170 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 17, No.1 170 Noteworthy Books Received by the Northeastern Naturalist, Issue 17/1, 2010 The Genesis of Animal Play: Testing the Limits. Godron M. Burghardt. 2006. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 519 pp. $30, softcover. ISBN 9780262524698. In The Genesis of Animal Play, Gordon Burghardt examines the origins and evolution of play in humans and animals. He asks what play might mean in our understanding of evolution, the brain, behavioral organization, and psychology. Is play essential to development? Is it the driving force behind human and animal behavior? What is the proper place for the study of play in the cognitive, behavioral, and biological sciences? The engaging nature of play—who does not enjoy watching a kitten attack a ball of yarn?—has made it difficult to study. Some scholars have called play undefinable, nonexistent, or a mystery outside the realm of scientific analysis. Using the comparative perspectives of ethology and psychology, The Genesis of Animal Play goes further than other studies in reviewing the evidence of play throughout the animal kingdom, from human babies to animals not usually considered playful. Burghardt finds that although playfulness may have been essential to the origin of much that we consider distinctive in human (and mammalian) behavior, it only develops through a specific set of interactions among developmental, evolutionary, ecological, and physiological processes. Furthermore, play is not always benefi- cial or adaptive. Part I offers a detailed discussion of play in placental mammals (including children) and develops an integrative framework called surplus resource theory. The most fascinating and most controversial sections of the book, perhaps, are in the seven chapters in part II in which Burghardt presents evidence of playfulness in such unexpected groups of animals as kangaroos, birds, lizards, and “Fish That Leap, Juggle, and Tease.” Burghardt concludes by considering the implications of the diversity of play for future research, and suggests that understanding the origin and development of play can shape our view of society and its accomplishments through history. Analyzing International Environmental Regimes: From Case Study to Database. Helmut Breitmeier, Oran R. Young, and Michael Zürn. 2006. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 336 pp. $29, softcover. ISBN 9780262524612. Regime theory has become an increasingly influential approach to the analysis of international relations, particularly in the areas of international political economy and international environmental politics. The conceptual appeal of the idea of “governance without government”—in which a combination of different organizations and institutions supply governance to address specific problems—reflects a world in which the demand for governance is great but the familiar mechanisms for supplying it are weak. Most research on international regimes employs qualitative methods, often using case studies to develop larger theoretical arguments, but a lack of standardization makes comparative analysis difficult. Analyzing International Environmental Regimes introduces the International Regimes Database (IRD), an important methodological innovation that allows scholars to adopt a quantitative approach to the study of international regimes. The IRD is a relational database that makes it possible to compare records on specific aspects of a number of international environmental regimes that are coded using a single, well-defined set of concepts, definitions, and scales. The book first describes the database and discusses a number of methodological, technical, and architectural issues. It then illustrates the use of the IRD as an analytic tool, drawing on the database for descriptive statistics to evaluate theoretical ideas about compliance, decision rules, and the role of 2010 Noteworthy Books 171 knowledge. A CD containing the full IRD data protocol and all the data currently in the database accompanies the book. Design for Ecological Democracy. Randolph T. Hester. 2006. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 480 pp. $42.95, hardcover. ISBN 9780262083515. Over the last fifty years, the process of community building has been lost in the process of city building. City and suburban design divides us from others in our communities, destroys natural habitats, and fails to provide a joyful context for our lives. In Design for Ecological Democracy, Randolph Hester proposes a remedy for our urban anomie. He outlines new principles for urban design that will allow us to forge connections with our fellow citizens and our natural environment. He demonstrates these principles with abundantly illustrated examples—drawn from forty years of design and planning practice—showing how we can design cities that are ecologically resilient, that enhance community, and that give us pleasure. Hester’s new design principles are founded on three fundamental issues that integrate democracy and ecology: enabling form, resilient form, and impelling form. Urban design must enable us to be communities rather than zoningsegregated enclaves and to function as informed democracies.Resilient form turns increased urban density, for example, into an advantage. And cities should impel us by joy rather than compel us by fear; good cities enrich us rather than limit us. Design for Ecological Democracy is essential reading for designers, planners, environmentalists, community activists, and anyone else who wants to improve a local community. 170 color illustrations, 413 black-and-white illustrations. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America. Roger Tory Peterson. 2008. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, MA. 544 pp. $26, softcover. ISBN 9780618966141. In celebration of the centennial of Roger Tory Peterson’s birth comes a historic collaboration among renowned birding experts and artists to preserve and enhance the Peterson legacy. This new book combines the Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds and Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds into one volume, filled with accessible, concise information and including almost three hours of video podcasts to make bird watching even easier. Features: 40 new paintings, digital updates to Peterson’s original paintings, reflecting the latest knowledge of bird identification, all new maps for the most up-to-date range information available, text rewritten to cover the US and Canada in one guide, and a larger trim size which accommodates range maps on every spread. Contributors include: Michael DiGiorgio, Jeff Gordon, Paul Lehman, Michael O’Brien, Larry Rosche, and Bill Thompson III. Includes URL to register for access to video podcasts. Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators. William Stolzenburg. 2008. Bloomsbury USA, New York, NY. 304 pp. $24.99, hardcover. ISBN 9781596912991. This was once a world alive with wolves and great cats, monstrous fish and flying raptors. They ruled the top of the food chain, where there was a menacing carnivorous component of nearly every major ecosystem on Earth. Not anymore. Snow Leopards of the Tibetan plateau, Whitetip Sharks in the Gulf of Mexico, African Wild Dogs, Asiatic Lions, Iranian Cheetahs, Sumatran Tigers, Ethiopian Solves, Great Philippine Eagles—all these and most others of the alpha predator order have been reduced to wispish presences from not-too-distant pasts. And what of it? As predators disappear from the top of the food chain-- as a result of human actions from hunting and global warming-- scientists have begun to realize, while the individual losses are often overlooked, when taken as a whole, their absence 172 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 17, No.1 significantly affects the environment. From varied quarters of the biosphere— from deer-ravaged forests of the eastern United States, to urchin-scoured reefs in the North Pacific, to the hallowed and elk-trampled aspen groves of America's most beloved park in Yellowstone—in places the topmost predators no longer roam, these investigators are turning up a blander assortment of life, a landscape of weed and pest and stultifying sameness. Theirs is the story of this book, and theirs are fears that the fangless new landscapes are anything but friendlier for the absence. Contemporary Bayesian and Frequentist Statistical Research Methods for Natural Resource Scientists. Howard B. Stauffer. 2007. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ. 400 pp. $110, hardcover. ISBN 9780470165041. The first all-inclusive introduction to modern statistical research methods in the natural resource sciences. The use of Bayesian statistical analysis has become increasingly important to natural resource scientists as a practical tool for solving various research problems. However, many important contemporary methods of applied statistics, such as generalized linear modeling, mixed-effects modeling, and Bayesian statistical analysis and inference, remain relatively unknown among researchers and practitioners in this field. Through its inclusive, hands-on treatment of realworld examples, Contemporary Bayesian and Frequentist Statistical Research Methods for Natural Resource Scientists successfully introduces the key concepts of statistical analysis and inference with an accessible, easy-to-follow approach. The book provides case studies illustrating common problems that exist in the natural resource sciences and presents the statistical knowledge and tools needed for a modern treatment of these issues. Each introduced statistical concept is accompanied by an illustration of its frequentist application in S-Plus(r) or R as well as its Bayesian application in WinBUGS. Brief introductions to these software packages are also provided to help the reader fully understand the concepts of the statistical methods that are presented throughout the book. Assuming only a minimal background in introductory statistics, Contemporary Bayesian and Frequentist Statistical Research Methods for Natural Resource Scientists is an ideal text for natural resource students studying statistical research methods at the upper-undergraduate or graduate level and also serves as a valuable problemsolving guide for natural resource scientists across a broad range of disciplines, including biology, wildlife management, forestry management, fisheries management, and the environmental sciences. Ecology of Weeds and Invasive Plants: Relationship to Agriculture and Natural Resource Management, 3rd Edition. Steven R. Radosevich, Jodie S. Holt, and Claudio M. Ghersa. 2007. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ. 472 pp. $84.95, hardcover. ISBN 9780471767794. This classic reference on weeds and invasive plants has been revised and updated. The third edition of this authoritative reference provides an in-depth understanding of how weeds and invasive plants develop and interact in the environment, so you can manage and control them more effectively. This guide includes an introduction to weeds and invasive plants in various environments and an overview of their ecology and evolution. With extensive examples, this book: focuses on the biological features of weeds and invasive plants, especially as they exist in agriculture, forests, rangelands, and natural ecosystems; includes coverage of exotic invasive plants; discusses a variety of methods and tools for managing weeds and invasive plants, including physical, cultural, biological, and chemical approaches; examines systems approaches for management, including modern integrated pest management; and addresses future challenges for scientists, farmers, 2010 Noteworthy Books 173 and land managers. This text is the definitive, hands-on reference if you're a land manager or professional in plant sciences, agronomy, weed science, and horticulture. The book is also an excellent textbook for senior undergraduate or graduate students studying agriculture, ecology, natural resources management, environmental management, or related fields. Imperial Nature: Joseph Hooker and the Practices of Victorian Science. Jim Endersby. 2008. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. 400 pp. $35, hardcover. ISBN 9780226207919. Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) was an internationally renowned botanist, a close friend and early supporter of Charles Darwin, and one of the first—and most successful—British men of science to become a full-time professional. He was also, Jim Endersby argues, the perfect embodiment of Victorian science. A vivid picture of the complex interrelationships of scientific work and scientific ideas, Imperial Nature gracefully uses one individual’s career to illustrate the changing world of science in the Victorian era. By analyzing Hooker’s career, Endersby offers vivid insights into the everyday activities of nineteenth-century naturalists, considering matters as diverse as botanical illustration and microscopy, classifi- cation, and specimen transportation and storage, to reveal what they actually did, how they earned a living, and what drove their scientific theories. What emerges is a rare glimpse of Victorian scientific practices in action. By focusing on science’s material practices and one of its foremost practitioners, Endersby ably links concerns about empire, professionalism, and philosophical practices to the forging of a nineteenth-century scientific identity. Major Evolutionary Transitions in Flowering Plant Reproduction. Spencer C.H. Barrett (Editor). 2008. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. 216 pp. $30, softcover. ISBN 9780226038162. The first volume to address the study of evolutionary transitions in plants, Major Evolutionary Transitions in Flowering Plant Reproduction brings together compelling work from the three areas of significant innovation in plant biology: evolution and adaptation in flowers and pollination, mating patterns and gender strategies, and asexual reproduction and polyploidy. Spencer C.H. Barrett assembles here a distinguished group of authors who address evolutionary transitions using comparative and phylogenetic approaches, the tools of genomics, population genetics, and theoretical modeling, and through studies in development and field experiments in ecology. With special focus on evolutionary transitions and shifts in reproductive characters—key elements of biological diversification and research in evolutionary biology—Major Evolutionary Transitions in Flowering Plant Reproduction is the most up-todate treatment of a fast-moving area of evolutionary biology and ecology. Architecture by Birds and Insects: A Natural Art. Peggy Macnamara. 2008. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. 164 pp. $25, hardcover. ISBN 9780226500973. Influential American architect Philip Johnson once mused, “All architecture is shelter; all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.” But with just a small swap of a key word, Johnson could well have been describing animal nests. Birds and insects are nature’s premier architects, using a dizzying array of talents to build functional homes in which to live, reproduce, and care for their young. Recycling sticks, branches, grass, and mud to construct their shelters, they are undoubtedly the originators of “green architecture.” A visual celebration of these natural feats of engineering and ingenuity, Architecture by Birds and Insects allows readers a peek inside a wide range of nests, offering a rare opportunity to get a sense of 174 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 17, No.1 The Northeastern Naturalist welcomes submissions of review copies of books that publishers or authors would like to recommend to the journal’s readership and are relevant to the journal’s mission of publishing information about the natural history of the northeastern US. Accompanying short, descriptive summaries of the text are also welcome. the materials and methods used to build them. Inspired by the vast nest collection at the Field Museum, which features specimens gathered throughout North and South America, Peggy Macnamara’s paintings are enhanced by text written by museum curators. This narrative provides a foundation in natural history for each painting, as well as fascinating anecdotes about the nests and their builders. Like so many natural treasures, nests are easy to ignore. But Macnamara’s gorgeous paintings will undoubtedly change that. Architecture by Birds and Insects at last gives the tiniest engineers their rightful moment in the spotlight, and in so doing increases awareness and encourages the protection of birds, insects, and their habitats. Readers will never look at a Frank Gehry design, or a treetop nest, the same way again. 56 color plates. Raptors of Eastern North America: The Wheeler Guides. Brian K. Wheeler. 2007. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 456 pp. $29.95, softcover. ISBN 9780691134765. This book—together with its companion volume, Raptors of Western North America—are the best and most thorough guides to North American hawks, eagles, and other raptors ever published. Abundantly illustrated with hundreds of full-color high-quality photographs, they are essential books for anyone seeking to identify these notoriously tricky-to-identify birds. The Wheeler Guides will help birders and biologists navigate the pitfalls of raptor identification, including raptors’ often extreme variation by age and sex as well as the existence of numerous “confusion” species. The plumage section discusses more plumage variations—and in greater consistency, depth, and clarity—than any previously published guide. The text—informed by years of study and consultation with local, state, provincial, and regional experts— covers all aspects of raptor biology in an easy-to-read and consistent format. It provides the most up-to-date information available on status and distribution, taking into account the recent alteration of some species’ ranges due to pesticide bans and introduction programs. The range maps— which include “city” plotting—are the most accurate and largest ever produced for North American raptors. Nature's Museums: Victorian Science and the Architecture of Display. Carla Yanni. 2005. Princeton Architectural Press, New York, NY. 216 pp. $45.95, softcover. ISBN 9781568984728. Cabinets of curiosity, glass-enclosed museums stuffed with seashells, butterflies, reptiles, birds, mammals, and marvels of all kinds—the dsplay of natural history presented a new way of seeing that was excitingly unfamiliar to nineteenthcentury audiences. These carefully organized collections—housed in architectural monuments steeped in varying, often contradictory concepts of nature— helped shape our vision of the natural world and form the social construction of knowledge we still employ today. This beautifully illustrated history features plans of projects both imagined and realized with period drawings of spectacular halls and natural specimens, as well as contemporary photographs of Victorian architectural masterpieces. Author Carla Yanni brings together the history of architecture and the history of science in an engaging study of how the Victorians approached the housing and display of scientific artifacts.