Aspirin, the world's most widely used drug, is based on compounds originally extracted from the bark of a willow tree, and more than a quarter of medicines found on pharmacy shelves contain plant compounds. Now Western medicine, faced with health crises such as AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer, has begun to look to the healing plants used by indigenous peoples to develop powerful new medicines. Nowhere is the search more promising than in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest, home to a quarter of all botanical species on this planet—as well as hundreds of Indian tribes whose medicinal plants have never been studied by Western scientists. In Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, ethnobotanist Mark J. Plotkin recounts his travels and studies with some of the most powerful Amazonian shamans, who taught him the plant lore their tribes have spent thousands of years gleaning from the rain forest.For more than a decade, Dr. Plotkin has raced against time to harvest and record new plants before the rain forests' fragile ecosystems succumb to overdevelopment—and before the Indians abandon their own culture and learning for the seductive appeal of Western material culture. Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice relates nine of the author's quests, taking the reader along on a wild odyssey as he participates in healing rituals; discovers the secret of curare, the lethal arrow poison that kills in minutes; tries the hallucinogenic snuff epena that enables the Indians to speak with their spirit world; and earns the respect and fellowship of the mysterious shamans as he proves that he shares both their endurance and their reverence for the rain forest. Mark Plotkin combines the Darwinian spirit of the great writer-explorers of the nineteenth century—curious, discursive, and rigorously scientific—with a very modern concern for the erosion of our environment and the vanishing culture of native peoples.

    A visionary new program that businesses can follow to help restore the planet.

    Wilson to describe what he believes is humanity's innate affinity for the natural world. In his landmark book Biophilia, he examined how our tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes might be a biologically based need, integral to our development as individuals and as a species. That idea has caught the imagination of diverse thinkers.The Biophilia Hypothesis brings together the views of some of the most creative scientists of our time, each attempting to amplify and refine the concept of biophilia. The variety of perspectives -- psychological, biological, cultural, symbolic, and aesthetic -- frame the theoretical issues by presenting empirical evidence that supports or refutes the hypothesis. Numerous examples illustrate the idea that biophilia and its converse, biophobia, have a genetic component:fear, and even full-blown phobias of snakes and spiders are quick to develop with very little negative reinforcement, while more threatening modern artifacts -- knives, guns, automobiles -- rarely elicit such a responsepeople find trees that are climbable and have a broad, umbrella-like canopy more attractive than trees without these characteristicspeople would rather look at water, green vegetation, or flowers than built structures of glass and concreteThe biophilia hypothesis, if substantiated, provides a powerful argument for the conservation of biological diversity. More important, it implies serious consequences for our well-being as society becomes further estranged from the natural world. Relentless environmental destruction could have a significant impact on our quality of life, not just materially but psychologically and even spiritually.

    When Stein realized what her intensive efforts at making a garden had done, she set out to "ungarden". Her book interweaves an account of her efforts with an explanation of the ecology of gardens. Illustrations.

    Using interview material, they bring together women's perspectives from North and South on environmental deterioration and develop and new way of approaching this body of knowledge which is at once practical and philosophical. Do women involved in environmental movements see a link between patriarchy and ecological degradation? What are the links between global militarism and the destruction of nature? In exploring such questions, the authors criticize prevailing theories and develop an intellectually rigorous ecofeminist perspective rooted in the needs of everyday life. They argue for the acceptance of limits, the rejection of the commoditization of needs, and a commitment to a new ethics.

    In this book, Val Plumwood argues that feminist theory has an important opportunity to make a major contribution to the debates in political ecology and environmental philosophy. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature explains the relation between ecofeminism, or ecological feminism, and other feminist theories including radical green theories such as deep ecology. Val Plumwood provides a philosophically informed account of the relation of women and nature, and shows how relating male domination to the domination of nature is important and yet remains a dilemma for women.

    Winner of the 1992 Benjamin Franklin Award for best "Regional" book, this title continues to be the definitive popular guide to California's most emblematic tree species.

    Based in feminist, pre-patriarchal, and Native American philosophies, this book provides a biting critique of patriarchal practices, myths, and values, including family values.

    To learn more about this formidable ocean dweller, the Cousteau team mounted a two-and-a-half year expedition to the south coast of Australia involving some 40 scientists, divers, cameramen, and sailors. This is the story, in words, photographs, and drawings, of the study and all that was learned from it about shark behaviour and biology. Myths and lore about the great white are dispelled, leaving an indelible image of a powerful predator of the seas.

    This was Nausicaa, which would make Miyazaki's reputation as much as his 11 films and TV shows. Set in the far future, Nausicaa visualizes an Earth radically changed by ecological disaster. Strange human kingdoms survive at the edge of the Sea of Corruption, a poisonous fungal forest. Nausicaa, a gentle young princess, has a telepathic bond with the giant mutated insects of this dystopia. Her task is to negotiate peace between kingdoms battling over the last of the world's precious natural resources. Nausicaa took Miyazaki 12 years to create, in part because he worked with few or no assistants, doing both the writing and drawing using a meticulously detailed style that critics have compared to the work of the French artist Moebius.P

    Mason analyzes the West's 'dominionist' worldview, which exalts humans as overlords and owners of other life.... His powerfully argued manifesto will change many readers' attitudes toward hamburgers, animal experimentation, hunting, and circuses." -Publishers WeeklyFirst published by Simon & Schuster in 1993 and then by Continuum in 1998, Jim Mason's An Unnatural Order has become a classic. Now in a new Lantern edition, the book explores, from an anthropological, sociocultural, and holistic perspective, how and why we have cut ourselves off from other animals and the natural world, and the toll this has taken on our consciousness, our ability to steward nature wisely, and the will to control our own tendencies Jim Mason is an attorney, journalist, lecturer, and coauthor (with Peter Singer) of Animal Factories (1990) and The Ethics of What We Eat (2005).

    

    Lays out the basics of understand for the science and the physical crystals and locality information.

    Illustrated with nearly 200 updated illustrations, photos and examples, this updated edition offers exhaustive information on contributing weather and climate factors, snowpack analysis, the newest transceiver search techniques, and preventative and protective measures, including avalanche zoning and control.

    In each section, an introductory essay or story is followed by pairings of images and quotes, which together reveal Mother Earth’s tenderness and power, playfulness and intensity, intimate detail and vast breadth, inspiring readers to look afresh at her fragile yet powerful beauty and the interconnectedness of all life.

    Chronicles a year in a black bear's life, beginning with her emerging from hibernation in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains during the spring thaw in February.

    Photos.

    . . . Things Maps Don't Tell Us actually communicates a great deal about the things maps can tell us if we care to look carefully underneath the printed symbols."—James E. Young, Cartographic Perspectives

    It looks at detailed industrial applications of cannabis hemp, the medical and nutritional uses of the plants flowers and seeds, and the controversies around marijuana. A scholarly work that captures your attention and holds your interest, this book has been the springboard for many businesses to get up and going in the hemp field, and has inspired countless acts of activism in the cannabis reform movement. A veritable encyclopedia of hemp trivia and historical detail, this book will help you understand why so many people are energized by the promise of hemp. Essential reading for anyone who has ever wondered how past societies were able to survive without modern products, and for anyone who wonders how future generations will be able to survive after the conflagration of the petrochemical era. It dedicates much attention to scientific and sociological studies that shatter the myth of marijuana as the "killer weed," and goes behind the scenes to view the manipulations by which this plant, probably the most versatile and valuable resource on the face of the earth, was demonized and banned under the misnomer "marijuana". Warning: This book might change your life, because once you learn the facts about hemp there is no returning to ignorance. Give a copy to your library, your elected officials, your parents, children, teachers: Anybody who cares about what is wrong with America today. The second edition of the book is 8-1/2 by 5-1/2 inches and over 300 pages, with a title page printed on hemp paper. It is in black and white and illustrated with diagrams to explain the text. The soft bound cover is varnished, with three color illustration. The work includes footnotes throughout, an index and an appendix.

    Includes sections on history and lore, cultivation, and designing rose gardens.

    (1993) An incalculable number have been seriously hurt. In the future, half the world is likely to be run over in a terminal squabble for oil. For today we are possessed by a mindless monster which threatens the planet itself.Considering the widespread impact of the auto on many contemporary societies, it is surprising how little attention its social and political dimensions receive - even from ecologically oriented thinkers. This, despite the fact that vehicular traffic is viewed as a major problem.In this original book, authors Freund and Martin examine the central role that auto production and consumption have played in the twentieth century: as a technological system with major impacts on public policy, land use, cultural patterns, social relations, community, natural resources, environmental quality and options for spatial mobility. The overuse and misuse that has caused auto saturation and the costs of auto-centred transport are identified. Individualist and consumerist ideologies that tend to obscure the problems of auto hegemony, including environmental and public health effects, are vigorously questioned."For policymakers and others interested in a critical appraisal of auto dependence."--Earthwatch"An excellent read for those interested in the environmental impacts and social role of the automobile. Accessible and carefully researched. We need more books like this."--EarthkeeperTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: the Parameters of Auto-Centred Transport SystemsPart One: Auto Centred Transport as a Social Problem1. The Consumption Intensity of Auto-Centred Transport2. The Ecological nand Health Costs of Auto-Centred Transport3. The Social Inequalities of Auto-Centred Transport4, The Globalization of Auto HegemonyPart 2: Deconstructing Auto Hegemony5. The Ideology of Automobility6. The Phenomenology of Automobility7. Auto SpacePart 3: Politics and Alternatives8. The Politics of Transport Policy9. Modifying Auto-Centred Transport10. Social ChangeBibliographyName IndexSubject IndexPeter Freund holds a Ph.D. from the New School of Social Research, New York, and teaches at Montclair State, New Jersey. He is co-author of Health, Illness and the Social Body and author of the Civilized Body. George Martin holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and also teaches at Montclair State. He is co-author of The Welfare Industry and Social Welfare in Society, and author of Social Policy in the Welfare State.1993: 213 pages, Preface, Introduction, Bibliography, Name Index, Subject Index.

    This led him into a lifetime of research into Essential Oils.His remarkable book was first published in 1937 and has been out of print for many years. Now translated, it has been edited by Robert Tisserand, author of three books on aromatherapy (including the best-seller, The Art of Aromatherapy), editorial adviser of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine and editor of The International Journal of Aromatherapy.The book is a fascinating blend of ancient and modern knowledge and aromatherapists will find it an essential tool of reference. Extensive notes are provided by Robert Tisserand at the back of the book.Chapters include those on human smells and animal smells, toxicity, the properties of essential oils and their constituents, the treatment of many diseases, and over fifty case studies from doctors.

    

    A great horned owl's stirrings to mate carry him across a forest in January in the Catskill Mountains, where he observes the nocturnal activities of other animals.

    

    Anthology brings together the leaders of the emerging environmental justice movement.

    Gedicks paints a disturbing picture of the current environmental crisis, but points to hopeful signs of resistance and coalition that could successfully block multinational corporations' resources colonization of native lands.

    In this new volume, she brings together her thinking on the protection of biodiversity, the implications of biotechnology, and the consequences for agriculture of the global pre-eminence of Western-style scientific knowledge. In lucid and accessible fashion, she examines the current threats to the planet's biodiversity and the environmental and human consequences of its erosion and replacement by monocultural production. She shows how the new Biodiversity Convention has been gravely undermined by a mixture of diplomatic dilution during the process of negotiation and Northern hi-tech interests making money out of the new biotechnologies. She explains what these technologies involve and gives examples of their impact in practice. She questions their claims to improving natural species for the good of all and highlights the ethical and environmental problems posed. Underlying her arguments is the view that the North's particular approach to scientific understanding has led to a system of monoculture in agriculture - a model that is not being foisted on the South, displacing its societies' ecologically sounder, indigenous and age-old experiences of truly sustainable food cultivation, forest management and animal husbandry. This rapidly accelerating process of technology and system transfer is impoverishing huge numbers of people, disrupting the social systems that provide them with security and dignity, and will ultimately result in a sterile planet in both North and South, In a policy intervention of potentially great significance, she calls instead for a halt, at international as well as local level, to the aid and market incentives to both large-scale destruction of habitats where biodiversity thrives and the introduction of centralised, homogenous systems of cultivation.

    Most popular books on shells emphasize the identification of species, but Vermeij uses shells as a way to explore major ideas in biology. How are shells built? How do they work? And how did they evolve? With lucidity and charm, the MacArthur-winning evolutionary biologist reveals how shells give us insights into the lives of animals today and in the distant geological past.

    Also includes beautiful color photographs.