First published in 1982.

    "For 23 years now I've been floating rivers. Always downstream, the easy and natural way. The way Huck Finn and Jim did it, LaSalle and Marquette, the mountain men, and Major Powell."

    Here, in this compelling assembly of writings, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard explores the world of natural facts and human meanings.

    With meticulous illustrations and detailed descriptions of plants and animals found in every corner of the continent, this newly updated and revised edition is the perfect companion in the field and a storehouse of information for the armchair naturalist or student.

    Small-scale, self-contained worm bins can be kept indoors, in a basement or even under the kitchen sink in an apartment — making vermicomposting a great option for city dwellers and anyone who doesn’t want or can’t have an outdoor compost pile. The fully revised 35th anniversary edition features the original’s same friendly tone, with up-to-date information on the entire process, from building or purchasing a bin (readily available at garden supply stores), maintaining the worms, and harvesting the finished compost.

    The Desert Smells Like Rain offers insights into the natural history of desert plants and animals as it documents a dying agricultural tradition that has enriched the biological diversity of the Papago's seemingly harsh environment. Drawing on his extensive scientific research and study of Papago folklore, as well as his years of work among the Desert People in village gardening and nutrition programs, Nabhan portrays a desert-adapted way of life that has persisted despite the pressures of modern civilization.

    Full-color illustrations.

    The descriptive text includes information on size, geological period, geographical distribution, and ecology of the animal or plant before it was fossilized. In addition, the book provides lists of Geological Survey offices and major fossil collections, a geological time chart, and a guide to collecting and preserving fossils.

    Teaches the structure and function of plants and surveys the entire plant kingdom.

    Here she opens the doors of her Cape Cod home and invites her readers to share another part of her life."Still Cove," she writes, "is exactly my idea of heaven." Nestled on a cliff overlooking the sapphire waters of Mill Pond inlet, it is a low, one-story house with white cedar shingles weathered to a soft smoke gray.Looking beyond Still cove, Mrs. Taber reflects on the Cape itself. Here are friends and neighbors, living in enviable closeness to each other and to the natural setting in which they have made their lives. Here are the tides and the fogs, the cranberry bogs, the beaches where visitors swim and Cape Codders dig for clams. The book is divided into four sections, one for each season, and every page is alive with the author's presence and observations. "What is Cape Cod?" Gladys Taber writes. "It is an amethyst glow at the horizon over Mill Pond, announcing dawn." "It is the Full Flower Moon in May walking in gold on quiet water." "Honey locusts and honeysuckle weighing the air with sweetness and sea lavender signing the beaches with delicate purple." All of these, and much more, are Cape Cod, captured here as only Gladys Taber could express it.

    Author Rosalind Creasy, a landscape designer and leading authority on edible landscaping, provides all the information necessary to plan, plant, and maintain ornamental edible landscapes, with specific designs for all geographic and climatic regions of the country. Drawing on years of research into the most decorative and flavorful species—from the exotic water chestnut to the ever-popular apple—Creasy shows how edibles can form the basis for a beautiful home landscape or can be integrated with traditional ornamentals. An outstanding feature is the 160-page "Encyclopedia of Edibles"—a book in itself—which alphabetically lists more than 120 edible species, with detailed horticultural information, landscaping and culinary uses, seed sources, and recipes. Other valuable features include an abundance of how-to illustrations, photographs, and landscape diagrams designed for beginners and experts alike, plus a list of mail-order nurseries, a climate zone map, and extensive appendices.

    Describing prairie restorations, this work provides an up-to-date directory of representative tallgrass prairies, prairie nurseries and seed sources.

    Text and illustrations introduce animals with fur or hair who nurse their young, breathe fresh air, and except for two species give birth to their young alive instead of laying eggs.

    But until this year, there wasn't a comprehensive book on the subject. Now there is: "Gardening With Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest."..The main body of the book is divided into encyclopedic sections on trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials, including information about where they grow in the wild, how to propagate them, and how they fit into home gardens...This book contains so much well-organized, well-written material that it should become a standard guidebook for anyuone who gardens with Northwest natives." "-Sunset""All in all, this is a fascinating book, full of reliable information." -"The Garden Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society""Professor Kruckeberg is a botanist at the University of Washington who has specialized in the flora of the Pacific Northwest for over thirty years. This summary of his experience, with plants in the wild and in gardens, will be referred to with pleasure for years, not only for the value of its information but also for the easy style and quiet humor of its presentation." -"Pacific Horticulture""Arthur Kruckenberg has provided his attractive, literate, and useful book just as the native-plant movement is gathering great momentum. As he writes, 'The largely untapped potential of gardening with Northwest natives needs to become a way of life for those who look to the plant for beauty and serenity.' That goes for anywhere." "-Horticulture"

    Divided into 365 concise, illustrated essays, it focuses on the aesthetic as well as the scientific aspects of stargazing. It offers the most up-to-date information available, with hundreds of charts, drawings, and maps-that take you beyond the visible canopy of stars and constellations into the unseen realm of nebulae and galaxies.This simple yet substantial text is full of critical information and helpful hints on how to observe the stars; describe their position; calculate their age, brightness, and distance; and much more. Whether you observe the sky with a telescope or the naked eye, 365 Starry Nights makes the infinite intimate and brings the heavens within your grasp. Keep this invaluable, informative guide close at hand, and you'll find that the sky is the limit 365 nights a year.

    

    Here Paul Shepard uncovers the cultural roots of our ecological crisis and proposes ways to repair broken bonds with the earth, our past, and nature. Ultimately encouraging, he notes, "There is a secret person undamaged in every individual. We have not lost, and cannot lose, the genuine impulse."

    In this, his last book completed just before his death, Sigurd F. Olson guides readers through his wide-ranging memories of a lifetime dedicated to the preservation of the wilderness.

    With text completely rewritten and updated, including technological breakthroughs and discussions of recent weather trends such as El Ni$o, and 20% new drawings, this favorite will hook both serious marine biology students and weekend beachcombers.

    A memorable account of one man's journey through terra incognita - secret places that still exist in the American West.

    But how many can quickly identify the bobwhite, the myrtle warbler, or the red-eyed vireo? Few of us, yet they are far from rare. Like most of the dozens of birds in this book, they may be easily and frequently spotted in or near cities and towns in most parts of the United States and Canada.Become familiar with all of these common yet beautiful species through these 46 large, lifelike drawings. Accurately rendered by artist Lisa Bonforte, these birds will quickly impress themselves on your memory as you enjoy coloring their variegated plumage. Captions provide common and scientific names as well as seasons and ranges in which the birds occur. All 50 species are also illustrated in full color on the covers.This book belongs to the Dover Pictorial Archive series, which means that graphic artists and designers will value these drawings as a convenient source of royalty-free art.

    Authors James Nybakken and Mark Bertness provide a unique ecological approach that helps students understand the real-world relevance of marine biology by exploring how organisms interact within their individual ecosystems. The text is organized by habitat, not classification, with each habitat receiving detailed, in-depth coverage that draws students into the subject matter. In addition, new co-author Mark Bertness's expertise and familiarity with East Coast marine life adds a balanced dimension to the coverage of the Atlantic and Pacific environments. In addition to a new Taxonomic Appendix containing a detailed map of marine taxonomy, the Sixth Edition is fully updated with the latest research data and topics. These include new coverage of the intertidal zone, salt marshes and estuaries, and tropical communities, as well as a revised discussion of humans' impact on the sea. The new edition's pedagogy features end-of-chapter summaries, a full-color design, and a companion website designed just for students.

    Practically collectors' items, these maps are sought by paddlers all over the United States for their accuracy, relevance, and wild insider's perspective on those strange creatures who inhabit the exotic sport of whitewater paddling. Now, for the first time, Nealy has coupled his most celebrated Southeastern U.S. river maps with an anthology of cartoons, paddling homilies, and unsolicited advice. The result is a crazed but incredible book titled Whitewater Home Companion, Southeastern Rivers, Volume I. Through his distinctive drawing and wholly peculiar river-submarine terminology, Nealy successfully reveals rivers and boaters alike as never before. Contained within the covers of this book is a wealth of information and humor good for many hours of pleasure both on and off the river.

    Basic instructions on tracking techniques and recognizing tracks, droppings, and gnawings.

    . . . High adventure, absorbing science." --New Yorker

    This spectacular catalog features 180 families of birds.

    

    

     — Yale University Press

    You've always wanted to know how the Mississippi River was formed. For years, you have wondered about why shark teeth have been found in the Minnesota's Iron Range or wished that someone would unfold a timeline for the state's 3.5 billion-year history. Wait no longer; your prayers have been answered. University of Minnesota geology professors Ojakangas and Matsch have written a intelligent and entertaining account of this mineral-rich region.

    They are convinced that, in the long run,"the distaff side of the pedigree is the one to watch." They agree that one reason for the eminence of the Quarter Horse in racing, show, arena, and breed competition is the quality of the dams who helped found the breed and give it the unique conformation and blazing speed on the short track.This book, filled with treasured anecdotes and track legends, will join its companion volume on the sires as an indispensable source for Quarter Horse breeders, owners, and racetrack and rodeo enthusiats, as well as for historians of the horse and its role in the Americas.