The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada (California Academy of Sciences)

The seller gave a good description of the book, but at first overview I think the book is even better than I expected. I don't have the time to become the pro naturalist I'd like to be, but frequently have questions about many of the categories contained in the book, so I think this book will be really helpful to me...and to the grandkids who come to visit.One of the first pages I opened to was on the amanita mushrooms. I noticed that they were not listed as either poisonous or edible. Then I saw the introduction to that section, where the author stated very clearly that in this brief a guide it would not be wise or safe for him to indicate edibility, and he gave counsel as to where to find such specific guidance. I appreciated that.When I walked into our orchard this morning and saw animal scat, my first inclination was to look with a magnifying glass to see if it really did meet the author's pimple and indentation description of deer droppings!Probably as time goes by I'll wish for more detail. But if so, I can always refer to the wildflower, bird, or other field guides for further information. There's a good chance I'll be ordering another copy of this book to keep at my vacation home or to give to my nature-loving granddaughter. It's a fun and simple read. Great job!

What a magical book! I was just at Yosemite and visited the Conservation Heritage Center where they have a small library located in the left corner. This book was sitting on the table and my eyes were instantly drawn to it. I picked this book up at least 4 times and kept walking back to look at it. As I was flipping through the pages I saw a stellar’s jay bird that my Dad and I saw at Camp Curry that day. I ran over to my Dad and pointed to the bird in the book and he excitedly said “it’s the bird!” We were previously calling it the wrong name and I loved that this book taught us the the correct terminology. I am so happy that the Conservation Center has this book available for people to explore! For the first time during my trip, I couldn’t wait for my phone to get service so I could buy this book. My eyes are in heaven and it is such a masterpiece. Probably my favorite purchase of the year. I can’t wait to show my niece when she visits for the summer. Thank you, John Laws for sharing your beautiful creation with us. If you only knew how happy this book makes me. :)

An excellent guide, and pretty comprehensive. Excellent illustrations. I've only found a very few species that weren't in this guide. 99% of the time I've found it included in this guide. Also, I found the distribution maps very helpful when narrowing down which species of chipmunks I found. Chipmunk species look really similar, so narrowing down the number of possibilities based on location is helpful. Also, for most species, the author has included tips with arrows and descriptions of key features that differentiate one species from another similar species. This made it much easier to identify the species of some of the butterflies or wildflowers I found.The only slight criticism I have is that this guide hasn't been updated to reflect changes in the scientific binomial names of a few of the wildflower species. Botanists sometimes reclassify the genus of flowers from time-to-time as genetic analysis gets better. Fortunately, John Muir Laws has published a more recent book that only covers wildflowers, and has updated taxonomic binomial names, and that book is small enough to carry in my cargo pants pocket as I hike, so I recommend buying both books if you're into accurately classifying your finds.When I'm out on a camping trip, I keep this larger general book in my vehicle to use as a reference against my photos when I finish a hike. And, I carry the smaller wildflower book in my pocket as I hike, so they work well together.

This is our favorite book, we buy this book for all the kids birthday parties. Very informative and fun for adults and kids!

The book is well organized and the illustrations are fantastic. It is a go to guide for all things Sierra Nevada.

there's a lot of great field guides out there, but this is one of the best for california that i've ever seen!!everything is organized really well, making it easy to use for field identification. particularly for birds, where every page is organized by color.wide range of flora and fauna is covered. makes a great gift for both kids and adults that are outdoor included or nature enthusiasts. highly recommend!

I don't see how one guy has the time and resources to document every plant and animal in the Sierra Nevada, but somehow he has done it. It's a great reference source.

A fantastic resource for identifying most plant species to at least family or genus in the Sierra Nevada range. I used mine in the field for some really strenuous work and it held up for a few hundred miles of hiking and identification. For the price and size, it can't be beat.

Very good book, great price delivered, faster than expected.

always a compromise. Worth having, but not comprehensive of course.

Sehr gut gegliedertes, umfangreich und informatives Buch über Flora u. Fauna der Sierra Nevada.Didaktisch sehr gut aufgebaut. Sehr brauchbar.