Interior of a Palm House By Carl Blechen

In “The Palm House,” by German Realist master Karl Blechen (1798 – 1840), a profusion of palm trees and plants are delicately illuminated like an exotic, primeval forest. Purchased by King Frederick William III of Prussia, this palm house was one of the first large hothouses in Germany. Serving as the prototype for the country’s future hothouses, it combined the building style of the orangeries with Classicism’s large, simple shapes. No European garden of that era displayed such large plant specimens...

October 28, 2008: i generally like Hiassen because I grew up in Florida and can relate to much of his opinions and recognize the places, however, this drug on with one revenge plot after another and it got tedious and a bit ridiculous.

Comet begins with a breathtaking journey through space astride a comet. Pulitzer Prize-winning astronomer Carl Sagan, author of Cosmos and Contact, and writer Ann Druyan explore the origin, nature, and future of comets, and the exotic myths and portents attached to them. The authors show how comets have spurred some of the great discoveries in the history of science and raise intriguing questions about these brilliant visitors from the interstellar dark.