. . . [He] is a leading theorist on large-scale patterns in evolution . . . [and] one of the sharpest and most humane thinkers in the sciences." --David Quammen, New York Times Book Review

    Gary Paul Nabhan has combed the desert in search of plants forgotten by all but a handful of American Indians and Mexican Americans. In Gathering the Desert readers will discover that the bounty of the desert is much more than meets the eye—whether found in the luscious fruit of the stately organpipe cactus or in the lowly tepary bean. Nabhan has chosen a dozen of the more than 425 edible wild species found in the Sonoran Desert to demonstrate just how bountiful the land can be. From the red-hot chiltepines of Mexico to the palms of Palm Springs, each plant exemplifies a symbolic or ecological relationship which people of this region have had with plants through history. Each chapter focuses on a particular plant and is accompanied by an original drawing by artist Paul Mirocha. Word and picture together create a total impression of plants and people as the book traces the turn of seasons in the desert.

    Offered here is an entirely new selection of more than ninety paintings, including some of his most recent works, carefully reproduced in accurate full color.

    In an upbeat and original way of thinking Quammen writes about beetles, bats, crows, snakes and other interesting animals.

    Over half of all the species of birds in South America are included, thus making the book useful in regions adjacent to Colombia, as well as in the country itself. The primary purpose of the work is to enable observers to identify the birds of the region, but it also provides detailed species accounts and will serve as an important handbook and reference volume. Fifty-six lavish color plates, thirteen halftone plates, and ninety-nine line drawings in the text illustrate over 85% of the species, including most of the resident birds. Notes on the facing-page of each place, and range maps of 1,475 species, facilitate identification.Written with the field observer in mind, the text gives special attention to comparisons of similar species, transcriptions of voices, and comments on behavior, status, and habitat. It also provides ranges, breeding data, and references. Notes outline taxonomic problems and briefly describe species that eventually may be found in Colombia. Introductory chapters and photographs highlight Colombia's geography, climate, and vegetation, and discuss migration and conservation questions, and the history of Colombian ornithology. Appendices contain a large bibliography, a section on birding locations, and coverage of two of Colombia's far-flung island territories, Isla San Andr�s and Providencia. Maps depicting vegetation zones, political boundaries, national parks, and the most text localities are included.

    

    Oldroyd, Science"After a superficial first glance, most readers of good will and broad knowledge might dismiss [this book] as being too much about too little. They would be making one of the biggest mistakes in their intellectual lives. . . . [It] could become one of our century's key documents in understanding science and its history."—Stephen Jay Gould, New York Review of Books"Surely one of the most important studies in the history of science of recent years, and arguably the best work to date in the history of geology."—David R. Oldroyd, Science

    Sweet Herbs and Sundry Flowers is an introduction to medieval plants and gardening practices by way of the gardens of The Cloisters. In her work as assistant horticulturist at The Cloisters, Tania Bayard has become aware of the many questions visitors ask about medieval gardening. Tania addresses those questions in this volume, providing a list of the plants in The Cloisters' gardens. In this book, Tania, who left a career in art history to become a horticulturist, shares her knowledge and experience with us.The gardens of The Cloisters bloom in a unique museum, a division of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, designed to suggest the layout of a medieval European monastery. Planted in reconstructed Romanesque and Gothic cloisters, the gardens resemble those that provided bodily sustenance and spiritual refreshment for monks of centuries ago.The delight in reading Sweet Herbs and Sundry Flowers is the realization that the modern gardener's experience is not unlike that of gardeners one thousand years ago. Then, as now, garden plots were selected for adequate light and water drainage, the soil was prepared in the spring, noxious weeds and stones were removed, the ground was tilled and rakes, and cow manure was added for fertilizer. Seeds and young plants were lovingly tended. When the plants were mature, roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits were harvested for food, medicines, and various household uses. Following the fall harvest, the ground was readied for winter, and thoughts of spring were always present. How wonderful it is that we share with the medieval gardener the same labors and joys, getting our hands dirty with soil as did the ninth-century monk, Walahfrid Strabo. [This book was originally published in 1985 and has gone out of print. This edition is a print-on-demand version of the original book.]

    “A belief in that common bond might, in fact, be the most fundamental characteristic of a biologist.” And biologists see the worth of a plant or an animal not in monetary terms but in its contribution to our understanding of life. The famous naturalist brings a humanist’s vision to this superbly written book. On Becoming a Biologist is grounded in reality, cognizant of practical matters (education and jobs) as well as the ideals that inform the profession—a reverence for life and a responsibility to humankind and its future. Janovy draws on his experiences as a graduate and postdoctoral student, on his rewarding relationships with teachers, and on his fieldwork as a naturalist. This edition includes new information throughout the book regarding pertinent events, issues, and changes in technology.

    . . America's (and the world's) first national park." —Wildlife Book Review "Without question the best and most thought-provoking volume on America's first national park that has been written in the last half-century." —Journal of the West "Broad ranging, informative, thoughtful, and simply fun to read." —Western Historical Quarterly "...written in warm and human terms. It documents that good can triumph over greed, that man himself can overcome his tendency toward exploitation and follow his better self toward conservation and concern." --USA Today

    

    

    A comprehensive field guide, fully illustrated with color photographs, to the trees, wildflowers, insects, birds, and other natural wonders of North America's western forests and woodlands, from Alaska to California and the Rockies.

    Gruchow recorded his thoughts, observations, and experiences in each season on the prairie, eventually compiling them into this moving chronicle of a sometimes harsh but always stunning landscape. Be it the bitter winds of winter, the return of the geese in spring, or the first pasque flower, the cycles of growth on the prairie have the power to move and inspire lovers of nature.

    Learn how to rear a queen, control a swarm, protect a hive, and keep bees healthy. The book is also packed with practical tips on using beeswax and, of course, making honey.

    He works his land with horses and without electricity. He describes the proper preparation of Sassafras tea, maple sugaring in late winter, chopping firewood in autumn and rejoices in the vast diversity of the birds.

    It raises the "sociobiology debate" to a new level, moving beyond arguments about the politics of the various parties involved, the degree to which sociobiology assumes genetic determinism, or the falsifiability of the general theory. Sociobiology has made a great deal of noise in the popular intellectual culture. Vaulting Ambition cuts through the charges and counter-charges to take a hard look at the claims and analyses offered by the sociobiologists. It examines what the claims mean, how they relate to standard evolutionary theory, how the biological models are supposed to work, and what is wrong with the headline-grabbing proclamations of human sociobiology. In particular, it refutes the notions that humans are trapped by their evolutionary biology and history in endlessly repeating patterns of aggression, xenophobia, and deceitfulness, or that the inequities of sex, race, and class are genetically based or culturally determined. And it takes up issues of human altruism, freedom, and ethics as well.Kitcher weighs the evidence for sociobiology, for human sociobiology, and for "the pop sociobiological view" of human nature that has engendered the controversy. He concludes that in the field of nonhuman animal studies, rigorous and methodologically sound work about the social lives of insects, birds, and mammals has been done. But in applying the theories to human beings-where even more exacting standards of evidence are called for because of the potential social disaster inherent in adopting a working hypothesis as a basis for public policy - many of the same scientists become wildly speculative, building grand conclusions from what Kitcher shows to be shoddy analysis and flimsy argument. While it may be possible to develop a genuine science of human behavior based on evolutionary biology, genetics, cognition, and culture, Kitcher points out that the sociobiology that has been loudly advertised in the popular and intellectual press is not it. Pop sociobiology has in fact been felled by its overambitious and overreaching creators.

    And this is exactly what Rudwick's book should do for many paleontologists' view of the history of their own field."—Stephen J. Gould, Paleobotany and Palynology"Rudwick has not merely written the first book-length history of palaeontology in the English language; he has written a very intelligent one. . . . His accounts of sources are rounded and organic: he treats the structure of arguments as Cuvier handled fossil bones."—Roy S. Porter, History of Science