In the 1970s, he sent two prize students, Tim Plowman and Wade Davis, to follow in his footsteps and unveil the botanical secrets of coca, the notorious source of cocaine, a sacred plant known to the Inca as the Divine Leaf of Immortality.A stunning account of adventure and discovery, betrayal and destruction, One River is a story of two generations of explorers drawn together by the transcendent knowledge of Indian peoples, the visionary realms of the shaman, and the extraordinary plants that sustain all life in a forest that once stood immense and inviolable.

    It's also a book full of entertainment and wonders. In The Song of the Dodo, we follow Quammen's keen intellect through the ideas, theories, and experiments of prominent naturalists of the last two centuries. We trail after him as he travels the world, tracking the subject of island biogeography, which encompasses nothing less than the study of the origin and extinction of all species. Why is this island idea so important? Because islands are where species most commonly go extinct -- and because, as Quammen points out, we live in an age when all of Earth's landscapes are being chopped into island-like fragments by human activity. Through his eyes, we glimpse the nature of evolution and extinction, and in so doing come to understand the monumental diversity of our planet, and the importance of preserving its wild landscapes, animals, and plants. We also meet some fascinating human characters. By the book's end we are wiser, and more deeply concerned, but Quammen leaves us with a message of excitement and hope.

    Detailed descriptions and color photographs for over 100 species are provided, as well as an exploration of their long-standing (and often religious) use by ancient peoples and their continued significance to modern-day culture. Some of the species included have just been discovered in the past year or two, and still others have never before been photographed in their natural habitats.

    This vision culminates in a triumphant series of works, reproduced in this book, made in all four seasons on, under, and around a magnificent oak tree near the artist's home in Scotland.

    Wilson has scrutinized animals in their natural settings, tweezing out the dynamics of their social organization, their relationship with their environments, and their behavior, not only for what it tells us about the animals themselves, but for what it can tell us about human nature and our own behavior. He has brought the fascinating and sometimes surprising results of these studies to general readers through a remarkable collection of books, including The Diversity of Life, The Ants, On Human Nature, and Sociobiology. The grace and precision with which he writes of seemingly complex topics has earned him two Pulitzer prizes, and the admiration of scientists and general readers around the world.In Search of Nature presents for the first time a collection of the seminal short writings of Edward O. Wilson, addressing in brief and eminently readable form the themes that have actively engaged this remarkable intellect throughout his career.""The central theme of the essays is that wild nature and human nature are closely interwoven. I argue that the only way to make complete sense of either is by examining both closely and together as products of evolution.... Human behavior is seen not just as the product of recorded history, ten thousand years recent, but of deep history, the combined genetic and cultural changes that created humanity over hundreds of thousands of years. We need this longer view, I believe, not only to understand our species, but more firmly to secure its future.The book is composed of three sections. ""Animal Nature, Human Nature"" ranges from serpents to sharks to sociality in ants. It asks how and why the universal aversion to snakes might have evolved in humans and primates, marvels at the diversity of the world's 350 species of shark and how their adaptive success has affected our conception of the world, and admonishes us to ""be careful of little lives""-to see in the construction of insect social systems ""another grand experiment in evolution for our delectation.""The Patterns of Nature"" probes at the foundation of sociobiology, asking what is the underlying genetic basis of social behavior, and what that means for the future of the human species. Beginning with altruism and aggression, the two poles of behavior, these essays describe how science, like art, adds new information to the accumulated wisdom, establishing new patterns of explanation and inquiry. In ""The Bird of Paradise: The Hunter and the Poet,"" the analytic and synthetic impulses-exemplified in the sciences and the humanities-are called upon to give full definition to the human prospect.""Nature's Abundance"" celebrates biodiversity, explaining its fundamental importance to the continued existence of humanity. From ""The Little Things That Run the World""-invertebrate species that make life possible for everyone and everything else-to the emergent belief of many scientists in the human species' possible innate affinity for other living things, known as biophilia, Wilson sets forth clear and compelling reasons why humans should concern themselves with species loss. ""Is Humanity Suicidal?"" compares the environmentalist's view with that of the exemptionalist, who holds that since humankind is transcendent in intelligence and spirit, our species must have been released from the iron laws of ecology that bind all other species. Not without optimism, Wilson concludes that we are smart enough and have time enough to avoid an environmental catastrophe of civilization-threatening dimensions-if we are willing both to redirect our science and technology and to reconsider our self-image as a species.In Search of Nature is a lively and accessible introduction to the writings of one of the most brilliant scientists of the 20th century. Imaginatively illustrated by noted artist Laura Southworth, it is a book all readers will treasure."

    Serialized in American Way, Colorado Outdoors, and the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Line drawings.

    Publishers Weekly named Mountains and Rivers Without End one of the best books of 1996. On April 8, 1956, Gary Snyder began work on a long poem entitled Mountains and Rives Without End. Initially inspired by East Asian landscape painting and his own experience within a chaotic universe where everything is in place, Snyders vision was further stimulated by Asian art and drama, Gaia history, Native American performance and storytelling, the practice of Zen Buddhism, and the varied landscapes of Japan, California, Alaska, Australia, China, and Taiwan.While a few individual sections of the poem have been published in literary magazines and a small bound collection, Snyders ardent fans have waited patiently through the past forty years for the completion of Mountains and Rivers Without End. The entire work appears for the first time in this volume.Traveling beyond its origins in the Western tradition of Whitman, Pound, and Williams, Mountains and Rivers is an epic of geology, prehistory, and planetary m

    There is knowledge only the wild can give us, knowledge specific to it, knowledge specific to the experience of it. These are its gifts to us. How wild is wilderness and how wild are our experiences in it, asks Jack Turner in the pages of The Abstract Wild. His answer: not very wild. National parks and even so-called wilderness areas fall far short of offering the primal, mystic connection possible in wild places. And this is so, Turner avows, because any managed land, never mind what it's called, ceases to be wild. Moreover, what little wildness we have left is fast being destroyed by the very systems designed to preserve it. Natural resource managers, conservation biologists, environmental economists, park rangers, zoo directors, and environmental activists: Turner's new book takes aim at these and all others who labor in the name of preservation. He argues for a new conservation ethic that focuses less on preserving things and more on preserving process and "leaving things be." He takes off after zoos and wilderness tourism with a vengeance, and he cautions us to resist language that calls a tree "a resource" and wilderness "a management unit." Eloquent and fast-paced, The Abstract Wild takes a long view to ask whether ecosystem management isn't "a bit of a sham" and the control of grizzlies and wolves "at best a travesty." Next, the author might bring his readers up-close for a look at pelicans, mountain lions, or Shamu the whale. From whatever angle, Turner stirs into his arguments the words of dozens of other American writers including Thoreau, Hemingway, Faulkner, and environmentalist Doug Peacock. We hunger for a kind of experience deep enough to change our selves, our form of life, writes Turner. Readers who take his words to heart will find, if not their selves, their perspectives on the natural world recast in ways that are hard to ignore and harder to forget.

    Is that butterfly outside your window a Monarch or a Giant Swallowtail? What's the best kind of feeder for attracting birds to your backyard? This pocket-size, brilliantly colorful, simple-to-use guide is an ideal introduction to the birds of the Eastern United States. It contains dozens of full-color photographs that enable readers of all ages to identify the most common species; range maps; tips on attracting and observing birds; information on habitat needs, life cycle, food preferences; and much more. Special features include:Coverage of 100 speicesUnique organization by birds' plumage colorsUser-friendly color tab index for quick referenceBrilliant full-color photographs of each species, plus separate images of male and female when plumage differsUseful tips for attracting birdsInformation on voice, habitat, nest, eggs, incubation time, population trends, behavior, birdhouse and feeder preferences, and much more

    Indeed, Flora Britannica is the definitive contemporary flora, an encyclopaedia of living folklore, a register – a sort of Domesday Book.It is unique in that it is not a botanical flora but a cultural one – an account of the role of wild plants in social life, arts, custom and landscape. It is also unique in that information has been supplied by the people themselves. Five years of intensive original research have aroused popular interest and ‘grassroots’ involvement on an exceptional scale. People all over Britain – both rural and urban – have been encouraged to record and celebrate the cultural dimensions of their own flora, and to send their memories and anecdotes, observations and regional knowledge to Flora Britannica.The result is a nationwide record of the popular culture, domestic uses and social meanings of our wild plants. It is both useful and delightful – superbly written by one of the most outstanding English authors on natural history and illustrated with nearly 500 photographs. Including trees and ferns, it covers 1,000 species, many of them in considerable detail. A new flora for the people, Flora Britannica is a testimony to the continuing relationship between nature and human beings, and a celebration that the seasons and the landscape, local character and identity, still matter in Britain.

    It shows how human-engineered dams, canals and farms replaced nature's beaver dams, prairie dog tunnels, and buffalo wallows. Step by step, Outwater makes clear what should have always been obvious: while engineering can de-pollute water, only ecologically interacting systems can create healthy waterways. Important reading for students of environmental studies, the heart of this history is a vision of our land and waterways as they once were, and a plan that can restore them to their former glory: a land of living streams, public lands with hundreds of millions of beaver-built wetlands, prairie dog towns that increase the amount of rainfall that percolates to the groundwater, and forests that feed their fallen trees to the sea.

    In this extraordinary feat of nature writing, we meet ants who harvest crops, raise insects as livestock, build roadways and bridges, embark on nuptial flights, and make war.

    This major work of ecological philosophy startles the senses out of habitual ways of perception.For a thousand generations, human beings viewed themselves as part of the wider community of nature, and they carried on active relationships not only with other people with other animals, plants, and natural objects (including mountains, rivers, winds, and weather patters) that we have only lately come to think of as inanimate. How, then, did humans come to sever their ancient reciprocity with the natural world? What will it take for us to recover a sustaining relation with the breathing earth?In The Spell of the Sensuous David Abram draws on sources as diverse as the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Balinese shamanism, Apache storytelling, and his own experience as an accomplished sleight-of-hand of magician to reveal the subtle dependence of human cognition on the natural environment. He explores the character of perception and excavates the sensual foundations of language, which--even at its most abstract--echoes the calls and cries of the earth. On every page of this lyrical work, Abram weaves his arguments with a passion, a precision, and an intellectual daring that recall such writers as Loren Eisleley, Annie Dillard, and Barry Lopez.

    By studying fish in streams and by closely observing the natural water cycle, Viktor Schauberger (1885-1958) was able to solve basic problems of energy transformation. He saw that modern man, without realizing it, was destroying the earth and sabotaging his own cultures by working against Nature. All the prevailing methods of energy generation - from hydro-electric to nuclear fission - produce harmful long-term effects on the environment and encourage disease. Schauberger had a clear vision of how fertility could be restored to the earth. As an inventor Schauberger developed a number of ingenious machines which would revolutionize farming, horticulture, forestry and aircraft propulsion. He developed water purification systems, and showed how air and water could be harnessed as fuels for many machines. His discovery of implosive energy and diamagnetism had many practical applications, most of which have yet to be developed.

    You'll find: * All the identification information on a single page-color photographs, range map, and detailed description. No more fumbling to match photos with text! * For fast reference-a compact alphabetical index inside the front and back covers. * More than 900 high-resolution color identification photographs. * An illustrated Quick Guide to the most common backyard and feeder birds. * Convenient colored tabs keyed to each bird group. * Concise and comprehensive text, with information on habitat; plumage variation; feeding, nesting, and mating behavior; bird feeder proclivity; and-for the first time in any guide-population trends and conservation status.

    You know the fishes and can identify the reef critters, but what about the animals that actually form a coral reef? This work features 530 photographs of living specimens and scientific classifications that help identify virtually each species of stony coral, gorgonian, fire coral and black coral inhabiting the tropical western Atlantic.

    Children learn to identify a variety of different plant, animal and insect species.-- Helps children identify different species.-- Includes scrapbook pages, for notes or drawings.-- Features detailed true-to-life illustrations.

    Packed with information on access, anchorages, points of historical or natural interest, and things to do and see, this fascinating compendium provides indispensable information for touring, for browsing, for reference, and for all of those travelers who wish to experience some of the most beautiful and remote places in the world. No other book begins to emulate the range and depth of the information contained in The Scottish Islands. Complete with full-color illustrations and relief maps of all the main islands, this is both an impressive work of reference and a fascinating personal view of Scotland’s distant outposts.

    In terms of numbers, beetles are the most successful creatures on earth: about 350,000 species of beetles have been described since 1758. They range from tiny to gigantic, occupy sundry habitats, and eat everything--plants, animals, and their own remains. An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles provides an engaging look at these magnificent yet poorly understood creatures and highlights the absolutely essential role they play in the dynamics of nearly every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. And, as this book beautifully demonstrates, the aesthetics of beetle design are amazing. The fantastic colors and shapes of these creatures warrant the gorgeous color photography lavished on them in this book.

    His father, a Depression migrant trained as a welder, helped build dams and later worked at the secret Hanford plutonium plant. Now he and his neighbors, once considered patriots, stand accused of killing the river.As Blaine Harden traveled the Columbia-by barge, car, and sometimes on foot-his past seemed both foreign and familiar. A personal narrative of rediscovery joined a narrative of exploitation: of Native Americans, of endangered salmon, of nuclear waste, and of a once-wild river now tamed to puddled remains.Part history, part memoir, part lament, "this is a brave and precise book," according to the New York Times Book Review. "It must not have been easy for Blaine Harden to find himself turning his journalistic weapons against his own heritage, but he has done the conscience of his homeland a great service."

    In this brilliant book, Henri Bortoft (who began his studies of Goethean science with J. G. Bennett and David Bohm) introduces the fascinating scientific theories of Goethe. He succeeds in showing that Goethe's way of doing science was not a poet's folly but a genuine alternative to the dominant scientific paradigm.Bortoft shows that a different, "gentler" kind of empiricism is possible than that demanded by the dualizing mind of modern technological science and demonstrates that Goethe's participatory phenomenology of a new way of seeing--while far from being a historical curiosity--in fact proposes a practical solution to the dilemmas of contemporary, postmodern science.If you read only one book on Goethan science, this should be the one!

    It was the start of many journeys to prove that ancient man had traveled far and wide, and was far more daring, sophisticated, and wise than had been thought. 24 photos.

    Now, with this beautifully illustrated book, Cadfael fans can spend a typical year with their favorite monk, following him on his rounds as Shrewsbury's apothecary and healer, visiting his garden', and learning more about hundreds of herbs -- many of which are still cultivated today. Here is a succinct history of herbal remedies and monastic herb gardens like Cadfael's, as well as a complete A-to-Z guide to the medical uses for every herb and plant mentioned in the Ellis Peters books. For anyone intrigued by Brother Cadfael's medieval universe -- or interested in the recent boom in herbal remedies -- Brother Cadfael's Herb Garden is a marvelous guide to greater knowledge.

    After eleven years in the remote Mahlangeni region they are transferred, first to Crocodile Bridge and then to Pretorius Kop. Fully at peace in the wild and lonely landscapes of the North, Kobie fears she will never adapt to the relatively people-populated southern area. It takes time, but eventually she is able to acknowlege that the move has shown her "other Edens" and has given her a store of the new and precious memories. Foremost among these memories is the unique experience of raising Leo, an abandoned lion cub. It is a facinating and emotional encounter with the king of the beasts, which brings her and her family equal measures of joy and sorrow.

    Nelson, David Peterson, and Terry Tempest Williams.

    Fully updated and revised, this comprehensive guide features forty-seven trails in Big Bend National Park.

    Soon, it disappears into a hard shell called a chrysalis. Where did it go? This is a perfect beginner's guide to the mystery of metamorphosis.Named as a NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children, this book explains the life cycle from caterpillar to butterfly with easy-to-follow prose from Deborah Heiligman and warm, colorful illustrations from Bari Weissman.This is a Stage 1 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explains simple science concepts for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Let's-Read-And-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.Supports the Common Core Learning Standards and Next Generation Science Standards

    Originally published and presented to Congress last fall, this book serves as a valuable introduction to the current crisis America faces.

    Featuring more than 500 full-color illustrations and photographs, along with detailed annotations, Smithsonian Handbooks make identification easy and accurate.

    This special set of seven delightful books of warmth and whimsy take young readers to the Green Forest to meet Johnny Chuck, Bobby Raccoon, and other characters to learn gentle lessons about wildlife and the environment.

    This easy-to-use guide contains brilliant color photographs showing the early growth stages, mature plants and features for positive identification of each weed discussed. Learning to identify unwanted plants around the home, farm or ranch will be much easier with this book published by the Western Society of Weed Science.

    For The Best of Gerald Durrell she has chosen evocative, quirky, engaging and humorous pieces to give a wonderful picture of how his extraordinary life unfolded. Starting with his early naturalist days and the rapid development of his passion for animals, this anthology includes writings of his collecting trips to such places as Cameroon, Argentina and Madagascar, his growing concern about the nature of zoos, the emergence of his conservation plans, and the realization of his lifelong dream, a zoo of his own, and how it became a model for the future.

    

    Filled with rare insight into the earth beneath and the sky above, Home is a powerful celebration of the paths we choose and the journey we take to find a home. 70 photos.

    From naturalist Michael Roads comes a provocative adventure through time and consciousness that completes the acclaimed Nature Wisdom Quartet--Talking with Nature, Journey into Nature, and Journey into Oneness--the intriguing prequel to Roads' true experiences in a world beyond all known reality.

    This is the book that goes beyond the field guides: not a guide for naming the birds, but a reference for understanding them -- a complete, handy, one-volume encyclopedia on the fascinating lives of our birds.* Includes information about more than 900 birds: complete life histories for 680 species that occur regularly in North America and shorter accounts for more than 230 others that visit occasionally, with more than 600 beautiful photographs and more than 600 range maps.* Gives every important detail about the lives of birds: what they eat, where they build their nests, how many eggs they lay, what habitat they choose, when they migrate, what their current conservation status is, and much more.

    This beautiful illustrated book is the result of eight years exhaustive research into the myths, magic and healing power of trees.It has comprehensive information on all the main species of tree and written in an easy to use and accessible style by an Arch-druidess.This book contains all the practical information you need to identify each tree as it changes throughout the year and includes:comprehensive physical and descriptions and botanical informationthe legends and myths surrounding each treethe healing powers and magical properties of the individual tree

    Exploring the relationship between literature and the physical environment, literary ecology is the study of the ways that writing both reflects and influences our interactions with the natural world.An introduction to the field as well as a source book, The Ecocriticism Reader defines ecological literary discourse and sketches its development over the past quarter-century. The twenty-five selections in this volume, a mixture of reprinted and original essays, look backward to origins and forward to trends and provide generally appealing and lucidly written examples of the range of ecological approaches to literature. Lists of recommended readings, relevant periodicals, and professional organizations offer direction for further study.The Ecocriticism Reader is an illuminating entree into a field of study fully engaged with our most pressing contemporary problem--the global environmental crisis.

    Safety tips are provided and interesting activities are sugested. Color illustrations enhance the presentation. ’-HORN BOOKS (Tracks, Scats and Signs)Book Details: Format: Paperback Publication Date: 1/1/1999 Pages: 50 Reading Level: Age 7 and Up

    Children need to see the glory of Christ in all of nature, as it reveals God's eternal wisdom and power. Some of the creatures discussed in this book are: Paper Wasps, Spiders, Butterflies, Honey Bees, Beavers, Ants and Tumblebugs.

    Gathering her paints and notebook, she heads into the Arizona Sonoran Desert to explore its treasures. Sketching, painting, and writing, she records all that she sees and as night falls, she spreads out her pictures to make this scrapbook of her day, from dawn to dusk.

    Book by Burnside, James R.

    "There is not a predictable moment in this poignant and beautifully told story of the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park." Jean Craighead George, author of the Newbery Award-winning Julie of the Wolves.

    Then he began painting them himself, inspired by John James Audubon's classic bird portraits. This is the dazzlingly beautiful result, with more than seventy original watercolors by a true prodigy--only twenty years old and already considered "a fair bid to become the Audubon of the fishing world" (The New York Times).     The trout of North America range from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and from the Arctic Circle to the Tropic of Cancer. No other book pictures all of the popular varieties, much less the rare, exotic, and in some cases extinct species, subspecies, and strains included in this comprehensive collection. Char; Apache, Gila, and Mexican trout; rainbow, redband, and golden trout; cutthroat trout; brown trout and Atlantic salmon--each of these, and many more, are captured in vivid watercolors, along with engaging, informative descriptions of their evolution and habitats.     With youthful passion and stunning accuracy, James Prosek celebrates as never before the indelicble beauty and variety of the trout, and makes an eloquent plea for its preservation. An unprecedented reference, Trout is essential for the serious angler--and a glorious introduction for anyone who loves fishing and the outdoors.

    The living systems explored in the book range from Poland's haunting ancient waterways to Costa Rica's cloud forests to North America's pristine yet dwindling wild realms. 120 full-color illustrations.

    In this latest addition to the Crinkleroot series, he offers insights into some special critters known as Lepidoptera. Readers will learn how to identify certain butterflies and moths and discover some interesting facts about their anatomy, the way they sleep, and what they eat. Full color.

    With the gentle wit and remarkable precision that have made her previous illustrated nature studies so popular, Koch offers a remarkable perspective on the animal kingdom...in miniature. The often invisible world of insect life, thrumming beneath our feet and high above our heads, is revealed here as to an outsider visiting a private, secret land. Weaving instructive text about metamorphosis, locomotion, pollination, camouflage and migration with lyrical selections of poetry and prose from William Shakespeare, Tennyson and others, Dragonfly Beetle Butterfly Bee informs as it entertains. Maryjo Koch trains her naturalist eye and artistic sensibility on the leaping bounds of the hot-footed Wolf Spider, the file-like music of the grasshopper's mating song, the sugar-sensitive feet of the Red Admiral Butterfly and the scuba-diving plunges of the fierce Diving Beetle after its prey. An exquisite art book as well as a treasure trove of facts and amusing observations, this luscious volume is perfect for art lovers, naturalists, teachers, children and everyone fascinated by the intriguing and varied world of insects.

    hard cover book

    A companion volume to Nature Aquarium World, Book 1, featuring aquariums up to 50 gallons.

    It describes and illustrates the results of more than fifteen years of elegant experimental studies conducted by the author. In his investigations, Thomas Seeley has sought the answer to the question of how a colony of bees is organized to gather its resources. The results of his research--including studies of the shaking signal, tremble dance, and waggle dance, and other, more subtle means by which information is exchanged among bees--offer the clearest, most detailed picture available of how a highly integrated animal society works. By showing how several thousand bees function together as an integrated whole to collect the nectar, pollen, and water that sustain the life of the hive, Seeley sheds light on one of the central puzzles of biology: how units at one level of organization can work together to form a higher-level entity.In explaining why a hive is organized the way it is, Seeley draws on the literature of molecular biology, cell biology, animal and human sociology, economics, and operations research. He compares the honey bee colony to other functionally organized groups: multicellular organisms, colonies of marine invertebrates, and human societies. All highly cooperative groups share basic problems: of allocating their members among tasks so that more urgent needs are met before less urgent ones, and of coordinating individual actions into a coherent whole. By comparing such systems in different species, Seeley argues, we can deepen our understanding of the mechanisms that make close cooperation a reality.

    Highly praised account of a 51-year-old woman's 1990s thru-hike and the personal and recreational lessons she learned along the way.

    The polar bear is the largest terrestrial carnivore, uniquely adapted to thrive in the harsh environment of the Far North. In The World of the Polar Bear, renowned nature photographer Norbert Rosing follows the polar bear through each season. With its thorough and engaging text and spectacular photography, the book provides: * A season-by-season account of the life of the polar bear, including feeding, mating, rearing of cubs and journeying from the ice>An intimate look at the animals that share the polar bear's environment, including seals, arctic foxes, walruses and muskoxen* A section on such northern sky phenomena as sun dogs and the northern lights* Many anecdotes and insights about the polar bear -- at once a loving parent, a fierce predator and a natural jester.In addition to the 175 truly remarkable color photographs, there are four spectacular gatefolds. The World of the Polar Bear will appeal to any reader interested in natural history, animals, and the Arctic. Polar bears are seriously threatened by global warming, and this book will attract considerable press attention.

    This book is an uplifting word-and-picture experience, revealing that despite diverse beliefs, people worldwide are bound in a spiritual relationship with the earth--a sacred vessel we all share.

    When she set out in 1991, Victoria, already a grandmother of two, had been kayaking for only a year and was still recovering from the second of two strokes.Her 7,500 km journey lasted four years. In the first year Fred dropped out due to an injury, and Victoria suffered serious internal bleeding ulcers. The second year Victoria and Don reached Gjoa Haven together, but Victoria was forced to drop out there, suffering from edema (muscle breakdown) caused by excessive fatigue. Don continued alone, and almost died from severe frostbite before being rescued by authorities just 46 miles short of Tuktoyaktuk.Not content with failure, Victoria returned to the North the following two years and completed her triumphant journey alone from west to east, paddling from Fort Providence on the Mackenzie River to Paulatuk in 1993, and from Paulatuk to Gjoa Haven in 1994.Among the Inuit people she became known as the Kabloona (the Inuktitut word for stranger) in the Yellow Kayak.

    Lavishly illustrated in color with information from leading biologists and aquarium experts, these fact-filled volumes will provide years of inspiration and reference for the beginning to advanced aquarist.

    A beautiful, compelling book about the fragile life cycle of the endangered sea turtle.

    

    -- School Library Journal

    A treasury of folklore, magic and science.

    Includes Studies in the Sierra; Picturesque California; Cruise of the Corwin; Stickeen; and more.

    Aldo Leopold, author of the classic A Sand County Almanac, founder of the field of wildlife management, and originator of the national wilderness system, is revealed in this short, illustrated biography by Marybeth Lorbiecki.Leopold dedicated his life to answering the question: "How do we live on the land without spoiling it?" And his work and writings inspire millions of people in their continued pursuit of the answers.

    Over 80,000 copies sold world-wide. Hardcover. 120 pages. 101 color photographs.

    This personal narrative is thoroughly documented and includes maps and scores of rare, old photographs.

    The book explains how to accurately identify horses and donkeys by using colors. It furthers an understanding of the genetic basis of color and contributes to research on specific behavioral characteristics associated with color. The author includes all known color variations of horses throughout the world. The book provides an explanation of genetic mechanisms that determine colors and discusses colors in sequence from less common to more common. Donkey color is addressed in a separate section. This uncomplicated and useful approach to understanding horse and donkey color patterns, as well as the various subtleties that exist, includes more than 100 striking color photographs accompanied by descriptions of both common and unique coat patterns.With new chapters concerning breeds and conservation and on the basic biology of gene selection, as well as new appendices detailing previously undocumented genes in horses and donkeys, this second edition of Equine Color Genetics will appeal to anyone who is a student of the horse. Breeders, veterinarians, faculty and veterinary students and equine science students will find this book a valuable addition to their libraries.

    Written for the interested layperson, it describes the natural history of British Columbia by ecological region. This revised and expanded edition presents new information about the geological formation of the province. There are also new discussions of such topics as avalanches and fire, including information about the devastating fires of the summer of 2003.

    These inspirational tales follow the path of life--from creation and birth, through adolescnce, love and marriage, to death and the renewal of the spirit. 120 full-color illustrations.

    She also shows how plant materials were effectively used in many other ways, such as for decoration and ornamentation, as scents, cleansing agents and insect repellents, and in recreational activities.Over the millennia, the First Peoples have become highly skilled in the arts of working with plant materials. Turner describes more than a hundred of these plants, their various uses and their importance in the material cultures of First Nations. Each description has a colour photograph of the plant to aid in its identification.

    Children learn to identify a variety of different plant, animal and insect species.-- Helps children identify different species.-- Includes scrapbook pages, for notes or drawings.-- Features detailed true-to-life illustrations.

    Her fascinating illustrated log, continued for 35 years and first published long before today's resurgence of enthusiasm for fly-fishing, is a unique addition to the literature. More than 400 sketches and watercolors of fish, lures, birds, and other wildlife, complement Foster's insights and poetry.

    They are considered to be the most highly evolved marine invertebrates and possess elaborate sense organs, large brains and complex behavior. This book examines such behavior, summarizing field and laboratory data from a wide variety of sources in the first comprehensive account of the life of cephalopods in their natural habitats. This book surveys the way cephalopods find prey and escape predators, how they reproduce, how they learn, and how they communicate using complex body patterns. Throughout, the volume emphasizes the gaps in our knowledge in the hope of stimulating more biologists to study these beautiful and fascinating animals. Researchers in animal behavior, marine biology, and neuroscience will find the subject matter especially appealing.

    "Jans's writing is a pleasure, " said the "Fairbanks Daily News-Miner."

    Children learn to identify a variety of different plant, animal and insect species.-- Helps children identify different species.-- Includes scrapbook pages, for notes or drawings.-- Features detailed true-to-life illustrations.

    (see p. S2, S5, S6) E.B. White and his way with words has become legendary.Read and personally introduced by E.B. White's son, Joel White (1931-1997), this unique recording includes Letter to the IRS, Once More to the Lake, The Ring of Time, The Sea and the Wind, excerpts from best-loved essays in One Man's Meat, and more. 2 hours.

    The text gives detailed descriptions of the summer, winter, and juvenile plumages of each species, as well as comparisons with similar species. The species accounts are illustrated with range maps and superb line drawings showing behavioral postures and, where useful, fine features of tail feather patterns. The 27 color plates splendidly illustrate the various plumages of each species with the emphasis on the distinctive appearance of birds of different sex, age, and geographic regions. This beautiful and authoritative book will be a must for the library of all keen birders living in and visiting North America.Species accounts include discussions of species?IdentificationMeasurementsVoiceHabitatEcologyNesting biologyDistributionTaxonomyGeographic variationsHistorical and present status

    Calling for nothing short of a revolution in the basic beliefs on which health care is based, he convincingly demonstrates the enormous human and financial costs of the polarization of conventional and alternative medicine. Although Americans spend far more money on medical care than any other people in the world, many of us cannot afford the most basic coverage; we rank 25th among the world's nations in infant mortality; the toll in human suffering from degenerative disease continues to rise; the danger from virulent communicable diseases is increasing daily; and, meanwhile, women are growing increasingly frustrated with the care they receive from a male-dominated system. There are answers to these problems, and Reclaiming Our Health presents a brilliant, refreshing, and uplifting new vision of what health care in America might be as well as practical solutions for us as individuals and for a health-care system gone awry.

    Clear, accessible format, charts, diagrams, field tips, practical pointers, and historical profiles.

    Arctic terns fly more than 10,000 miles from the South Pole to northern Maine. Tiny little hummingbirds fly nonstop over the ocean for 500 miles. How do they know which way to fly? Why don't they get lost? Read and find out the many ideas scientists have come up with to explain this mystery.

    Silvester's photographs reveal cats in all their adorable glory as they prowl sunny streets, nuzzle their kittens, leap from white-washed balconies, and doze beneath the beautiful Aegean sky. No cat lover, photography buff, or armchair traveler will be able to resist this magnificent tribute to a magical place and the cats that call it home.

    Clearly written and copiously illustrated with line drawings, the book is accessible to those with little or no botanical training, yet it also is respected by botanists as an authoritative introduction to agrostology.Last updated in 1959, the book now has been thoroughly revised to reflect current scientific knowledge, nomenclature, and classification. Divided into twelve lessons, the guide first surveys the basic vegetative and reproductive parts of a grass plant, then in succeeding lessons takes up increasingly more complex modifications. Formally recognized groups of grasses are discussed in a taxonomic context, with the principal focus on grass structures, particularly those of inflorescences and spikelets. Virtually all of the species discussed are illustrated with detailed line drawings. With the addition in this edition of a lesson on bamboos, coverage now extends to tropical regions and encompasses all major groups of grasses. The book also includes a short biography of Agnes Chase in the foreword and, for the first time in this edition, a glossary accompanies the appendices on grass classification.

    The word conjures up images of luxurious spas, flower petals, and scented candles. But aromatherapy is more than just indulgence–it’s also the key to improving complexion, boosting emotions, and healing a multitude of health disorders.In The Little Book of Aromatherapy, Kathi Keville invites you to explore the healing power of essential oils–potent aromatic substances extracted from fragrant plants. She provides not only emotional applications, but also some seriously pragmatic fixes for everyday challenges, from insect-repelling candles to carpal tunnel relief–even natural flea collars for your furry friends. With more than 50 formulas for skin and hair care treatments, medicinal remedies, and alternatives to toxic household cleaning products, this updated guide will help you harness aromatherapy for beauty, health, and peace of mind.

    Now, for the first time, this phenomenal alphabet has been reproduced in full color. This is a small bijou of a book, a jewel not only for collectors of alphabet books but for anyone who appreciates the genius of a master craftsman doing what she loves best. Full color.

    The guide is organized by habitat, with atmospheric backgrounds and voice-overs discussing how to tell the difference between each species, so the reader can quickly learn all the calls he can hear when visiting his local wood, or marshland RSPB reserve. Over 158 species are covered, the focus being on common birds and birds that are difficult to separate visually, but easy when the calls are heard. The accompanying booklet gives background information on each species, plus an introductory section on bird song, where and when it can be heard, and how to make your own recordings.

    A legitimate hunter now, Dale Hamm learned the art of market hunting—taking waterfowl out of season and selling them to restaurants—from his father during the l920s. During the l930s and l940s, he kept his family alive by market hunting. At the peak of his career, Hamm poached every private hunting club along the Illinois River from Havana to Beardstown.After market hunting died out, Hamm became a legendary and almost respected—albeit controversial—character on the Illinois backwaters. He was eventually invited to hunt on the same clubs from which he had once been chased at the point of a shotgun. He hunted with judges, sheriffs, and the head of undercover operations for the Illinois Department of Conservation, all of whom knew of his reputation. He passed on to these hunting partners a lifetime of outdoor knowledge gained from slogging through mud, falling through ice, hunting ducks at three o’clock in the morning, dodging game wardens, and running the world’s only floating tavern."I always said if anyone ever cut open one of us Hamms, all they’d find was duck or fish," Hamm once said of his family. Now in his eighties, Hamm still carries a pellet from a shotgun in his chin to remind him of a shotgun blast that ricocheted off the water and into his face. Bakke notes that it is appropriate that a man who spent his life with a shotgun in his hands should carry a bit of buckshot wherever he goes.Everyone who ever met Dale Hamm has a story about him. His own story is that of a one-of-a-kind character who, in his later years, used his considerable outdoor savvy to conserve the natural resources he once savaged. "His time and kind are gone," Bakke notes, "and there will never be another like him."This book will be of interest to anyone who has ever been hunting—or who enjoys reading about colorful people and times that exist no more.

    John Todd had an idea to build a greenhouse called a Living Machine, where living plants and creatures would clean the toxic sludge. People thought his idea peculiar, but John Todd knew that it might be the only hope. Full color.

    Birds have long memories, he suggests, citing as evidence a garden thrush that came to visit him year after year, even recognizing him when he donned a particularly silly disguise. They can also use tools, feel attachment to other birds and humans, and communicate information of various kinds to one another. Not all that birds do, Skutch writes, speaks to their genius (one chapter is entitled "Apparently Stupid Behavior"), but their actions suggest a surprising depth of knowledge and ability. Birders will treasure his insights. --Gregory McNamee

    John and Gloria Tveten have been studying butterflies in Southeast Texas for thirty-five years, and here they offer their considerable knowledge to everyone who shares their passion for butterflies.In this easy-to-use field guide, the Tvetens describe and illustrate more than 100 species of butterflies that live in Southeast Texas and can often be found across the state. Striking color photographs of living butterflies and caterpillars (a unique addition) show the key marks and characteristics necessary for field identification. The Tvetens' enjoyable and authoritative text describes each species' life history, habits, flight patterns, and characteristic markings.An account of the different butterfly families, from swallowtails to longwings to skippers, precedes the descriptions of the species within each family. The Tvetens also include an interesting discussion of butterfly biology, a complete checklist of area butterflies, an index of butterfly-attracting plants, and pointers to other butterfly resources.This field guide is the first to focus exclusively on Southeast Texas butterflies. It will be the essential reference for everyone seeking a reliable way to identify these butterflies, from field observers to apartment dwellers who wonder what is fluttering around the pot plants on the balcony.

    In one comprehensive volume, the editors have gathered the most current information from field and captive studies of animal behavior, advances in captive breeding, research in physiology, genetics, and nutrition, and new thinking in animal management and welfare. Featuring contributions from dozens of internationally renowned experts, this book is a professional reference of immense practical value, surveying every significant scientific, technical, and management issue. This extraordinary book is an essential resource for administrators, keepers, veterinarians, and everyone who works directly with mammals or is concerned generally with their management and conservation."This is the only up-to-date and comprehensive manual on the problems of and the solutions to keeping and handling wild mammals outside their natural environment. . . . [A] magnificent manual."—Harry Miller, Times Higher Education Supplement

    This book covers all the bats and their natural history, with a unique emphasis on how their lives exemplify processes and principles of broad biological relevance. Topics range from their most distinctive features (echolocation, flight) and individual and group behavior, to their modes of reproduction and interaction with other organisms and the environment. No other book covers all this ground with a blend of up-to-date scientific information and fine line illustrations. Professional and amateur naturalists will find this an indispensable reference.

    Each portrait is illustrated with color botanical illustrations and photographs, detailing the characteristics, landscaping use, and growing conditions of the plant. With the increasing national concern over water consumption, gardeners and landscapers will find Xeriscaping a practical approach to creating a landscape in tune with the environment.

    What caused that beautiful cloud formation? What triggered that late-evening storm? Whatever your interests - nature, aviation, sailing, hiking - Weather will help you recognize and interpret weather signs each day, and enhance your knowledge of the natural world. When the wind blows, that is my medicine When it rains, that is my medicine When it hails, that is my medicine When it becomes clear after a storm, that is my medicine.

    But every time he thinks he's found just the right spot he discovers that someone else has beten him to it! Will he ever find a place to call home?Children (and parents too) adore these cleverly crafted Peek and Find pop up books with playful story lines. Both interactive and educational, the Peek and Find books attract children's attention with full-color drawings, pop-up characters and even entire pop-up scenes.

    

    From the safety of the nest where the baby turtles hatch to the security of the pond where they search for food and witness the changing seasons, this beautifully illustrated book is ideal for introducing young children to the wonders of nature.

    Animal Traditions maintains the assumption that selection of genes supplies both a sufficient explanation of evolution and a true description of its course. The introduction of the behavioral inheritance system into the Darwinian explanatory scheme enables the authors to offer new interpretations for common behaviors such as maternal behaviors, behavioral conflicts within families, adoption, and helping. This approach offers a richer view of heredity and evolution, integrates developmental and evolutionary processes, suggests new lines for research, and provides a constructive alternative to both the selfish gene and meme views of the world. This book will make stimulating reading for all those interested in evolutionary biology, sociobiology, behavioral ecology, and psychology.

    In Messages from an Owl, Terman not only relates his experiences nursing the starving owlet, Stripey, back to health and teaching it survival skills in his barn, but also describes the anxiety and elation of letting a companion loose into an uncertain world. Once Terman felt that Stripey knew how to dive after prey, he set the owl free. At this point his story could have ended, with no clue as to what the young bird's fate would be--had it not been for Terman's experimentation with radio tags. By strapping the tags to Stripey, he actually managed to follow the owl into the wild and observe for himself the behavior of a hand-reared individual reunited with its natural environment.Through this unique use of telemetry, Terman tracked Stripey for over six years after the bird left the scientist's barn and took up residence in the surrounding countryside on the Kansas prairie. The radio beacon provided Terman with information on the owl's regular patterns of playing, hunting, exploring, and protecting. It enabled him to witness the moments when Stripey was bantered and mobbed by crows, when other owls launched fierce attacks, and when a prospective mate caught Stripey's eye. On occasional returns to the barn, the owl would follow Terman around as he performed chores, usually waiting for a handout.Until now, scientists have generally believed that an owl nurtured by humans becomes ill-adapted for meeting the challenges of life in the wild. Terman's research proves otherwise. Stripey surpassed all expectations by becoming a totally independent wild creature. With Terman, however, Stripey remained tame, allowing the author to explore something one rarely sees in owls: a warm interest in humanity. Terman engagingly re-creates this dimension of Stripey as he describes with humor and compassion the daily challenges of probing the life of a phantom winged tiger.Originally published in 1996.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

    Our culture, however, favors the indirect knowledge gained from secondary experience, in which information is selected, modified, packaged, and presented to us by others. In this controversial book, Edward S. Reed warns that secondhand experience has become so dominant in our technological workplaces, schools, and even homes that primary experience is endangered. Reed calls for a better balance between firsthand and secondhand experience, particularly in our social institutions. He contends that without opportunities to learn directly, we become less likely to think and feel for ourselves.Since the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, Western epistemological tradition has rejected primary experience in favor of the abstractions of secondhand experience. Building on James Gibson's concept of ecological psychology, Reed offers a spirited defense of the reality and significance of ordinary experience against both modernist and postmodernist critics. He expands on the radical critiques of work, education, and art begun by William Morris and John Dewey, offering an alternative vision of meaningful learning that places greater emphasis on unmediated experience, and he outlines the psychological, cultural, and intellectual conditions that will be needed to foster that crucial change.

    Essays by 13 contributors who interpret the North Cascades from the different perspectives of their disciplines and daily

    Lavish, full-color illustrations and clear, enjoyable descriptions on 125 common and interesting species around the Seattle area. This book includes quick ID tips, songs and calls, notes on habitat, nests and food, similar species listings, birdspotting checklist, bird feeding hints and tips on how to find the best birding spots in the area.

    7 1/4" x 10 1/4". Color illus.

    Yet, paradoxically, the philosophy of science movement is now in disarray. The collapse of logical empiricism and the rise of historicism and social constructivism have effectively left all of the sciences without an epistemology. The claims of realism have become increasingly difficult to justify, and, for many, the only alternatives are probabilism, pragmatism, and relativism.But the case is not hopeless. According to William A.Wallace, a return to a realist concept of nature is plausible and, indeed, much needed. Human beings have a natural ability to understand the world in which they live. Many have suggested this understanding requires advanced logic and mathematics. Wallace believes that nature can more readily be understood with the aid of simple modeling techniques.Through an ingenious use of iconic and epistemic models, Wallace guides the reader through the fundamentals of natural philosophy, explaining how the universe is populated with entities endowed with different natures-- inorganic, plant, animal, and human. Much of this knowledge is intuitive, already in people's minds from experience, education, and exposure to the media. Wallace builds on this foundation, making judicious use of cognitive science to provide a model of the human mind that illuminates not only the philosophy of nature but also the logic, psychology, and epistemology that are prerequisite to it.With this background, Wallace sketches a history of the philosophy of science and how it has functioned traditionally as a type of probable reasoning. His concern is to go beyond probability and lay bare the epistemic dimension of science to show how it can arrive at truth and certitude in the various areas it investigates. He completes his study with eight case studies of certified scientific growth, the controversies to which they gave rise, and the methods by which they ultimately were resolved.The Modeling of Nature provides an excellent introduction to the fundamentals of natural philosophy, psychology, logic, and epistemology.William A. Wallace has taught philosophy of science at the University of Maryland since 1988. For twenty-five years prior to that, he taught both the philosophy and history of science at The Catholic University of America. He served with distinction as a naval officer during World War II, following which he entered the Dominican Order, being ordained a priest in 1953. He has published sixteen books and more than three hundred scholarly articles. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------