the bottom of things, to understand that mathematical and physical laws that govern how life evolves and operates? One suspects that Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek would like to get her teeth into the deep, underlying problems of her subject. As the BBC's new face of Natural History, however, she's more often seen in bush outfits and scuba gear, celebrating the exuberance of the natural world. So Talking with Animals, which accompanies her BBC series about animal communication, is not simply a good book (though it is certainly that); it is also the triumphant climax to a rather difficult balancing act. (The publishers--who have had to perform their own balancing act by designing this hybrid of science text and coffee-table book--should also be congratulated.) Uhlenbroek's handsomely illustrated collection of wonders is also a profound (and meticulously referenced) enquiry into how we marry our ideas about ourselves to our ideas about the nat...
Fascinating book, interesting author., 2002-07-11
Talking with animals, that accompanies the BBC 4 part series, is a very interesting book which covers many animals, methods and communications in short digestable packets. The format of the book allows for either short page-or-so readings, or single-sittings to finish the book, which you will most probably want to do, as the content keeps the reader interested throughout. The book seems to contain a lot more information than the series, the numerous photos are fantastic and all in all it is a wonderful book.
List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £4.79
Author:
David McFarland
By OUP Oxford
 Will we ever understand what's on our robot's minds?, 2008-06-14
Plenty of people have shone their light over the question of thinking machines. As a zoologist David McFarland succeeds in getting a fresh angle at the subject, however, as he explores the triangle of humans minds, animals and robots in a systematic way.
Laudably, mr McFarland does not set to his task by ploughing through the work of his predecessors in the field. In stead he focusses on case studies to make his points. As it happens the way humans look at robots depends more on how we see ourselves rather than what the robot is actually capable of doing. Ultimately, we should realise that robots and animals are so different from us that we can never objectively resolve whether their 'mental' capacities are comparable to ours.
This will probably not be the most original book you have ever read, but it is a very accessible introduction into the question of alien minds. Still, given the abstract level of thinking, this is at points a fairly difficult book. That sould not deter those interested in the future of robotics, though, as mr McFarland always succeeds in winding things up at the end of the chapter.
List Price: £16.99
Our Price: £9.65
Author:
Mike Hansell
By OUP Oxford
"You don't need brains . . . , 2008-08-29
. . . to be a builder", says Hansell, and goes on to demonstrate that with a photo of a house built by "Difflugia coronata". It's a spiked sphere with a nicely decorated front entry - tasteful, if rather enigmatic, one looks in vain for the resident. Not one of those clever wasps that pulps paper to tuck a nest under your eaves or one of the swallows that brings mud to accomplish a similar task, D. coronata is a micro-organism: an amoeba that collects tiny sand grains to build itself a shelter. An amoeba?? How does it accomplish this? Hansell responds, as he must do often in this fine study, "we don't know".
Animal building hasn't been a topic of intense study as the author frequently reminds us. However, he's good at demonstrating what we do know and what further work needs doing. He poses several good questions - how much of an animal's building skill is genetically inherited? How important to animals is the idea of standardised material [think "bricks" in human construction]? Which animals produce structures the equivalent of three times the size of any human office building? What planning steps are required for an orb spider to form its web? Finally, and what might be the most pertinent of all, what is a tool and is that what distinguishes human builders from the other animals?
As Hansell poses these questions, he goes on to show how some of the answers have been obtained. He explains the varieties of construction behaviour - how an African rat may have an extended burrow system with up to several hundred entries, for example. Logic demands this is an indication of a group endeavour, but the entire system is inhabited by one rat. We think birds intuitively construct complex nests from their first effort. Many weaver birds, however, may fall out of the tree on their first effort to fashion a hanging nest. Orb spiders, on the other hand, weave their webs with much variation - some species even know the best time of day to construct a particular type of web for a specific prey. An the web material is an engineering masterpiece - flexible enough to catch the prey and strong enough to hold it. How it manages this is a fascinating section of this book. Hansell warns the reader against falling victim to "heavy eyelids" prior to the description, noting that the solution is too "elegant" to miss. He's correct in that.
What does an animal "think" as it's building a structure?, he reflects. Some prompt leads bees to form comb relating to their body size, as do many nesting birds - especially weavers. Is there "thinking" involved when one of the bolas spiders shifts the issuing of a pheromone for one moth species to that of another - at a specific time of night? Termites built immense, complex towers - Hansell compares them to the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Yet, although there are millions of construction jobs in erecting the mounds, not one of the termites appears to be in charge. Does each termite carry a mental blueprint in that miniscule brain? Further, why do some termite species ventilate the mound with one method, while others in a similar environment do it differently?
Hansell poses these questions as much to himself as to the reader. He calls for research into various areas throughout the narrative. There are even topics he declares he will be investigating in the coming years. That's another thing that makes this book a prime gift to a young student. Building is not merely a human endeavour and variety and innovation isn't limited to our species. It's important to understand how life works and this is one significant indicator in that quest. Try this book and find out why. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £2.00
Author:
J.Moussaieff Masson, Susan McCarthy
By Vintage
Entertaining and uplifting, 2006-09-24
This is an excellent book, well written and entertaining yes, but also with much evidence to support the writer's theories.
Whilst it might be argued that some of the evidence is anecdotal, that is probably best explained by the fact the author is so knowledgable and experienced in the subject, that he is able to accurately interpret selected animal behaviour without requiring hundreds of pointless scientific experiments.
The stories in this book will bring tears (mostly of joy) to the eyes of animal lovers everywhere. Enjoy!
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