BOOKS: Sterling references
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1994:
The Reptile and Amphibian Keeper’s
Dictionary, by David C. Wareham. 1993. 193 pages,
hardcover, $24.95 ($34.95 in Canada).
Dolphins & Porpoises: A World-wide
Guide, by Jean-Pierre Sylvestre. 1994. 160 pages,
hardcover, $19.95 ($25.95 in Canada).
The Greenpeace Book of Coral Reefs, by
Susan Wells & Nick Hanna. 1992, 160 pages, hard-
cover, $35.00.
All from Sterling Publishing Co. (387 Park
Ave. South, New York, NY 10016-8810).
Unless you are in fact a reptile and amphibian
keeper, you probably won’t need The Reptile and
Amphibian Keeper’s Dictionary. If you do work with rep-
tiles and amphibians, though, this is an essential refer-
ence––especially if you have to decipher scientific litera-
ture to figure out how to identify and treat a thus-and-such
you’ve never seen before.
Comparably thorough, Dolphins & Porpoises
includes just about everything one would ever want to
know about all of the smaller whales. Since dolphin-and-
porpoise-watching opportunities tend to be few, and com-
piling a life-list of the rarer species would involve prohib-
itive travel costs, most of us will just have to look at the
226 pictures, including 93 in color.
Speaking of pictures, don’t let the coffee table
format of The Greenpeace Book of Coral Reefs fool you.
It’s a thorough treatise, global in scope, about a vanish-
ing species and habitat that serves oceanic biodiversity
much as rainforests serve biodiversity on land.
