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Green Laurels
By Donald Culross Peattie. 2013
In Green Laurels, Donald Culross Peattie combines his extensive knowledge of history's foremost naturalists with his personal observations about the…
subject to form what the New York Herald Tribune calls "a delightful book...one would not wish to miss on any account." This piece is accurate and precise but according to Nation, "there is not a line which is not dramatically vivid and entertaining." Peattie's enthusiasm and enlightened curiosity make Green Laurels appealing to readers of all backgrounds.A Book of Hours
By Donald Culross Peattie. 1937
A Book of Hours contains 24 essays, one for each hour of the day, that seek to bridge the gap…
between definitive scientific philosophy and the sheer unadulterated beauty that Donald Culross Peattie envisioned within everyday life. The Boston Transcript referred to this collection as "science, in sheer poetry," and the Chicago Daily Tribune mused that "it leaves one a better man for having read it" and offers "the inevitableness of natural laws and the truth of beauty, if one cares to seek it."Buffalo for the Broken Heart
By Dan O'Brien. 2002
For twenty years Dan O'Brien struggled to make ends meet on his cattle ranch in South Dakota. But when a…
neighbor invited him to lend a hand at the annual buffalo roundup, O'Brien was inspired to convert his own ranch, the Broken Heart, to buffalo. Starting with thirteen calves, "short-necked, golden balls of wool," O'Brien embarked on a journey that returned buffalo to his land for the first time in more than a century and a half.Buffalo for the Broken Heart is at once a tender account of the buffaloes' first seasons on the ranch and an engaging lesson in wildlife ecology. Whether he's describing the grazing pattern of the buffalo, the thrill of watching a falcon home in on its prey, or the comical spectacle of a buffalo bull wallowing in the mud, O'Brien combines a novelist's eye for detail with a naturalist's understanding to create an enriching, entertaining narrative.From the Trade Paperback edition.Living a Land Ethic
By Stephen A. Laubach. 1999
In 1935, in the midst of relentless drought, Aldo Leopold purchased an abandoned farm along the Wisconsin River near Baraboo,…
Wisconsin. An old chicken coop, later to become famous as the Leopold "Shack," was the property's only intact structure. The Leopold family embraced this spent farm as a new kind of laboratory-a place to experiment on restoring health to an ailing piece of land. Here, Leopold found inspiration for writing "A Sand County Almanac," his influential book of essays on conservation and ethics. "Living a Land Ethic" chronicles the formation of the 1,600-acre reserve surrounding the Shack. When the Leopold Memorial Reserve was founded in 1967, five neighboring families signed an innovative agreement to jointly care for their properties in ways that honored Aldo Leopold's legacy. In the ensuing years, the Reserve's Coleman and Leopold families formed the Sand County Foundation and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. These organizations have been the primary stewards of the Reserve, carrying on a tradition of ecological restoration and cooperative conservation. Author Stephen A. Laubach draws from the archives of both foundations, including articles of incorporation, correspondence, photos, managers' notes, and interviews to share with readers the Reserve's untold history and its important place in the American conservation movement. "Starlight Detectives
By Alan Hirshfeld. 2014
Discover magazine "Top 5 Summer Read"Scientific American "Recommended" feature review"A masterful balance of science, history and rich narrative." -Discover magazine"Starlight…
Detectives is just the sort of richly veined book I love to read-full of scientific history and discoveries, peopled by real heroes and rogues, and told with absolute authority. Alan Hirshfeld's wide, deep knowledge of astronomy arises not only from the most careful scholarship, but also from the years he's spent at the telescope, posing his own questions to the stars." -DAVA SOBEL, author of A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos and LongitudeIn 1929, Edwin Hubble announced the greatest discovery in the history of astronomy since Galileo first turned a telescope to the heavens. The galaxies, previously believed to float serenely in the void, are in fact hurtling apart at an incredible speed: the universe is expanding. This stunning discovery was the culmination of a decades-long arc of scientific and technical advancement. In its shadow lies an untold, yet equally fascinating, backstory whose cast of characters illuminates the gritty, hard-won nature of scientific progress.The path to a broader mode of cosmic observation was blazed by a cadre of nineteenth-century amateur astronomers and inventors, galvanized by the advent of photography, spectral analysis, and innovative technology to create the entirely new field of astrophysics. From William Bond, who turned his home into a functional observatory, to John and Henry Draper, a father and son team who were trailblazers of astrophotography and spectroscopy, to geniuses of invention such as Léon Foucault, and George Hale, who founded the Mount Wilson Observatory, Hirshfeld reveals the incredible stories-and the ambitious dreamers-behind the birth of modern astronomy.Alan Hirshfeld, Professor of Physics at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and an Associate of the Harvard College Observatory, is the author of Parallax: The Race to Measure the Cosmos, The Electric Life of Michael Faraday, and Eureka Man: The Life and Legacy of Archimedes.The Curious World of Bugs
By Daniel Marlos. 2010
If you've ever wondered what that leggy, buzzing creature was in your bathroom (or backyard, bed, or pantry), perhaps you've…
come across WhatsThatBug.com, where people around the world go to ask "What's that bug?" From mating African beetles to the tiniest of bedbugs, Daniel Marlos (The Bugman) has identified them all. The Curious World of Bugs is a miscellany of illuminating facts, curiosities, helpful hints, and remarkable science about the bugs that share our world-a compendium that celebrates bugs for what they truly are: strange, mysterious, cute, beautiful, and occasionally disturbing. Gorgeously illustrated with vintage drawings, The Curious World of Bugs offers a glimpse into the magical world of bugs that bite, infest, fascinate, repulse, and inform us all.The Trees of San Francisco
By Michael Sullivan. 2013
Trees of San Francisco introduces readers to the rich variety of trees that thrive in San Francisco's unique conditions. San…
Francisco's cool Mediterranean climate has made it home to interesting and unusual trees from all over the world - trees as colorful and exotic as the city itself.This new guide combines engaging descriptions of sixty-five different trees with color photos that reflect the visual appeal of San Francisco. Each page covers a different tree, with several paragraphs of interesting text accompanied by one or two photos. Each entry for a tree also lists locations where "landmark" specimens of the tree can be found. Interspersed throughout the book are sidebar stories of general interest related to San Francisco's trees. Trees of San Francisco also includes a dozen tree tours that will link landmark trees and local attractions in interesting San Francisco neighborhoods such as the Castro, Pacific Heights and the Mission - walks that will appeal to tourists as well as Bay Area natives.The Shape of the Journey
By Jim Harrison. 2000
Here is the definitive collection of poetry from one of America's best-loved writers-now available in paperback. With the publication of…
this book, eight volumes of poetry were brought back into print, including the early nature-based lyrics of Plain Song, the explosive Outlyer & Ghazals, and the startling "correspondence" with a dead Russian poet in Letters to Yesenin. Also included is an introduction by Harrison, several previously uncollected poems, and "Geo-Bestiary," a 34-part paean to earthly passions. The Shape of the Journey confirms Jim Harrison's place among the most brilliant and essential poets writing today."Behind the words one always feels the presence of a passionate, exuberant man who is at the same time possessed of a quick, subtle intelligence and a deeply questioning attitude toward life. Harrison writes so winningly that one is simply content to be in the presence of a writer this vital, this large-spirited."--The New York Times Book Review"(An) untrammelled renegade genius... here's a poet talking to you instead of around himself, while doing absolutely brilliant and outrageous things with language."-Publishers Weekly"Readers can wander the woods of this collection for a lifetime and still be amazed at what they find."-Booklist (starred review.)When first published, this book immediately became one of Copper Canyon Press's all-time bestsellers. It was featured on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac, became a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was selected as one of the "Top-Ten Books of 1998" by Booklist.Jim Harrison is the author of twenty books, including Legends of the Fall and The Road Home. He has also written numerous screenplays and served as the food columnist for Esquire magazine. He lives in Michigan and Arizona.Dead DeerAmid pale green milkweed, wild clover, a rotted deer curled, shaglike, after a winter so cold the trees split open. I think she couldn't keep up with the others (they had no place to go) and her food, frozen grass and twigs,The Boy Who Slept Under the Stars
By Roseann Lloyd. 2012
"This a book about that place inside us all where bafflement meets mystery: a strange place, sometimes frightening and sometimes…
filled with stars and pines, clear flowing water and the deep joy of companionship."--Jim Moore Roseann Lloyd's new poetry collection takes us on a sister's unflinching exploration into grief for a brother lost on a solo hike in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. His clothes are found but not his body. How does one mourn without a body? This absence calls up memories of his life and mixed emotions; it evokes other disappearances--children missing in Iraq, climbers lost on Everest, a college student drowned. Even though I've said, for two years now, I don't need his bodyto do my mourning, I'm suddenly desperateto touch your arms, muscled and tan . . . Full of verbal energy and rich patterns of sound, Lloyd's lines are allowed to breathe and move about in always interesting forms: prose poems, found poems, section poems, swirling mosaics of time and place. Beautifully crafted, the poems are emotionally complex yet accessible. Roseann Lloyd has published eight books, including three poetry collections: Because of the Light (Holy Cow! Press), War Baby Express (Holy Cow! Press--awarded the Minnesota Book Award for Poetry), and Tap Dancing for Big Mom (New Rivers Press). The anthology she co-edited with Deborah Keenan, Looking for Home: Women Writing About Exile (Milkweed Editions) was awarded an American Book Award. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.MICRONATIONS
By Chad Thompson, Kathy Ceceri. 2014
For anyone who's ever dreamed of ruling over their own empire, here's your chance! Micronations are imaginary countries that have…
a lot of the same things as real ones: laws, customs, history, and their own flags, coins, and postage stamps. Micronations: Invent Your Own Country and Culture takes readers step-by-step to create their own unique realm, using examples from real nations, micronations, and fictional lands. What makes a country a country? What symbols and systems define a country and help it function? Learn about geography and government, technology and the environment, art and culture, and the literary device of "world-building" used in works like The Hobbit and Harry Potter.Activities show readers how to create authentic-looking artifacts and documents such as maps, currency, passports, a declaration of independence, and a constitution. Kids get to invent their own language, music, games, clothing, food, and holidays to fit their micronation's tradition. Whether they create a land of time travel where every city exists in a different epoch or an underwater monarchy (motto: "Bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles") whose chief export is fish, Micronations: Invent Your Own Country and Culture will engage kids' imagination and teach make-believe rulers how the real world works.Society and the Environment
By Michael Carolan. 1975
Talking about global environmental issues need not be an exercise in gloom, doom, and individual sacrifice-as Michael Carolan ably demonstrates…
in this introduction to environmental sociology.Society and the Environment examines today's environmental controversies within a socio-organizational context. After outlining the contours of "pragmatic environmentalism," Carolan explores the material world: air, water, biodiversity, and trash. He considers the pressures that exist where ecology and society collide, such as population growth and its associated increased demands for food and energy. Finally, he drills into the social/structural dynamics-including political economy and the international legal system-that create ongoing momentum for environmental ills.This interdisciplinary text features a three-part structure in each chapter that covers "fast facts" about the issue at hand, examines its wide-ranging implications, and offers pragmatic consideration of possible real-world solutions. Bolstering the analysis, a variety of boxes highlight relevant case studies as well as the value judgments which lurk everywhere in talk about environmental phenomena. Discussion questions and key terms enhance the text's usefulness, making Society and the Environment the perfect learning tool for courses on environmental sociology.Day Hike! Central Cascades, 3rd Edition
By Mike Mcquaide. 2014
Discover the best trails for day hiking in Washington State's Central Cascades. Now updated and redesigned with full-color photography, the…
Day Hike! series was written for people who want to spend their days in the mountains and their nights at home. From Snoqualmie Pass to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness to Stevens Pass, the 69 incredible hikes in this popular guidebook feature the lush forests, mountain vistas, waterfalls, and alpine meadows unique to Washington State. Each trail is rated from easy to extreme, giving first-time or veteran hikers the variety they want, as well as topographical maps, trail descriptions, and more.rview of all hikes in each book's introductory pages. For those of us who like to cherry-pick trails, ratings simplify our task." --Seattle Times"The presentation of basic facts (distance, elevation gain, maps, permits, etc.) is excellent and easy to follow. In addition to helpful topographical maps, the guides feature elevation profiles--an inspired addition!" --The OlympianDay Hike! North Cascades, 3rd Edition
By Mike Mcquaide. 2014
Explore the North Cascades National Park and the wilderness around Washington State's scenic North Cascades using this guidebook to the…
59 best day hikes in the region. Each trail is rated, and ranges from easy to moderate to extreme--giving newbie hikers or veterans with hundreds of miles on their boots the choices they want. The relaunch of this popular series now includes full-color photographs of every hike in addition to topographical maps, trail descriptions, and more.ry pages. For those of us who like to cherry-pick trails, ratings simplify our task." --Seattle Times"The presentation of basic facts (distance, elevation gain, maps, permits, etc.) is excellent and easy to follow. In addition to helpful topographical maps, the guides feature elevation profiles--an inspired addition!" --The OlympianLandscapes of Wonder
By Bhikkhu Bodhi, Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano. 2013
"To most of us there have come exceptional, unworldly moments, like unsuspected deeps in a stream, when we fell through…
appearances - fell through ourselves - into an intuition of majesty and wonder." - Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano in Landscapes of Wonder Landscapes of Wonder deftly transports the spirit of Buddhist contemplation off the cushion and into the natural world. With a lyricism and spiritual immediacy reminiscent of Thoreau and Emerson, in eighteen meditational essays Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano considers Buddhist themes through the prism of nature. The reflections captured in these satisfying literary explorations will appeal to all who appreciate contemplation of the natural world and our place in it.Arctic Autumn
By Pete Dunne. 2011
The Arctic doesn't spring to mind when most people think about autumn. Yet in his continuing effort to invite readers'…
curiosity through unpredictability, Pete Dunne chose to pair the transitional season of autumn with this fragile environment in flux.The book begins on Bylot Island in Nunavut, Canada, at the retreating edge of the seasonal ice sheet, then moves to Alaska, where the needs of molting geese go head to head with society's need for oil. Then on to the Barren Lands of Canada, and a search for the celebrated caribou herds that mean life and death for human and animal predators alike.A canoe trip down the John River is filled with memories, laughter, and contemplation; a caribou hunt with a professional trapper leads to a polemic on hunting; and Pete travels to an island in the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska, to look for rare birds and ponder the passionate nature of competitive bird listers.No trip to the Arctic would be complete without a trip to see polar bears, so Pete and his wife visit Churchill, Manitoba, the polar bear capital of the world. These majestic, but threatened, creatures lead Pete to think about his own life, our interactions with the natural world, and the importance of the Arctic, North America's last great wilderness.Improving Natural Resource Management
By Timothy C. Haas. 2011
The decision to implement environmental protection options is a political one. These, and other political and social decisions affect the…
balance of the ecosystem and how the point of equilibrium desired is to be reached. This book develops a stochastic, temporal model of how political processes influence and are influenced by ecosystem processes and looks at how to find the most politically feasible plan for managing an at-risk ecosystem. Finding such a plan is accomplished by first fitting a mechanistic political and ecological model to a data set composed of observations on both political actions that impact an ecosystem and variables that describe the ecosystem. The parameters of this fitted model are perturbed just enough to cause human behaviour to change so that desired ecosystem states occur. This perturbed model gives the ecosystem management plan needed to reach desired ecosystem states. To construct such a set of interacting models, topics from political science, ecology, probability, and statistics are developed and explored.Key features:Explores politically feasible ways to manage at-risk ecosystems.Gives agent-based models of how social groups affect ecosystems through time.Demonstrates how to fit models of population dynamics to mixtures of wildlife data.Presents statistical methods for fitting models of group behaviour to political action data.Supported by an accompanying website featuring datasets and JAVA code.This book will be useful to managers and analysts working in organizations charged with finding practical ways to sustain biodiversity or the physical environment. Furthermore this book also provides a political roadmap to help lawmakers and administrators improve institutional environmental management decision making.Water in the Middle East: A Geography of Peace
By Hussein A. Amery, Aaron T. Wolf. 2000
Finding "streams in the desert" has never been more urgent for the peoples of the Middle East. Rapid population growth…
and a rising standard of living are driving water demand inexorably upward, while the natural supply has not increased since Biblical times. Ensuring a fair and adequate distribution of water in the region is vitally important for building a lasting peace among the nations of the Middle East.Tropical Flowers
By William Warren. 1996
Learn all about beautiful tropical flowers with this useful and portable reference book. This handy pocket guide introduces 55 plant…
species commonly found in the Tropics. Each exotic bloom is described in detail, its history of origination discussed and gardening tips are given. Illustrated with over 120 beautiful color photographs, this book contains a wealth of botanical details, as well as fascinating information on the cultural uses of flowers. A "must" for gardeners and non-gardeners alike Periplus Handy Pocket Guides are practical field guides, useful for identifying various natural objects ranging from plants and animals to gemstones and seashells. Each page of each title throughout the series is filled with clear, precise photographs and informative text. Scientific and local language names are given.At Home and Astray
By Philip Howell. 2015
Although the British consider themselves a nation of dog lovers, what we have come to know as the modern dog…
came into existence only after a profound, and relatively recent, transformation in that country's social attitudes and practices. In At Home and Astray, Philip Howell focuses on Victorian Britain, and especially London, to show how the dog's changing place in society was the subject of intense debate and depended on a fascinating combination of forces even to come about.Despite a relationship with humans going back thousands of years, the dog only became fully domesticated and installed at the heart of the middle-class home in the nineteenth century. Dog breeding and showing proliferated at that time, and dog ownership increased considerably. At the same time, the dog was increasingly policed out of public space, the "stray" becoming the unloved counterpart of the household "pet." Howell shows how this redefinition of the dog's place illuminates our understanding of modernity and the city. He also explores the fascinating process whereby the dog's changing role was proposed, challenged, and confronted--and in the end conditionally accepted. With a supporting cast that includes Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Thomas Carlyle, and Charles Darwin, and subjects of inquiry ranging from vivisection and the policing of rabies to pet cemeteries, dog shelters, and the practice of walking the dog, At Home and Astray is a contribution not only to the history of animals but also to our understanding of the Victorian era and its legacies.The New Wild
By Fred Pearce. 2015
A provocative exploration of the "new ecology" and why most of what we think we know about alien species is…
wrong For a long time, veteran environmental journalist Fred Pearce thought in stark terms about invasive species: they were the evil interlopers spoiling pristine "natural" ecosystems. Most conservationists and environmentalists share this view. But what if the traditional view of ecology is wrong--what if true environmentalists should be applauding the invaders? In The New Wild, Pearce goes on a journey across six continents to rediscover what conservation in the twenty-first century should be about. Pearce explores ecosystems from remote Pacific islands to the United Kingdom, from San Francisco Bay to the Great Lakes, as he digs into questionable estimates of the cost of invader species and reveals the outdated intellectual sources of our ideas about the balance of nature. Pearce acknowledges that there are horror stories about alien species disrupting ecosystems, but most of the time, the tens of thousands of introduced species usually swiftly die out or settle down and become model eco-citizens. The case for keeping out alien species, he finds, looks increasingly flawed. As Pearce argues, mainstream environmentalists are right that we need a rewilding of the earth, but they are wrong if they imagine that we can achieve that by reengineering ecosystems. Humans have changed the planet too much, and nature never goes backward. But a growing group of scientists is taking a fresh look at how species interact in the wild. According to these new ecologists, we should applaud the dynamism of alien species and the novel ecosystems they create. In an era of climate change and widespread ecological damage, it is absolutely crucial that we find ways to help nature regenerate. Embracing the new ecology, Pearce shows us, is our best chance. To be an environmentalist in the twenty-first century means celebrating nature's wildness and capacity for change.From the Hardcover edition.