Customer Reviews

The Fifth Kingdom 3/e

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Fifth Kingdom is indeed an excellent treatment on the fungi kingdom. A lively text makes this topic approachable to most. I would also highly recommend the CDROM Dr. Kendrick has produced to go with the text. Over 3000 colour images and animations have been included which really brings the topic to life. He has placed many of these chapters online at his site mycolog com . I would recommend a visit there to anyone who would like to learn more about either the text or CD.

I am most disappointed that the book is not available. I was only able to read half a copy that I found lying around before its owner reclaimed it. It is an excellent example of how a usable textbook should be written in the modern style: simply, elegantly, readably, no nonsense, full of sound material. It is rich in context and full of surprises. Every entry makes connections and interconnections. It deals entertainly, but matter-of-factly, with amazing items and their biological significance, without ignoring everyday ones and leaves the reader with an integrated comprehension and a renewed respect for the subject matter. Even though I am a biologist, I had always looked on the fungi with a certain lack of enthusiasm, dating from some appallingly boring classes at university. This book brought the kingdom back to life for me.

It is functional, reasonably comprehensive, and, importantly, it is fun to read. It reinforces the view of the interconnectedness and variety of living things.

I hope it is soon reprinted.

A lot of this book is about fungi reproduction, and therefore, fungi sex -- although a lot of reproduction is anamorphic (asexual). Currently, there are over 100,000 fungi described scientifically (over 10,000 species of mushrooms), but Dr. Kendrik estimates that this is less than one tenth of the Earth's mycota (fungi). This book, of course, does not discuss all 100,000 fungi. It discusses fungi classifications, and some of the most important fungi.

Fungi is omnipresent and includes mushrooms, yeasts, lichens (a combination of fungus and alga) - but it does not include slime moulds, which are basically amoeboid (without a cell wall) and do not produce hyphae. Some fungi can grow almost any place, withstanding great temperature extremes. Other fungi is so specialized it grows parasitically on the exoskeletons of certain insects. The first half of this book talks about where fungi live; what they eat; what they look like to the naked eye, and microscopically; their genetic make-up, down to DNA and RNA sequencing, and how those genes are passed on - from sex to airborne sporulation.

The second half of the book is much easier to understand, but as Dr. Kendrick points out, it helps to read the first part to understand the second part. There is a section on fungi that attack plants and fugicides used in agriculture. Don't think all fungi are bad - there is also a section on how fungi can be used as a biocontrol against insects and weeds. The last chapter talks about the commercial use of fungi, with the obvious important nod to Penicillium notatum. Cyclosporine is another important drug developed from fungi. Aspergillus niger is used to manufacture citric acid.

The sections on how fungi exploit plants and animals - - and how plants and animals exploit fungi - is fascinating. Did you know that some leaf-cutting ants and termites actually grow fungi? Some of those huge termite nests have mushroom rooms. Some plants cannot live without fungi that manufacture important nutrients for the plants.

The relationship between man and fungi is sometimes deadly, and sometimes life saving. One thing I took away from this book is to never, ever eat mushrooms from the wild unless I am absolutely certain what those are. Some deadly mushrooms look almost identical to very delicious mushrooms. Dr. Kendrick sets forth treatments for several types of mushroom poisoning. It's important to note that most of the time, mushroom poisoning doesn't show up for some time - 24 hours or more.
Dr. Kendrick also discusses an issue that I was confused about after reading the Institute of Medicine's "Damp Indoor Spaces and Mold" (May 25, 2004). The IOM did not find a correlation between mold exposure and cancer, but I was having trouble reconciling that with what I knew - that certain molds produce aflatoxins that are toxinogenic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic. It turns out that these are not conflicting views at all, since Dr. Kendrick describes these effects from eating molds that produce aflatoxins. For example, in the 1930's in the Ukraine, horses developed deadly stachybotryotoxicosis from eating contaminated hay. Of course, why would people eat contaminated food? Sometimes, it has been unwittingly, such as medieval peasants eating rye contaminated with the ergot fungus, causing St. Anthony's Fire. Other times, food shortages left people with no other choice. In some cases, such as happened with the people in Lin Xian, China, moldy bread tasted good (not so odd when you think about eating Roquefort cheese).

I too have read this text and found it excellent. Alas, I now want to buy it (and use it as a text in my class) but it is no longer in print. I hope it is reprinted soon and if it is-BUY IT!

I think this book is great but the product image shown at the top of the page at Amazon.com is misleading as it shows the CD, which is NOT included with the book.

Remember when science books were passionately and individually written, and each book had an interesting & unique structure and tone?
Well, Kendrick(3rd Ed), harks back to those days. It's a fascinating read, with enormous detail about the weird and wonderful uses and hazards of fungi, e.g. mycotoxins like ergotism (that makes your legs rot!), the wonders of fungal-produced foods like morels and alcoholic drinks, and using fungi to attack pest insects.
I reluctantly give this book only three stars, because it has an illogical structure that hinders understanding, and the readership-level varies (frustratingly!) from "beginner" in the racy sections about fungal uses & hazards, through to about "2nd year university" in the highly technical chapters about fungal metabolism & classification.
So if you need a highly-structured textbook which imparts structured understanding of fungi, starting with the basics and then working upwards, Kendrick is NOT it. You need to read a basic fungi textbook & a basic biology text BEFORE you tackle the harder chapters of Kendrick.
However, if you want a much more interesting read than any standard biology textbook, and don't mind spending a lot of time learning or looking up basic biology and mycology concepts, then read this book and enjoy.

This is a great book especially as a companion to Mushrooms Demystified! The illustrations of the life cycles are helpful in studying for mycology exams!! Easy to read, not over my head as university senior. Recommended.

I bought this book with the desire to learn more. I did.

I have a very large collection of guides and reference manuals on fungi and slime molds. You more than likely do too. This is a textbook that does a "decent, detailed, and educational" job of teaching. When you pick up this book come to class ready to do some homework. I have scrawled notes and definitions with footnotes from websites on nearly every page. I believe someone elses review was right on the money when they said the author swings back and forth with his writing style.
I will mention that there is a CD, sold by the author on his website. I believe it's supposed to provide more detail to enlightenment. In college we had the actual class and then later in the day or week the study workshop for that class. I skipped most of those and still passed the class.
My one last bit of advise, astronomy has very little to do with astrology. This textbook has very little to do with mushroom hunting. Don't pass over a interesting book just because of the difference.

I'm mycologist and I love this book. To me, it's the best readable (more interesting and nice to read) book about general mycology. It's not the most complete, but it's my favourite. The classification is outdated, but the informations are still useful and rich. Highly recommended to all interested in study fungi.

The fungi are a unique group: diverse, fascinating, destructive as well as beneficial, sometimes almost impossible to kill, and still mostly unknown. It is estimated that of the 100,000 described fungi that this represents only one-tenth of the actual species.

I've read a number of books on the fungi over the years, starting back in the mid-80s, and this is the best text I've seen. It's well written, interesting, the coverage is broad as well as deep, and it's technical without becoming ponderous and unreadable.

The fungi are a fascinating group. They are hard to kill with antibiotics because of their polymer xylan cell wall. They reproduce in odd ways, often forming hundreds of nuclei prior to mitosis. They can produce carcinogenic compounds such as beta aflatoxins that infect rice and peanut butter and can cause esophogeal cancer, which is common in China.

Stachybotrys atra can cause centeral nervous system damage. The laboulbeniomycetes is an entirely parasitic group that attacks insects. Fungi such as cordyceps and auricularia have been used for centuries in Chinese herbal medicine. Auricularia in particular has been found to be helpful for heart ailments and is being further researched in the west. Mycoplasmas are the smallest organisms known that have a cell wall, and can cause disease in humans. Then there's the famous ergot fungus that can infect cereal grains. The fungus produces an alkaloid that causes powerful vasoconstriction that cuts off circulation to the extremities, causing gangrene. Said to be one of the most painful ways to die, the victims died screaming in agony. It sometimes killed entire villages during the Middle Ages. Hypogeous fungi (meaning "below ground"), such as the famous perigord truffle, a type of ascomycete, are considered delicacies, as well as many club fungi or basidiomycetes.

By the way, one should never try to gather mushrooms for consumption by simply buying a field manual and reading a book. Many poisonous or even deadly mushrooms, and edible ones, look alike. You will need extensive training under a skilled and experienced expert or professional mycologist before you attempt this on your own. I received my training under the late, great Prof. Harry Thiers, and was glad I did.

The CD that comes with the book is also very worthwhile, containing many photos and videos. The fungi are a uniquely fascinating group, and this book is the best way of the many books I've seen over the years to get an enjoyable and well rounded and rigorous introduction to the subject.