223 Amazing Science Facts, Tidbits and Quotes
Tasnim Essack - 2014
A collection of fascinating facts, tidbits and quotes from the world of science and technology.This is a quick read, which you can easily scan through and find easy to read, short facts about the world around us, as well as some quotes from well known faces in science.Topics in the book include;BiologyChemistryPhysicsHealthSocietyEarth & EnvironmentAnimals & NatureSpaceTechnology & EngineeringQuotes
Nightwalk: A Journey to the Heart of Nature
Chris Yates - 2012
Flight
Adam Thorpe - 2012
Until, one day, he walked away from a deal that didn't smell right - something a freight dog should never do.Now working as a private pilot for an Emirate prince in Dubai, he finds that moment of refusal catching up with him. Caught between those who want to find out more and those who want to cover their traces, he becomes a marked man, and flees to a remote Scottish island. Pursued by both armed assassins and a ruinous, bitter divorce, he struggles to re-fashion himself in this barren, beautiful place, taking on another identity.But back in the world of smuggled AK-47s and heroin, the stakes are rising. Despite the presence of Judith, the alluring environmentalist, memories of his uglier flights return to haunt him. Even in the furthest Hebrides his past is with him, and the predators are closing in.Adam Thorpe's tenth novel is an extraordinary amalgam: a vertiginous, page-turning thriller and a masterful work of literary fiction. Fast, funny and very frightening, Flight shows a new facet of this most brilliant of writers.
A Farmer's Diary: A Year at High House Farm
Sally Urwin - 2019
All the sheep are bedded up and everyone is fed and watered. No ewe is lambing, and I have half an hour to myself. I stretch out my feet in my wellies and push them into the warm straw ...'Sally Urwin and her husband Steve own High House Farm in Northumberland, which they share with Mavis the Sheepdog, one very fat pony, and many, many sheep. Set in beautiful, wild landscape, and in use for generations, it's the perfect setting for Sally's (sometimes brutally) honest and charming account of farming life. From stock sales to lambing sheds, and out in the fields in driving snow and hot summer days, A Farmer's Diary reveals the highs, lows and hard, hard work involved in making a living from the land. Filled with grit and humour, newborn lambs and local characters, this is the perfect book for anyone who has ever wondered what it's like on the other side of the fence.
The Making of the English Landscape
W.G. Hoskins - 1955
First published in 1955 by Hodder, "The Making Of The English Landscape" is a classic of English history. It was the first book to study, literally, the history of the landscape, and also the first to explode the myth that the English landscape was 'formed by enclosures'. Instead W. G. Hoskins traces the beauty and oddities of the English landscape further back, from pre-Roman times to the seventeenth century and beyond. Hoskins explains the layers of history in the landscape by taking the reader with him along Devonshire lanes, past lost villages in Lincolnshire, and through the pastures of upland Northamptonshire. This is a delightful book, readable and scholarly, which has been much-loved by readers for the past fifty years.
Soil: The incredible story of what keeps the earth, and us, healthy
Matthew Evans - 2021
A saga of bombs, ice ages and civilisations falling. Of ancient hunger, modern sicknesses and gastronomic delight. It features poison gas, climate collapse and a mind-blowing explanation of how rain is formed. For too long, we've not only neglected the land beneath us, we've squandered and debased it, by over-clearing, over-grazing and over-ploughing. But if we want our food to nourish us, and to ensure our planet's long-term health, we need to understand how soil works - how it's made, how it's lost, and how it can be repaired. In this ode to the thin veneer of Earth that gifts us life, commentator and farmer Matthew Evans shows us that what we do in our backyards, on our farms, and what we put on our dinner tables really matters, and can be a source of hope.
Wonderland: A Year of Britain's Wildlife, Day by Day
Brett Westwood - 2017
Every day of the year, winter or summer, in every corner of the British Isles, there's plenty to see if you know where - and how - to look. From encounters with the curious black redstart, which winters on our rocky coasts, to the tiny green snowdrop shoots that are the first sign that spring might be round the corner. And from the blossom-time and dawn choruses of April and May into the abundant noisiness of summer, where days start with hawker dragonflies and drowsy bumblebees and end with glow-worms and ghost moths; to autumn when in the early morning mist of London's Richmond Park male red deer lock horns in competition for a mate.Nature is always full of surprises - whether it's the strange behaviour of clothes moths or the gruesome larder of the strike. Distilling two lifetimes' knowledge, expert insight and enthusiasm, award-winning authors and passionate naturalists Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss take us through the year, day by day, sharing the unexpected delights that we can experience in our skies, beaches, rivers, fields, forests and back gardens. There are all kinds of adventures waiting on your doorstep, any day of the year, all you need is Wonderland.
Once There Were Wolves
Charlotte McConaghy - 2021
She hopes to heal not only the dying landscape, but Aggie, too, unmade by the terrible secrets that drove the sisters out of Alaska.Inti is not the woman she once was, either, changed by the harm she’s witnessed—inflicted by humans on both the wild and each other. Yet as the wolves surprise everyone by thriving, Inti begins to let her guard down, even opening herself up to the possibility of love. But when a farmer is found dead, Inti knows where the town will lay blame. Unable to accept her wolves could be responsible, Inti makes a reckless decision to protect them. But if the wolves didn’t make the kill, then who did? And what will Inti do when the man she is falling for seems to be the prime suspect?Propulsive and spell-binding, Charlotte McConaghy's Once There Were Wolves is the unforgettable story of a woman desperate to save the creatures she loves—if she isn’t consumed by a wild that was once her refuge.
Strange Labyrinth: Outlaws, Poets, Mystics, Murderers and a Coward in London's Great Forest
Will Ashon - 2017
But will he find himself? Or a version of himself he might learn something from?Strange Labyrinth is a quest narrative arguing that we shouldn't get lost in order to find ourselves, but solely to accept that we are lost in the first place. It is a singular blend of landscape writing, political indignation, cultural history and wit from a startling new voice in non-fiction.
Brides of the Marches: Five Medieval England Scotland Wales Romances
Kathryn Le Veque - 2017
Over TWO thousand pages of Medieval Pagentry - purchase this limited edition set or read for free in KINDLE UNLIMITED! Where England and Wales meet among the dark and rolling hills of the Welsh Marches, romance is born. Powerful English and Scottish men and their Welsh brides come together in a limited edition bundle that is a must-have for your Le Veque library. Delight in the drama and passion of these highly rated, full-length border romances, including: Rise of the Defender: The greatest knight in Richard the Lionheart's realm assumes his post, and his bride, on the Welsh Marches. The Red Lion: A Highlander serving in Wales finds more than he bargained for in a Welsh warrior woman. Spectre of the Sword: A half-Welsh knight is charged with protecting the heir to the throne against those who wish to see her dead. Island of Glass: A big English knight and a fiery lass on her search for the Holy Grail. Netherworld: A seasoned English knight makes a bargain with the devil to assume his post at a bleak Welsh castle called Netherworld. The Welsh Marches never looked so dark and sexy. Get this collection before it's gone!
Estuary: Out from London to the Sea
Rachel Lichtenstein - 2016
It is silted up with the memories and artefacts of past voyages. It is the habitat for an astonishing range of wildlife. And for the people who live and work on the estuary, it is a way of life unlike any other - one most would not trade for anything, despites its dangers.Rachel Lichtenstein has travelled the length and breadth of the estuary many times and in many vessels, from hardy tug boats to stately pleasure cruisers to an inflatable dinghy. And during these crossing she has gathered an extraordinary chorus of voices: mudlarkers and fishermen, radio pirates and champion racers, the men who risk their lives out on the water and the women who wait on the shore.From the acclaimed author of Brick Lane and Rodinsky's Room, Estuary is a thoughtful and intimate portrait of a profoundly British place. With a clear eye and a sharp ear, Rachel Lichtenstein captures the essence of a community and an environment, examining how each has shaped and continues to shape the other.
The Feather Thief
Kirk Wallace Johnson - 2018
Home to one of the largest ornithological collections in the world, the Tring museum was full of rare bird specimens whose gorgeous feathers were worth staggering amounts of money to the men who shared Edwin's obsession: the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying. Once inside the museum, the champion fly-tier grabbed hundreds of bird skins--some collected 150 years earlier by a contemporary of Darwin's, Alfred Russel Wallace, who'd risked everything to gather them--and escaped into the darkness. Two years later, Kirk Wallace Johnson was waist high in a river in northern New Mexico when his fly-fishing guide told him about the heist. He was soon consumed by the strange case of the feather thief. What would possess a person to steal dead birds? Had Edwin paid the price for his crime? What became of the missing skins? In his search for answers, Johnson was catapulted into a years-long, worldwide investigation. The gripping story of a bizarre and shocking crime, and one man's relentless pursuit of justice, The Feather Thief is also a fascinating exploration of obsession, and man's destructive instinct to harvest the beauty of nature.
Living with Sheep: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Flock
Geoff Hansen - 2005
A unique guide to sheep, for would-be farmers and people who simply love animals and the outdoors.
Project Fear: How an Unlikely Alliance Left a Kingdom United but a Country Divided
Joe Pike - 2015
on Thursday 18 September 2014, polling stations across Scotland closed, signalling the end of two and a half bruising years of debate for the Yes and No campaigns. Dubbed ‘Project Fear’, the unique Better Together alliance was relieved as victory was secured and a weary and dejected Alex Salmond tendered his resignation. But the relief proved to be premature.Despite the defeat, the Scottish National Party grew in strength and gained unprecedented momentum, transforming its referendum failure into stunning general election success. The SNP went on to dominate the polls in Scotland, and the party ’s tsunami surge of support created a dynamic new force in Westminster.Now, Joe Pike delves deep into the nail-biting back-room operations of the referendum’s No campaign, examining the striking shift in Scottish political attitudes and its effect on the most unpredictable election in a generation. Based on over fifty private interviews with those at the heart of the action, this exclusive account explores what really went on behind closed doors as Better Together kept a kingdom united, but left a country divided.
The Fairbairn Girls
Una-Mary Parker - 2013
1891: The rich, aristocratic Fairbairn family have occupied Lochlee Castle in Argyllshire for the past five hundred years, and the current head of the family, the Earl of Rothbury, along with his wife, sons and daughters, all seem set for a happy future, until they fall victim to a wicked curse. Soon it seems the whole family is doomed, with tragedy and heartbreak around every corner. Can the surviving Fairbairns show bravery in adversity and carve out happy and successful lives, against all odds?