The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe


Lynne McTaggart - 2003
    Original, well researched, and well documented by distinguished sources, The Field is a book of hope and inspiration for today's world.

100 Plants to Feed the Bees: Provide a Healthy Habitat to Help Pollinators Thrive


The Xerces Society - 2016
    The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation offers browsable profiles of 100 common flowers, herbs, shrubs, and trees that support bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. The recommendations are simple: pick the right plants for pollinators, protect them from pesticides, and provide abundant blooms throughout the growing season by mixing perennials with herbs and annuals! 100 Plants to Feed the Bees will empower homeowners, landscapers, apartment dwellers — anyone with a scrap of yard or a window box — to protect our pollinators.

Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth


William Bryant Logan - 1995
    Whether William Bryant Logan is traversing the far reaches of the cosmos or plowing through our planet’s crust, his delightful, elegant, and surprisingly soulful meditations greatly enrich our concept of "dirt," that substance from which we all arise and to which we all must return.

The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History


Thor Hanson - 2015
     "The genius of Hanson's fascinating, inspiring, and entertaining book stems from the fact that it is not about how all kinds of things grow from seeds; it is about the seeds themselves." -- Mark Kurlansky, New York Times Book Review We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life: supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and pepper drove the Age of Discovery, coffee beans fueled the Enlightenment and cottonseed sparked the Industrial Revolution. Seeds are fundamental objects of beauty, evolutionary wonders, and simple fascinations. Yet, despite their importance, seeds are often seen as commonplace, their extraordinary natural and human histories overlooked. Thanks to this stunning new book, they can be overlooked no more. This is a book of knowledge, adventure, and wonder, spun by an award-winning writer with both the charm of a fireside story-teller and the hard-won expertise of a field biologist. A fascinating scientific adventure, it is essential reading for anyone who loves to see a plant grow.

How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do


Linda Chalker-Scott - 2015
    In How Plants Work, horticulture expert Linda Chalker-Scott brings the stranger-than-fiction science of the plant world to vivid life. She uncovers the mysteries of how and why plants do the things they do, and arms you with fascinating knowledge that will change the way you garden.

Psycho-Cybernetics, A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life


Maxwell Maltz - 1960
    So are failure and misery. But negative habits can be changed--and Psycho-Cybernetics shows you how!This is your personal audio guide to the amazing power of Psycho-Cybernetics--a program based on one of the world s classic self-help books, a multimillion-copy bestseller proven effective by readers worldwide. Presenting positive attitude as a means for change, Maltz s teaching has the ring of common sense. Psycho-Cybernetics-is the original text that defined the mind/body connection the concept that paved the way for most of today s personal empowerment programs. Turn crises into creative opportunities, dehypnotize yourself from false beliefs, and celebrate new freedom from fear and guilt.Testimonials and stories are interspersed with advice from Maltz, as well as techniques for relaxation and visualization. Dr. Maxwell Maltz teaches you his techniques of emotional surgery --the path to a dynamic new self-image and self-esteem and to achieving the success and happiness you deserve!

This Will Make You Smarter: New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking


John Brockman - 2012
    Their visionary answers flow from the frontiers of psychology, philosophy, economics, physics, sociology, and more. Surprising and enlightening, these insights will revolutionize the way you think about yourself and the world.Contributors include:Daniel Kahneman on the “focusing illusion”Jonah Lehrer on controlling attentionRichard Dawkins on experimentationAubrey De Grey on conquering our fear of the unknownMartin Seligman on the ingredients of well-beingNicholas Carr on managing “cognitive load”Steven Pinker on win-win negotiatingDaniel Goleman on understanding our connection to the natural worldMatt Ridley on tapping collective intelligenceLisa Randall on effective theorizingBrian Eno on “ecological vision”J. Craig Venter on the multiple possible origins of life  Helen Fisher on temperamentSam Harris on the flow of thoughtLawrence Krauss on living with uncertainty

The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre!


Carleen Madigan - 2009
    With easy-to-follow instructions on canning, drying, and pickling, you’ll enjoy your backyard bounty all winter long. Also available in this series: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, The Backyard Homestead Book of Building Projects, The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals, and The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How.

Rewild Yourself: 23 Spellbinding Ways To Make Nature More Visible


Simon Barnes - 2018
    We're forgetting it. We're no longer noticing it. We've lost the habit of looking and seeing and listening and hearing.But we can make hidden things visible, and this book features 23 spellbinding ways to bring the magic of nature much closer to home.Mammals you never knew existed will enter your world. Birds hidden in treetops will shed their cloak of anonymity. With a single movement of your hand you can make reptiles appear before you. Butterflies you never saw before will bring joy to every sunny day. Creatures of the darkness will enter your consciousness. And as you take on new techniques and a little new equipment, you will discover new creatures and, with them, new areas of yourself that had gone dormant. Once put to use, they wake up and start working again. You become wilder in your mind and in your heart. Once you know the tricks, the wild world begins to appear before you. For anyone who wants to get closer to the nature all around them and bring it back into focus, this is the perfect read.

Animals and Psychedelics: The Natural World and the Instinct to Alter Consciousness


Giorgio Samorini - 2000
    • Throws out behaviorist theories that claim animals have no consciousness.• Offers a completely new understanding of the role psychedelics play in the development of consciousness in all species.• Reveals drug use to be a natural instinct.From caffeine-dependent goats to nectar addicted ants, the animal kingdom offers amazing examples of wild animals and insects seeking out and consuming the psychoactive substances in their environments. Author Giorgio Samorini explores this little-known phenomenon and suggests that, far from being confined to humans, the desire to experience altered states of consciousness is a natural drive shared by all living beings and that animals engage in these behaviors deliberately. Rejecting the Western cultural assumption that using drugs is a negative action or the result of an illness, Samorini opens our eyes to the possibility that beings who consume psychedelics--whether humans or animals--contribute to the evolution of their species by creating entirely new patterns of behavior that eventually will be adopted by other members of that species. The author's fascinating accounts of mushroom-loving reindeer, intoxicated birds, and drunken elephants ensure that readers will never view the animal world in quite the same way again.

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners


Suzanne Ashworth - 1995
    This book contains detailed information about each vegetable, including its botanical classification, flower structure and means of pollination, required population size, isolation distance, techniques for caging or hand-pollination, and also the proper methods for harvesting, drying, cleaning, and storing the seeds.Seed to Seed is widely acknowledged as the best guide available for home gardeners to learn effective ways to produce and store seeds on a small scale. The author has grown seed crops of every vegetable featured in the book, and has thoroughly researched and tested all of the techniques she recommends for the home garden.This newly updated and greatly expanded Second Edition includes additional information about how to start each vegetable from seed, which has turned the book into a complete growing guide. Local knowledge about seed starting techniques for each vegetable has been shared by expert gardeners from seven regions of the United States-Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast/Gulf Coast, Midwest, Southwest, Central West Coast, and Northwest.

In Search of Mycotopia: Citizen Science, Fungi Fanatics, and the Untapped Potential of Mushrooms


Doug Bierend - 2021
    As decomposers, they are critical to the formation and sustenance of soils and ecosystems. As endlessly innovative chemists, they devise and secrete enzymes that can break down a vast variety of materials, mitigate bacterial and viral infections, and interact―for better or worse―with the bodies and brains of animals that consume their fruiting bodies, commonly called mushrooms.Given their ubiquity and utility, it’s no surprise that humans have deep cultural connections to fungi and mushrooms, even while they have remained both understudied by institutional science and misunderstood by the general populace. But an emerging mycological vanguard is reaching maturity, exploring and advocating for fungi’s capacity to remediate contaminated landscapes and waterways, provide food and medicine, and demonstrate how humans might live in equitable and sustainable accord with nature and one another. This diverse cadre of growers, independent researchers, ecologists, entrepreneurs, and amateur enthusiasts is also scrambling to seize on rising demand for specialty mushrooms in culinary and medicinal markets, advance burgeoning fields of ‘applied mycology,’ and center conversations about social justice and sustainability.In In Search of Mycotopia, Doug Bierend introduces readers to an incredible and oft-overlooked kingdom of life and the potential it holds for our future, by way of the weird and wonderful communities of citizen scientists and microbe devotees working on the fungal frontier. Together they form a picture of the modern mycological movement, which sees these organisms as teachers, partners, and sources of wisdom that offer ways and means for creating a better world.

The Orchid Whisperer: Expert Secrets for Growing Beautiful Orchids


Bruce Rogers - 2012
    In this essential guide, Bruce Rogers, "The Orchid Whisperer," shares his expert tips from more than three decades of breeding and growing orchids. The book demystifies the growing process and features more than 100 lush color photographs of breathtaking plants. Best of all, it reveals professional secrets not found anywhere else for blooming, repotting, spotting hazards and pests, grooming, decorating, and much more. Perfect for beginners as well as orchid experts looking for new tricks, The Orchid Whisperer provides everything readers need to know to keep healthy orchids that will flower again and again!

No Self, No Problem: How Neuropsychology Is Catching Up to Buddhism


Chris Niebauer - 2019
    When he presented his findings to a professor, his ideas were quickly dismissed as “pure coincidence, nothing more.”Fast-forward 20 years later and Niebauer is a PhD and a tenured professor, and the Buddhist-neuroscience connection he found as a student is practically its own genre in the bookstore. But according to Niebauer, we are just beginning to understand the link between Eastern philosophy and the latest findings in psychology and neuroscience and what these assimilated ideas mean for the human experience.In this groundbreaking book, Niebauer writes that the latest research in neuropsychology is now confirming a fundamental tenet of Buddhism, what is called Anatta, or the doctrine of “no self.” Niebauer writes that our sense of self, or what we commonly refer to as the ego, is an illusion created entirely by the left side of the brain. Niebauer is quick to point out that this doesn't mean that the self doesn't exist but rather that it does so in the same way that a mirage in the middle of the desert exists, as a thought rather than a thing. His conclusions have significant ramifications for much of modern psychological modalities, which he says are spending much of their time trying to fix something that isn’t there.What makes this book unique is that Niebauer offers a series of exercises to allow the reader to experience this truth for him- or herself, as well as additional tools and practices to use after reading the book, all of which are designed to change the way we experience the world—a way that is based on being rather than thinking.

Altered States of Consciousness: A Book of Readings


Charles T. Tart - 1969
    Tart (b. '37) is known for work on the nature of consciousness & altered states, as a founder of transpersonal psychology & for research in scientific parapsychology. His Altered States of Consciousness ('69) & Transpersonal Psychologies ('75), are widely used texts instrumental in making these areas part of modern psychology. He's currently ('05) a Core Faculty Member at the Inst. of Transpersonal Psych. (Palo Alto) & a Sr Research Fellow of the Inst. of Noetic Sciences (Sausalito), as well as Prof. Emeritus of Psych. at the U. of California, Davis, where he served for 28 years & emeritus member of the Monroe Inst. board of advisors. He was the holder of the Bigelow Chair of Consciousness Studies at the U. of Nevada in Las Vegas & has served as a Visiting Prof. in East-West Psych. at the California Inst. of Integral Studies, as an Instructor in Psychiatry at the School of Medicine of the U. of Virginia & a consultant on government funded parapsychological research at the Stanford Research Inst. (SRI Internat'l).Introduction1 Some general views on altered states of consciousnessAltered states of consciousness/ Arnold M. LudwigDeautomatization & the mystic experience/ Arthur J. Deikman A special inquiry w/Aldous Huxley into the nature & character of various states of consciousness/ Milton H. Erickson2 Between waking & sleeping: the hypnagogic state. Ego functions & dreaming during sleep onset/ Gerald Vogel, David Foulkes, Harry TrosmanSome preliminary observations w/an experimental procedure for the study of hypnagogic & related phenomena/ M. Bertini, Helen B. Lewis, Herman A. Witkin3 Dream consciousness. Theories of dream formation & recent Studies of sleep consciousness/ David Foulkes Toward the experimental control of dreaming: a review of the literature/ TartA study of dreams/ Frederik van EedenDream theory in Malaya/ Kilton StewartThe 'high' dream: a new state of consciousness/ Tart4 Meditation. On meditation/ Edward W. MaupinIndividual differences in response to a zen meditation exercise/ Edward W.E. Maupin Experimental meditation/ Arthur J. Deikman Meditative techniques in psychotherapy/ Wolfgang Kretschmer5 Hypnosis. Hypnosis & the concept of the generalized reality-orientation/ Ronald E. ShorThree Dimensions of hypnotic depth/ Ronald E. ShorHypnosis, depth perception & the psychedelic experience/ Bernard S. AaronsonThe psychedelic state, the hypnotic trance & the creative act/ Stanley KrippnerPsychedelic experiences associated with a novel hypnotic procedure, mutual hypnosis/ TartAutogenic training: method, research & application in medicine/ Wolfgang Luthe6 Minor psychedelic drugs. Marijuana (cannabis) fact sheet/ Bruin Humanist ForumThe effects of marijuana on consciousness/ Anon.Psychedelic properties of genista canariensis/ James FadimanSubjective effects of nitrous oxide/ Wm JamesInhalation psychosis & related states/ Frederick B. Glaser7 Major psychedelic drugs. Current status & future trend in psychedelic research/ Robert E. MogarImplications of LSD & experimental mysticism/ Walter N. Pahnke, Wm A. Richard Attitude & behavior change thru psychedelic drug use/ Joseph DowningIpomoea purpurea: a naturally occurring psychedelic/ Chas Savage, Willis W. Harman, James FadimanPsychedelic agents in creative problem solving/ Willis Harman et al.Psychedelic experiences in acute psychoses/ Malcolm B. Bowers Jr, Daniel FreedmanGuide to the literature on psychedelic drugs/ Tart8 The psychophysiology of some altered states of consciousnessAn electroencephalographic study on the zen meditation (Zazen)/ Akira Kasamatsu, Tomio HiraiSome aspects of electroencephalographic studies in yogis/ B.K. Anand, G.S. Chhina, Baldev SinghOperant control of the EEG alpha rhythm & some of its reported effects on consciousness/ Joe KamiyaReferencesAuthor IndexSubject Index