Service Alert
Website maintenance April 24 10pm ET
On Wednesday April 24 at 10pm ET the CELA website will be unavailable for about 15 minutes for planned maintenance.
On Wednesday April 24 at 10pm ET the CELA website will be unavailable for about 15 minutes for planned maintenance.
Showing 1 - 20 of 652 items
By David Rains Wallace. 2004
Naturalist examines ancient mammal fossils and the paleontological battles about evolution that followed their discoveries. Discusses such scientists as Georges…
Cuvier, Richard Owen, Edward D. Cope, George Gaylord Simpson, and Stephen Jay Gould and describes their ideas and controversies. 2004Biography of Charles Hatfield (1875-1958), part con man, part scientist, and self-proclaimed rainmaker. Focuses on the deal Hatfield made with…
San Diego councilmen to conjure enough rain to fill the city's reservoir. Describes the subsequent January 1916 flood, the city's worst ever, that led to accusations against Hatfield. 2005By Rod Miller. 2005
Concise biography of Scottish-born John Muir (1838-1914), remembered as a staunch conservationist, founder of the Sierra Club, and champion of…
national parks. Discusses how Muir's love for the natural environment shaped his philosophy, travel adventures, scientific studies, writing, and political battles. 2005By Alan Walker. 2005
Anthropologists describe their adventures in East Africa hunting for the fossils of Proconsul, the last common ancestor between apes and…
humans. Discusses the original Proconsul skeleton discovered by Mary Leakey. Hypothesizes about the origins and life histories of various species of the ancient ape. 2005By Alanna Mitchell. 2005
Award-winning environmental reporter examines human-induced ecologic destruction as possible early indication of a sixth mass extinction. Records her three-year tour…
of Earth's most beleaguered areas in South America, the Middle East, the Arctic, Iceland, Madagascar, and the Galapagos Islands, where climate change, species loss, and deforestation threaten biodiversity. 2004By Daniel B Botkin. 2004
Ecologist retraces the footsteps of early-nineteenth-century explorers Lewis and Clark and compares the natural history they documented to its condition…
in the early twenty-first century. Describes environmental changes including the damming of rivers and the disappearance of ecosystems and wildlife species. 2004Essays by the longtime editor-in-chief of House & Garden magazine, meant to be read in short bits throughout the year.…
Arranged by month, the anthology offers advice on topics from orchard horticulture and growing plume poppies to travel, literature, architecture, and antique collecting. 2003 introduction by Dominique Browning. 1929By Christopher C Burt. 2004
Meteorologist surveys the nature and history of extreme weather phenomena in the United States and abroad. Offers concise explanations of…
such climatic events as droughts, floods, thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes, hurricanes, and fog. Provides temperature and precipitation records for more than three hundred U.S. cities dating back to the 1800s. 2004By Jordan Fisher Smith. 2005
A park ranger chronicles his fourteen years on duty along the American River in northern California, an area threatened by…
possible dam construction. Relates dealing with drunks, vandals, and squatters. Describes the history and beauty of the natural setting. Strong language. 2005Retired veterinarian and director of Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo recalls safari adventures in India, Papua New Guinea, Africa, and Iceland.…
Describes personal encounters with wildlife, such as pulling a jaguar's tooth, crawling under an elephant's belly to avoid injury, and chasing an escaped gorilla. 2005By Gretel Ehrlich. 2004
Veteran nature writer chronicles living and traveling for six months in cold regions and speculates on climate change and its…
psychological and environmental impacts. Traveling in Tierra del Fuego, Greenland, and Wyoming, Ehrlich mingles personal and philosophical musings with dire predictions of the catastrophic consequences of global warming. 2004By Russell E Train. 2003
Former Environmental Protection Agency administrator recounts his pivotal role in environmental policy development under presidents Nixon and Ford and later…
as head of the World Wildlife Fund in the private sector. Provides an insider's look at key conservation movement events and figures of the 1960s-1970s. 2003By Diana Wells. 2002
Brief essays describe birds and humans' fascination with them. Highlights species groupings, etymology of names, folk beliefs, legends, literature, and…
history associated with birds. Gives the meaning of "hoodwink" and "for the birds" and explains how cranes have come to symbolize marital happiness. 2002By Alan Tennant. 2004
Award-winning author and naturalist recounts his mid-1980s efforts to radio-track the transcontinental migration of peregrine falcons. Following the beautiful raptors…
through uncharted territory, Tennant and his partner travel from Texas to the Arctic, south through Mexico and Belize, and into the Caribbean on a mission fraught with danger. 2004By John Calderazzo. 2004
Combines travelog with historical accounts of major eruptions to portray their effect on local residents and humankind. Covers ancient sites--Vesuvius,…
Stromboli, Mount Etna, peaks on the Pacific Ring of Fire--as well as Kilauea, Unzen, Martinique, and others. Discusses cultural responses to eruptions, including human sacrifice and artistic interpretations. 2004By David Stevens. 2003
Suggestions from a landscape planner for the small city or country garden that is developed as an extension of the…
home. His recommendations include: analyze existing plot, determine type of space desired, decide what to keep or discard, then design the project. 2003By Peter D Ward. 2000
Paleontologist/geologist Ward and astronomer Brownlee outline their hypothesis that complex multicellular life--animals and higher plants--"is less pervasive in the universe…
than is...commonly assumed." The two scientists reexamine Earth's history to identify crucial attributes that have allowed the planet's rare, and perhaps unique, evolutionary achievements. 2000By David L Goodstein. 2004
California Institute of Technology professor explains the scientific principles underlying an inevitable fossil fuel crisis and related threats to Earth's…
climate. Provides a concise overview of various energy sources, the concepts of fission, fusion, and entropy, engine operation, and more. Asserts nuclear and solar power are reasonable alternatives. 2004By Verlyn Klinkenborg. 2003
Collection of essays celebrating the simplicity of country life in successive months over the course of one year. The selections--which…
previously appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, and other publications--depict seasonal changes in settings ranging from Klinkenborg's own upstate New York farm to rugged landscapes in the American west. 2003By Doug Gantenbein. 2003
Reporter describes the forest fires of 2001 that left four firefighters dead in Washington state. Presents an overview of the…
training and deployment of firefighting crews and the methods of preventing and controlling wildfires. Analyzes the disputes between environmentalists, loggers, and the government over tree-thinning policy. Some strong language. 2003