Review by Choice Review
This reviewer's first look through this book left her at a loss as to how to define its material and purpose. The photographs are of outstanding quality, rather like an excellent field guide, but the text there offers real scientific information. A Living Bay is neither a simple field guide nor a scientific tome; reading it is analogous to wandering through Monterey Bay with someone who has a great deal of knowledge about the natural history of the ecosystem. The text provides an overview of the life history strategies of the animals and plants that inhabit Monterey Bay, including tidbits of scientific information such as the immune reactions of Pisaster the sea star, and the detoxifying function of P-glycoprotein. The depth of information is not consistent across the groups of organisms presented, however; invertebrates are dealt with quite thoroughly, with less attention paid to the vertebrate inhabitants. The language is easy to read, anecdotal, and informative as well. This beautiful book is perfect for the curious who wish for more than a pretty picture but have no desire to wrestle with dry scientific text. General readers; undergraduates; two-year technical program students. S. D. Brooke; Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review