Told through an examination of animal and plant life today - with occasional juxtapositions of extinct fossil forms to reveal the origin of living creatures - "Life on Earth" is an astonishing pageant of life, with a cast of characters drawn from the whole range of living animals the world over. Attenborough's perceptive, dynamic approach to the evolution of some four million species of living organisms that populate the planet is to trace the most significant thread in the history of each major group. He then proceeds to explain from the evidence of living representatives and fossil remains why certain animals adapted and survived, evolved to more complex and "higher" forms of life, while others, by some inherent limitation imposed by their physiology or structure, failed and became extinct. "Life on Earth" is a book of wonders. A model of clarity and ease as a guide, Attenborough takes the reader around the world with him into jungles where orchids have petals that "impersonate" wasps to attract pollinating insects; to Australia, where honeypot ants force feed nectar to workers of a special caste, then hang them up by their forelegs like living storage jars; to remote mountains in Japan where little monkeys called macaques have learned to combat the winter snows by bathing in hot volcanic springs.

    Mushroom authority David Arora provides a beginner's checklist of the 70 most distinctive and common mushrooms, plus detailed chapters on terminology, classification, habitats, mushroom cookery, mushroom toxins, and the meanings of scientific mushroom names. Beginning and experienced mushroom hunters everywhere will find MUSHROOMS DEMYSTIFIED a delightful, informative, and indispensible companion.

    These vibrant, magical poems pulse with an aching awareness of nature's unaffected beauty. Her absorbing intimate vision leads us into the natural and human kingdoms we only fleetingly grasp.

    A guide to over 300 species of plants geographically ranging from Baja California to Alaska.

    More than 700 new full-color photos, showing every species both in close-up and in its natural setting, highlight these updated guides. New introductions provide clearer and more complete explanations of how to identify each species.

    Reptiles & Amphibians features: ¸ Background information on evolution, anatomy, physiology, habitats, and life cycles of a range of reptile and amphibian families. ¸ A detailed look at how reptiles and amphibians survive-how they eat, move around, defend themselves, and combat temperature extremes. ¸ Examinations of metamorphosis, growth and longevity, and vocalization techniques. ¸ Practical advice on how to responsibly study reptiles and amphibians in the wild or care for them as pets. ¸ An identification guide to more than 160 of the most fascinating herpetological species from around the world, organized by environment. ¸ More than 300 full-color photos and illustrations.

    In its companion volume River Notes, Lopez takes us into a different country where a nameless river flows through an animated world of herons, bears, and human beings.There is violence here, in the conflict of natural forces, in the people touching the river. There are landscapes, physical and spiritual, that we have not sensed, rituals we have not understood. Like the earlier peoples of our land, and like few American writers who have reentered this world, Barry Lopez respects the river and its imperatives, understands the language of cottonwoods and the salmon, and brings us in an extraordinary dance with a heron to the oneness with nature which is our heritage. ... [i]n these haunting, passionate stories Lopez brings us home to a deeply comforting unity with the natural world.From the first-edition dustjacket.

    The guide has been completely revised to make identification in the field easier than ever. Images are grouped by flower color and shape and keyed to clear, concise descriptions that reflect current taxonomy.

    Not the sort of excitement that makes morning headlines or the nightly news. Instead it is the excitement that comes from experiencing the natural world as it always has been and should be, and seeing human beings living in tune with its subtlest rhythms. In Australian cattle country and in the primitive outback. On a desert island off Mexico and in the Sierra Madres. On the Rio Grande and in the great Southwest. On Lake Powell in Utah and in the living American desert. It is adventure. It is enlightenment. It is vintage Abbey.

    Here are 53 classic hunting and fishing stories, some from sporting magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, including unpublished works from the author's literary estate. Available in individual volumes or collected in a slip-cased three-volume set.

    When Archie Carr began to rove the Caribbean to write about sea turtles, he saw that their numbers were dwindling. Out of this appeal to save them grew the first ventures in international sea turtle conservation and the establishment of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation.  In addition to sea turtle biology, Carr recorded his general impressions, producing a natural history sprinkled with colorful stories.

    Whether carried into the field or consulted at home, these books provide readers with fascinating facts and insights into the behavior of birds and wildlife.And that's not all. With new Stokes projects under way ... with information about Stokes activities available on-line at www.StokesBooks.com...you can be certain that more and more readers will be relying on Stokes guides.

    Whether you're a nature-lover, weather freak, eco-hippie, it does'nt matter; Borland sums up a typical day from a naturalist's point of view. A good companion book to Edwin Way Teale's "A Walk Through The Year". Great for bedside reading every night.

    New nature games--favorites from the field--and Cornell's typically insightful commentary make the second edition of this special classic even more valuable to nature lovers world-wide. The Sharing Nature movement that Cornell pioneered has now expanded to countries all over the globe. Recommended by Boy Scouts of America, American Camping Association, National Audubon Society and many others.

    

    The 700 identification photographs show wildflowers-including grasses and sedges, and many flowering vines and shrubs-in their natural habitats. Note: the Eastern Edition generally covers states east of the Rocky Mountains, while the Western Edition covers the Rocky Mountain range and all the states to the west of it.

    A microcosm of the plants, birds, insects, and animals of Itchen Valley in Hampshire, England, captured in detailed watercolor paintings and described in the author's diary.

    First edition thus. Hardcover. In slip case. A facsimile of a book in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. First Edition wonderful unique beautiful accordion like book show continuous illustration of butterflies by Sekka, facsimile of 1904 book given as gift to Met Museum from the original Japanese title page reproduction stating first published in Japan. Concertina style pages with colour woodblock illustrations of butterflies by Kanzaka Sekka.

    

    The grizzly once roamed North America as a coequal with early humans, its range stretching from the Mississippi to the Pacific and from Mexico to the Arctic. Today only remnant populations live in the contiguous United States; the Yellowstone grizzly community is the largest, but is ever threatened by proximity to people: their towns, camps, and garbage dumps.Over a period of thirteen years, beginning in 1959, Frank Craighead, his brother John, and their colleagues lived in the backcountry close to their subjects. Combining firsthand knowledge of the bears and their habitat with radio-tracking and other scientific techniques, they tracked hundreds of grizzlies to discover their social organization and seasonal movements, their breeding and feeding habits, and their life spans. This fascinating, seminal book provides an intimate and detailed portrait of the greatest carnivore in our hemisphere, a lesson in wildlife mismanagement, and a close-up look at the life and work of wildlife biologists in the field.

    

    The new edition provides detailed scientific descriptions of over 100 species, complemented by accounts of how the various fish, crustaceans, and mollusks are used in the cuisines of the North Atlantic region. A vast amount of information is imparted in Davidson'¬?s inimitable style, making the volume as accessible as it is authoritative. The recipe collection spans from France (Fillets of Sole with Morels) to Spain (Galician Octopus Pie) to South Carolina (She-Crab Soup) to Greenland (Marinated Halibut Fins). Superbly helpful, knowledgeable, and witty, this is a fascinating tour through the cultures and cuisines of the Atlantic, and the waters that gave rise to them.‚Ä¢ The original edition of NORTH ATLANTIC SEAFOOD received the prestigious Glenfiddich Gold Medal award and the Andr?© Simon Award.‚Ä¢ With over 100 line drawings and 200 regional recipes, this landmark volume is an essential part of any serious cook'¬?s library.Awards2002 James Beard Cookbook Hall of FameReviews"Mr. Davidson . . . has vast, multilingual acquaintance with the cuisines as well as the fishes of the world. . . . Davidson gives fish their rightful names in all the relevant languages and dialects; he supplies excellent regional recipes, and line drawings that will help you know what you are buying. You may gather that I love these books." -Barbara Kafka

    Paul Klee said the purpose of art is to make visible the invisible. The photographs of Eliot Porter satisfy both prescriptions. Quote from the afterward of this amazing and beautiful book with page after page (55 plates in all) Nature and art photography from the artist's travels around the world. Each is worthy of being framed!

    Fifty-two essays record the author's observations of plants and animals encountered on walks in different seasons of the year.

    

    

    The dust jacket has minor wear and soiling to the extremities.