Earth Sciences, Geography & Environment Books

Book Synopsis‘Powerful, purposeful and persuasive … This book is transformative. We must read, mark and learn, fast’ Michael Morpurgo ‘A call to action – to change our world from the ground up. A vitally necessary book’ Isabella Tree ‘Philip Lymbery pulls no punches in cataloguing the calamitous mistakes we’ve made in our food system, but he has bold and inspiring solutions to offer, too.’ Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall _______________ Taking its title from a chilling warning made by the United Nations that the world’s soils could be lost within a lifetime, Sixty Harvests Left uncovers how the food industry is threatening the planet. Put simply, without soils there will be no food: game over. And time is running out. From the United Kingdom to Italy, from Brazil to the Gambia to the USA, Philip Lymbery, the internationally acclaimed author of Farmageddon, goes behind the scenes of industrial farming and confronts ‘Big Agriculture’, where mega-farms, chemicals and animal cages are sweeping the countryside and jeopardising the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the nature that we treasure. In his investigations, however, he also finds hope in the pioneers who are battling to bring landscapes back to life, who are rethinking farming methods, rediscovering traditional techniques and developing technologies to feed an ever-expanding global population. Impassioned, balanced and persuasive, Sixty Harvests Left not only demonstrates why future harvests matter more than ever, but reveals how we can restore our planet for a nature-friendly future.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR SIXTY HARVESTS LEFT: Philip Lymbery pulls no punches in cataloguing the calamitous mistakes we’ve made in our food system, but he has bold and inspiring solutions to offer, too. It’s time for Big Food, and governments everywhere, to act on them. -- Hugh Fearnley-WhittingstallBeautifully crafted. A compelling, excoriating account of industrial farming – how it is driving the climate and biodiversity emergencies, while also undermining our health. Full of insights and encounters with pioneers of new ways of farming, Sixty Harvests Left is a call to action – to change our world from the ground up. A vitally necessary book. -- Isabella TreeIn this beautifully written book, Philip Lymbery describes how intensive agriculture harms the environment and inflicts suffering on sentient animals. But after visiting and talking to those on the front line – scientists, farmers and food providers – he is able to show that there are sustainable alternatives. And that they are working. There is indeed hope for the future of our planet, and each one of us can play a part. I urge you to read Sixty Harvests Left. -- Dr Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of PeaceThe chilling title is the red flag; the contents, however, lay out all the remedies to save the planet and its species, including ours, and make for absorbing and sometimes terrifying reading. Minutely researched, and written for laymen as well as experts, Sixty Harvests Left deserves to be read world-wide and acted upon immediately. I cannot recommend it highly enough. -- Joanna LumleyPowerful, purposeful and persuasive, read Philip Lymbery’s book and we know what has to be done. It’s simple really, look after the land, farm it sensitively, tread softly on this earth and all can still be well. We need to transform ourselves rapidly. This book is transformative. We must read, mark and learn, fast. -- Michael MorpurgoThe true horror story of our current dependence on factory farming and intensive agriculture gets clearer by the day. Philip Lymbery pulls no punches in painting that grim picture. This dependence will bring down our civilisation as surely as our dependence on fossil fuels. But that is not our destiny, and you need to read Sixty Harvests Left more for its utterly convincing alternative vision of farming and food production available to us in the near future – all based on the three Rs: regenerative farming, reduction of animal protein, and rewilding the soil. I’d be very surprised if you don’t end up appreciating this book as much as I did. -- Jonathon PorrittPhilip Lymbery’s great service, through beautiful prose and deep research, is to amplify the siren call from our planet and the web of life. Through him, change becomes not only necessary and desirable, but irresistible. -- Raj PatelThought-provoking. Told through the seasons and finishing with a new start in Spring, Sixty Harvests Left gives us reason to look forward to a brighter farming future and the possibilities that can be achieved through care of our greatest natural asset, soil. Home to a quarter of the world's biodiversity, soil is life and our life depends on it. Lymbery speaks to practitioners with their feet firmly on the ground and gives hope that new ways in farming will provide for a better future. A fascinating and positive read! -- Jake FiennesThis profoundly important book should be read by all who would like humanity to survive beyond one more human lifetime, and the solutions it proposes should implemented as if our futures depend on it – which they do -- Andrew Knight, Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, University of WinchesterAn urgent, evidence-based, visionary approach to the most challenging decisions facing humanity. This is a brave, fascinating, game-changing book. -- Sophia PavelleSixty Harvests Left is not only beautifully written, it is jam-packed with the evidence we need to change our lives in order to save our planet. Philip Lymbery draws us in, in a lyrical and seductive manner, whilst imparting vital, life-changing information. Only we can save our planet and Sixty Harvests Left shows us how. Make sure you read it before it’s too late. You won’t regret it. -- Peter EganSixty Harvests Left is excellent – personal and engaging. Lymbery’s life experiences make it very readable, allowing him to speak with authority and honesty … An important challenge to the vested interests that make our life on earth unsustainable. -- Rebecca Nesbit, author of Tickets for the ArkPhilip Lymbery is one of the few who really understand the connections between farming and nature ... He is the most important thinker writing about these crucial issues – and the way forward -- Carl Safina, author of Becoming Wild and Beyond WordsThis is a clever, insightful and well informed work that’s easy to read. While those who know Philip might expect nothing more, it lays out quite clearly for those who do not know the shocking poverty and decrepitude of our chemically farmed landscapes, the great cruelties in our systems of livestock production, the destruction of biodiversity and the pollution of the Earth's soils and water. Philip's book is an eloquent appeal against this being so. Do buy it and enjoy -- Derek GowPraise for Farmageddon: Lymbery brings to this essential subject the perspective of a seasoned campaigner – he is informed enough to be appalled, and moderate enough to persuade us to take responsibility for the system that feeds us * Guardian, Book of the Week *An engaging read ... Anyone after a realistic account of our global food chain, and the changes necessary for a sustainable future, will find much to get their teeth into here * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisMosses have a spectacular diversity of beautiful and surprising forms. They are nearly always, what we as humans would consider, small; but they play a critical role in climate change prevention and have an ability to hold and control water in forests, uplands and valleys. Hidden World of Mosses explores the tiny, intriguing environments of these plants that have their own miniature forests filled with grazers and predators, and their own ecological norms and mechanics.

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Book SynopsisThere's an activist in all of us, and you don't have to shout about it to be heard. In Small World, Big Ideas, Satish Kumar collects the voices of some of the most passionate activists fighting for a better world, and shares their insights into how we can achieve this.Table of ContentsIntroductionSatish KumarFranny ArmstrongBob BrownHelen BeynonDeepak ChopraTim FlanneryJane GoodallRoger HallamPolly HigginsCaroline LucasBill MckibbenCarlo PetriniVandana ShivaGreta ThunbergResurgenceAcknowledgements

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Book SynopsisWhat is driving climate change? What impact does it have on the Earth's ecosystems, our environment, and us? What can I do? This book explains in a clear and understandable way the interrelationships, influencing factors and effects of the greatest challenge facing mankind: climate change.The team of authors presents over 100 aspects in clear language, each on a double-page spread. With impressive sketchnotes, professor and sketchnoter Katharina Theis-Bröhl illustrates and explains the sometimes simple, sometimes complicated issues always understandable. Because: Sketchnotes are not only beautiful to look at – they are also an effective mnemonic, a structural tool and an aid to crystallize the essentials. Comprehensible accompanying texts by Cecilia Scorza and Harald Lesch round off each topic in an informative way. With this book, you can understand the causes of climate change, discover the physical connections, and recognize both local and global impacts. You will learn about the role our location in the solar system plays, the feedback processes involved in global warming, and what it means when the oceans acidify. And ultimately, the question will be asked: How much time do we have left to act? From the contents:How special is the Earth? – Understanding the greenhouse effect – The Earth's climate system – The climate change – Effects of climate change – What can I do? – A look ahead Table of ContentsHow special is the Earth?.- The sun as a source of energy.- Understanding the greenhouse effect.- The Earth's climate system.- Climate change.- Effects of the climate system.- What can I do?.- Future view.

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Book SynopsisExplore new places with handy pocket maps from Collins.Handy little full-colour map of Dorset. Detailed mapping and tourist information ideal for any road trip.Main features of this map include: Clear mapping Main tourist attractions located and described Ideal for touring with sights, places to stay, cafe/restaurant, golf courses, things to do all on the map Essential travel information Index to places of interest and place namesEssential for those planning a trip to Dorset.

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Book SynopsisThe Atlas of Geographical Curiosities – a glorious celebration of an unusual world. Welcome to this compendium of interesting, unexpected and downright bizarre geographical anomalies that are guaranteed to delight and inspire. The world is full of little-known facts that have sometimes been a source of diplomatic or military struggle. Many still exist under the radar now to be revealed by this entertaining treasure trove. Where else can you discover: Countries that do not really exist A UK hotel room which became Yugoslavian for one day only An island which is Spanish for six months of the year and French for the other six A city which is officially constituted by one single high-rise (14 floor) building The world's first and only railway that belonged to one country and ran across another A hotel room whose bedroom is in France and whose bathroom is in Switzerland Bir Tawil which is one of the very few territories on earth not claimed by any country The only place in the world where you can find so-called counter-enclaves where in a 20-minute walk around the town you can cross an international border at least 50 times at 50 different points The world is full of wonderful and strange geographical irregularities. Turn to the Atlas of Geographical Curiosities to uncover more little known but important facts.

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Book Synopsis'The Handbook of Diverse Economies offers a rich, beautiful, organic garden of ideas to nourish the project of ''doing economy'' differently. These sprouts and vines will, eventually, alter the institutional structures we inhabit.' - Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts Amherst, US'Let us forget, just for a moment, ''capitalism'' and instead investigate the diversity of new forms of economic activities that are flourishing everywhere: this is the essential, energizing, message of J. K. Gibson-Graham, Kelly Dombroski and her colleagues. This innovative book must be absolutely put into all hands. It takes us on a long and rewarding journey around the world to explore ongoing experiences that all attempt to invent new ways of living together.' - Michel Callon, Centre de Socologie de l'Innnovation, Mines ParisTech, FranceTheorising and illustrating diverse, more-than-capitalist economies, this broad-ranging Handbook presents ways in which it is possible to imagine and enact other ways of being. It gathers together empirical examples of diverse economic practices and experiments from across the world, framed by in-depth discussions of key theoretical concepts.Organised into thematic sections, the Handbook moves from looking at diverse forms of enterprise, to labour, transactions, property, and finance as well as decentred subjectivity and diverse economies methodology. Chapters present a wide diversity of economic practices that make up contemporary economies, many of which are ignored or devalued by mainstream economic theory. Pushing the boundaries of economic thinking to include more than human labour and human/non-human interdependence, it highlights the challenges of enacting ethical economies in the face of dominant ways of thinking and being.Economic geography, political economy and development studies scholars will greatly appreciate the empirical examples of diverse economic practices blended with theory throughout the Handbook. It will also benefit policy-makers and practitioners working within diverse economies, or looking to create more ethical ways of living.Trade Review‘This impressive collection of stimulating theorization and descriptions of a multitude of other-than-capitalist economic practices could not have been published at a more pertinent time. The Handbook is truly international in terms of authors’ affiliations and case studies’ geographies, covering the 'minority world' (developed countries) and the 'majority world' (those less developed). The Handbook offers key conceptual tools for housing scholars to unlock the diverse economies of housing. It also makes an inspiring read for students and scholars of any discipline who want to imagine alternative, more ethical futures which are already seeded in the practices of today.’ -- Adriana Mihaela Soaita, Housing, Theory and Society‘The editors and their many contributors have to be congratulated for an impressive volume that succeeds in presenting an empirically grounded and theoretically robust Marxism which is fit for the challenges of the Anthropocene. Whether one agrees with their approach and visions or not, this is a highly recommended read and a valuable resource for teaching on economic practices in our more-than-capitalist world.’ -- Jens Kaae Fisker, Eurasian Geography and Economics‘The Handbook of Diverse Economies offers a rich, beautiful, organic garden of ideas to nourish the project of “doing economy” differently. These sprouts and vines will, eventually, alter the institutional structures we inhabit.’ -- Nancy Folbre, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, US‘Let us forget, just for a moment, “capitalism” and instead investigate the diversity of new forms of economic activities that are flourishing everywhere: this is the essential, energizing, message of J. K. Gibson-Graham, Kelly Dombroski and her colleagues. This innovative book must be absolutely put into all hands. It takes us on a long and rewarding journey around the world to explore ongoing experiences that all attempt to invent new ways of living together.’ -- Michel Callon, Centre de Socologie de l'Innnovation, Mines ParisTech, France'So much of the world's economy is informal, cooperative, community-based and unwaged: a diverse kaleidoscope of activities, all with their own ecologies, for worse . . . and often for better. How do they work? What work do they do? Finally a global, inclusive, and exhaustive guide to the planet s actually-existing economies.' --Paul Robbins, University of Wisconsin-Madison, US'In the face of a zombie capitalism that will not die, The Handbook of Diverse Economies offers the most potent response possible: the fierce creativity of life itself. The 58 essays of this book introduce us to a pluriverse of practical, non-capitalist lifeforms that are humane, socially grounded, and constantly evolving. Be prepared to enter a portal of new perspectives that loosens the grip of the capitalist imaginary and opens up a fertile transdisciplinary space for envisioning and making a new world.' --David Bollier, coauthor of Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons'The Handbook of Diverse Economies marks a major milestone for the influential program of research, action, and experimentation initiated by Gibson-Graham's The End of Capitalism (As We Knew It) some 25 years ago. It presents an array of provocative strategies for ''doing economy'' differently, and for imagining and enacting different economic worlds.' --Jamie Peck, University of British Columbia, CanadaTable of ContentsContents: 1 Introduction to The Handbook of Diverse Economies : inventory as ethical intervention 1 J.K. Gibson-Graham and Kelly Dombroski PART I ENTERPRISE 2 Framing essay: the diversity of enterprise 26 Jenny Cameron 3 Worker cooperatives 40 Maliha Safri 4 Self-managed enterprise: worker-recuperated cooperatives in Argentina and Latin America 48 Ana Inés Heras and Marcelo Vieta 5 Community enterprise: diverse designs for community-owned energy infrastructure 56 Jarra Hicks 6 Eco-social enterprises: ethical business in a post-socialist context 65 Nadia Johanisova, Lucie Sovová and Eva Fraňková 7 Enterprising new worlds: social enterprise and the value of repair 74 Isaac Lyne and Anisah Madden 8 Anti-mafia enterprise: Italian strategies to counter violent economies 82 Christina Jerne 9 State and community enterprise: negotiating water management in rural Ireland 90 Patrick Bresnihan and Arielle Hesse 10 Independent and small businesses: diversity amongst the 99 per cent of businesses 98 Peter North 11 Homo economicus and the capitalist corporation: decentring authority and ownership 106 Jayme Walenta PART II LABOUR 12 Framing essay: the diversity of labour 116 Katharine McKinnon 13 Precarious labour: Russia’s ‘other’ transition 129 Marianna Pavlovskaya 14 The persistence of informal and unpaid labour: evidence from UK households 137 Colin C. Williams and Richard J. White 15 Paid and unpaid labour: feminist economic activism in a diverse economy 146 Megan Clement-Couzner 16 Caring labour: redistributing care work 154 Kelly Dombroski 17 Non-human ‘labour’: the work of Earth Others 163 Elizabeth Barron and Jaqueline Hess 18 Collectively performed reciprocal labour: reading for possibility 170 Katherine Gibson 19 Informal mining labour: economic plurality and household survival strategies 179 Pryor Placino 20 Migrant women’s labour: sustaining livelihoods through diverse economic practices in Accra, Ghana 186 Chizu Sato and Theresa Tufuor PART III TRANSACTIONS 21 Framing essay: the diversity of transactions 195 Gradon Diprose 22 Gleaning: transactions at the nexus of food, commons and waste 206 Oona Morrow 23 Direct producer–consumer transactions: Community Supported Agriculture and its offshoots 214 Ted White 24 Direct food provisioning: collective food procurement 223 Cristina Grasseni 25 Alternative currencies: diverse experiments 230 Peter North 26 Transacting services through time banking: renegotiating equality and reshaping work 238 Gradon Diprose 27 Fair trade: market-based ethical encounters and the messy entanglements of living well 246 Lindsay Naylor 28 Social procurement: generating social good through market transactions, directly and indirectly 254 Joanne McNeill 29 Sharing cities: new urban imaginaries for diverse economies 262 Darren Sharp PART IV PROPERTY 30 Framing essay: the diversity of property 271 Kevin St. Martin 31 Commoning property in the city: the ongoing work of making and remaking 283 Anna Kruzynski 32 Community land trusts: embracing the relationality of property 292 Louise Crabtree 33 Urban land markets in Africa: multiplying possibilities via a diverse economy reading 300 Colin Marx 34 A Slow Food commons: cultivating conviviality across a range of property forms 308 Melissa Kennedy 35 Free universities as academic commons 316 Esra Erdem 36 Diverse legalities: pluralism and instrumentalism 323 Bronwen Morgan and Declan Kuch PART V FINANCE 37 Framing essay: the diversity of finance 332 Maliha Safri and Yahya M. Madra 38 Islamic finance: diversity within difference 346 Gemma Bone Dodds and Jane Pollard 39 Rotating savings and credit associations: mutual aid financing 354 Caroline Shenaz Hossein 40 Indigenous finance: treaty settlement finance in Aotearoa New Zealand 362 Maria Bargh 41 Community finance: marshalling investments for community-owned renewable energy enterprises 370 Jarra Hicks 42 Hacking finance: experiments with algorithmic activism 379 Tuomo Alhojärvi PART VI SUBJECTIVITY 43 Framing essay: subjectivity in a diverse economy 389 Stephen Healy, Ceren Özselçuk and Yahya M. Madra 44 More-than-human agency: from the human economy to ecological livelihoods 402 Ethan Miller 45 On power and the uses of genealogy for building community economies 411 Nate Gabriel and Eric Sarmiento 46 Techniques for shifting economic subjectivity: promoting an assets-based stance with artists and artisans 419 Abby Templer Rodrigues 47 Affect and subjectivity: learning to be affected in diverse economies scholarship 428 Gerda Roelvink 48 Diverse subjectivities, sexualities and economies: challenging heteroand homonormativity 436 Gavin Brown 49 Journeys of postdevelopment subjectivity transformation: a shared narrative of scholars from the majority world 444 Anmeng Liu, S.M. Waliuzzaman, Huong Thi Do, Ririn Haryani and Sonam Pem PART VII METHODOLOGY 50 Framing essay: diverse economies methodology 453 Gerda Roelvink 51 Translating diverse economies in the Anglocene 467 Tuomo Alhojärvi and Pieta Hyvärinen 52 Reading for economic difference 476 J.K. Gibson-Graham 53 Field methods for assemblage analysis: tracing relations between difference and dominance 486 Eric Sarmiento 54 Visualizing and analysing diverse economies with GIS: a resource for performative research 493 Luke Drake 55 Working with Indigenous methodologies: Kaupapa Māori meets diverse economies 502 Joanne Waitoa and Kelly Dombroski 56 Action research for diverse economies 511 Jenny Cameron and Katherine Gibson 57 Focusing on assets: action research for an inclusive and diverse workplace 520 Leo Hwang 58 How to reclaim the economy using artistic means: the case of Company Drinks 527 Kathrin Böhm and Kuba Szreder Index 535

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Book Synopsis'A lyrical meditation on landscapes and cities, vivid reportage and a memoir. And also a beautifully realised and moving read.' Financial Times'A beguiling mix of history, geology, folklore and memoir that captivated me from the first page.' Lara Maiklem, author of Mudlarking'Tom Chivers brings a poet's sensibility to this book about the hidden parts of the capital, mixing the past with the present, the known with the unknown and his personal story with social history and geology.' Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, OtherWhat secrets lie beneath a city?Tom Chivers follows hidden pathways, explores lost islands and uncovers the geological mysteries that burst up through the pavement and bubble to the surface of our streets. From Roman ruins to a submerged playhouse, from an abandoned Tube station to underground rivers, Chivers leads us on a journey into the depths of the city he loves.A lyrical interrogation of a capital city, a landscape and our connection to place, London Clay celebrates urban edgelands: in-between spaces where the natural world and the metropolis collide. Through a combination of historical research, vivid reportage and personal memoir, it will transform how you see London, and cities everywhere.'Tom Chivers, with the forensic eye of an investigator, the soul of a poet, is an engaging presence; a guide we would do well to follow.' Iain Sinclair, author of The Last LondonTrade ReviewWill open readers' eyes to what is around and below them ... Its delight in exploration is matched by a thoughtful meditation on grief. * Economist *Periodic surprises even for the most dedicated student of this subject ... movingly written. -- Caroline Crampton * Spectator *Incredible ... More than a simply a cracking read, it's a book that will inspire you to go out and make your own discoveries. You'll never look at the city in the same way again. * Londonist *London Clay by Tom Chivers, is perfect. He brings a poet's sensibility to this prose nonfiction book about the hidden parts of the capital, mixing the past with the present, the known with the unknown and his personal story with social history and geology. -- Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other[Chivers] combines the modern phenomenon of psycho-geographer with the ancient trade of poet ...Action-packed, erudite... an audiobook to savour slowly. -- Christina Hardyment * The Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Longlisted for the Non-Obvious Book Awards""The subtitle says it all—Bjornerud and graphic artist Hagerman have compiled a wonderfully quirky collection of 'curiosities' that, collectively, detail the Earth’s transformation over eons and illustrate how our understanding of the planet has deepened through time. . . . A charming work, chock-full of information."---Laurie Selwyn, Library Journal, starred review"This is a garnet of a geology book: rooted in the planet, jewel-like and multi-coloured."---Andrew Robinson, Nature"[Geopedia] is a buffet of bite-size chapters perfect for dipping in and out of. . . . Its pocket-size format makes it perfect as a traveling companion, and its short chapters suit our frazzled attention spans, making it a fun alternative to night-time doomscrolling or heavier nonfiction. No matter if you’re a hard-core rockhound or a geological outsider, you’ll get something worthwhile from this little gem of a book."---Howard Lee, Ars Technica"A neat little book . . . . Take a dip into Geopedia for a bit of quirky fun." * Descent *"A fascinating, illuminating read. Organized alphabetically, the articles span the gamut of the sub-disciplines. Bjornerud explores both the etymology of the scientific terms and their scientific import. Readers who pick it up will learn a lot."---I. D. Sasowsky, Choice"perfect for casual reading .... Bjornerud...is a gifted writer" * Choice *"A cute little book of curiosities to dip in and out of but, like a box of rich chocolates, you probably will not want to finish it off all in one sitting."---Helen Coombs, Proceedings of the Open University Geological Society

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Book Synopsis''Exquisite and timely.'' Maggie O''Farrell''A rare and magical book. I didn''t want it to end.'' Bill Bryson''A witty, intoxicating paean to Earth's wondrous creatures.'' Observer''A total miracle.'' Max Porter** Shortlisted for Waterstones and Foyles Book of the Year **** Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing **** A Top Ten Sunday Times bestseller **The world is more astonishing, more miraculous and more wonderful than our wildest imaginings. In this passionately persuasive and sharply funny book, Katherine Rundell tells us how and why.A lavishly illustrated collection of the lives of some of the Earth's most astounding animals, The Golden Mole is a chance to be awestruck and lovestruck to reckon with the beauty of the world, its fragility, and its strangeness.A swift flies two million kilometres in its lifetime. That's far enough to get

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Book SynopsisToday, waste management – especially plastic – on a global scale is more worrying than ever. The Democratic Republic of Congo stands among countries most affected by the lack of accountability of manufacturers relocating and outsourcing huge landfills on its soil. Ranked as the 8th poorest population in the world despite their country’s immense mineral wealth, the Congolese people is overrun by garbage left by goods produced with their own resources and labor but yet designed for others. A folk-art movement was born from the junkyards of Kinshasa. Dressed in masks and costumes made from rubbish, a generation of street children and artists from Kinshasa's Academy of Fine Arts have come together to create “Ndaku ya la vie est belle”. Founded in 2015 by visual artist Eddy Ekete, this art collective brings together 25 creators who draw their inspiration from ancestral clothing arts to stand against the ecological disaster their country suffers. To amplify their struggle and celebrate their craft, Stéphan Gladieu creates a series of totemic portraits merging documentary photography with artistic practice. In a live studio set up on the streets of Kinshasa, he highlights the militant artists’ surrealist silhouettes and vibrant creations. Introduced by novelist Wilfried N'sondé, these portraits tell a story of creative talent passed on despite the attacks of consumerism.

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Book SynopsisReeds Cloud Handbook is a quick-access, easy-to-use guide to identifying cloud types and how to predict what each cloud type can tell us about the weather and predict how it will change. This concise pocket reference will appeal to those who spend time outdoors and wants to better understand the weather, with its principal focus for sailors and also anyone going walking, fishing, cycling etc. This portable handbook will give you the essential information about common and unusual cloud types, how they form and what weather patterns are associated with them.Fully illustrated with colour photography and clear diagrams, this cloud identification guide includes sections on different weather patterns and how clouds form, different clouds according to where they appear in the sky, related features and different forms of fog. Each entry gives guidance on how and when to spot different cloud types and effects, and how the clouds relate to wind and rain patterns.Table of ContentsIntroduction to the weather How to use this book A brief introduction to the clouds Deciphering cloud names A bit of history Weather systems Air masses Depressions Anticyclones High clouds Cirrus Thick cirrus (cirrus spissatus) Cirrostratus Cirrocumulus Contrails (cirrus homogenitus) Middle clouds Altocumulus floccus Altocumulus castellanus Altocumulus sheets (altocumulus stratiformis) Altocumulus lenticularis Thin altostratus (altostratus translucidus) Thick altostratus (altostratus opacus) Lower clouds Cumulus Cumulus fractus Fair weather cumulus (cumulus humilis) Towering cumulus (cumulus congestus) Cumulus cloud streets (cumulus radiatus) Featureless stratus (stratus nebulosus) Broken stratus (stratus fractus) Stratocumulus Stratocumulus stratiformis Stratocumulus castellanus Nimbostratus Cumulonimbus calvus Cumulonimbus capillatus Thunderstorms Supplementary features and accessory clouds Supplementary features Asperitas Mamma Fall streaks (virga) Anvil (incus) Funnel cloud (tuba) Shelf and roll clouds (arcus) Kelvin-Helmholtz waves (fluctus) Accessory clouds Cap clouds (pileus) Pannus Velum Fog Sea fog (advection fog) Land fog (radiation fog) Upslope fog Frontal fog Sea smoke Clouds outside the troposphere Nacreous (mother of pearl) Noctilucent Optical phenomena Rainbow Corona Halo Mock sun/sun dog/parhelion Iridescence Ice rainbow (circumzenithal arc) Sunbeams and crepuscular rays Glory Cloud weather lore Glossary Quick cloud identifier Index

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Book SynopsisSent to live on a remote island in the Tanzanian half of Lake Victoria, Mark Weston finds a community grappling with one of the world's great unknown environmental crises. "You used to be able to stand on the beach and fish. In my father's time you could catch them with your bare hands." Lake Victoria was once one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but a predator released into its waters by East Africa's British colonisers has left a trail of destruction in its wake. The lives of millions of people have been upended, as a fateful confluence of overfishing, pollution and deforestation has triggered one of history's greatest mass extinctions. On remote Ukerewe Island, Mark Weston finds out how local communities are responding to the crisis. He lives for two years alongside the families and fishermen hardest hit by the upheaval and gets to know the aid workers, sorcerers and holy men whose businesses are booming. A captivating blend of travel writing and environmental reportage, The Saviour Fish paints an intimate picture of rural Tanzanian life, and of the human cost of biodiversity loss.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Consisting of a stunning array of essays, poems, and interviews, this collection makes the case that the actions and perspectives of a single person can have a ripple effect across generations of people and nature. . . . Recommended for readers interested in environmentalism, anthropology, sociology, history, philosophy, and Indigenous peoples in the United States." * Library Journal *"A wonderfully unclassifiable book, What Kind of Ancestor Do You Want to Be? challenges us to live not just for tomorrow, or for our children, but for many generations in the future. Featuring interviews with and essays by thinkers from across social disciplines—anthropologists, environmental activists, Indigenous leaders, sociologists, and more." * Book Culture Blog *"This compendium of poems, essays, and dialogues contains the voices of a range of writers and speakers from widely disparate cultures, traditions, and ethnicities, speaking out as they grapple with this question. The question itself causes one to pause, containing, as it does, an implicit instruction to consider one’s own ancestors and their/our relationship with the future. Who were they and what has their impact been upon ourselves and the world? How should or might we, ourselves, carry their influence into the future, while adding the work of our own lives to that stream?" * Resilience.org *"This volume edited by Hausdoerffer, Hecht, Nelson, and Cummings incorporates the work of 47 contributors addressing the urgent and central concern of establishing spiritual, social, and ecological continuity in this uncertain age. Employing diverse textual strategies and genres, including essays, ethnographic interviews, and poems, these authors are intent on communicating the understanding and reactions of indigenous people to the problem of providing guidance to future generations. Arguing that the world is currently in the throes of an ecological, economic, and political crisis, this study invites readers to seek essential new wisdom by exploring the traditional wisdom of indigenous ancestors, so as to embrace the role of "ancestor" in the present. . . .Highly recommended." * Choice *“What Kind of Ancestor Do You Want to Be? explores the challenge of climate disruption and ecological disaster through poems, essays and interviews. By offering diverse responses from a worldly selection of multicultural voices, the book provokes examination and inspiration. At the same time, the collection delivers no easy answers. Instead, the responses are personal and detailed, thick with values and reflection." * Gunnison Country Times *“What Kind of Ancestor Do You Want to Be? captures the deep dialogue, continuity, and resonance Indigenous peoples feel and espouse for ancestors, ourselves, our children—with a view for the now and for our very uncertain future. And yet, its audience is at once Indigenous and Universal. Weaving poetry, narrative, interview, essay, and spirit, it is a unique, landmark tapestry. Utterly timely and profoundly urgent.” -- Gregory Cajete, author of "Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence"“The questions this book raises are of such staggering importance and relevance today. I cried. I laughed. I smiled. Many reading moments, beautiful or tragic or just deeply human, are difficult to forget.” -- Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of "The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge"Table of ContentsIntroduction Poem: Unsigned Letter to a Human in the 21st Century Jamaal MayI. Embedded: Our ancestral responsibility is deeply rooted in a multigenerational relationship to place. a. Poem: Great Granddaddy Taiyon Coleman b. Essays: i. Ancestor of Fire Aaron A. Abeyta ii. Grounded Aubrey Streit Krug iii. My Home / It’s Called the Darkest Wild Sean Prentiss c. Interview: Wendell Berry Leah Bayens d. Poem: To the Children of the 21st Century Frances H. KakugawaII. Reckoning: Reckoning with ancestors causing and ancestors enduring historical trauma. a. Poem: Forgiveness? Shannon Gibney b. Essays: i. Sister’s Stories Eryn Wise ii. Of Land and Legacy Lindsay Lunsford iii. Cheddar Man Brooke Williams iv. Formidable Kathleen Dean Moore c. Interview: Caleen Sisk Brooke Parry Hecht and Toby McLeod d. Poem: Promises, Promises Frances H. KakugawaIII. Healing: Enhancing some ancestral cycles while breaking others. a. Poem: To Future Kin Brian Calvert b. Essays: i. Moving with the Rhythm of Life Katherine Kassouf Cummings ii. (A Korowai) For When You Are Lost Manea Sweeney iii. To Hope of Becoming Ancestors Princess Daazhraii Johnson and Julianne Warren c. Interview: Camille T. Dungy and Crystal Williams d. Poem: Yes I Will Frances H. KakugawaIV. Interwoven: Our descendants will know the kind of ancestor we are by reading the lands and waters where we lived. a. Poem: Alive in This Century Leora Gansworth b. Essays: i. What Is Your Rice? John Hausdoerffer ii. Restoring Indigenous Mindfulness within the Commons of Human Consciousness Jack Loeffler iii. Reading Records with Estella Leopold Curt Meine iv. How to Be Better Ancestors Winona LaDuke c. Interview: Wes Jackson John Hausdoerffer and Julianne Lutz Warren d. Poem: Omoiyare Frances H. KakugawaV. Earthly: Other-than-human beings are our ancestors, too. a. Poem: LEAF Elizabeth Herron b. Essays: i. The City Bleeds Out (Reflections on Lake Michigan) Gavin Van Horn ii. I Want the Earth to Know Me as a Friend Enrique Salmón iii. The Apple Tree Peter Forbes iv. Humus Catroina Sandilands v. Building Good Soil Robin Kimmerer c. Interview: Vandana Shiva John Hausdoerffer d. Poem: Your Inheritance Frances H. KakugawaVI. Seventh Fire a. Poem: Time Traveler Lyla June Johnston b. Essays: i. Seeds Native Youth Guardians of the Waters 2017 Participants and Nicola Wagenberg ii. Onëö’ (Word for Corn in Seneca) Kaylena Bray iii. Landing Oscar Guttierez iv. Regenerative Melissa K. Nelson v. Nourishing Rowen White vi. Light Rachel Wolfgramm and Chellie Spiller c. Interview: Ilarion Merculieff Brooke Parry Hecht d. Poem: Lost in the Milky Way Linda Hogan Acknowledgments Notes About the Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisUncover the Earth''s inner secrets as you explore the world''s most magnificent volcanoes and earthquakes like never before. Become an eyewitness to the world''s most explosive volcanoes and powerful earthquakes with this picture-led guide that will take you on a visual tour of the hotspots of the world. Explore everything you need to know about the Earth''s most extraordinary natural forces - from active volcanoes, including Kilanea in Hawaii and Etna in Italy, to devastating earthquakes that have hit San Francisco and Japan. Discover how the eruption of Mount Vesuvius devastated the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, but left in its wake remarkably preserved treasures.Throughout the pages of this newly- revised incredible history book, you can expect to find: -All information updated by expert consultants-Packed with amazing facts, infographics, statistics, and timelines-Includes brand new eyewitness accounts from experts in th

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[Insects and Their Beneficial Microbes] is no small undertaking. . . . This is a decades-overdue and much-needed overview of the diversity of insect-microbe associations."---Alison Ravenscraft, Quarterly Review of Biology

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Book SynopsisAnti-trend investigates resilient, anti-trendy living and design as viable alternatives to the insatiable “more wants more” mantra of consumerism. The overall purpose with this book is to encourage designers and consumers to take responsibility for overproduction and overconsumption, and to alter unsustainable production and behavioral patterns. The anti-trendy design-object is designed to be used. It is created to nourish the user aesthetically on a long-term or short-term basis. It is alive in the sense that it is made to develop in accordance with human life—by either being alterable or perishable. The anti-trendy object supports a life worth sustaining. A life that contains wholesome rhythms and edifying challenges and isn’t dependent on consumption for pleasure. Anti-trendy living is a natural, fulfilling, and sustainable way to live. It may have many different expressions but is characterised by authenticity and meaningfulness. Reduction of consumption and long-term usage of things is a vital part of anti-trendy living—it involves mending and caring and maybe even sharing. Through an analysis of resilience and sustainability life in general and in design-objects the themes of the book unfold: intuition and anti-trend research, a life worth sustaining, existentialist despair, raw and resilient aesthetics, sustainable storytelling, legitimisations for designing products in a world with too many things, democratic sustainability, craft innovation, civil disobedience, and collaborative consumption.Table of ContentsFOREWORD INTRODUCTION 1 ANTI-TREND VERSUS TREND To Be or Not to Be Trendy The Immaterialist Analyzing Anti-trendy Tendencies Basic Assumptions The Desires of a Time An Anecdote Concerning the Lowering of Productivity Balancing Between Too Much and Too Little degrowth bad faith the fisherman and the businessman when assumptions collide 2 ANTI-TRENDY INTUITION The Intuitive Compass Right and Wrong Hunches Logical Conclusions Confirmatory Bias Intersubjectivity Immediate Knowledge Getting to the core of things Mindful Reduction Object Analysis Common Ground and Open Horizons The Core of Sustainable Living Disrupting the Familiar Epoché Human Common Ground The Importance of Fiction The Stabile Core The Sublime Moment of Insight Momentary Elimination of the Familiar Transitions Synaesthesia and Sensory Experiences Aisthetikos Open Sensing magic Learning to Navigate Intuitively Intuitive Forecasting ubuntu the guiding principle of inner needs 3 ANTI-TREND AND AUTHENTICITY Living in despair The Aesthete Civil Disobedience, or the Art of Choosing “the Good” Change Must Come from the Individual Oppression restlessness The Importance of Acknowledgement the master and the slave To Will Oneself Free is also to Will Others Free being connected Genuine Freedom the ethicist Irrational versus Pre-rational Consumption The Sustainable Golden Mean encouraging usage discovering aesthetic links Sustainable Storytelling values and beliefs sustainable forms of appeal pathos Time and Value No-pain-no-gain Resilient Living Nourishing Repetitions A Life Worth Sustaining Status Symbols The Emperor and the Painter 4 ANTI-TRENDY EXPERIENCES OF BEAUTY Anti-trendy Perceived Obsolescence Magical Things Disinterested Pleasure Aesthetic Nourishment Resilient Aesthetics The Cathartic Experience robustness relevance Unbearable Lightness Wild and Raw Aesthetics Rewilding the Design-object Adaptability The Beauty of Rhythms The Daily Chorus Continuity Aura 5 THREE ANTI-TRENDY REASONS FOR DESIGNING NEW OBJECTS IN A WORLD WITH WAY TOO MANY THINGS Waste Materials, Deconstruction, and Upcycling Crafty Imperfections Boro and Hacks Disassembly Sustaining and Empowerment The Essence of a Craft Expression the tactile bond tactile literacy Craft Innovation Democratic Sustainability Encouraging Sustainable Living Collaborative Consumption: Swapping, Sharing, and Repairing the characteristics of a shareable object inclusive design repairability, flexibility, and aesthetics Long-lived and Short-lived Objects encouraging variety and celebrating change the butterfly embracing transience facticity and transcendence The Open, Raw Design-object broadness and affordability no person ever steps into the same river twice 6 THE ANTI-TRENDY DESIGN- OBJECT Creating Resilient Designobjects Natural Limitations Alteration Resilience to Changing Needs regrowth Resilience to Anti-trendy Perceived Obsolescence Deterioration Resilience to Fleeting Trends Resilience to Exploitation of Natural Resources permaculture anti-growth closedness versus openness Biblography About the Author

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE PRIZE 2022 'A joyful collision of science, history and nature writing' Helen Gordon, author of Notes from Deep Time Adam Sedgwick was a priest and scholar. Roderick Murchison was a retired soldier. Charles Lapworth was a schoolteacher. It was their personal and intellectual rivalry, pursued on treks through Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, Devon and parts of western Russia, that revealed the narrative structure of the Paleozoic Era, the 300-million-year period during which life on Earth became recognisably itself. Nick Davidson follows in their footsteps and draws on maps, diaries, letters, field notes and contemporary accounts to bring the ideas and characters alive. But this is more than a history of geology. As we travel through some of the most spectacular scenery in Britain, it's a celebration of the sheer visceral pleasure generations of geologists have found, and continue to find, in noticing the earth beneath our feet.Trade ReviewA colourful and joyous romp through the not-so-sedate world of mid-nineteenth-century geology -- John Wright, author * The Forager's Calendar *Engaging and persuasive ... Everyone interested in geology should know about Murchison, Sedgwick and Lapworth -- Richard Fortey, author * The Earth: An Intimate History *This is history with its boots on ... Packed with vivid stories, The Greywacke brings to life an unlikely cast of characters who changed the way we view the world -- James A. Secord, author * Visions of Science *Whether trudging down Welsh ravines, scrambling in the Lake District, covering vast distances across rural Russia or hard going amid the crags of north-west Scotland, the writing puts us there, in the field, on the ground ... A great story well told -- Andrew Greig, author * At the Loch of the Green Corrie *A joyful collision of science, history and nature writing, The Greywacke shines a light on the almost superhuman feats of endurance, the unglamorous physical realities, the many, many hours of patient labour that the science of geology is built upon. Following the work of three important nineteenth geologists as they attempt to unlock the secrets of the rocks and the mysteries of geological time, it uncovers a story of friendships, feuds, triumphs and breakdowns. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on Lapworth: a beautifully clear and engaging description of the mechanics of stratigraphic work and a wonderful portrait of a scientist who deserves to be better known -- Helen Gordon, author * Notes from Deep Time *

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Book SynopsisCovering around 70 per cent of our planet’s surface and home to more than 200,000 known species, the world’s oceans are vital to life on Earth. However, despite producing around half the world’s oxygen and helping to regulate our climate and weather patterns, human behaviour has put our incredible oceans and the amazing animals within them at risk. In The Big Book of the Ocean, we go beneath the surface to explore the fascinating secrets of the sea and take an in-depth look at some of the planet’s magnificent marine creatures, from killer whales and sea turtles to seahorses and starfish. We also explore what we can do to help protect these vital environments and discover ten of the most endangered ocean species.

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Book SynopsisA cultural geographer and an art historian offer fresh interpretations of Muybridge's famous motion studies through the lenses of mobility and race. In 1878, Eadweard Muybridge successfully photographed horses in motion, proving that all four hooves leave the ground at once for a split second during full gallop. This was the beginning of Muybridge's decades-long investigation into instantaneous photography, culminating in his masterpiece Animal Locomotion. Muybridge became one of the most influential photographers of his time, and his stop-motion technique helped pave the way for the motion-picture industry, born a short decade later. Coauthored by cultural geographer Tim Cresswell and art historian John Ott, this book reexamines the motion studies as historical forms of mobility, in which specific forms of motion are given extraordinary significance and accrued value. Through a lively, interdisciplinary exchange, the authors explore how mobility is contextualized within the traTable of ContentsContents Introduction Anthony W. Lee Visualizing Mobility Tim Cresswell Race and Mobility John Ott Notes Index

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Book SynopsisYou're never too small to make a difference! Learn how to be an ecowarrior with Dave and Greta as they find little ways to make theworld better

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Book SynopsisIn Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn takes us to the edge of biology's latest frontier: our own homes. Every house is a wilderness -- from the Egyptian meal moths in our kitchen cupboards and the yeast in a sourdough starter, to the camel crickets living in the basement, to the thousands of species of insects, bacteria, fungi, and plants live literally under our noses. Our reaction, too often, is to sterilise. As we do, we unwittingly cultivate an entirely new playground for evolution. Unfortunately, this means that we have created a range of new parasites, from antibiotic-resistant microbes to nearly impossible to kill cockroaches, to threaten ourselves with and destroyed helpful housemates. If we're not careful, the "healthier" we try to make our homes, the more likely we'll be putting our own health at risk.A rich natural history and a thrilling scientific investigation, Never Home Alone shows us that if are to truly thrive in our homes, we must learn to welcome the unknown guests that have been there the whole time.

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Book SynopsisTwo leaders of the National Park Service provide a front-row seat to the disastrous impact of partisan politics over the past fifty years-and offer a bold vision for the parks' future. The US National Parks, what environmentalist and historian Wallace Stegner called America's best idea, are under siege. Since 1972, partisan political appointees in the Department of the Interior have offered two conflicting views of the National Park Service (NPS): one vision emphasizes preservation and science-based decision-making, and another prioritizes economic benefits and privatization. These politically driven shifts represent a pernicious, existential threat to the very future of our parks. For the past fifty years, brothers Jonathan B. and T. Destry Jarvis have worked both within and outside NPS as leaders and advocates. National Parks Forever interweaves their two voices to show how our parks must be protected from those who would open them to economic exploitation, while still alloTrade Review"In this self-described 'dual memoir,' Jonathan and Destry take turns making the case—and then synthesize their viewpoints—that the National Park Service needs to be independent from the political 'whipsaw' of Washington politics, making it more like the Smithsonian Institution. . . . By providing both historical and personal context to the NPS’s politicization, the Jarvis brothers make a powerful case." * American Scientist *"There’s an argument that can be made, one backed by evidence, that the past fifty years have seen the most egregious attempts to subvert the mission of the National Park Service to preserve and protect natural resources unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. That argument is clearly laid out in National Parks Forever. . . . A rich collection of institutional knowledge from within the machinations of government and from within the National Park Service." -- Kurt Repanshek * National Parks Traveler *“An earnest plea to move the National Park Service out of the highly politicized Department of the Interior and make it an independent agency.” * Kirkus Reviews *"Painful history plus a roadmap for change equals a compelling book." * Revelator *"Offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the park service." -- Rob Hotakainen * E&E News:Greenwire *"The text offers a readable, well-organized argument for the independence proposal, illustrated by selected black-and-white photos. Readers interested in the US government's interface with conservation will appreciate this book. . . . Recommended." * Choice *"This book is compelling reading for all conservation biologists to emulate positive aspects and avoid pitfalls when developing an effective and self-sustaining park system." * Community Ecology *“In careers spanning half a century, both Jon and Destry Jarvis personally witnessed how the National Park Service became a partisan battleground for competing political ideologies, with policies ricocheting back and forth every time a new administration came to power. Filled with detailed firsthand accounts and insightful analysis, National Parks Forever not only chronicles the sorrowful result, but also points to a way to rescue ‘America’s best idea’—and make it even better.” -- Dayton Duncan, writer/producer, "The National Parks: America’s Best Idea"“The history retold by these two brothers, each outstanding in their lifelong dedication to Parks, is compelling and instructive, as well as a very good read. But their lessons learned and call for independence must be enacted if the parks are to survive. I advised NPS leadership for eight years; I witnessed that a major priority is to ensure that the full history of Americans is preserved in the places where that history unfolded. If NPS remains a political football, we will lose not only magnificent landscapes but the hundreds of parks that tell the true stories of America’s past. At this time when our history has become violently politicized, we must depoliticize the one federal agency that knows how to memorialize the truth for future generations.” -- Margaret J. Wheatley, author of "Leadership and the New Science" and former member of National Parks Advisory BoardTable of ContentsForeword by Chris Johns Preface Introduction and a Brief History of the National Parks: 1872-1972 One. Growing the System and Telling a More Complete Story Two. Alaska: Doing It Right the First Time Three. The Politics of Park Policy Four. Using the Best Available Science Five. Ecosystem Thinking Requires Collaboration Six. Interference in the Mission Seven. Independence: Finding a Sustainable Future for a Perpetuity Agency Notes Bibliography and Further Reading Index of People and Places

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Book SynopsisDiscover how to explore our beautiful world sustainably and responsibly with this trailblazing guide to flight-free travel. Seeking options that are enjoyable and kind to the planet, award-winning travel writer Emma Gregg shows you how to get a no-fly holiday off the ground.The Flightless Traveller presents 50 inspirational, life-affirming trip ideas for those who would like to fly less, or not at all. They include eco-friendly city breaks and coastal retreats, bike rides and sailing voyages, short jaunts on vintage railways and incredible intercontinental journeys.Some shed new light on wonderful, well-known places. Others reveal destinations, activities and experiences you might have never considered before. Best of all, they make the journey an essential part of the adventure.Get ready to recapture the authentic spirit of travel as you plan your next trip by land, river or sea.

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Book SynopsisAn essential guide to assist those surveying for water voles, whether as a professional ecological consultant, a researcher or simply an interested amateur. This book provides detailed descriptions of all the habitats used by water voles, including ideal habitats as well as less typical places, with annotated photos to help the surveyor home in on just the right areas to look. It also contains a comprehensive photographic reference guide to assist in the correct identification of water vole field signs, and explains how to distinguish them from those of similar species. Tips on where and how to search for field signs are also provided, along with guidance on how best to record survey data.Trade ReviewThe book is very much my type of book and it will make a great reference addition to my office bookshelf. All too often in my opinion, photographs get a back seat in ecology related literature... nothing beats a book that the field based individual such as me can relate to. -- Simon Booth, photographer and professional ecologistTable of ContentsAcknowledgements 1. Introduction A bit of background Personal experience Legal protection in the UK Competence 2. Habitat Where do you find water voles? What does ‘ideal’ habitat for water voles look like? Habitat requirements Dry areas for burrows or above-ground nests Herbaceous vegetation as food and cover Water How to assess likely value of habitat Water voles in terrestrial habitat 3. What does a water vole look like? 4. Looking for field signs Different field signs When to search Where to search How to search Other factors to consider Health, safety and biosecurity 5. Droppings and latrines Characteristics of water vole droppings Latrines How many droppings constitute a latrine? What can latrines tell us? Terrestrial, or fossorial, water voles Rat droppings Field vole and bank vole droppings DNA analysis 6. Feeding remains 7. Burrows Characteristics of ‘active’ water vole burrows Burrows of similar species Detailed examination of burrows 8. Nests 9. Other field signs Footprints Runs through the vegetation 10. Other species Droppings Footprints 11. Recording the information What information needs to be recorded? How to record the information What happens next? Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisOn 30 January 1981 Joe Tasker and Ade Burgess stood at 24,000 feet on the West Ridge of Mount Everest. Below them were their companions, some exhausted, some crippled by illness, all virtually incapacitated. Further progress seemed impossible.Everest the Cruel Way is Joe Tasker's story of an attempt to climb the highest mountain on earth – an attempt which pushed a group of Britain's finest mountaineers to their limits. The goal had been to climb Mount Everest at its hardest: via the infamous West Ridge, without supplementary oxygen and in winter. Tasker's epic account vividly describes experiences that no climber had previously endured. Close up and personal, it is a gripping account of day-to-day life on expedition and of the struggle to live at high altitude.Joe Tasker was one of Britain's best mountaineers. He was a pioneer of lightweight, alpine-style climbing in the Greater Ranges and had a special talent for writing. He died, along with his friend Peter Boardman, high on Everest in 1982 while attempting a new and unclimbed line. Both men were superb mountaineers and talented writers.Trade Review'If any writer has expressed the essence of winter climbing in the Himalayas, it is Joe Tasker.' – Reinhold MessnerTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsForeword by Chris Bonington ‘A Great Partnership’Chapter 1 A Step FurtherChapter 2 The Idea and the TeamChapter 3 Going to the Widow MakerChapter 4 Attacking the RampartsChapter 5 The Lho LaChapter 6 Progress and PunishmentChapter 7 ChristmasChapter 8 Grim NightsChapter 9 ‘In the mountains one forgets to count the days’Chapter 10 Attrition and the Turning PointChapter 11 Straight TalkingChapter 12 The Wind Up

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Book SynopsisA rigorous examination of 'dispersal', which forms the basis of the government’s asylum policyTrade Review'Elegant and disturbing [...] a brilliant analysis of the cruel biopolitics of care in contemporary Britain' -- Ash Amin, Chair of Geography at Cambridge University'Indispensable reading for anyone interested in the contemporary policies, practices, spaces, and politics of asylum' -- Suzan Ilcan, Professor of Sociology at the University of Waterloo, Ontario'A tour-de-force. The evidence for the violence of the country's system of dispersal of asylum-seekers is shocking. Bursting with ideas, this book contains the seeds of an urgently-needed political, social and cultural transformation' -- Ben Rogaly, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Sussex'Rigorously diagnoses a long-term malaise in the UK system of 'asylum accommodation'. An inexorably unaccountable system hidden in plain sight, in poverty blighted communities. A system that separates people from mainstream life, frequently with loss of hope and health. A system that reduces people to unit costs in often profitable company accounts. A system that does not need to be like this. This book shows us how to change it' -- Graham O'Neill, human rights worker for Commission for Racial Equality, Equality and Human Rights Commission and Scottish Refugee Council'A forensic and compelling examination of how systems that exist in theory to protect some of the most vulnerable people in our society end up harming them' -- Daniel Trilling, journalist and author of 'Lights In The Distance: Exile and Refuge at the Borders of Europe''A much-needed book about the workings and effects of dispersal. Darling brilliantly unveils how exhaustion operates as a governing strategy; how the sufferings of dispersal are created by or endured through withdrawal, fragmentation, weariness, but also defiance and care' -- Anne-Marie Fortier, Professor of Sociology at Lancaster University'Essential and compelling [...] illuminates the humanity of people navigating their violent dispersal through systems designed to treat them inhumanely' -- Alison Mountz, author of 'The Death of Asylum'Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. Dispersal, Debilitation, and Distributed Violence 2. Creating Dispersal 3. Outsourcing Asylum 4. The Retreat of Local Government 5. Dismantling Support 6. Enduring Asylum 7. Enduring Otherwise: Counter-conducts of Care Conclusion Notes Index

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Book SynopsisNewcastle has a long and distinguished history through two millennia: a Roman fortress at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall; an important centre of monasticism; a 'royal' bulwark against attacks and invasion from Scotland; and the principal centre for the export of coal to London. In the 19th century it was transformed into an elegant Georgian townscape with dramatic streets and handsome public buildings. It and other towns on the Tyne - Gateshead, Jarrow, Wallsend, Tynemouth, North and South Shields - developed important industries: shipbuilding, glass and heavy engineering. Tyneside suffered severe contraction in the 20th century as heavy industry declined, but it has begun to reinvent itself and create new growth shoots, not least its vibrant cultural industries including music and art. This book takes an innovative approach to telling the story of the area's history by focusing on the historic maps and plans that record the growth and development of Newcastle and Tyneside over many centuries.Trade Review'The book will appeal to all map-lovers and those with an interest in how Tyneside’s layout has developed through centuries of change' * Hexham Local History Society *'This volume offers a wide selection of well-reproduced maps and plans from local and national sources… for those of us who have lived and worked here for years it offers a novel approach to the familiar' * The Local Historian *

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Book SynopsisA cautionary but optimistic book about the world’s changing climate and the fate of humanity, from Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac—who led negotiations for the United Nations during the historic Paris Agreement of 2015.The authors outline two possible scenarios for our planet. In one, they describe what life on Earth will be like by 2050 if we fail to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate targets. In the other, they lay out what it will be like to live in a regenerative world that has net-zero emissions. They argue for confronting the climate crisis head-on, with determination and optimism. The Future We Choose presents our options and tells us what governments, corporations, and each of us can, and must, do to fend off disaster.

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Book SynopsisPandemic, climate change, or war: our era is ripe with the odor of doomsday. In movies, books, and more, our imaginations run wild with visions of dreadful, abandoned cities and returning to the land in a desperate attempt at survival.In The Next Apocalypse, archaeologist Chris Begley argues that we completely misunderstand how disaster works. Examining past collapses of civilizations, such as the Maya and Rome, he argues that these breakdowns are actually less about cataclysmic destruction than they are about long processes of change. In short: it's what happens after the initial uproar that matters. Some people abandon their homes and neighbors; others band together to start anew. As we anticipate our own fate, Begley tells us that it was communities, not lone heroes, who survived past apocalypses-and who will survive the next.Fusing archaeology, survivalism, and social criticism, The Next Apocalypse is an essential read for anxious times.

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Book SynopsisTwo years before T E Lawrence received orders to travel to the Hejaz to liaise with the leader of the Arab Revolt, other British officers had already roamed the Arabian Peninsula's unforgiving Nejdi desert, to rally tribal support for the British war effort. The first was Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear, a political agent from the Government of India's Political Department. Born in October 1878 in India, Shakespear spent much of his childhood away from his Anglo-Indian parents, schooling in Portsmouth and later in the Isle of Man, before entering Sandhurst as a British Indian Army Officer Cadet. On his return to India, Shakespear spent six years in military service before he joined the Political Department in 1904, serving twice in Bandar Abbas and briefly in Muscat. Shakespear's next mission was as a political agent in Kuwait, arriving at the coastal Sheikhdom in the spring of 1909. For the next four years, he travelled extensively into the Nejdi desert, providing both London and Delhi with valuable intelligence about the vastly unknown interior as well as cultivating a personal relationship with Ibn Sa'ud, the Emir of Riyadh. At a time when London and Constantinople were negotiating the Anglo-Ottoman treaty, Shakespear almost became persona non grata for advocating the need to back the emir after his tribal warriors had expelled the Ottoman garrisons in al-Hasa in 1913. When war was declared in July 1914, Shakespear was one of the first to try to join the British Army to fight in France, but when the Ottoman Empire looked set to ally with Germany, the powers that had previously shunned him now needed his unique knowledge of Central Arabia and relationship with Ibn Sa'ud. That October, as many of his peers and countrymen crossed the English Channel to reinforce those already in the trenches, Shakespear set sail for Kuwait on special duty to rendezvous with the emir. It was a mission that T E Lawrence would later commend, acknowledging the crucial role that the political agent played during the early stages the Middle Eastern theatre of war. Shakespear was a pioneer in exploring the Nejd, capturing many firsts with his camera, although there were a few other equally intrepid British officials who preceded him into the desert. From the late-18th century, the East India Company collided numerous times with the House of Sa'ud as both attempted to understand the intentions of the other, before the political agent finally laid the foundations for formal diplomatic relations with Ibn Sa'ud, and later with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Book SynopsisIncludes 36 chapters that deploy interdisciplinary approaches to the analysis of the mutual relationship between pandemics and the built environment. The chapters share the story of a pandemic in a particular city or region from five continents, and are organized in four sections to convey the mechanisms of change that affect vulnerabilities and responses to epidemic illnesses: 'Urban Governance', 'Urban Life', 'Urban Infrastructure' and 'Urban Design and Planning'. Two prominent scholars from the disciplines of public health and medical anthropology provide a prologue and epilogue: Sandro Galea writes on 'Pandemics and urban health', and Richard J. Jackson on 'Urbanism and architecture in the post-COVID era'. The contributors to this new study are historians, public health experts, art and architectural historians, sociologists, anthropologists, doctors and nurses. In researching their contributions, all have spoken to an audience that includes the public, practitioners and academic readers; the resultant case studies reveal a diverse range of urban interventions that are connected to the impact of epidemics on society and urban life, as well as the conceptualization of and response to disease. Epidemic illnesses – not only a product of biology, but also social and cultural phenomena – are as old as cities themselves. The recent pandemic has put into perspective the impact of epidemic illness on urban life and exposed the vulnerabilities of the societies it ravages as much as the bodies it infects. How can epidemics help us understand urban environments? How might insights from the outbreak and responses to previous urban epidemics inform our understanding of the current world? With these questions in mind, this book gathers scholarship from a range of disciplines to present case studies from across the globe, each demonstrating how cities in particular are not just the primary place of exposure and quarantine, but also the site and instrument of intervention. This book seeks to explore the profound and complex ways that architecture and landscape design were impacted by historical epidemics around the world, from North America to Africa and Australia, and to convey this information in a way that meaningfully engages a public readership. The chapters analyse the development of urban infrastructure, institutions and spaces in western and eastern societies in response to historical pandemics. They also demonstrate how epidemic illnesses, and their responses, exploit and amplify social inequality in the urban contexts and communities they impact.Trade Review'This is a brilliantly conceived, ground breaking collection that provides deep insight into the challenges that COVID poses to our world today. By focusing on the physical environment, these studies of past pandemics demonstrate how critical it is to tend to both neglected infrastructure and vulnerable communities. Epidemic Urbanism is an inspiring example of interdisciplinary collaboration across diverse times and places and the contributions it brings to the work of global public health.' Nancy Tomes, Distinguished Professor, Stony Brook University, USA -- Nancy Tomes“Epidemic Urbanism recounts the fascinating history of cities and plagues to shed light on present and future challenges. For hundreds of years, cities have played a central role in the spread, inequality, and containment of epidemics and pandemics. Why would COVID-19 be any different? Public health strategy is most effective when based on data, aligned with communities, and informed by the triumphs and failures of the past. This book is essential reading for the work of preparing for our next great infectious disease challenge.” Joshua M. Sharfstein, Professor and Vice Dean, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA -- Joshua Sharfstein“As sports stadia and conference centres have transformed themselves into impromptu healthcare facilities and makeshift morgues, Epidemic Urbanism could not be timelier. Ranging from Agra in the 1610s to Sao Paulo in the 1970s, its studies of particular, historical outbreaks add up to a global account of how disease has affected cities and cities have affected disease. Drawing from specialists across a range of disciplines, Gharipour and DeClercq’s urgent collection draws from the past to point the way to the future. As Governments exhort and promise to ‘Build Back Better’, Epidemic Urbanism tellingly reminds us how such policies need to be informed by historical understanding and based around shared equity.” Ross MacFarlane, Research Development Specialist, The Wellcome Collection, UK -- Ross MacFarlane“The dynamic interplay of contagious illness and the built environment is a long and global story, highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Epidemic Urbanism is an epic collection amplifying this theme, beautifully conceived and organized in a clear, orderly format (context-case study-conclusion). Its main intention is to inspire action, anticipating future historical studies and pandemics. Instructive examples take us around the world to see how illnesses have been managed and mis-managed by city dwellers.” Annmarie Adams, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Canada -- Annmarie AdamsTable of ContentsPreface – Mohammad Gharipour and Caitlin DeClercq Prologue: Pandemics and urban health – Sandro Galea PART 1: URBAN GOVERNANCE: POLITICS AND MANAGEMENT 1. Plague in Sibiu and the first quarantine plan in Central Europe, 1510 – Katalin Szende and Ottó Gecser 2. Mughal governance, mobility, and responses to the plague in Agra, India, 1618–19 – Mehreen Chida-Razvi 3. Urban governance, economic intervention, and the plague in Bristol, England, 1665–66 – Andrew Wells 4. Smallpox and the specter of Mexican citizenship, 1826 – Farren Yero 5. Complacency, confusion, and the mismanagement of cholera in York, England, 1832 – Ann-Marie Akehurst 6. Cholera, the Roman aqueduct, and urban renewal in Naples, Italy, 1860–1914 – Sofia Greaves 7. The contested governance of border railways and the plague of Northeast China, 1910–11 – Yongming Chen and Yishen Chen 8. Print, politics, and the smallpox epidemic in Terre Haute, USA, 1902–3 – Allen Shotwell 9. Colonialism, racism, and the government response to bubonic plague in Nairobi, Kenya, 1895–1910 – Catherine Odari PART 2: URBAN LIFE: CULTURE AND SOCIETY 10. Women, social solidarities, and the plague in 17th-century Newcastle, England – Rachel Clamp 11. The Jewish ghetto as a space of quarantine in Prague, 1713 – Joshua Teplitsky 12. Hygiene and urban life in the 'District of Death' in 19th-century Istanbul – Fezanur Karaağaçlıoğlu 13. Religious rituals and cholera in the shrine cities of 19th-century Iran – Fuchsia Hart 14. Social life, illness, and the marketplace in Kumasi, Ghana, from the 20th century to the present – George Osei and Shobana Shankar 15. The city as field hospital and the influenza epidemic in Seattle, USA, 1918–19 – Louisa Iarocci 16. Rural migrants, smallpox, and civic surgery in 20th-century Baghdad, Iraq – Huma Gupta 17. House, social Life, and smallpox in Kathmandu, Nepal, 1963 – Susan Heydon 18. Meningitis, shared environments, and inequality in São Paulo, Brazil, 1971–75 – Daniela Sandler PART 3: URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE: PERMANENCE AND CHANGE 19. Epidemics and the royal control of public health in Lisbon, Portugal, 1480–95 – Danielle Abdon 20. The Guadalquivir River and plague in Seville, Spain, in the 16th century – Kristy Wilson Bowers 21. Social inequity and hospital infrastructure in the City of Puebla, Mexico, 1737 – Juan Luis Burke 22. Colonial infrastructure, ecology, and epidemics in Dhaka, 1858–1947 – Mohammad Hossain 23. South American health conventions, social stratification, and the Ilha Grande Lazaretto in Brazil, 1886 – Niuxa Dias Drago, Ana Paula Polizzo, and Fernando Delgado 24. Plague, displacement, and ecological disruption in Bombay, India, 1896 – Emily Webster 25. French urbanism, Vietnamese resistance, and the plague in Hanoi, Vietnam, 1885–1910 – Michael Vann 26. Building a community on Leprosy Island in the Philippines, 1898–1941 – Mary Anne Alabanza Akers 27. Shifting health paradigms and infrastructure in Australia in the 20th century – Karen Daws and Julie Willis PART 4: URBAN DESIGN AND PLANNING: INTERVENTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 28. Urban design, social epidemiology, and the bubonic plague of Palermo, Italy, 1575–76 – Carlo Trombino 29. Cholera and housing reform in Victorian London, England, 1850–1900 – Irina Davidovici 30. Public health, urban development, and cholera in Tokyo, Japan, 1877–95 – Susan L. Burns 31. The Hong Kong plague and public parks in the British settlements of Shanghai and Tianjin, China, 1894 – Yichi Zhang 32. Rebuilding the British Seamen’s Hospital at Smyrna in the wake of smallpox and cholera epidemics, 1892 – Işılay Tiarnagh Sheridan Gün and Erdem Erten 33. Spatial change and the cholera epidemic in Manila, the Philippines, 1902–4 – Ian Morley 34. Plague, housing, and battles over segregation in colonial Dakar, Senegal, 1914 – Gregory Valdespino 35. Urban transformation and public health policies in post-influenza Lagos, Nigeria, 1918 – Timothy Oluseyi Odeyale 36. Urban landscape transformations and the malaria control scheme in Mauritius, 1948–51 – Nicole de Lalouvière Epilogue: Post-COVID urbanism and architecture – Richard J. Jackson Glossary Bibliography Authors’ biographies Index

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Book Synopsis'Astounding ... To call this a "history" does not do justice to Helen Gordon's ambition' Simon Ings, Daily Telegraph 'Awe-inspiring ... She has imbued geological tales with a beauty and humanity' Shaoni Bhattacharya-Woodward, Mail on Sunday The story of the Earth is written into our landscape: it's there in the curves of hills, the colours of stone, surprising eruptions of vegetation. Wanting a fresh perspective on her own life, the writer Helen Gordon set out to read that epic narrative. Her odyssey takes her from the secret fossils of London to the 3-billion-year-old rocks of the Scottish Highlands, and from a state-of-the-art earthquake monitoring system in California to one of the world's most dangerous volcanic complexes in Naples. At every step, she finds that the apparently solid ground beneath our feet isn't quite as it seems.Trade ReviewThe reward of Helen Gordon's profoundly considered and far-reaching book is that it opens up the dizzying view of geological time ... Notes from Deep Time reaches into a place that, in a post-religious era, offers a glimpse of something close to eternity -- Philip Marsden * FT *Astounding ... To call this a "history" does not do justice to Helen Gordon's ambition. Her adventures in the deep time of Earth hark all the way back to its beginnings as a barren ocean planet, 4.4 billion years ago, while keeping one foot firmly planted in the depleted and desertified plaything we're left with today ... Notes From Deep Time sidesteps the maundering and finger-wagging that comes with much Anthropocene thinking, and shows us how much sheer intellectual and poetical entertainment there is to be had in the idea -- Simon Ings * Daily Telegraph *Awe-inspiring ... It's Gordon's background as a literary writer that takes Notes From Deep Time to the next level. She has imbued geological tales with a beauty and humanity -- Shaoni Bhattacharya-Woodward * Mail on Sunday *Notes From Deep Time is a marvel-rich masterclass of narrative non-fiction, one of those books that teaches its reader to see the world completely differently. That it does so with wit, wisdom and crystal-perfect prose only adds to the pleasure. To escape from the present into deep time with such a companionable guide is clarifying, almost therapeutic, and at times gratifyingly dizzying -- Max Porter, author * Lanny *If there were ever a good time to think about deep time, it's now ... A whirlwind tour of our planet's deep past and far future ... succeeds in grounding our existence firmly in the context of geological time -- Alexandra Witze * Nature *Helen Gordon's wonderfully expansive book encompasses a paradoxical fluidity, both tangible and immense, where human witnesses measure out deep time in golden spikes and ammonites, excavating lost seas and saurians for clues as to what we were and who we will be -- Philip Hoare, author * Leviathan *A book as multi-layered as the deep-time planet itself -- Sara Wheeler, author * Terra Incognita *Sublime ... a fascinating and thrilling descent into time, human in scale but full of moments of vertiginous wonder -- Jon Day, author * Homing *Helen Gordon's terrifically readable book juxtaposes scenes from deep Earth time with telling accounts of how geologists forensically analyse the evidence for this enormous narrative - and looks to the future, too, as humans make their own additions to the planet's strata. Highly recommended -- Jan Zalasiewicz, author * The World in a Pebble *Questing, thoughtful and profoundly moving, Notes From Deep Time is a remarkable TARDIS of a book -- Dan Richards, author * Outpost *A sparkling book that humanises the pre-human era. In her journey from the Earth's molten Hadean beginnings to our Holocene age, Gordon delivers stratigraphic revelations through the stories of the intriguing individuals who have brought their mysteries to light -- India Bourke * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisWhere is the world really heading, and what can we do about it? This book takes an unflinching look at climate change, drawing upon the latest data to analyse what the next decades hold in store. With atmospheric CO2 at unprecedented levels and insufficient action being taken to prevent a rise in temperatures above 2 degrees centigrade, we are not just looking at significant disruption but the possibility of societal collapse. For the first time ever, the magnitude of this challenge is faced head on, with avenues to truly address it presented. Case studies and models from over 18 authors around the world show ways that we can build adaptation and resilience, as well as what ‘zero emissions’ really mean. The book also provides a platform for those from a range of diverse backgrounds, whose unique experience and knowledge brings vital new perspectives. From those already feeling the impacts of climate change in the Global South to community leaders fighting to create real alternatives, we get a chance to understand the nuances and possibilities of the task ahead.Trade Review'With the expertise of sixteen authors worldwide, Climate Adaption presents something of a rarity: a way to move forward. While certainly not shying away from the serious nature of what awaits us, this book presents the strengths of developing our society in a resilient and diverse way.'- Chloe

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Book SynopsisThat humans originated from Africa is well-known. However, this is widely regarded as a chance outcome, dependant simply on where our common ancestor shared the land with where the great apes lived. This volume builds on from the ''Out of Africa'' theory, and takes the view that it is only in Africa that the evolutionary transitions from a forest-inhabiting frugivore to savanna-dwelling meat-eater could have occurred. This book argues that the ecological circumstances that shaped these transitions are exclusive to Africa. It describes distinctive features of the ecology of Africa, with emphasis on savanna grasslands, and relates them to the evolutionary transitions linking early ape-men to modern humans. It shows how physical features of the continent, especially those derived from plate tectonics, set the foundations. This volume adequately conveys that we are here because of the distinctive features of the ecology of Africa.Trade Review... the book is exceptionally well written, and very recommendable as a foundational introduction to modern Africa savanna ecology for a readership ranging from undergraduates to professional researchers in paleoanthropology.' Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, Evolutionary Anthropology'In Only in Africa Owen-Smith presents us with copious evidence of the complexity of interactions within and between species of plants, herbivores, and carnivores, coherently linking the trophic levels. He also makes a compelling case that the early stages of human evolution could only have happened in Africa. For those willing to accept that their knowledge of relevant contemporary African ecosystems and their critical role in human evolution could do with some updating and refreshing, Norman Owen-Smith's new book provides just the help they need. Its importance for paleoanthropology cannot be exaggerated.' Bernard Wood, Journal of Human Evolution'a cross-disciplinary textbook that provides a natural historian's overview of the ecology of Africa, with a gradually sharpening focus on the primates that originated there and evolved into modern humans … Owen-Smith provides a refreshing look at a continent in its entirety and all the life it has generated, facilitating a perspective quite different from the usual focus on only one particular aspect of that life … Highly recommended.' L. Swedell, Choice ConnectTable of ContentsPreface; Foreword; List of abbreviations; Part I. The physical cradle: Land forms, geology, climate, hydrology and soils: 1. High Africa: Eroding surfaces; 2. Climate: Rainfall seasonality; 3. Water in rivers, lakes and wetlands; 4. Bedrock geology: Volcanic influences; 5. Soils: Foundations of fertility; Part II. The savanna garden: Grassy vegetation and plant dynamics: 6. Forms of savannah; 7. How savanna trees and grasses grow and compete; 8. Plant demography and dynamics: Fire traps; 9. Paleo-savannas: Expanding grasslands; Part III. The big mammal menagerie: Herbivores, carnivores and their ecosystem impacts: 10. Niche distinctions: resources versus risks; 11. Big fierce carnivores: Hunting versus scavenging; 12. Herbivore abundance: Bottom-up and top-down; 13. How large herbivores transform savanna ecosystems; 14. Paleo-faunas: Rise and fall of the biggest grazers; Part IV. Evolutionary transitions: From primate ancestors to modern humans: 15. Primate predecessors: From trees to ground; 16. Primate ecology: From forests into savannas; 17. How an ape became a hunter; 18. Cultural evolution: From tools to art and genes; 19. Reticulate evolution through turbulent times; 20. Prospects for a lonely planet; Index.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisA NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEARAN OBSERVER BEST ART BOOK OF 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2022This is a wonderful book. A lyrical journey into the natural and unnatural world' Patti SmithEverything Philip Hoare writes is bewitching' Olivia LaingAn illuminating exploration of the intersection between life, art and the sea from the award-winning author of Leviathan. Albrecht Dürer changed the way we saw nature through art. From his prints in 1498 of the plague ridden Apocalypse the first works mass produced by any artist to his hyper-real images of animals and plants, his art was a revelation: it showed us who we are but it also foresaw our future. It is a vision that remains startlingly powerful and seductive, even now.In Albert & the Whale, Philip Hoare sets out to discover why Dürer''s art endures. He encounters medieval alchemists and modernist poets, eccentric emperors and queer soul rebels, ambassadorial whales and enigmatic pop artists. He witnesses the miraculous birth of Dürer''s fantastical rhinoceros and his hermaphroditic hare, and he traces the fate of the star-crossed leviathan that the artist pursued. And as the author swims from Europe to America and beyond, these prophetic artists and downed angels provoke awkward questions. What is natural or unnatural? Is art a fatal contract? Or does it in fact have the power to save us?Trade Review Praise for Albert and the Whale ‘In Albert & the Whale he leads his readers off on a marvellously varied, vividly imaginative, seductively digressive adventure that traces the path of another colossus…this is a book to immerse you’ The Times, Book of the Week, Rachel Campell-Johnston ‘Magnificent new book … Hoare’s feeling for Dürer exceeds anything I have ever read … his greatest work yet’ Observer, Book of the Week, Laura Cumming ‘Marvellous, unaccountable book. This is a book like the stomach of a whale: capaciously ready to accommodate whatever disparate stuff comes its way' Literary Review ‘Philip Hoare, best know for Leviathan, his discursive and personal book about whales, has written a very Sebaldian new book. In it, he traverses his own patch and sniffs out an assortment of seemingly unrelated themes – Albrecht Durer, cetaceans, Thomas Mann and David Bowie, a deformation of the hand, the death of his mother – and proceeds to reveal the single degree of separation between them… Enlightening’ Michael Prodger, Sunday Times ‘Visionary: a tone poem put together from the lives of others, with detailed use of archives’ Financial Times ‘Mr Hoare’s portrait glitters with arresting details … His readings of Dürer’s work grow woozy with enthusiasm, dissolving into a kind of modernist poetry. Readers who prefer their art history to have both feet on the ground might be unmoored; others will be intoxicated’ Economist ‘It’s a summary-defying blend of art history, biography, nature writing and memoir … you can feel the delight he takes in being unbound by anything but his enthusiasms. He is alternately precise and concealing. His biographical sections are both elliptical and redolent of entire lives. His art criticism is often stirring’ New York Times

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“In The Water Paradox, Prof. Barbier draws on evidence from countries across the globe to show the scale of the problem and outlines the policy and management solutions needed to avert this crisis.” —John Singleton, Methodist Recorder“The Water Paradox is, however, jargon-free and readable, brilliantly detailing both problems and remedies. I hark back to Barbier’s words on the fountains of Rome. To learn that 2017 was the first time in 2,000 years that these hydro-engineering marvels were turned off in response to drought provokes tears of sorrow and frustration. We know that it is happening. We do not act. That is the paradox.” —Margaret Catley-Carlson, Nature‘’Edward Barbier does a fabulous job educating the reader on the state of water in the world and on ways to address associated water-issues. While the book is written for a non-technical audience, it is essential reading for water professionals and policy makers.’’ – Ariel Dinar, Distinguished Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy at the University of California, Riverside. "Barbier is the go-to person on water and water scarcity. This is a comprehensive guide for anyone who cares about one of the most important issues in this century.” – Dieter Helm, Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford and author of Natural Capital: Valuing the Planet "clear and compelling... recommended reading for all interested in the pressing issue of water scarcity.” – Professor Anil Markandya, Former Scientific Director at the Basque Centre for Climate Change.

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Book SynopsisLive Green is a practical guide of 52 sustainable living changes – one for each week of the year – you can make to be more self-sufficient and reduce your impact on the environment.Many of us are already doing what we can to adopt a greener lifestyle. We recycle, try to reduce our waste and plastics, choose organic food when shopping, eat less meat and opt for environmentally friendly cleaning products. Yet we often wish we were doing more and it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Live Green tackles all areas of your life from your cleaning routine, home furnishings, food shopping, fashion choices, natural beauty and Christmas, and has all the ingredients to help you achieve a more sustainable year.From making your own eco-friendly cleaning products, buying vintage furniture, making your own moth repellent and improving your natural beauty regime to creating a capsule wardrobe and creating your own ethical Christmas decorations – discover how to get the most out of life by living with intention.Live simply. Live Green.

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Book SynopsisThere is growing recognition and awareness that nature can help provide viable solutions to reduce vulnerability and generate value deploying the properties of ecosystems and the services they provide. Investing in nature can lead to substantial environmental, social and economic benefits by reducing pollution, decreasing energy costs, improving health and well-being and increasing resilience to climate change and natural disasters. Nature-Based Solutions for More Sustainable Cities makes a clear case of performances, impacts, and benefits generated by NBS in cities providing a comprehensive framework approach to understand the real and full potential of NBS at the urban level taking into account several aspects, from design and planning to socio-economic evaluation and financial issues. Given the multifunctionality of NBS, the book collects contributions from several international experts ensuring the interaction between different disciplines contributing to enrich and to disseminate knowledge about NBS.Table of ContentsSECTION 1 - NBS IN THE URBAN CONTEXT Chapter 1. What are NBS? The potential of nature in cities; Cecil Konijnendijk Chapter 2. The contribution of NBS to urban resilience; Ryan Bartlett and Jeet Mistry Chapter 3. Nature contribution to health and well-being in cities; David Rojas Rueda Chapter 4. NBS for urban biodiversity; Sarah Clement Chapter 5. An ecosystem services-based approach to frame NBS in urban context; Alessandra La Notte and Grazia Zulian SECTION 2 - DESIGN AND PLANNING NBS AT URBAN SCALE Chapter 6. Renaturalization as a dimension of urban planning; Steffen Lehmann Chapter 7. Planning and designing NBS towards new co-existence models; Stefano Boeri, Maria Chiara Pastore, and Livia Shamir Chapter 8. Sustainability assessment of urban infrastructures; Adam Barker, Efren Feliú, Gemma Garcia-Blanco, Kornelia Kwiecinska and Blanca Pedrola Chapter 9. The role of nature in urban regeneration; Maria Beatrice Andreucci Chapter 10. Collaborative governance arrangements for co-creation of NBS; Bettina Wilk, Ina Säumel, and Daniela Rizzi SECTION 3 - THE EVALUATION OF NBS IN CITIES Chapter 11. An evaluation framework to assess multiple benefits of NBS: innovative approaches and KPIs; Raúl Sánchez Francés,Silvia Gómez Valle, Nuria García Rueda, Benedetta Lucchitta, and Edoardo Croci Chapter 12. Valuation methodologies of ecosystem services provided by NBS in urban areas; Benedetta Lucchitta and Edoardo Croci Chapter 13. Valuation of urban ecosystem services as NBS; Sarai Pouso and Erik Gómez-Baggethun Chapter 14. The social impacts of NBS: access to and accessibility of green spaces as a measure of social inclusiveness and environmental justice; Simone Borelli, Michela Conigliaro, and Fabio Salbitano SECTION 4 - POLICIES AND INSTRUMENTS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT OF NBS IN CITIES Chapter 15. The international policy framework for NBS: exploring the urban environmental stewardship; Ugo Guarnacci Chapter 16. Policy instruments to foster NBS implementation; Aldo Ravazzi Chapter 17. Financial instruments to create and maintain NBS; David Uzsoki, Liesbeth Casier, and Laurin Wuennenberg Chapter 18. The cost of nature: implementation, management and maintenance costs for NBS; Barbara Colaninno, Francesca Neonato, and Francesco Tomasinelli Chapter 19. Unlocking Nature’s Potential – NBS and Business; Hugo Rosa da Conceição and Helen Finlay SECTION 5 - NBS CASE STUDIES Chapter 20. Green Infrastructure Ruhr: urban regeneration through NBS; Michael Schwarze-Rodrian Chapter 21. The new frontiers of sustainable local development. A decade of growth, disruptions and infrastructure investments in the Paris Ile de France Region; Nicolas J.A. BUCHOUD and Carine Bernede Chapter 22. Beijing afforestation project; Wendy Y. Chen, Cheng Wang, and Jiali Jin Chapter 23. Environmental stewardship as community reclamation: the role of community land managers in New York city’s urban ecology; Lida Aljabar Chapter 24. Innovative Policies for Urban Rivers’ Restoration in Belo Horizonte; Leon Norking Rangel, Carlos Rigolo Lopes, and José A. Puppim de Oliveira Chapter 25. Collaborative governance arrangements for co-creation of NBS: a selection of global cases; Daniela Rizzi and Bettina Wilk

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Book Synopsis20 step-by-step eco-projects for budding preschool ecologists! Calling all mini eco-warriors and their parents! This fun and exciting book is filled with nature-themed eco-projects for kids. It''s a gentle introduction to topical issues in the world today, such as climate change, conservation, and recycling - ideal for curious kids who want to make a difference.Look, I''m an Ecologist allows young readers to do what they do best: imagine, create, learn, problem-solve, and play their way to a greener planet. Inside you''ll find: - A wide range of activities with an environmental focus supported by simple information, so young readers understand the issues faced by our planet in a play-based, hands-on, and child-friendly context - Easy to find and internationally available materials and resources- Projects designed to be shared and enjoyed by children and parents or carers- Visual step-by-step instructions allow young children t

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Book SynopsisHow do we find courage when climate change overwhelms us emotionally? In this magical, often funny and deeply moving true story, awardwinning science reporter Jonica Newby explores how to navigate the emotional turmoil of climate change. After researching what global warming will do to the snow country she loves, Newby plummeted into a state of profound climate grief. And if she was struggling, she wondered, how was everyone else coping? What should parents tell their anxious kids? How might we all live our best lives under the weight of this fearsome knowledge? Then reality outstripped imagination as her family was swept up in the apocalyptic 2020 fires. Featuring illuminating conversations with singer–songwriter Missy Higgins, comedians Charlie Pickering and Craig Reucassel and business leader Mike Cannon Brookes, practical advice from psychological and scientific experts, incredible accounts from everyday heroes, plus inspiring stories from the climate strike kids, Beyond Climate Grief provides guidance and emotional sustenance to help shore up courage for the uncertainties ahead. It reminds us of the love, beauty and wonder in the world, even amidst disaster. And how we all have a touch of epic hero inside.

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