Yet in the low center of the state is a near wilderness, larger than most national parks, which has been known since the seventeenth century as the Pine Barrens.The term refers to the predominant trees in the vast forests that cover the area and to the quality of the soils below, which are too sandy and acid to be good for farming. On all sides, however, developments of one kind or another have gradually moved in, so that now the central and integral forest is reduced to about a thousand square miles. Although New Jersey has the heaviest population density of any state, huge segments of the Pine Barrens remain uninhabited. The few people who dwell in the region, the "Pineys," are little known and often misunderstood. Here McPhee uses his uncanny skills as a journalist to explore the history of the region and describe the people "and their distinctive folklore" who call it home.

    The Los Angeles Times has listed it among the one hundred most influential books published in the last quarter century, Outside Magazine has included it in a survey of books that changed our world, and it has been called the Book of Genesis for environmentalists. Now a fourth edition of this highly regarded work is available, with a new preface and epilogue in which Nash explores the future of wilderness and reflects on its ethical and biocentric relevance.

    The book's goal is to make readers come to understand geochemistry as an exciting area of research, and to provide a feeling for the usefulness of geochemistry as a background for many kinds of earth science inquiry. Throughout the book, attention is continually directed to the relations between theoretical formulas and results of controlled laboratory experiments, as well as to geologic field observations. The book begins with an introduction to chemical equilibrium, concentrating on the carbonate and silicate equilibria that are important in geologic environments. Next comes a brief look at the chemistry of crystalline solids and reactions at mineral surfaces. The manifold uses of isotopes in geochemistry are given extended treatment, and the recent important studies of reaction rates and mass transfer are covered. Readers will then find detailed discussions of the geochemistry of materials at and near the earth's surface.

    On a rainy March night, a salamander returns to the spring pond for the ancient mating dance of the salamanders.