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Unearthing the dragon: the great feathered dinosaur discovery
By Mark Norell. 2005
Paleontology curator at the American Museum of Natural History discusses how the discovery of feathered dinosaur fossils in China blurred…
the modern distinction between reptiles and birds. Recounts his travels and explores the discovery's impact on popular culture and scientific understanding of avian flight, prehistoric ecosystems, and evolution. 2005Darwin: discovering the tree of life
By Niles Eldredge. 2005
Analyzes Charles Darwin's notes from his travels to South America and the Galapagos Islands in 1831-36. Traces the scientist's personal…
and professional life during the twenty years the notebooks were kept private. Discusses advances in evolutionary theory since Darwin's time and disputes the concept of intelligent design. 2005Holding back the sea: the struggle on the Gulf Coast to save America
By Christopher Hallowell. 2005
Professor examines the plight of coastal Louisiana wetlands. Attributes their decline to sea-level rise, erosion, dredging, and the levee system…
and discusses how special-interest groups have hampered preservation efforts. The account, first published in 2001, predicts the inevitability and consequences of hurricanes and includes a post-Hurricane Katrina introduction. 2005The revenge of Gaia: earth's climate in crisis and the fate of humanity
By James Lovelock. 2006
British scientist who originated the Gaia hypothesis that Earth is a superorganism assesses the impact of human activity on the…
planet. Lovelock supports a transition to nuclear energy and advocates preparation for inevitable climate and social changes in the twenty-first century as a result of global warming. 2006Reading the rocks: the autobiography of the earth
By Marcia Bjornerud. 2005
Geologist explores Earth's four-billion-year history from the planet's creation to the evolution of life. Discusses mineral development, geologic cycles, plate…
tectonics, and weathering and the relationship of these activities to the global ecosystem--all part of a record that she contends has been "written...in stone." 2005Biography of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) focuses on the two decades in England during which the reclusive naturalist developed his revolutionary…
theories following his return in 1836 from the five-year data-gathering Beagle voyage. Examines the scientific research and introspective lifestyle that produced The Origin of Species (BR 12412) in 1859. 2006Award-winning journalist predicts global warming will lead to rising sea levels and intense destructive coastal storms. Tidwell contends that human…
and environmental processes, including overdevelopment and Bush administration policies, contributed to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and he urges a transition to clean, renewable fuels. 2006Three cups of tea: one man's mission to fight terrorism and build nations-- one school at a time
By Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin, Sarah Thomson. 2006
Award-winning journalist Relin describes the mission of American humanitarian Greg Mortenson, who established the Central Asia Institute and built schools…
throughout Taliban-ruled lands. Discusses his childhood in Tanzania and a failed 1993 attempt to climb K2, which resulted in a promise to the Pakistani villagers who saved his life. 2006Grayson
By Lynne Cox. 2006
Author recalls an encounter from her teenage years when a baby gray whale followed her during a long-distance training swim…
along the California coast. Describes communicating with the calf she called Grayson and battling fatigue, fifty-five-degree water, and dehydration to protect him until he was reunited with his mother. Bestseller. 2006Buffalo: Natural History And Conservation (WorldLife library)
By Harold D Picton. 2005
Traces the natural history of the North American plains and wood bison. Covers their origins, physical characteristics, behavior, and life…
cycle as well as folklore about them. Explains their near extinction and the successful conservation efforts that developed modern herds. For grades 6-9. 2005Nature writer's account of hiking from his home in Vermont to New York's Adirondack Mountains. McKibben describes visits along the…
way with organic farmers, a vintner, a beekeeper, environmental studies students, and others who love nature. 2005Sweetness and light: the mysterious history of the honeybee
By Hattie Ellis. 2004
Explores the interaction between bees, honey, and humans from the Stone Age to modern times, from Nepalese honey hunters to…
beekeepers on New York City rooftops. Discusses three men--a Dutch scientist, a Philadelphia clergyman, and a German monk--who influenced the development of beekeeping in the Western world. 2004Beasts of Eden: walking whales, dawn horses, and other enigmas of mammal evolution
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. 2004Geysers: what they are and how they work
By T. Scott Bryan. 2005
Geologist explains the hot water and vapor eruptions called geysers and their locations, characteristics, and behaviors. Discusses natural and human…
forces that change their activity. Includes a list of geyser fields by geographic area. For grades 6-9 and older readers. 2005Biography 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. 2005John Muir: magnificent tramp (American heroes series)
By 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. 2005The ape in the tree: an intellectual and natural history of Proconsul
By 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. 2005Dancing at the Dead Sea: tracking the world's environmental hotspots
By 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. 2004Beyond the stony mountains: nature in the American west from Lewis and Clark to today
By 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. 2004Extreme weather: a guide & record book
By 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. 2004