Books about Tropical from Amazon.com

Delicious, lethal, hallucinogenic and medicinal, fruits have led nations to war, fueled dictatorships and lured people into new worlds. An expedition through the fascinating world of fruit, The Fruit Hunters is the engrossing story of some of Earth's most desired foods.

In lustrous prose, Adam Leith Gollner draws readers into a Willy Wonka-like world with mangoes that taste like piña coladas, orange cloudberries, peanut butter fruits and the miracle fruit that turns everything sour to sweet, making lemons taste like lemonade. Peopled with a cast of characters as varied and bizarre as the fruit -- smugglers, inventors, explorers and epicures -- this extraordinary book unveils the mysterious universe of fruit, from the jungles of Borneo to the prized orchards of Florida's fruit hunters to American supermarkets.

Gollner examines the fruits we eat and explains why we eat them (the scientific, economic and aesthetic reasons); traces the life of mass-produced fruits (how they are created, grown and marketed) and explores the underworld of fruits that are inaccessible, ignored and even forbidden in the Western world.

An intrepid journalist and keen observer of nature -- both human and botanical -- Adam Leith Gollner has written a vivid tale of horticultural obsession..
Price: $8.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Irresistible vegan recipes from all over the world from the author of The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen and Vegan Italiano.

In this culinary tour of the Caribbean, Central and South America, Thailand, Indonesia, the Canary Islands, Hawaii, Australia, Africa, India, and many more exotic places, readers will learn how easy it is to prepare authentic tropical vegan dishes with readily available ingredients. The book includes:

• More than 225 delicious and nutritious meat-free, egg-free, and dairy-free recipes for appetizers, soups, salads, main courses, side dishes, beverages, and desserts
• A glossary of tropical fruits and vegetables with information on buying and storage
• Cook’s tips throughout
• Comprehensive nutritional analysis for every recipe.
Price: $12.25 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Finally, a comprehensive fish identification guide covering the fish-rich reefs of the Pacific It contains 2,500 underwater photographs of 2,000 species from four of the best marine life authors/photographers in the business. Their collaboration makes it possible for underwater naturalists to identify fishes from Thailand to Tahiti with a single, compact, easy-to-use, no-nonsense reference. 108 fish families are presented in one of 20 Identification groups based on a family's related visual or behavioural characteristics, such as Large Oval / Colourful or Sand/Burrow Dwellers. Likewise, every effort has been made to group similar appearing species together..
Price: $26.72 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Ranging from miniature epiphytic orchids to towering trees, and from mangrove forests lining coastal waterways to high-elevation cloud forests, Costa Rica's rich and varied flora dazzles visitors and botanists alike. Tropical Plants of Costa Rica, the first popular treatment to include plants from all regions of the country, is an indispensable guide to native and exotic species found in the neotropics.

This book is beautifully illustrated with more than 540 full-color photographs taken in the field, each depicting an entire plant or a closer view of flowers, fruits, or seeds. Instructive pen-and-ink drawings of botanical details also accompany many of the accounts. The text clearly explains each plant's identifying characteristics and reveals fascinating facts about its natural history, chemical properties, economic importance, and medicinal and other uses. Sidebar features throughout the book highlight conservation, ethnobotany, and ecology; their topics include unusual applications for plants, distinct attributes of certain plant families, and plants of particular microhabitats. Tropical Plants of Costa Rica is a wonderful resource for naturalists, students, and researchers, as well as both experienced and first-time visitors to Costa Rica and the American tropics..
Price: $21.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Delivering the facts to your fingertips, the Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine provides an accessible and comprehensive, signs-and-symptoms-based source of information on medical problems commonly seen in the tropics. A handy guide which can fit in the coat pocket and be used easily at the bedside, it has been designed to be as practical as possible with illustrations of blood films and stool smears, which are useful for diagnosis, as well as clinical features, diagnosis, and management. Medical conditions are ordered by system except for the five major tropical conditions - malaria, HIV/STIs, tuberculosis, diarrhoeal diseases, and acute respiratory infections - and fevers. In this new edition the sections on malaria, cardiology, chest medicine, gastroenterology, mental health and dermatology have undergone major revision, and there is new material on altitude sickness, heat stroke, avian flu and fuller poisoning. There is a greater emphasis on pediatric medicine and public health throughout, and new illustrations and photographs have been included to aid with diagnosis. Small enough to throw in your rucksack, this unique handbook is the ultimate quick reference guide for all those working in the tropics..
Price: $38.27 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This book is the "bible" on the subject of Reef Aquarium keeping, covering the biology of coral reefs and relating it to the biological, chemical, and physical parameters considered when creating a reef aquarium. The book details how to successfully cultivate corals in captivity and also features the identification and care of numerous coral and giant clam species. Diseases and parasites, and methods for controlling algae are also featured. The book finishes with an exciting section of photographs demonstrating successful reef aquariums..
Price: $49.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A week-by-week practical guide to setting up and maintaining a superb living environment

As fishkeeping continues to grow in popularity, hobbyists are looking for authoritative advice and more sophisticated results.

Setting Up a Tropical Aquarium Week-by-Week is an encyclopedic reference that takes a fresh look at setting up and maintaining a tropical freshwater aquarium. New hobbyists are quite often impatient to set up their aquarium and want to add their expensive fish as soon as possible. This common misstep can have disastrous results that may discourage beginners from ever trying again.

To curb such enthusiastic impatience, this book presents clear step-by-step practical advice in a convenient week-by-week progression. The book uses detailed photographic sequences to follow each stage of setting up a warm water freshwater tropical aquarium in real-time over a period of ten weeks.

The set-up procedure starts with the first day, when the substrate and life-support systems are installed and progresses to the point at which the first fish are added - two weeks later. The book then follows the aquarium's development during the next eight weeks as the tank turns from an artificial environment into a living eco-system.

Alongside the main aquarium set-up sequence are photographs that show how to create two different aquascape designs based on a cube and a bow-front tank.

Profile sections show fifty aquarium plants and one hundred popular warm water freshwater aquarium fish at relevant stages of the set-up process. Throughout, the book explains the natural processes that occur so that fishkeepers can ensure ongoing success.

Combining clear text and simple-to-follow illustrations, Setting Up a Tropical Aquarium Week-by-Week is a crucial reference for tropical freshwater fish hobbyists..
Price: $9.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Given their diversity and versatility, it is surprising that palms are underutilized in landscapes and gardens, even in tropical climes. Several reasons account for this, including misconceptions about the plants' growing requirements and unfamiliarity with their ornamental qualities. This pocket guide remedies both problems. It unlocks the keys to successfully growing 200 of the most common and easily obtainable palm species and hybrids, and it highlights botanical characteristics that are of interest to gardeners and landscapers. Each description includes details of trunk, crownshaft, leaf, flower, and fruit to assist in plant identification and selection. The extensive cultivation notes include details of mature tree size, cold hardiness, and light, soil, and water requirements. Suggestions for using the plants indoors and out will help even novice gardeners know where to start, and succinct information on seed germination will assist anyone who wants to grow palms from seed. Illustrated with more than 300 color photographs..
Price: $11.43 [Notify me when price goes down.]