‎"‎Clark ‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎ and Mangel ‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎ offer‎,‎ as its title implies‎,‎ a self‎-teaching introduction to the construction‎,‎ testing‎,‎ and application of dynamic state variable models‎.‎ These are highly flexible individual optimization models of behavior involving restraints and tradeoffs as they affect individual fitness‎.‎ This model approach employs the computational techniques of backward and forward iteration to arrive at some understanding of a phenomenon that cannot be studied directly‎.‎ The first three chapters cover the basics of developing and using mechanistic dynamic state variable models‎.‎ ‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎ The remaining nine chapters provide examples of the use of dynamic state variable models in a variety of contexts ‎.‎‎.‎‎.‎ The book demands some minimal proficiency in mathematics and skill in computer programming‎.‎ A useful reference and manual for ecology‎,‎ behavioral and conservation biology‎,‎ and evolutionary ecology scientists‎.‎ Graduate students‎;‎ faculty and researchers‎.‎‎"‎‎-‎-Choice