The Panda's Thumb will introduce a new generation of readers to this unique writer, who has taken the art of the scientific essay to new heights.Were dinosaurs really dumber than lizards? Why, after all, are roughly the same number of men and women born into the world? What led the famous Dr. Down to his theory of mongolism, and its racist residue? What do the panda's magical "thumb" and the sea turtle's perilous migration tell us about imperfections that prove the evolutionary rule? The wonders and mysteries of evolutionary biology are elegantly explored in these and other essays by the celebrated natural history writer Stephen Jay Gould.

    Presenting a field guide to Australian birds, this illustrated handbook is useful for birdlovers in Australia.

    Lawrence pulled them from the gory sack stowed in the Cree Indian's canoe. Lawrence paid the Indian for the cubs and began an amazing adventure for Lawrence, his wife, and their dog.

    1,675 extraordinarily beautiful illustrations rate this definitive work of bird literature, the first truly comprehensive one-volume encyclopedia to provide rich, concise, authoritative information on the birds of North America.

    This edition brings together, slightly abridged, his descriptions of three journeys - to Guyana where he explored the broad savannahs of the Rupununi, the creeks and swamps of the coast, and the remote forest reserve of the Amerindians; to Indonesia in search of the Komodo dragon; and to Paraguay to seek, among other animals, the elusive giant armadillo. The book abounds with superb vignettes of bizarre characters - Mistah King, the mermaid fisherman; the shanty singers Lord Lucifer and the Great Smasher; Comelli, the wandering jaguar hunter; and the fat, jolly Gertie who claimed she has a 'highly nervous psychological disposition'. The author also tells, disarmingly, of the hardships of the journey by launch and canoes up the rivers of South America, of his travel by horseback through the parched, inhospitable Chac of Paraguay, sometimes swamp and sometimes desert, and of a hazardous voyage by prau under the captaincy of a gun-smuggler. At all times the author shows his acute powers of observation, his irrepressible sense of the ridiculous, and his gift as a brilliant raconteur. No one has written more entertaining travel books, and this collected edition, superbly illustrated by photographs, will be hugely enjoyed for its evocative descriptions of animals, people and places.

    Two sisters in Victorian England describe the summer they had no governess and thus were able to "entomologise" as much as they liked.

    Back in print for the first time since its original publication in 1980, Flowers is a beautiful photographic book, capturing seven of the most beautiful and popular flowers--the poppy, the rose, the lily, the orchid, the begonia, the peony and the tulip--in 73 full-color radiant portraits.

    A broad ecological overview written in engaging narrative for lay readers as well as naturalists, conservationists, and biologists, the book is enhanced with more than 140 photographs, drawings, maps, and diagrams. Also a practical guidebook, it directs people to where they can see what is being discussed, gives current references, and offers a complete directory of conservation organizations in the state.In the new edition, State Naturalist Charles W. Johnson describes many environmental, technological, and cultural changes: more moose and turkey vultures, fewer wood turtles and butternuts; refinement in our thinking about natural communities and endangered species; effects of development, pollution, acid rain, global warming, and invasive non-native species such as zebra mussels and Eurasian water milfoil; urban/rural clashes mirrored in such issues as the Northern Forests and clear-cutting; a sharpening focus on biodiversity, sustainability, and ecosystem management; the rise of conservation biology as a field of study. At the same time, Johnson includes Abenaki stories - Vermont's Native American legacy of respect for and identity with nature - that serve as reminders of how our fortunes are inextricably tied to those of nature.