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View Full Version : A very cool new reference, the Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon



Francisco_Borrero
07-20-2003, 09:57 PM
Hi all:
I have been away for a while. I am now a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio. I look forward to meet some of you at ACA in just a few short days.
I want to congratulate you and thank you for this new forum on the Amazon. Very cool. Great job you guys and gals.
On to the topic...

In my opinnion, this is indeed a very nice and potentially very useful reference source on the general and specific habitat of discus and other fish, and in general of the Amazon.
Brand new, released March 2003, it is as far as I know the first comprehensive work of this type, though there are good works for specific individual river basins elsewhere.

From the inside of the dust jacket :

"....provides the first comprehensive view of this massive river system, revealing the rainforest as never seen before with 150 color maps and almost 300 stunning photographs.....The detailed maps trace the water flow from the furthest headwater in the Ucayali Valley of Peru....to the mouth of the Amazon, over 64,000 km to the northeast.....Following an introduction to the Amazon River system and the lands that surround it, the Atlas provides a river-by-river tour of the tributaries. Each of these rivers has its own environmental setting, from the Jenipapo...to the magnificent waterfalls of the Xingu valley. These are the places of the Amazon, a land of wild rivers, forests, fauna, and people that remain unique".

Michael Goulding- Ecologist w/ the Amazon Conservation Association.
Ronaldo Barthem- Goeldi Museum in Belem, Brazil.
Efrem Ferreira- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Manaus, Brazil.

From the Contents: The major rivers covered in full detail (with many more in lesser depth):
- The Amazon, The Tocantins, The Tapajos, The Xingu, The Madeira, The Purus, The Jurua, The Ucayali and Maranhon, The Negro and Trombetas.

For each river: Extensive map of basin, land use maps, Conservation units map, Additional map resources, many pictures in high and low water, extensive text.

Even if the book is not about discus or even about fish, I believe it a very important source. Direct experience remains unchallenged as a resource...of course, but the book is very comprehensive and organized methodically. Direct experience rarely is. If nothing else, this is a very informative, entertaining, beautiful and inexpensive book. The geological and hydrological information is superb. 253 pages, excellent paper quality and binding.

The only discus book that I know of and that has some similarity to the usefulness of this book as descriptor of the habitat of discus, is Mayland's Adventures with discus (in my opinnion the best source for wild discus...that I know). The similarity lies in the river-by-river treatment. The difference is, Mayland's book is mainly about the fish, the Atlas is about the rivers, the information is tremendoustly more extensive, covers many more rivers, and is much more current. Also, Mayland's book is based on a few (albeit very well used) travel opportunities, whereas the Atlas is by people who are there full time.

Thought this would be of interest.
Cheers, Francisco.

p.s. The book is not without a few flaws: just by reading the notes under the many pictures, a few typos and other minor editorial boo-boos have appeared. There probably are more. I know of no book without flaws.

ChloroPhil
07-24-2003, 09:09 AM
That's awesome!!! Somehow in my searchings in and around the net I came across some maps and stuff which must be from that book. That's going to be a Must Have for anyone interested in Biotopes and/or serious re-creation of Amazon water qualities.

Thanks Francisco, any idea how much it'll be?

Francisco_Borrero
07-24-2003, 05:42 PM
It is surprizingly inexpensive : $ 27.97 (with shipping, $31.96).
Not bad at all.

Cheers, Francisco.

April
07-24-2003, 11:44 PM
wow....cool book. i might just get one.. close as i might get to the amazon. less worry about bugs and snakes. ::)

Steve_Warner
07-28-2003, 03:34 AM
Hi all,
Well, on my research journey to my local university library this past Friday, I saw that it was "On shelf" there. The only problem was that it wasn't "on shelf" when I got to it's location. I have a hold placed on it when they find it to check it out. Sounds like a good one to read! Goulding has many books out with Amazon info in them. Thanks Francisco.


Steve

Jason
07-29-2003, 12:04 PM
Where are you guys ordering them from?

Francisco, thank-you for notifying us of that book, and I look forward to your participation in this section.

O
07-29-2003, 09:40 PM
Amazon.com has it. New & Used.

O.

Francisco_Borrero
08-02-2003, 09:36 PM
Amazon.com is where I got it from. It seems remarkable it is available as "used" already. considering it just came out. Somebody must not have liked it.
I still think it is very good, but there is something I already have noticed that I consider a minus: There are many more location names (rivers, towns, others) throughout the maps in the book than what appears in the index. In other words, the book is cool, but the index is weak and one would hope a next edition would improve upon that.
Cheers, Francisco.

Steve_Warner
08-09-2003, 10:05 PM
Hi all,
Well, the library finally found the book. I picked it up today and it is really cool. It has excellent pictures and some good info on the major branches, tributaries and other stuff about the region. I noticed it had quote references from the other technical books I have on the Amazon water chemistry and such, so it should be a good read. I will dive into it's content tonight, I only looked at the "pop-up" pics for now.............J/K ;D Anyway, 'Cisco, thanks for the heads up on the book. I'm gonna order one to put with my growing collection of info about the 'Zon region. Man, I wanna go there and explore for a few YEARS!

Steve