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Review
... well designed and very easy to use ... it's also one of those absorbing reference books which, having found what you were looking for, you keep reading (Organic Gardening )
The clear photographs in this manual should help us to sort out our yummy mushrooms from our poisonous toadstools (Daily Telegraph )
The clear photographs in this manual should help us to sort out our yummy mushrooms from our poisonous toadstools (Daily Telegraph )
Review
... well designed and very easy to use ... it's also one of those absorbing reference books which, having found what you were looking for, you keep reading Organic Gardening The clear photographs in this manual should help us to sort out our yummy mushrooms from our poisonous toadstools Daily Telegraph
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
When I first caught the mushroom-hunting 'bug' through London University the range of available mycological field guides was very limited. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
When I first caught the mushroom-hunting 'bug' through London University the range of available mycological field guides was very limited. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This guide is on a par with the older Roger Phillips "Mushrooms" and very similar in size and format. Unlike Phillips, all photographs have been shot in situ. With so few guides to fungi available, and each covering a particular selection of species, it's best to assemble a good library - and this should be one of the major works. Even though the focus is Britain and Europe, many of the fungi have much wider ranges and this book is invaluable elsewhere in the world too (I use it regularly in temperate and tropical America).
Chris Sharpe, 3 August 2007. ISBN: 0711223793
Chris Sharpe, 3 August 2007. ISBN: 0711223793
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
* I am a complete fungi novice - please bare that in mind when reading this review! *
This fungi encyclopaedia by Michael Jordan is the 2004 revised edition of his highly regarded 1995 original. As a revised edition, you'd expect it to be excellent quality, and so it is; listing more than a thousand species with superb photographs and detailed descriptions.
The first `introductory' sections to this encyclopaedia, ending on p33, offer some very helpful advice on fungi biology and structure; with a `How to use this book' feature - which you'll need to read! - and a reference section with bibliography and glossary. The main encyclopaedia then follows.
If you take advantage of Amazon's excellent `Search Inside' feature, you'll see how Jordan lays out the entries. It's very thorough, with long, impossible to pronounce Latin names (very few have English names), dimensions, detailed descriptions of the cap, gills and stem of the fungi (if it has them), as well as microscopic analysis of the spores and any relevant chemical tests.
Anna and I are, therefore, starting to discover that the task of identifying each fungi accurately is legendarily difficult! This is not helped when names and classification of fungi are continually changing and, authors can apparetnly disagree on both. Also, it appears that fungi are continuing to evolve thus giving rise to frequent new strains.
As a novice, this is supremely difficult to overcome - but it is the nature of the fungal beast, not a fault of this book. However, relevant photographs of all listed fungi in their young, mature and `over-blown' state would be very useful. This is because a mushroom (for instance) that starts out as pink ball, may mature into a white umbrella shape. Unfortunately, this encyclopaedia only has some pictures of fungi in their young and/or old states.
I think Jordan's offering is as good an encyclopaedia as one can expect, and better than many. But the complexities of accurately identifying each species mean that it is always going to be a difficult to use volume. However, it is still top quality, managing to convey the author's passion and it represents superb value for money. Recommended.
This fungi encyclopaedia by Michael Jordan is the 2004 revised edition of his highly regarded 1995 original. As a revised edition, you'd expect it to be excellent quality, and so it is; listing more than a thousand species with superb photographs and detailed descriptions.
The first `introductory' sections to this encyclopaedia, ending on p33, offer some very helpful advice on fungi biology and structure; with a `How to use this book' feature - which you'll need to read! - and a reference section with bibliography and glossary. The main encyclopaedia then follows.
If you take advantage of Amazon's excellent `Search Inside' feature, you'll see how Jordan lays out the entries. It's very thorough, with long, impossible to pronounce Latin names (very few have English names), dimensions, detailed descriptions of the cap, gills and stem of the fungi (if it has them), as well as microscopic analysis of the spores and any relevant chemical tests.
Anna and I are, therefore, starting to discover that the task of identifying each fungi accurately is legendarily difficult! This is not helped when names and classification of fungi are continually changing and, authors can apparetnly disagree on both. Also, it appears that fungi are continuing to evolve thus giving rise to frequent new strains.
As a novice, this is supremely difficult to overcome - but it is the nature of the fungal beast, not a fault of this book. However, relevant photographs of all listed fungi in their young, mature and `over-blown' state would be very useful. This is because a mushroom (for instance) that starts out as pink ball, may mature into a white umbrella shape. Unfortunately, this encyclopaedia only has some pictures of fungi in their young and/or old states.
I think Jordan's offering is as good an encyclopaedia as one can expect, and better than many. But the complexities of accurately identifying each species mean that it is always going to be a difficult to use volume. However, it is still top quality, managing to convey the author's passion and it represents superb value for money. Recommended.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I know nothing about fungi until a few weeks ago when using my macro lens I started filming various types simply as most of the insect life had gone to bed for the winter. To ID the pictures I needed a guide to what I was filming.
I spent a week or so looking through the Amazon listings and reading all the reader's reviews to try and get the best guide I could. (When I say the best I mean in terms of one I could use rather then something that was too basic or so advanced I'd be lost).
With only one review of this book I was in two minds to get or not, but then decided I would give it a go.
It came today and for the past few hours I have been going through it. The photos are all by natural light where ever possible,....that means a lot when you are trying to match it up with what you have seen or have a picture of. The pictures are also good at showing the conditions they are found in. The text is excellent for each species. At the front there are various chapters on how to ID the fungi, a colour key and a ID key for all the species featured in the book.
Having purchased various guides on insects, plants and wildlife in the past few months I have to say that I cannot imagine how Michael Jordan could have improved on this excellent guide and encyclopedia. My only wish is he turns his hand at an insect guide next!!! LOL.
Michael clearly loves his subject, and that love is so apparent in this book. A classic guide.
I spent a week or so looking through the Amazon listings and reading all the reader's reviews to try and get the best guide I could. (When I say the best I mean in terms of one I could use rather then something that was too basic or so advanced I'd be lost).
With only one review of this book I was in two minds to get or not, but then decided I would give it a go.
It came today and for the past few hours I have been going through it. The photos are all by natural light where ever possible,....that means a lot when you are trying to match it up with what you have seen or have a picture of. The pictures are also good at showing the conditions they are found in. The text is excellent for each species. At the front there are various chapters on how to ID the fungi, a colour key and a ID key for all the species featured in the book.
Having purchased various guides on insects, plants and wildlife in the past few months I have to say that I cannot imagine how Michael Jordan could have improved on this excellent guide and encyclopedia. My only wish is he turns his hand at an insect guide next!!! LOL.
Michael clearly loves his subject, and that love is so apparent in this book. A classic guide.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
rattyco
This book is superb. it is on a par with Roger Phillips's "Mushrooms". I have been studying Fungi for about 6 years and have amassed about 15 field guides in that time, most of... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ratty.
a needed present
It was good to see that the fungi covered included europe and was not limited to a parochial content. Read more
Published 8 months ago by bergerac
excellent book
Unusually I am reviewing this book on behalf of my five year old son, who developed an interest in fungus of all kinds this summer and is not entertained by children's books on the... Read more
Published 17 months ago by babsbabs65
Encyclopedia
This book along with Roger Philips work are the only two reference works I hold to cross reference with my field guide. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Philip55
Lots of species but not thoroughly described
I consider myself medium to advanced in identifying the mushrooms and I've been collecting them since year 2000. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mihai Savu
Mushrooms galore !
Seemingly a very comprehensive reference on all forms of fungi, like to be encountered in Europe.
Published on 18 Dec 2009 by Ray Dent
Valuable Reference
Jordan's enormous book is the product of 30 years spent studying and collecting fungi. Jordan is a botanist, heads up an association of fungus groups, and ran the Mushroom Magic TV... Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2009 by Engineer
Not for the idle page flicker
This book is a very comprehensive encyclopaedia of funghi. It's detail and thorough application of the need for detailed identification make it a necessary text book for the... Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2009 by Jonathan M. Watts
Very good, but not the only book you'll need
If you are thinking about buying this book, you are probably getting quite interested in fungi, and moving on from smaller books with less in (perhaps getting frustrated by not... Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2009 by Mr. J. Horsfall
A must-have - but too large for forays
Mr Jordan's book is excellent value-for-money, with terse descriptions and clear photographs taken 'in-situ' under natural light. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2009 by MacAvity
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