Overview
Natural History is, as it claims a visual guide, perhaps not the ultimate, but close and not everything almost.
Its chapter on fish seems a little lean, but most will not notice.
It is a big heavy, over 7 pounds, coffee table book. It does have some stunning pictures and lots of colored illustrations. Most of what it includes are sections on each page with coloured charts, pictures, and illustrations of many elements of the natural world rocks, ferns, a variety of snails, birds of prey it is filled with almost any living thing you could think of.
The maps are well done and it will do much to clear up any confusion one has on classifications. You could even accomplish much identification yourself of rocks and birds using its clear pictures.
There are sections on the living earth, minerals, rocks and fossils, microscopic life, plants, fungi and animals including invertebrates, chordates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
There is a glossary and an index. It is an excellent reference and learning tool and of course has the expertise of the Smithsonian Institute behind it.
This is a book young children could learn from, but adults would not feel talked down to.
It would make a great addition to your home, school or as a Christmas present that should get much use.
Author Information
DK Publishing has written nearly seventy short stories and novelettes, numerous novels, and three short fiction collections, and won the Hugo Award for best novella. Timothy Zahn is best known for his Star Wars novels Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, Specter of the Past, Vision of the Future, Survivors Quest, Outbound Flight, and Allegiance, and has more than four million copies in print. His most recent publications have been the science fiction Cobra series and the six part young adult series Dragonback. He has a B.S. in physics from Michigan State University, and an M.S. in physics from the University of Illinois. He lives with his family on the Oregon coast.