Best of
Nature

2003

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America


David Allen Sibley - 2003
    Now comes a new portable guide from David Sibley that every birder will want to carry into the field. Compact and comprehensive, this new guide features 650 bird species plus regional populations found east of the Rocky Mountains. Accounts include stunningly accurate illustrations more than 4,200 in total with descriptive caption text pointing out the most important field marks. Each entry contains new text concerning frequency, nesting, behavior, food and feeding, voice description, and key identification features. Accounts also include brand-new maps created from information contributed by 110 regional experts across the continent. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America is an indispensable resource for all birders seeking an authoritative and portable guide to the birds of the East."

The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America


David Allen Sibley - 2003
    Now comes a new portable guide from David Sibley that every birder will want to carry into the field. Compact and comprehensive, this new guide features 703 bird species plus regional populations found west of the Rocky Mountains. Accounts include stunningly accurate illustrations—more than 4,600 in total—with descriptive caption text pointing out the most important field marks. Each entry contains new text concerning frequency, nesting, behavior, food and feeding, voice description, and key identification features. Accounts also include brand-new maps created from information contributed by 110 regional experts across the continent. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America is an indispensable resource for all birders seeking an authoritative and portable guide to the birds of the West.

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses


Robin Wall Kimmerer - 2003
    Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses. Robin Wall Kimmerer's book is not an identification guide, nor is it a scientific treatise. Rather, it is a series of linked personal essays that will lead general readers and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings, from salmon and hummingbirds to redwoods and rednecks. Kimmerer clearly and artfully explains the biology of mosses, while at the same time reflecting on what these fascinating organisms have to teach us.Drawing on her diverse experiences as a scientist, mother, teacher, and writer of Native American heritage, Kimmerer explains the stories of mosses in scientific terms as well as in the framework of indigenous ways of knowing. In her book, the natural history and cultural relationships of mosses become a powerful metaphor for ways of living in the world.Gathering Moss will appeal to a wide range of readers, from bryologists to those interested in natural history and the environment, Native Americans, and contemporary nature and science writing.

Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays


Mary Oliver - 2003
    She adds two beautifully crafted essays, "Owls," selected for the Best American Essays series, and "Bird," one that will surely take its place among the classics of the genre.

The Complete Gardener: A Practical, Imaginative Guide to Every Aspect of Gardening


Montagu Don - 2003
    Monty Don's personal chronicle of a year in his garden, including both successes and failures, shows how an organic lifestyle can be adopted by anyone, and organic gardening can be practiced in a yard of any size.

Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche


Bill Plotkin - 2003
    In contemporary America, except for bar mitzvahs, graduations, and weddings, these rituals are conspicuous by their absence. Written for people in search of their true selves--particularly those on the verge of adulthood and those at a major crossroads such as divorce or carrier change--"Soulcraft restores the ritual to its rightful place as a crucial part of personal growth and self-employment. Exercises and insightful stories explain how to discover one's unique gift, or "soul purpose," to be shared with others through a ceremonial event. Drawing on ancient traditions, this vision quest serves as a modern rite of initiation.

For Love of Insects


Thomas Eisner - 2003
    The story of a lifetime of such minute explorations, For Love of Insects celebrates the small creatures that have emerged triumphant on the planet, the beneficiaries of extraordinary evolutionary inventiveness and unparalleled reproductive capacity. Eisner tells us, but never has a reckoning been such a pleasure. Recounting exploits and discoveries in his laboratory at Cornell and in the field in Uruguay, Australia, Panama, Europe and North America, Eisner time and again demonstrates how inquiry into the survival strategies of an insect leads to clarifications beyond the expected; insects are revealed as masters of achievement, forms of life worthy of study and respect from even the most recalcitrant entomophobe. Filled with descriptions of his ingenious experiments and illustrated with photographs, this book makes readers participants in the grand adventure of discovery on a scale infinitesimally small and infinitely surprising.

Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast


Mike Tidwell - 2003
    But seeing the skeletons of oak trees killed by the salinity of the groundwater, and whole cemeteries sinking into swampland and out of sight, Tidwell also explains why each introduction may be a farewell—as the storied Louisiana coast steadily erodes into the Gulf of Mexico.Part travelogue, part environmental exposé, Bayou Farewell is the richly evocative chronicle of the author's travels through a world that is vanishing before our eyes.

The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas


Jerry Dennis - 2003
    No bodies of water can compare to them. One of them, Superior, is the largest lake on earth, and the five lakes together contain a fifth of the world's supply of standing fresh water. Their ten thousand miles of shoreline bound eight states and a Canadian province and are longer than the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. Their surface area of 95,000 square miles is greater than New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island combined. People who have never visited them -- who have never seen a squall roar across Superior or the horizon stretch unbroken across Michigan or Huron -- have no idea how big they are. They are so vast that they dominate much of the geography, climate, and history of North America. In one way or another, they affect the lives of tens of millions of people.The Living Great Lakes is the most complete book ever written about the history, nature, and science of these remarkable lakes at the heart of North America. From the geological forces that formed them to the industrial atrocities that nearly destroyed them, to the greatest environmental success stories of our time, the lakes are portrayed in all their complexity. The book, however, is much more than just history. It is also the story of the lakes as told by biologists, fishermen, sailors, and others whom the author grew to know while traveling with them on boats and hiking with them on beaches and islands.The book is also the story of a personal journey. It is the narrative of a six-week voyage through the lakes and beyond as a crewmember on a tallmasted schooner, and a memoir of a lifetime spent on and near the lakes. Through storms and fog, on remote shores and city waterfronts, the author explores the five Great Lakes in all seasons and moods and discovers that they and their connecting waters -- including the Erie Canal, the Hudson River, and the East Coast from New York to Maine -- offer a surprising and bountiful view of America. The result is a meditation on nature and our place in the world, a discussion and cautionary tale about the future of water resources, and a celebration of a place that is both fragile and robust, diverse, rich in history and wildlife, often misunderstood, and worthy of our attention.

The Kenneth Anderson Omnibus: Volume 2: The Black Panther of Sivanipalli, The Tiger Roars, Jungles Long Ago


Kenneth Anderson - 2003
    THE BLACK PANTHER OF SIVANIPALLIThe author, more famous for hunting man-eating tigers, finds in a wily panther a real challenger to his hunting acumen.2. THE TIGER ROARSHailed as the best of all of Anderson's books, the celebrated author reminisces about the man-eating tigers he had tracked down, a ferocious panther fond of human blood, the aging elephant meeting a sad end, and his own adventurous hours spent in the primeval jungles of India.3. JUNGLES LONG AGOTaking a holiday from big game hunting, Anderson lovingly reminisces about his exciting days and star-lit nights spent amidst the simple folks inhabiting the fringes of dark forests.

Mammal Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species


Mark Elbroch - 2003
    How to find, identify, measure, and interpret the clues mammals leave behind--explained and illustrated like never before. Includes essays that contextualize tracking as a developing science continually garnering more interest and participation; included also are instructive anecdotes from the author's work as a tracker and wildlife expert. An invaluable resource for beginning or professional trackers and wildlife enthusiasts in all North American locations.

The Snowflake


Kenneth Libbrecht - 2003
    Sm Quarto, , PP.112, Micro Photography Captures The Fleeting Beauty Of NatureÕs Art

Nature-Speak: Signs, Omens and Messages in Nature


Ted Andrews - 2003
    Inside, readers will: Learn to read signs and omens in nature; Interpret the meaning of landscapes; Discover how plants speak; Explore the lessons and meaning of the plant kingdom through extensive dictionaries of landscapes, trees, flowers, herbs and more.

Where the Sea Breaks Its Back: The Epic Story - Georg Steller & the Russian Exploration of AK


Corey Ford - 2003
    Steller was one of Europe's foremost naturalists and the first to document the unique wildlife of the Alaskan coast. In the course of the voyage, Steller made his valuable discoveries and suffered, along with Bering and the cred of the ill-fated brig St. Peter, some of the most grueling experiences in the history of Arctic exploration. First published in 1966, Where the Sea Breaks Its Back was hailed as "among this country's greatest outdoor writing" by Field & Stream magazine, and today continues to enchant and enlighten the new generations of readers about this amazing and yet tragic expedition, and Georg Steller's significant discoveries as an early naturalist.

At the Grave of the Unknown Fisherman


John Gierach - 2003
    With an appreciation of the highs, the lows, and all points between, Gierach writes about the fishing life with wisdom, grace, and the well-timed wisecrack. As he says, “The season never does officially end here, but it ends effectively, which means you can fish if you want to and if you can stand it, but you don’t have to.” As any Gierach fan knows, want to and have to are never very far apart.

Essential Bushcraft


Ray Mears - 2003
    Now he has adapted the bestselling BUSHCRAFT to create a handy portable compendium of vital skills and wisdom from around the world. Packed with essential wilderness techniques, this book is an invaluable companion on any expedition.

Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation


L. David Mech - 2003
    Highly intelligent and adaptable, they hunt and play together in close-knit packs, sometimes roaming over hundreds of square miles in search of food. Once teetering on the brink of extinction across much of the United States and Europe, wolves have made a tremendous comeback in recent years, thanks to legal protection, changing human attitudes, and efforts to reintroduce them to suitable habitats in North America.As wolf populations have rebounded, scientific studies of them have also flourished. But there hasn't been a systematic, comprehensive overview of wolf biology since 1970. In Wolves, many of the world's leading wolf experts provide state-of-the-art coverage of just about everything you could want to know about these fascinating creatures. Individual chapters cover wolf social ecology, behavior, communication, feeding habits and hunting techniques, population dynamics, physiology and pathology, molecular genetics, evolution and taxonomy, interactions with nonhuman animals such as bears and coyotes, reintroduction, interactions with humans, and conservation and recovery efforts. The book discusses both gray and red wolves in detail and includes information about wolves around the world, from the United States and Canada to Italy, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Israel, India, and Mongolia. Wolves is also extensively illustrated with black and white photos, line drawings, maps, and fifty color plates.Unrivalled in scope and comprehensiveness, Wolves will become the definitive resource on these extraordinary animals for scientists and amateurs alike. “An excellent compilation of current knowledge, with contributions from all the main players in wolf research. . . . It is designed for a wide readership, and certainly the language and style will appeal to both scientists and lucophiles alike. . . . This is an excellent summary of current knowledge and will remain the standard reference work for a long time to come.”—Stephen Harris, New Scientist “This is the place to find almost any fact you want about wolves.”—Stephen Mills, BBC Wildlife Magazine

Three Among the Wolves: A Couple and Their Dog Live a Year with Wolves in the Wild


Helen Thayer - 2003
    Helen and Bill Thayer, accompanied by their part-wolf, mostly Husky dog, Charlie, set out on foot to live among wild wolf packs — first in the Canadian Yukon and then in the Arctic. They eventually set up camp within 100 feet of a wolf den, and are greeted with apprehension at first. They establish trust over time, because the wolves accept Charlie as the alpha male of the newly arrived "pack."The Thayers discover the complexities of wolf family structure, including how pups are reared and how the injured are tenderly cared for. They view the intricacies of the hunt firsthand — how ravens direct wolves to prey in exchange for carrion — as well as the wolves' finely honed survival skills and engaging playfulness. Readers observe the ways Helen and Bill model pack behavior and how they address an unforeseen event: the Arctic wolves attempt to lure Charlie to join them.

Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific


Gerald Allen - 2003
    It contains 2,500 underwater photographs of 2,000 species. It presents 108 fish families in one of 20 Identification groups based on a family's related visual or behavioural characteristics, such as Large Oval / Colourful or Sand/Burrow Dwellers.

The Beast in the Garden: The True Story of a Predator's Deadly Return to Suburban America


David Baron - 2003
    In a riveting environmental tale that has received huge national attention, journalist David Baron traces the history of the mountain lion and chronicles one town's tragic effort to coexist with its new neighbors. As thought-provoking as it is harrowing, The Beast in the Garden is a tale of nature corrupted, the clash between civilization and wildness, and the artificiality of the modern American landscape. It is, ultimately, a book about the future of our nation, where suburban sprawl and wildlife-protection laws are pushing people and wild animals into uncomfortable, sometimes deadly proximity."Reads like a crime novel . . . each chapter ends on a cliff-hanging note."—Seattle Times

Mountains of the Mind: A History of a Fascination


Robert Macfarlane - 2003
    Macfarlane is both a mountaineer and a scholar. Consequently we get more than just a chronicle of climbs. He interweaves accounts of his own adventurous ascents with those of pioneers such as George Mallory, and in with an erudite discussion of how mountains became such a preoccupation for the modern western imagination. The book is organised around a series of features of mountaineering--glaciers, summits, unknown ranges--and each chapter explores the scientific, artistic and cultural discoveries and fashions that accompanied exploration. The contributions of assorted geologists, romantic poets, landscape artists, entrepreneurs, gallant amateurs and military cartographers are described with perceptive clarity. The book climaxes with an account of Mallory's fateful ascent on Everest in 1924, one of the most famous instances of an obsessive pursuit. Macfarlane is well-placed to describe it since it is one he shares. MacFarlane's own stories of perilous treks and assaults in the Alps, the Cairngorms and the Tian Shan mountains between China and Kazakhstan are compelling. Readers who enjoyed Francis Spufford's masterly I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination will enjoy Mountains of the Mind. This is a slighter volume than Spufford's and it loses in depth what it gains in range, but for an insight into the moody, male world of mountaineering past and present it is invaluable. --Miles Taylor

Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country


Louise Erdrich - 2003
    Her nonfiction is equally eloquent, and this lovely memoir offers a vivid glimpse of the landscape, the people, and the long tradition of storytelling that give her work its magical, elemental force. In a small boat like those her Native American ancestors have used for countless generations, she travels to Ojibwe home ground, the islands of Lake of the Woods in southern Ontario. Her only companions are her new baby and the baby's father, an Ojibwe spiritual leader, on a pilgrimage to the sacred rock paintings their people have venerated for centuries as mystical "teaching and dream guides," and where even today Ojibwe leave offerings of tobacco in token of their power. With these paintings as backdrop, Erdrich summons to life the Ojibwe's spirits and songs, their language and sorrows, and the tales that are in their blood, echoing through her own family's very contemporary American lives and shaping her vision of the wider world. Thoughtful, moving, and wonderfully well observed, her meditation evokes ancient wisdom, modern ways, and the universal human concerns we all share.

The Nature of God: Upgrading Your Image of God and Who He Wants to be for You (Being with God #3)


Graham Cooke - 2003
    Many people's image of God is flawed, yet what we think about God is the single most important thing in our spiritual journey. God wants us to be confident in Him and in His love for us. People who are doubtful about what God wants to do for them, urgently need to upgrade their image... Many great people of the Bible went through the experience of receiving a new revelation of who God wanted to be for them, and so must we, if we desire to live a life of faith and conviction.

New England Waterfalls: A Guide to More Than 400 Cascades and Waterfalls


Greg Parsons - 2003
    But the form that has continuously fascinated them is the rarest and most beautiful one water can take: the waterfall. Full of allure and majesty, waterfalls are dramatic demonstrations of how the landscape changes over time.This greatly expanded edition describes more than 200 new waterfalls and provides extensive trail and road updates. Waterfalls throughout each of the New England states are described according to type, height, trail length and difficulty, water source, and the ideal seasons to visit. They are also rated for their inherent beauty so you can decide how best to spend your time.Chapters are organized by state, and each includes a map to help you easily identify other waterfalls nearby. With special appendixes of the best swimming holes, multi-waterfall day trips, and long-distance waterfall hikes, New England Waterfalls delivers a wealth of information for seekers of these regional treasures.

Stories Rabbits Tell: A Natural and Cultural History of a Misunderstood Creature


Susan E. Davis - 2003
    Ironically, it has also been one of the most misunderstood and abused. Indeed, the rabbit is the only animal that our culture adores as a pet, idolizes as a storybook hero and slaughters for commercial purposes. Stories Rabbits Tell takes a comprehensive look at the rabbit as a wild animal, ancient symbol, pop culture icon, commercial “product” and domesticated pet. In so doing, the book explores how one species can be simultaneously adored as a symbol of childhood (think Peter Rabbit), revered as a symbol of female sexuality (e.g., Playboy Bunnies), dismissed as a “dumb bunny” in domesticity and loathed as a pest in the wild. The authors counter these stereotypes with engaging analyses of real rabbit behavior, drawn both from the authors' own experience and from academic studies, and place those behaviors in the context of current debates about animal consciousness. In a detailed investigative section, the authors also describe conditions in the rabbit meat, fur, pet and vivisection industries, and raise important questions about the ethics of treating rabbits as we do. The first book of its kind, Stories Rabbits Tell provides invaluable information and insight into the life and history of an animal whom many love, but whom most of us barely know. As such, it is a key addition to the current thinking on animal emotions, intelligences and welfare, and the way that human perceptions influence the treatment of individual species.

AMC White Mountain Guide: Hiking Trails in the White Mountain National Forest


Gene Daniell - 2003
    This latest edition features the most up-to-date descriptions available of more than 500 trails in the White Mountain National Forest. In addition, the guide's summary of easy-to-moderate hikes, list of 4000-footers, plus information on Leave No Trace principles make this guide indispensable for every New Hampshire hiker.More than just trail descriptions, the 27th edition includes:*6 pull-out full-color maps created using GPS technology*distances, times, and elevations*trip planning*what to carry*campgrounds, huts, and shelters*fire regulations*backcountry hazards*White Mountain National Forest information*extensive information on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire's highest peak

Learning Their Language: Intuitive Communication with Animals and Nature


Marta Williams - 2003
    Almost everyone has had a moment when they felt a connection to an animal, almost as if they were communicating. According to animal communicator and author Marta Williams, they probably were. Over the past 13 years, Marta has worked with clients (people and the animals in their lives) to resolve behavior and training problems, find lost animals, assist animals that are ill or dying, and help animals get along with each other. Her human clients have contacted her from all parts of the globe, and her animal clients have included horses, dogs, and cats. In the course of her work, she has come to believe that anyone can learn to communicate with animals and with nature, and this inviting book teaches readers how they can use techniques and exercises to tune in and learn this language.

Birds of Arizona Field Guide


Stan Tekiela - 2003
    There's no need to look through dozens of photos of birds that don't live in Arizona. This book features 145 species of Arizona birds, organized by color for ease of use. Do you see a yellow bird and don't know what it is? Go to the yellow section to find out. Fact-filled information, a compare feature, range maps and detailed photographs help to ensure that you positively identify the birds that you see.

Birds of the Puget Sound Region


Bob Morse - 2003
    Covers over 200 birds in the 12 counties surrounding the sound. Also includes the basics of bird watching, attracting birds to your yard, selecting binoculars, and a regional checklist. Written by local birding experts ? perfect for beginning and intermediate birders.

How Groundhog's Garden Grew


Lynne Cherry - 2003
    From seed-gathering to planting, harvesting, and eating home-grown fruits and vegetables, children join Little Groundhog in learning about the gardening process. At the end, Little Groundhog invites his animal friends to a Thanksgiving harvest feast. Beautiful illustrations and thorough research on plants and insects make this sweet story an engrossing read, as well as a great picture-book introduction to how plants grow. Children and schools can follow Groundhog's lessons.

Pacific Coast Tree Finder


Tom Watts - 2003
    They include drawings, keys, terms, symbols, and glossaries. Each book covers a specific region.

A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity


William S. Coperthwaite - 2003
    In the spirit of Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, and Helen and Scott Nearing, Coperthwaite has fashioned a livelihood of integrity and completeness-buying almost nothing, providing for his own needs, and serving as a guide and companion to hundreds of apprentices drawn to his unique way of being.A Handmade Life carries Coperthwaite's ongoing experiments with hand tools, hand-grown and gathered food, and handmade shelter, clothing, and furnishings out into the world to challenge and inspire. His writing is both philosophical and practical, exploring themes of beauty, work, education, and design while giving instruction on the hand-crafting of the necessities of life. Richly illustrated with luminous color photographs by Peter Forbes, the book is a moving and inspirational testament to a new practice of old ways of life.

My Family Album: Thirty Years of Primate Photography


Frans de Waal - 2003
    Photographing his subjects over the years, de Waal has compiled a unique family album of our closest animal relatives. To capture the social life of primates, and their natural communication, requires intimate knowledge, which is abundantly present here, in the work of one of the world's foremost primatologists. Culled from the thousands of images de Waal has taken, these photographs capture social interaction in bonobos, chimpanzees, capuchin monkeys, baboons, and macaques showing the subtle gestures, expressions, and movements that elude most nature photographers or casual observers.De Waal supplies extended captions discussing each photograph, offering descriptions that range from personal observations and impressions to professional interpretation. The result is a view of our primate family that is both intensely moving and personal, also richly evocative of all that science can tell us of primate society. In his introduction, de Waal elaborates on his work, his mission in this volume, and the particular challenges of animal action photography.

The Answers Are Inside the Mountains: Meditations on the Writing Life


William Stafford - 2003
    The Answers Are Inside the Mountains lives up to those deceptively simple ethics, and confirms William Stafford's enduringly important voice for our uncertain age.William Stafford (1914-93) authored more than thirty-five books of poetry and prose, including the highly acclaimed Writing the Australian Crawl, You Must Revise Your Life, Crossing Unmarked Snow: Further Views on the Writer's Vocation, and Traveling Through the Dark, winner of the National Book Award for Poetry.

On the Run: An Angler's Journey Down the Striper Coast


David DiBenedetto - 2003
    Writer and angler David DiBenedetto followed this great migration -- the fall run -- for three months in the autumn of 2001.On the Run offers vivid portrayals of the zany and obsessive characters DiBenedetto met on his travels -- including the country's most daring fisherman, an underwater videographer who chucked his corporate job in favor of filming striped bass, and the reclusive angler who claims that catching the world-record striper in 1982 sent his life into a tailspin. Along his route, DiBenedetto also delves into the natural history and biology of this great game fish, and depicts the colorful cultures of the seaside communities where the striped bass reigns supreme.

Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival


Bernd Heinrich - 2003
    Unlike their human counterparts, who must alter their environment to accommodate our physical limitations, animals are adaptable to an amazing range of conditions--i.e., radical changes in a creature's physiology take place to match the demands of the environment. Winter provides an especially remarkable situation, because of how drastically it affects the most elemental component of all life: water.Examining everything from food sources in the extremely barren winter landscape to the chemical composition that allows certain creatures to survive, Heinrich's Winter World awakens the largely undiscovered mysteries by which nature sustains herself through the harsh, cruel exigencies of winters

Arkansas Waterfalls Guidebook: How to Find 133 Spectacular Waterfalls Cascades in "The Natural State"


Tim Ernst - 2003
    Some of the waterfalls can be seen from your car, others can be reached by a short hike on an established trail, still others require a difficult bushwhack hike through the wilderness to reach - all of this detailed and rated in the guidebook. 74 new waterfalls in this updated edition...

Trout of the World


James Prosek - 2003
    Provides the author's reflections on fishing spots, the fate of the species, and man's role in extinction, along with profiles of trout from around the world.

Meinrad Craighead: Crow Mother and the Dog God


Meinrad Craighead - 2003
    This extensively illustrated volume collects the varied, powerful work of Meinrad Craighead, an artist whose images find their beginnings in her Catholic roots (she was a nun for fourteen years) as well as in the traditions of Southwest Native American Culture, in which she has immersed herself since moving to New Mexico twenty years ago.

Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland


Paul Waring - 2003
    Moths are illustrated in their natural resting postures, and there are also paintings of different forms, underwings and other details to help with identification. New descriptions and illustrations have been included for species that have been newly recorded in Britain and Ireland since the last edition of the guide was published. The text descriptions of all other species - covering field characters and similar species, flight season, life cycle, larval foodplants, and habitat - have been revised and updated where necessary, and particular attention has been paid to updating the distribution information, which is now supported by maps. The revised general introduction explains how the methods of identifying and recording moths have evolved over recent years with the advent of new technologies and as a result of data analysis.

Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants


Peter Hiscock - 2003
    It presents a detailed A-to-Z directory covering hundreds of aquarium plants with high quality color photos and succinct profiles of each plant. Information includes the plant's common name, botanical designation, growth cycle, and general description. The book's additional sections offer details on how to grow and propagate aquatic plants, and how to protect them from parasites and other problems. This handsome volume features approximately 450 color photos and illustrations.

Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life (Smithsonian Handbooks)


Hazel Richardson - 2003
    Published in association with the esteemed Smithsonian Institution, DK's Smithsonian Handbook of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life features authoritative text, crystal-clear artwork, and a systematic approach to its subject matter.For ease of reference, the main body of the book is divided into three sections: the Precambrian and Palaeozoic eras, the Mesozoic era, and the Cenozoic era. Each section is broken down into its geological time periods, and, within these, the species are organized according to habitat--whether they lived on land, in the water, or in the air.There are detailed profiles of 200 dinosaurs and other ancestors of modern animals. Each entry combines a precise, jargon-free description with full-color artworks, skeletons, and replica models, annotated to pinpoint the key features of the species. Maps show where the animal's fossils have been found, and many profiles are supported by photographs to show actual excavation sites.The guide is authored by Hazel Richardson, a former research scientist, lecturer, and teacher. She has written 15 science books, many of which have been published worldwide, as well as educational CDs and scientific articles.

Extraordinary Pigeons


Stephen Green-Armytage - 2003
    Represented here are breeds of pigeons from around the world.

Pete Dunne on Bird Watching: The How-to, Where-to, and When-to of Birding


Pete Dunne - 2003
    Now the popular birding author identifies the skills and tools available to people with any amount of interest, great or small, in bird watching. Beginning with backyard birding and moving through a quick but comprehensive survey of tools of the trade, Dunne outlines ten basic, simple steps in bird identification that can make a birder out of the most casual of observers. He goes on to show beginning birders how to use their skills to explore new horizons through birding by ear, birding by telescope, and finding and identifying rare or difficult birds. Written in the lively, authoritative style that has made Dunne one of the most popular writers in this field today, Pete Dunne on Bird Watching will inspire in readers both a growing passion for birding and a lifelong respect for the natural world and its inhabitants.

Pocket Guide To The Butterflies Of Great Britain And Ireland


Richard Lewington - 2003
    

Birds of Belize


H. Lee Jones - 2003
    Thousands of birders visit the country each year to enjoy Belize’s amazing abundance and variety of both temperate and tropical birds in natural habitats that remain largely unspoiled. But until now, despite the growing need for an authoritative identification guide, birders have had to rely on regional field guides that offer only limited information on Belizean birds. Birds of Belize provides the first complete guide to the identification of all currently known species—574 in all. The birds are grouped by families, with an introduction to each family that highlights its uniquely identifying characteristics and behaviors. The species accounts include all the details necessary for field identification: scientific and common names, size, plumage features, thorough voice descriptions, habitat, distribution, and status in Belize. Full color, expertly drawn illustrations by noted bird artist Dana Gardner present male and female, juvenile and adult, and basic and alternate plumages to aid visual identification throughout the year, while 234 range maps show the birds’ distribution and seasonality in Belize. A comprehensive bibliography completes the volume.

Birds of California Field Guide


Stan Tekiela - 2003
    Full-page photos, detailed descriptions, Stan's Notes and range maps help to ensure correct I.D.

California Camping: The Complete Guide to More than 1,400 Tent and RV Campgrounds (Moon Outdoors)


Tom Stienstra - 2003
    Covering every worthwhile destination in California, this is the camper's guide to finding the best spots in the Golden State. Families, day-trippers, and seasoned campers looking for a change of pace will all find the perfect campground among the options selected by Tom. Fun trip ideas from Tom include: the Best Scenic Campgrounds, the Best Family Destinations, Best for White-Water Rafting, Best for Waterfalls, and the Best for Fall Colors. This guidebook provides updated, easy-to-use regional maps, descriptive keynotes for every geographical region, and facility and fee information. Detailed descriptions let campers know when they're near a waterfall, scenic overlook, or fishing spot. Moon California Camping has the details on the best California camping available.

Yellowstone Wolves in the Wild


James C. Halfpenny - 2003
    Highly acclaimed for its accuracy and photography of wild wolves. "The book is breathtaking! For anyone who has traveled to Yellowstone in recent years and seen the wolves, this book is must reading." --National Wildlife Federation "Outstanding and very accurate. (Halfpenny) puts all the scientific research into common language. He fills in with personal observations. The stories really personalize what happened." --Ed Bangs, Wolf Recovery Coordinator, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Spirit of America


Peter Lik - 2003
    Over a period of five years, he travelled the country by road recording his unique experience on film and video. Featuring images from every state, Spirit of America is a definitive photographic record of the iconic American landscape, and a sensitive insight into the lesser-known heart of the continent. In some of the most remarkable images ever captured, Lik chronicles his journey, and through his work pays tribute to the most powerful force on earth--Mother Nature.

Birds of Tennessee Field Guide


Stan Tekiela - 2003
    There's no need to look through dozens of photos of birds that don't live in Tennessee. This book features 119 species of Tennessee birds, organized by color for ease of use. Do you see a yellow bird and don't know what it is? Go to the yellow section to find out. Fact-filled information, a compare feature, range maps and detailed photographs help to ensure that you positively identify the birds that you see.

A Field Guide to Bacteria


Betsey Dexter Dyer - 2003
    Whether you're walking on the beach, visiting a zoo or aquarium, buying groceries, looking for fossils, drinking beer, traipsing through a swamp, or cleaning scum from beneath a dripping outdoor faucet, you're surrounded by bacterial field marks. You don't need a laboratory or fancy equipment to find out what kind of bacteria are there--this guide will tell you how.--from the IntroductionBacteria are an integral aspect of every habitat in which they occur and affect the lives of humans, other animals, and plants in many ways. Too often, we equate bacterium with pathogen and think of bacteria as things to avoid. In a fascinating guide perfect for naturalists, students, teachers, and tourists alike, Betsey Dexter Dyer lets the reader know that it is possible to observe bacteria with all the senses. Many groups of bacteria can be easily identified in the field (or in the refrigerator) without a microscope. Written for curious souls of all ages, A Field Guide to Bacteria opens our eyes--and noses and ears--to this hidden (or neglected) world around us. Useful illustrations, including 120 color photographs, accompany Dyer's lively text throughout.

The Ninemile Wolves


Rick Bass - 2003
    The wolf inspires hatred, affection, myth, fear, and pity; its return polarizes the whole of the West -- igniting the passions of cattle ranchers and environmentalists, wildlife biologists and hunters. One man's vigorous, emotional inquiry into the proper relationship between man and nature, The Ninemile Wolves eloquently advocates wolf reintroduction in the West. In a new preface, Bass discusses the enduring lessons of the Ninemile story.

Secrets of the Gem Trade: The Connoisseur's Guide to Precious Gemstones


Richard W. Wise - 2003
    Five new introductory essay: Blue-white diamonds / Jadeite / Natural Pearls / Spinel / Feldspars. Plus 278 color photographs (171 additional) which include exclusive images from major museum collections and the latest auction market icons. The definitive book for anyone wanting to learn how the best gemologists in the world evaluate precious gems, and what makes one stone merely a good stone versus a truly fabulous museum quality gem. The author, Richard Wise, is one of the world's foremost gemologists.

Audubon: Painter of Birds in the Wild Frontier


Jennifer Armstrong - 2003
    Most people know that he painted The Birds of America but many don't know what an exciting life he led: narrowly escaping an earthquake, meeting with native peoples and witnessing flocks of passenger pigeons that literally darkened the noon-day sky. Armed with paintbrushes and canvas, Audubon searched the wild for birds and animals, and he captured many of them on paper.

Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity


Eric R. Pianka - 2003
    This book, lavishly illustrated with color photographs, is the first comprehensive reference on lizards around the world. Accessible, scientifically up-to-date, and written with contagious enthusiasm for the subject, Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity covers species evolution, diversity, ecology, and biology. Eric R. Pianka and Laurie J. Vitt have studied and photographed members of almost all lizard families worldwide, and they bring to the book a deep knowledge based on extensive firsthand experience with the animals in their natural habitats. Part One explores lizard lifestyles, answering such questions as why lizards are active when they are, why they behave as they do, how they avoid predators, why they eat what they eat, and how they reproduce and socialize. In Part Two the authors take us on a fascinating tour of the world's manifold lizard species, beginning with iguanians, an evolutionary group that includes some of the most bizarre lizards, the true chameleons of Africa and Madagascar. We also meet the glass lizard, able to break its tail into many highly motile pieces to distract a predator from its body; lizards that can run across water; and limbless lizards, such as snakes. Part Three gives an unprecedented global view of evolutionary trends that have shaped present-day lizard communities and considers the impact of humans on their future.A definitive resource containing many entertaining anecdotes, this magnificent book opens a new window to the natural world and the evolution of life on earth.

Night Visions: The Secret Designs of Moths


Joseph Scheer - 2003
    In a place where art, science and technology meet, Joseph Scheer's astonishing moth prints emerge, revealing the hidden beauty and astonishing variety of colors and shapes found in moths.

Edge of the Earth, Corner of the Sky


Art Wolfe - 2003
    With this long awaited sequel, EDGE OF THE EARTH, CORNER OF THE SKY, Wolfe artistically pushes his craft to present his emotional vision of the Earth’s beauty.Photographed on seven continents, nine years in the making, this stylish and significant collectible is about our interconnectedness with the Earth expressed through Wolfe’s artistic use of light and perspective.Divided into five geographic regions: Desert, Ocean, Mountain, Forest and Polar, the book features a 3500-word essay by author Art Davidson to accompany each section. Davidson’s text brings the human connection to each austere, haunting image.For art collectors, photographers, environmentalists, world travelers, or those who experience the world through books, the scope and design of EDGE OF THE EARTH, CORNER OF THE SKY transcends all other landscape books and represents the pinnacle of Art Wolfe’s 50 published books and his thirty-year career.Remarkable for its artistic vision, ethereal presentation and powerful yet understated environmental message, EDGE OF THE EARTH, CORNER OF THE SKY captures the sheer wonderment of nature in a stunning and dramatic presentation.

Living on the Edge: Amazing Relationships in the Natural World


Jeff Corwin - 2003
    One of America's favorite nature-show hosts, Corwin demonstrates awe and respect for nature in a way that is both wildly funny and educational. In this beautiful book, illustrated with his own photographs, he reminisces about his at-times-perilous and often hilarious journeys as he explores the fantastic relationships among the diverse flora and fauna in four exotic ecosystems: the Sonoran Desert of Arizona; the Savannah of southeastern Africa; the Costa Rican rainforest; and the Llanos grassland in Venezuela. From a lizard that ejects a blood-like squirt from its eyes when in danger to perhaps the most bizarre turtle on the planet-we meet some wonderfully unique creatures and learn about their interdependence and competition in their natural habitats.

Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home


Janisse Ray - 2003
    - By the author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood (50,000 copies sold)

Dragonflies of the North Woods


Kurt Mead - 2003
    - Close-up color photos for over 100 dragonfly species- Fieldmark arrows that point to the best distinguishing characteristics- Easy-to-use red-bar phenograms that show when you'll see that species- Black bars on each photo indicate actual size- 200 color photos of ALL the North Woods dragonflies- Handy field guide size makes it easy to pack along

Hidden Nature: The Startling Insights of Viktor Schauberger


Alick Bartholomew - 2003
    From his unusually detailed observations of the natural world, he pioneered a completely new understanding of how nature works. He also foresaw, and tried to warn against, the global waste and ecological destruction of our age. This book describes and explains Schauberger's insights in contemporary, accessible language. His remarkable discoveries -- which address issues such as sick water, ailing forests, climate change and, above all, renewable energy -- have dramatic implications for how we should work with nature and its resources.

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2003


Richard Dawkins - 2003
    For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundred of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2003, edited by Richard Dawkins, is another "eloquent, accessible, and even illuminating" collection (Publishers Weekly). Here are the best and brightest writers on science and nature, writing on such wide-ranging subjects as astronomy's new stars, archaeology, the Bible, "terminal" ice, and memory faults.Natalie Angier Timothy Ferris Ian Frazier Elizabeth F. Loftus Steven Pinker Oliver Sacks Steven Weinberg Edward O. Wilson

Bumblebees: Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation


Dave Goulson - 2003
    They are increasingly being used as a model organism for studying a wide range of ecological and behavioural concepts, such as social organization, optimal foraging theories, host-parasite interactions, and pollination. Recently they have become a focus for conservationists due to mounting evidence of range contractions and catastrophic extinctions with some species disappearing from entire continents (e.g. in North America). Only by improving our understanding of their ecology can we devise sensible plans to conserve them. The role of bumblebees as invasive species (e.g. Bombus terrestris in Japan) has also become topical with the growing trade in commercial bumblebee nests for tomato pollination leading to establishment of non-native bumblebees in a number of countries.Since the publication of the first edition of the book, there have been hundreds of research papers published on bumblebees. There is clearly a continuing need for an affordable, well-illustrated, and appealing text that makes accessible all of the major advances in understanding of the behaviour and ecology of bumblebees that have been made in the last 30 years.

1001 Garden Plants In Singapore


Boo Chih Min - 2003
    The first edition of the book found instant success among both seasoned and aspiring gardeners as a handy guide for plants found in Singapore. This second edition adds another 700 plants to the 1,200 listed in the first edition, and includes new features like the Chinese names of the plants.

When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature


Thomas Merton - 2003
    Over 300 nature writings by Thomas Merton are collected for the first time in When The Trees Say Nothing edited by Kathleen Deignan, art by John Giuliani, foreword by Thomas Berry

The Secrets of Wildflowers: A Delightful Feast of Little-Known Facts, Folklore, and History


Jack Sanders - 2003
    There are more than 10,000 varieties of wildflowers in North America, some rare, some so plentiful that they are designated as invasive weeds. Each has a unique story.There's Bouncing Bet, a perennial common along the roads and railroad tracks of America. Like many of our most abundant summer wildflowers, Bet was brought over to fill colonial gardens. It's a beautiful plant, but also a useful one. Open up the stalk and its sap makes a fine soap. Colonial beermakers used to put a dab in to help the head on a brew. Doctors used it to wash wounds. Generally considered a weed, it's everywhere.Or Coltsfoot, which pops up almost alone in winters, and was used in New England as a cure for coughs, the leaves boiled down in water. Asthmatics, Sanders tells us, used to smoke it for relief. For many years, apothecaries in France used Coltsfoot as its symbol, a surprising pedigree for a neglected "weed."More a companion than a field guide, THE SECRETS OF WILDFLOWERS is a must-have for anyone who enjoys a walk in a meadow or a gaze outside.

Owls of the World: Their Lives, Behavior and Survival


James R. Duncan - 2003
    Major owl species are covered as well as the lesser-known species only be found in more remote geographic locations. The owls of Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia are compared with North American, European, and Asian species in terms of habitat, adaptability and physical appearance.This abundantly illustrated reference features:Detailed description, history, habitat, range maps and conservation status for 205 species Common and scientific names Commonly known owl behavior, plus recently discovered mating, hunting and survival techniques The nature of owls including the discovery of a new owl species Owls in mythology and culture Threats to owl populations A world directory of owl species, including taxonomy and a range map for each species

Trees to Know in Oregon


Edward C. Jensen - 2003
    152 PAGE BOOK-VERY NICE.

The Everything Seed: A Story of Beginnings


Carole Martignacco - 2003
    This joyous celebration of the origins of life is told through captivating poetry and luminous artwork.A gentle look at the Big Bang for young children.Incredible batik artwork."A captivating, refreshing, and life-affirming treasure to read over and again."-Earthlight Magazine

The Best of Chief Dan George


Dan George - 2003
    Included in this edition is the Lament for Confederation by Chief Dan George. Poetic and spiritual, this book has a universal message to all people. Chief Dan George was an accomplished performer, poet, philosopher, champion of Native peoples and loving patriarch of a large family.

In Every Moon There is a Face


Charles Mathes - 2003
    This elegant book begins with a poet's simple words, "In every Moon there is a face In every Face there is a tree And every Tree is full of lace And in that Lace you?ll find a sea?" Arlene Graston's spell-binding paintings flow perfectly with Charles Mathes' gentle lyrics, inviting us to embark on a magical voyage of discovery and delight as we connect with our creative selves.

Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula: Who We Are


Jacilee Wray - 2003
    However, each indigenous nation’s relationship to the Olympic Peninsula is unique. Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula: Who We Are traces the nine tribes’ common history and each tribe’s individual story.

Primary Perception: Biocommunication with Plants, Living Foods, and Human Cells


Cleve Backster - 2003
    All life forms have the capability of responding to one another, from plants and bacteria to foods and animal cells. Most amazing is his work with human leukocytes. These discoveries have opened up a new paradigm in science, ecology and healing.

National Geographic Reference Atlas to the Birds of North America


Mel Baughman - 2003
    This timely companion to the bestselling National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America includes stunning color photos, the latest maps, and accessible yet authoritative information that every birder can enjoy.

Sparrows and Finches of the Great Lakes Region and Eastern North America


Chris Earley - 2003
    It's hard to keep all those little brown birds apart. This handy, bring-along guidebook is designed to help beginner and advanced birders to identify accurately over 48 types of sparrows, finches, and their look-alikes.Sparrows and Finches focuses only on these two families within a defined geographical location: the Great Lakes and eastern North America. As result, it offers comprehensive coverage in a small, convenient format.The book is heavily illustrated with 220 full-color photographs taken by award-winning photographers that show these birds in their natural habitats. Comparison pages group similar-looking birds on a single spread for quick reference. Concise and accurate information on each bird includes:Common name Biological classification Song description Identifying features Seasonal changes to plumage color Sparrows and Finches will prove indispensable to naturalists, students, and birders at all levels of experience. A special section entitled What Can I Do to Help the Sparrows offers simple ways to attract sparrows and finches to your own backyard. This is an engaging and friendly guide that reveals the rich diversity among a seemingly common family of birds so often taken for granted.

Rivers & Birds


Merrill Gilfillan - 2003
    He wanders apple orchards in Washington State, sand dunes on Massachusetts' lovely Plum Island, forest paths in the rainy Catskills, and he meanders along the banks of the Mississippi River.

Primitive Living, Self-Sufficiency, and Survival Skills


Thomas J. Elpel - 2003
    A field guide to primitive living skills

Drawing: Landscapes with William F. Powell: Learn to draw step by step


William F. Powell - 2003
    Powell invites you into his artistic world as he shows you how to render a variety of beautiful landscape subjects in pencil. Explore a number of basic drawing techniques and learn to develop a drawing to its fullest through a series of step-by-step demonstrations. You'll discover different methods of shading, ways of manipulating drawing tools to produce specific textures, and tips on how to design a well-balanced composition, providing you with the necessary knowledge to create your own landscape drawings from preliminary sketch to the completed work.

Nature and Other Writings


Ralph Waldo Emerson - 2003
    Generations of readers have been stirred by Emerson's ideal of self-reliance, and his vision of nature as a manifestation of the divine spirit has profoundly influenced American naturalists and environmentalists from Thoreau's time to the present. Poets as diverse as Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and Allen Ginsberg were inspired by the transcendental flavor of Emerson's work. This volume brings together selections from Emerson's best-loved writings, particularly drawing upon his early work, which is some of his most poignant. Included are excerpts from Nature, the famous "Divinity School Address," "Self-Reliance," "The Over-Soul," "Compensation," "Spiritual Laws," "The Poet," and "Circles." Several of his most moving poems appear here as well.

Field Guide to Dinosaurs: The Essential Handbook for Travelers in the Mesozoic


Henry Gee - 2003
    However, it has been written in clear laymen’s language for nonscientists who have serious interest in paleontology. Author Henry Gee provides naturalists’ notes on more than 50 different dinosaur species. His information is supplemented with dramatic, anatomically accurate full-color illustrations of each dinosaur. Material in this book is based on findings of dinosaur remains in North and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Antarctica, and is divided according to time periods: Triassic, Jurassic, Early- and Mid-Cretaceous, and Late Cretaceous. At-a-glance icons convey key information about each animal, including size, taxonomy, geological period of origin, and geographical location of discovered bones. The book also presents general background information on the 180 million years of the dinosaur-dominated Mesozoic era, including details on Mesozoic plants and animals and the modern story of dinosaur discovery. More than 500 vivid illustrations are all in full color.

Fortune's Favorite Child: The Uneasy Life of Walter Anderson


Christopher Maurer - 2003
    Devoted to the beauty of the natural world, Anderson emblazoned the events of his everyday life into art that expressed a unique and absorbing vision.This compelling biography, published in celebration of his centennial, draws on Anderson's voluminous journals and graphic works, the previously unpublished papers of family members and friends, and archival materials from several American museums.In his creative diversity he was both an artist and a naturalist who left the art world paintings, prints, murals, journals, wood carvings, ceramic works, poems, aphorisms, and pen-and-ink illustrations of literary works. Despite poverty and mental anguish, Anderson called himself "Fortune's favorite child." Few artists have been more grateful than Anderson for the moments of artistic truth extracted from adversity, isolation, and illness.He was the second of three sons of a good-natured grain merchant and a strong-willed New Orleans society woman who encouraged the children to devote their lives to art. After studying in New York, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and in Europe, Anderson returned to the South and settled in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to live by his art. During the Depression he earned a meager living by decorating pottery and designing figurines for his family's pottery, Shearwater.Spending his life on the edge of the art world and the edge of society, Anderson fell into many intense adventures, for which his community regarded him as an eccentric. In 1937 he suffered a devastating attack of mental illness that foreshadowed a long battle with emotional turmoil. In an escape from a mental institution in Baltimore, he trekked a thousand miles homeward. Occasionally he lived in self-isolation on Horn Island. He sallied south to Costa Rica to hunt orchids. He rambled across China during the Maoist revolution.In tracing a life that the artist himself regarded with gratitude and wonder, this biography recounts the story of Anderson's marriage and fatherhood, his bouts with illness, his creative periods of astonishing work, and his spells as a solitary rover expressing his artistic vision and searching for spiritual fulfillment.Christopher Maurer, head of the department of Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese at the University of Illinois-Chicago, is the author (with Maria Estrella Iglesias) of "Dreaming in Clay on the Coast of Mississippi: Love and Art at Shearwater." His work has appeared in the "New Republic," the "New York Times," "Hispanic Review," and "El Pais" (Madrid).

Smithsonian Earth


Michael AllabyJames F. Luhr - 2003
    With thousands of breathtaking photographs and unique visual catalogues of the features and phenomena that take place on Earth -- such as rocks, minerals, and mountains to tropical rain forests and the different types of clouds -- Earth contains the most up-to-date ideas on how our world works, a compelling review on the health of the planet, and unbelievable images of the world's most stunning features.

Hoagland on Nature: Essays


Edward Hoagland - 2003
    His subjects range from the natural history of owls to the delicious mystery of wolves ("Howling Back at the Wolves"); the demise of the red wolf ("Lament the Red Wolves"); our relationship with dogs ("Dogs, and the Tug of Life"); the nature of a bear-stalker ("Bears, Bears, Bears"); and the intricate workings of an old farm's ecosystem. Hoagland's exploration, from the boreal forests of Maine to the brawny Belize River, illuminates both the exotic and the wilds of our own backyards. Hoagland reports from the frontlines of life. He recounts fascinating detail with exacting prose. He's irascible, brilliant, probing, sharp-witted, and brutally honest about himself and the state of the natural world.No one who admires John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, John Burroughs, and Edward Abbey should miss this definitive collection. It will forever change the way you view the natural world.

Flower Fairies Secret World


Cicely Mary Barker - 2003
    Few people have ever been lucky enough to see a Flower Fairy, but this book offers a glimpse inside their special world. Learn about the clothing they wear to help them hide from human eyes, clothing made of seed pods, petals, buds and leaves. Meet the different Flower Fairies and learn about their jobs, their actual size, and how they spend their free time. For every child who has ever wondered about the Flower Fairies, here is a special look at a unique, old-fashioned, and magical world.

The Moon: Myth and Image


Jules Cashford - 2003
    Jules Cashford explores the myths, symbols, and poetic images of the Moon throughout history, starting from early Paleolithic markings on horn and bone, up to present-day poetry. This captivating book traces our customs and secular events back to their sacred lunar source explaining how we have evolved to think in some of the ways that we do and why. Accompanied by 175 beautiful illustrations, The Moon investigates how the lunar image helped shape our mind, and more importantly, it examines what these myths and images tell us about our own consciousness. This is the most comprehensive and in-depth look at the moon and its vast influence on the structure and function of mythology, religion, and consciousness.

Painting Wildlife in Watercolor


Peggy Macnamara - 2003
    She provides the simple instruction all beginners and intermediate artists need to know about creating lifelike renderings of fur and feathers, along with detailed illustrations of a vast range of both familiar and exotic animals and their habitats.

Arboretum America: A Philosophy of the Forest


Diana Beresford-Kroeger - 2003
    There are many books on both of these subjects. Some warn, some inform, while others meditate on the disappearance of the forests or the meaning of trees. Few books, though, touch on so many aspects of trees, including ways to use them in garden design, as Arboretum America does.Beresford-Kroeger's remedy is what she calls the Bioplan. The plan consists of how each of twenty different tree groups relates to its natural environment and how these specific trees can be used to promote health or to counteract the effects of pollution and global warming. The plan also reveals the fascinating history of these trees in Native American culture, including their medicinal uses. Finally, the Bioplan offers practical design ideas and tips---where to plant these trees, what season they look best in, what native plants complement them---as well as organic care and how to grow them.Beresford-Kroeger captures the magic spell that trees cast over us. Yet her holistic approach urges us to think big while acting locally, so that we may someday restore the forest primeval.Diana Beresford-Kroeger is a botanist, medical and agricultural researcher, lecturer, and self-defined "renegade scientist" in the fields of classical botany, medical biochemistry, organic chemistry, and nuclear chemistry. She lives in Ontario, Canada.

Mojave Desert Wildflowers: A Field Guide to Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Mojave Desert, Including the Mojave National Preserve, Death Valley National Park, and Joshua Tree National Park


Pam MacKay - 2003
    Mojave Desert Wildflowers will be appreciated not only by amateur wildflower enthusiasts, but experts will also find the detailed photographs and charts useful in distinguishing among similar species in difficult groups. Species are arranged by color and plant family for easy identification. This guide features 300 of the common species, full-color photographs, detailed descriptions, information on bloom season, and interesting facts about each plant.

Birds of Michigan


Ted Black - 2003
    Descriptions of each bird, illustrations and range maps help you identify birds and understand their habits. A checklist helps you keep a list of your birding accomplishments.

The Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story


Neil Waldman - 2003
    With a double-page spread for each month, this book describes the journey of a single drop of water throughout the year.

The Book of Field & Roadside: Open-Country Weeds, Trees, and Wildflowers of Eastern North America


John Eastman - 2003
    Written in an engaging manner, this book helps readers identify dryland plants, discusses what other organisms, plant and animal, might be found in the same area, and explains why.

Back Garden Seed Saving: Keeping Our Vegetable Heritage Alive


Sue Stickland - 2003
    Dwarf peas may be the easiest to grow commercially, but many gardeners still grow attractive six-foot types that taste "like peas used to taste." Whatever the benefits of modern hybrids, old varieties still have much to offer, and they are becoming hard to find.Seed saving is a surprisingly simple and hugely satisfying way to propogate your favorite varieties. In this book you will find easy-to-follow, crop by crop guidelines to help you save your own seed.Relevant to the beginner as well as the expert, "Back Garden Seed Saving" tells how and why we should join in the battle to save our irreplaceable vegetable heritage, and the reward--a kitchen full of tasty vegetables.The benefits of saving your own seedSelect plants best suited to your own growing conditionsHelp preserve our shrinking vegetable heritageBreak our dependence on multinational seed companiesSave moneyShare seed with friends, neighbors, and fellow gardener

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land


Subhankar Banerjee - 2003
    Photographer Subhankar Banerjee, in collaboration with six essayists, presents a portrayal of a unique landscape made up of equal parts beauty and hazard. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the last intact ecosystems on earth, is being impacted by forces that may change its existence forever: global warming and the encroachment of modern society through the potential for oil drilling. Jimmy Carter, George Schaller, and Bill Meadows narrate the story with essays that delve into the history of the Refuge, the political battles -- past and present -- and the fragility of the ecosystem. Wildlife biologist Fran Mauer writes of the areas geological and geographical uniqueness while Debbie Miller describes the cultures of the Inupiat Eskimos and the Gwich'in Athabascan Indians. David Allen Sibley explores the prolific bird life and migrations at the refuge with an eye toward the delicately balanced ecology of the region. Peter Matthiessen, reflecting on his journey through the Refuge with Banerjee, passionately defends the need to preserve these lands and the people and the wildlife they shelter. Visit the photographer's website at www.subhankarbanergee.org

Natural Grace: The Charm, Wonder, and Lessons of Pacific Northwest Animals and Plants


William Dietrich - 2003
    His topics include alder and cedar; jellyfish, geoducks, crabs, and killer whales; mosquitoes and spiders; gulls, crows, and bald eagles; and sea otters, coyotes, raccoons, possums, deer, and cougars.This informative and engaging selection of natural history essays is adapted from articles published in the Seattle Times magazine, Pacific Northwest. A native Washingtonian, Dietrich has watched the Northwest double in population during his lifetime. Our rapidly changing view of nature is an underlying theme throughout his wide-ranging essays, as is the timely and essential question of how best to share and conserve the natural world that drew us to the region in the first place.Not a field guide nor an environmental policy book, Natural Grace is intended as a primer for people who are curious about the environment they live in and the pressures upon it. "We only care about what we know," says the author. "I've concluded that enthusiasm and commitment begin from learning just how marvelous this region is: Passion has to precede purpose." And there is much to marvel over. Dietrich has unearthed fascinating and unexpected facts about his subjects, and he has a gift for expressing complex information in clear and vivid language. He asks intriguing questions and makes good use of interviews with Northwest scientists and experts to convey current and historic attitudes and economic realities, and to consider where we go from here.For more information about the author go to: http: //www.williamdietrich.com/

The Lewis and Clark Companion: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Voyage of Discovery


Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs - 2003
    They never did find the fabled Northwest Passage, but over twenty-eight months, the Corps of Discovery traveled more than eight thousand miles through eleven future states, named scores of places and rivers, met with many Native American tribes, and wrote the first descriptions of heretofore unknown plants and animals. By the end of their trip, Lewis and Clark had navigated and named two thirds of the American continent. They may have had undaunted courage, but the sheer volume of information related to their expedition can be more than a little daunting to the armchair historian. Written by two highly regarded Lewis and Clark experts, this book contains over five hundred lively and fascinating entries on everything from the members of the expedition and the places they went to the weapons and tools, trade goods, and medicines they carried, along with the food and amusements that sustained them. Highly readable and informative, it's the perfect introduction for the Lewis and Clark novice, and the comprehensive guide no buff will want to be without.

Ice & Mixed Climbing: Modern Technique


Will Gadd - 2003
    It's the most fun because it has the fewest rules -- sort of like professional wrestling compared to boxing. So says Will Gadd, as profiled in the book Fifty Favorite Climbs. Here the champion ice climber presents the same techniques and veteran wisdom he imparts to those who attend his annual clinics. These include step-by-step instructions for the swing (ice axe), the kick (footwork), and putting it all together (tracking); how to read ice to select your line and follow it safely; and drytool techniques for mixed climbing. Training exercises and inspirational stories complete this seminal guide.Will Gadd won every major ice competition in the world in 1998 and 1999, as well as the 2000 Ice World Cup. A resident of Canmore, Alberta, he has written for Climbing and Rock & Ice, among other publications.

Aquarium Designs Inspired by Nature


Peter Hiscock - 2003
    The aquarium enthusiast who takes his hobby seriously reproduces a part of the aquatic natural environment in miniature inside his home. Author Peter Hiscock offers practical instructions on setting up a freshwater tropical aquarium. He describes substrate, aquarium plants, and appropriate combinations of fish. Much of this book focuses on fish and plant life in nature, and then offers details on replicating natural settings in the aquarium. Both plants and fish varieties are shown in vivid color photos and described in detail. More than 450 color photos and illustrations.

The Circle of life: Wildlife on the African Savannah


Anup Shah - 2003
    Concentrating on the Serengeti-Masai Mara regions in Kenya and Tanzania, this volume chronicles life and death on the savannah.

Talking with Nature and Journey into Nature


Michael J. Roads - 2003
    A series of encounters with the natural world followed, and Roads began to listen -- and let go. He found himself led stage by stage to a final wisdom, remarkable in its simplicity and in its message of hope for humanity. This book, a bind-up of his two best-known works, beautifully articulates that message.