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Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Maldives," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Maldives in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Maldives when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Maldives, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

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This travel book is part of a series inviting young readers to explore the six continents. Each title includes a survey of the country's history, geography, culture, government, industry, agriculture, place in the world and a suggestion of what the future may hold. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Maldives are formed by a number of natural atolls plus atolls in the form of a few islands and isolated reefs today which form a pattern stretching from 7 degrees 10' North to 0 degrees 45' South. The Maldives is a long and narrow country formed by 26 natural atolls. Some atolls are in the form of a number of islands by time and in the form of isolated reefs, which could be classified as smaller atoll formations. All land above the surface in the Maldives is of coralline origin. The atolls of the Maldives form a quite regular chain and, especially in the northern and central atolls, an arrayed structure is apparent. There are broad and deep channels in between some atolls. The origin of the word atoll itself is in the language of the Maldives. 'Atoll' is now used in many languages worldwide. Traditionally, Maldivians call the atolls ending in '-madulu' or '-mathi' by their name without adding the word 'Atoll' at the end. For example, it is correct to write simply Kolhumadulhu, without adding the word 'Atholhu' at the end. This is also the case in the atoll known as Faadhippolhu. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll or Raa Atoll is an administrative division from the Maldives. The capital is Ungoofaaru. It includes Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll proper and the island of Alifushi.1. Alifushi and Etthingili (Powell Islands in the Admiralty Chart) stand on a detached reef of their own with very deep waters (no sounding) between this faru and the northern end of the main atoll. 2. Northern Maalhosmadulhu Atoll is 35 miles (56 km) in length from N to S, and 15 miles (24 km) across at its broadest part. Its western fringe is composed of a series of round or oval reefs (farus) irregularly placed (a feature peculiar to all the larger Northern Atolls). The centre is heavily dotted with coral patches (giri), some submerged and some awash. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Vaavu Atoll is an administrative division of the Maldives comprising the natural atolls of Felidhu Atoll and the Vattaru Reef. It is the smallest administrative atoll in terms of population. This atoll is located 40 miles from capital Malé, 90 minutes by speedboat and 5 hours by dhoni. The Vaavu Atoll administrative division includes two geographical atolls; Felidhu Atoll and the small egg-shaped Vattaru Reef, which has only one little islet, Vattaru and is 9 kilometers in diameter. ... Read more

Product Description
The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. Shipwrecked on the Maldives in 1602-1607, Pyrard de Laval learnt the local language and studied the culture, flora and fauna of the islands. On his escape to Goa he continued his cultural investigations in Portuguese India, before returning to France by way of Saint Helena and Brazil in 1611. His book, which included practical advice for French traders travelling to Asia and a phrase book for visitors to the Maldives, was an immediate success. This three-volume translation of the 1619 edition appeared in 1887-1890. ... Read more

Product Description
The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. Shipwrecked on the Maldives in 1602-1607, Pyrard de Laval learnt the local language and studied the culture, flora and fauna of the islands. On his escape to Goa he continued his cultural investigations in Portuguese India, before returning to France by way of Saint Helena and Brazil in 1611. His book, which included practical advice for French traders travelling to Asia and a phrase book for visitors to the Maldives, was an immediate success. This three-volume translation of the 1619 edition appeared in 1887-1890. ... Read more

Product Description
The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. Shipwrecked on the Maldives in 1602-1607, Pyrard de Laval learnt the local language and studied the culture, flora and fauna of the islands. On his escape to Goa he continued his cultural investigations in Portuguese India, before returning to France by way of Saint Helena and Brazil in 1611. His book, which included practical advice for French traders travelling to Asia and a phrase book for visitors to the Maldives, was an immediate success. This three-volume translation of the 1619 edition appeared in 1887-1890. ... Read more

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See DIVE MALDIVES, A Guide to the Maldives Archipelago ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very good guide to dive in Maldives; smart photos.
That book it's a very good guide to diving in Maldives. I was in Maldives two times and i did some immersions illustrated in the book and was fantastic! It's very good to prepare diving activities and to review andremember what done. Very good undersea photos with an impressive"catalogue" of maldivian marine fauna. ... Read more

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A colour guide to the underwater life of the world's four great coral seabeds, where the warm limpid water is home to an extraordinary range of highly-coloured species of all shapes and sizes. Photographs, identification artwork and biological tables illustrate the easily understood but scientifically accurate text to offer a complete guide to the flora and fauna of the loveliest seas on the planet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

What are they talking about?
Nowadays many divers are producing dive guides to their favourite destinations. Some are really good and reflect the author's life-long knowledge of the area. Sadly, far too many are poorly written and should not have been published. Technical, reference books, however, are not for those who lack the requisite qualifications which must be coupled with expertise. Who knows what misinformation may be imparted - simply because the author did not posses a complete understanding of the subject.

This is another book from White Star Publishing of Italy. It is not, however, another diving guide. A quick glance at the contents reveals how this book seeks to explain the Coral Reef - from 500 million years ago to the present day, it's geography, biology and, of course, those all-important living creatures.

That is a pretty tall order. It is, therefore, only fair that we should examine the qualifications of the author in order in order to determine the credibility of the content. I was, therefore, expecting to find a short biography explaining when and where the author obtained his PhD or other equally impressive qualifications. Sadly there is no such information - not even a pen-picture or résumé about the person responsible for writing this technical tome. In fact, apart from the two instances (book cover and page 3) where Angelo Mojetta is credited with writing the text, he receives no further mention whatsoever. Nor is he credited with having taken any of the many excellent photographs - which also include images from NASA and Oxford Scientific Films.

In short, the reader is left with no idea whether this book is the work of someone who is an eminent expert in his field or an enthusiastic amateur - and that leaves a very large question mark over the entire content. Sadly, and equally unforgivable, the publishers have also omitted a bibliography. After all, the author was certainly not around 500 million years ago - so he must have obtained his information from somewhere.

All that said, this is a well-presented and highly technical book covering the evolution of Barrier Reefs and the way they are today. We just can't be certain the information is correct. The book is supported with plenty of maps, graphs and diagrams which are generally used to good effect. The final 45 pages are devoted to artistic impressions of various fishes, invertebrates and corals. Unfortunately, however, these are flawed - both in presentation and content. Having compared the fishes drawn and described in this book with those from other titles from this same publisher, I found the same pictures are used in those other titles - where the same fish are given different names!

My final comment is reserved for this publisher's somewhat original brand of "Italian-English" for which they are renowned. Because phrases are expressed differently from language to language, any "word by word" literal translation often looks very silly. This book opens with the following two sentences which speak for themselves and come complete with spelling mistakes (marked with "(sic)" each time) and lack of punctuation:

"In an ideal catalogue of the natural wonders on earth a prominent position must be reserved alongside the rain forests (sic), the Africa savanna (sic) and the ices of Antarctica for coral reefs. Warm crystal-clear waters inviting exploration, exuberant life manifesting itself in a myriad of forms and colours - these are the principal (sic) features of the extraordinary habitats peculiar to the tropical regions of our planet, incomparable aquatic environments in equilibrium between the sea and the land and prey to the forces of both."

If you would like to read more of the same - then this is the book for you. Personally, I think it a pity that such excellent photography is wasted on what is easily the hardest book I have ever tried to read and understand.

NM

What are they talking about?

A Visual Delight
I purchased this book recently in Sydney in preparation for an overseas diving vacation.It is a visual delight and something I continually review as it gives me great pleasure due to the amazing underwater photography. ... Read more