Best of
Science-Nature

1995

The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book About How Living Things Grow


Bruce Degen - 1995
    Frizzle's class is growing a beautiful garden. But, Phoebe's plot is empty. Her flowers are back at her old school! So, the class climbs aboard the Magic School Bus. And, of course, the kids don't only go back to Phoebe's school, but they go inside one of Phoebe's flowers! Follow the kids' adventure and learn how living things grow.

The Farm


Wendell Berry - 1995
    

Dinosaur in a Haystack


Stephen Jay Gould - 1995
    With black and white illustrations. "Here is a new collection of Gould's unexpected connections between evolution and all manner of subjects, literature high among them. Gathered from his monthly column in "Natural History" magazine, these articles should delight, surprise, and inform his vast readership, as have his six prior volumes of essays. Somehow the light bulb pops on every month as his deadline approaches, some glowing fact pulled out of memory--often a line from Shakespeare or Tennyson--that illumines a generality Gould wishes to discuss. "Nature, red in tooth and claw" (Lord Alfred's line) induces dilations on the extent science can inform moral matters (not much, Gould believes); a remembrance of the infamous Wansee protocol prompts Gould's denunciation of the genocidal looting of evolutionary theory and, by extension, its vulnerability to ignoramuses in general. These two examples of the Gouldian essay method, fortunately, don't foreshadow a gloomy parade of topics: Gould can as easily alight at the fun house where mass culture absorbs ideas about evolution through movies of monsters run amok from Frankenstein to Jurassic Park. In other essays, he plunges directly into matters of evolutionary interpretation but customarily employs a literary twist: who else but Gould could link Edgar Allan Poe with his own area of professional eminence, the paleontology of snails? A discovery awaits in every essay--in every haystack--which solidifies Gould as one of the most eloquent science popularizers writing today."--"Booklist"

Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, and Jays


Candace Savage - 1995
    But according to naturalist Candace Savage, “bird brain,” as a pejorative expression, should be rendered obsolete by new research on the family of corvids: crows and their close relations.The ancients who regarded these remarkable birds as oracles, bringers of wisdom, or agents of vengeance were on the right track, for corvids appear to have powers of abstraction, memory, and creativity that put them on a par with many mammals, even higher primates. Bird Brains presents these bright, brassy, and surprisingly colorful birds in a remarkable collection of full-color, close-up photographs by some two dozen of the world’s best wildlife photographers.Savage’s lively, authoritative text describes the life and behavior of sixteen representative corvid species that inhabit North America and Europe. Drawing on recent research, she describes birds that recognize each other as individuals, call one another by “name,” remember and relocate thousands of hidden food caches, engage in true teamwork and purposeful play, and generally exhibit an extraordinary degree of sophistication.

The Butterfly Alphabet Book


Brian Cassie - 1995
    Jerry Pallotta and Brian Cassie's fun, informative text, accompanied by Mark Astrella's detailed and breathtaking illustrations, will be a sure favorite with both the young butterfly lover and the experienced lepidopterist!

Trees, Leaves & Bark


Diane L. Burns - 1995
    Safety tips are provided and interesting activities are sugested. Color illustrations enhance the presentation. ---HORN BOOKS (Tracks, Scats and Signs)

Animals as Teachers and Healers: True Stories and Reflections


Susan Chernak McElroy - 1995
    So says Susan Chernak McElroy, who owes her triumph over cancer to the love of her dog, Keesha--and to the courage she found in the act of saving a dying cat. In ANIMALS AS TEACHERS AND HEALERS, McElroy tells her story and gathers real-life stories from others whose souls have been touched by the loving energies of animals. Here are animals as guardians (a German shepherd who cocoons its body around a toddler during a house fire--the baby lives, the dog does not), companions, totems, and soul menders.For anyone who has forgotten how to see angels, ANIMALS AS TEACHERS AND HEALERS is an inspiration and a guide for the journey to reconnect with the animal kingdom, and a reminder of the lessons and healing that can flow from the special relationship between humans and animals.

The Rarest of the Rare: Vanishing Animals, Timeless Worlds


Diane Ackerman - 1995
    She delivers a rapturous celebration of other species that is also a warning to our own. Traveling from the Amazon rain forest to a forbidding island off the coast of Japan, enduring everything from broken ribs to a beating by an irate seal, Ackerman reveals her subjects in all their splendid particularity. She shows us how they feed, mate, and migrate. She eavesdrops on their class and courtship dances. She pays tribute to the men and women hwo have deoted their lives to saving them.

The Company of Wolves


Peter Steinhart - 1995
    This authoritative and eloquent book coaxes the wolf out from its camouflage of myth and reveals the depth of its kinship with humanity, which shares this animal's complex complex social organization, intense family ties, and predatory streak.

Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Pauling


Thomas Hager - 1995
    He decried the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War Two, agitated against nuclear weapons, promoted vitamin C as a cure for the common cold and researched the idea of DNA.

The Encyclopedia of Snakes


Christopher Mattison - 1995
    This reference covers snake classification, size, shape and colouration, ecology, eating habits, defensive behaviour, and mythology and superstition.

The Faber Book of Science: Scientists and Writers Illuminate Natural Phenomena from Fossils To...


John Carey - 1995
    In this first anthology of its kind, Carey chooses accounts by scientists themselves--astronomers and physicists, biologists, chemists, psychologists--that are both arrestingly written and clear. Contributors include Carl Sagan, Charles Darwin, Stephen Jay Gould, Oliver Sacks, Lewis Thomas, Rachel Carson, Sigmund Freud, Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, and scores of others.

Among Whales


Roger Payne - 1995
    He's swum with them. He's fought for them. He's studied them and become the world's foremost cetacean biologist.Sharing his scientific observations in spellbinding detail, Payne brings vividly to life the awesome presence of these great, noble -- and desperately threatened -- creatures. A work of biology, of philosophy, and most certainly of literature, Among Whales is more than a book about whales. It is also a journey of the heart, a journey of discovery about the larger questions of life on earth.Passionate in his love, Roger Payne is also passionate in his outrage at the whalers who slaughter whales for profit and at the pollutants that are destroying our oceans. His words shimmer with truth; his ideas strike powerfully at our consciences. Destined to become a classic, Among Whales is a book of great beauty -- a cautionary tale every one of us who cares about our planet must read.

The Alchemy of the Heavens: Searching for Meaning in the Milky Way


Ken Croswell - 1995
    A captivating journey through the modern astronomy of the Milky Way, Croswell shows us how a deeper understanding of the nature and working of the galaxy can offer larger clues into the origins of the universe itself.

A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic


E.C. Pielou - 1995
    It is packed with answers to naturalists' questions and with questions—some of them answered—that naturalists may not even have thought of.

The Dying of the Trees


Charles E. Little - 1995
    Our children, says writer and conservationist Charles E. Little, probably won't. The forests are declining. The trees are dying. Little shows how logging in the Northwest is far from the whole story, how virtually everywhere in this country our trees are mortally afflicted - even before they are cut. From the "sugarbush" of Vermont and the dogwoods of Maryland's Catoctin mountains to the forests of the "hollows" in Applachia, the oaks and aspens of northern Michigan, and the mountainsides and deserts of the West, a whole range of human-caused maladies - from fatal ozone, ultraviolet rays, and acid rain to the disastrous aftermath of clear-cutting - has brought tree death and forest decline in its wake. In his journeys to America's forests and woodlands, Little exhaustively explores this phenomenon with scientists, government officials, and citizen leaders and recounts how they have responded (and in many cases failed to respond) to this threat to global ecological balance.

The Wolves of Isle Royale: A Broken Balance


Rolf Peterson - 1995
    His study, a true classic, offers lessons and examples to us all who hope to do the same. This book reveals some of the secrets and details of this one-of-a-kind wolf study. Douglas W. Smith, Leader, Yellowstone Wolf with its lush northern landscape, wolves, and moose is an ideal laboratory for wildlife biologists. For nearly half a century it has been the site of a comprehensive study on wolves (2008 marks the fiftieth anniversary)longest-running study on any wild animal. The Wolves of Isle Royale is author and wildlife biologist Rolf Peterson’s fascinating first-hand account of the relationship that exists between the wolf and the moose on the island. Illustrated with over 100 photographs, this book reveals the true nature of this mysterious and little-understood animal, and it offers novel solutions to the conservation crises as the wolf population falters to its lowest recorded level.

The Wind Masters: The Lives of North American Birds of Prey


Pete Dunne - 1995
    Birds of prey have an aura that few other creatures have. In the acclaimed Hawks in Flight, Pete Dunne showed what birds of prey look like. In The Wind Masters, he shows what it is like to be a bird of prey. He takes us inside the lives and minds of all thirty-four species of diurnal raptors found in North America -- hawks, falcons, eagles, vultures, the osprey, and the harrier -- and shows us how each bird sees the world, hunts its prey, finds and courts its mate, rears its young, grows up, grows old, and dies. Vividly written, and beautifully illustrated by David Sibley, The Wind Masters is a brilliant work of narrative natural history in the tradition of Peter Matthiessen's The Wind Birds and Barry Lopez's Of Wolves and Men.

The Last Stand: The War between Wall Street and Main Street over California's Ancient Redwoods


David Harris - 1995
    Their Headwaters Forest in Northern California contained three-quarters of the world's old-growth redwoods in 1985, the year in which a Texas-based conglomerate engineered a hostile takeover of PLC. The new owners quickly increased the harvest of redwoods by 300 percent, gutted the employee pension plan, and began clear-cutting acre upon acre of virgin forest. Local environmentalists took up the fight to reverse the takeover and save the redwoods. The conflict between conservation efforts and fears of unemployment came to a head at the end of "Redwood Summer," when protesters from across the country came into town and were greeted by residents shouting insults and slinging eggs and tomatoes.Moving from the paneled boardrooms overlooking Wall Street to the banks of the Eel River, this engrossing account chronicles the ongoing battle between environmentalists and business over irreplaceable natural resources.

Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers


Doug Ladd - 1995
    This valuable reference enables all prairie enthusiasts to quickly and accurately identify hundreds of tallgrass prairie plants. More than 320 color photographs Precise descriptions of 295 species Habitat/range information Historical and cultural notes Educational glossary Complete index of scientific and common names Directory of tallgrass prairies in 13 states

The Lost Grizzlies: A Search for Survivors in the Colorado Wilderness


Rick Bass - 1995
    With the exhilarating insight his readers have come to expect, Rick Bass describes the dangers and clues on the trail of the grizzly, the mystery and beauty of the animal, and the courage, hope, and friendships at the heart of the search. The Lost Grizzlies is more than a foray into deep wilderness. It is, ultimately, as much about humans as it is about bears.

Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives (Foundations of Human Behavior)


Patricia Stuart-Macadam - 1995
    As such, it has important implications for understanding the past, present, and future condition of our species. In general, scholars have emphasized either the biological or the cultural aspects of breastfeeding, but not both. As biological anthropologists the editors of this volume feel that an evolutionary approach combining both aspects is essential. One of the goals of their book is to incorporate data from diverse fields to present a more holistic view of breastfeeding, through the inclusion of research from a number of different disciplines, including biological and social/cultural anthropology, nutrition, and medicine. The resulting book, presenting the complexity of the issues surrounding very basic decisions about infant nutrition, will fill a void in the existing literature on breastfeeding.

Dark Nature: A Natural History of Evil


Lyall Watson - 1995
    With Dark Nature, world naturalist Lyall Watson presents a scientific examination of evil. Drawing on the latest insights of genetics, evolutionary ethology, anthropology and psychology, he takes the discussion of evil out of the realm of monsters and demons to reveal it for what it truly is: A biological reality that may be terrifying but can be controlled. Groundbreaking, fascinating and eminently readable, Dark Nature is a vital and timely antidote to modern despair.