Earth Sciences, Geography & Environment Books

Book SynopsisAn examination of ecofeminism, from cross-cultural and multidisciplinary perspectives. This book explores the real-life concerns that have motivated ecofeminism as a grassroots, women-initiated movement around the globe; the appropriateness of ecofeminism to research; and philosophical implications and underpinnings of the movement.Trade Review" ... provides readers with a much-needed cross-cultural and multidisciplinary perspective on ecofeminist activism and scholarship." Iris " ... a very important contribution to the literature on ecological feminism." Ethics "I think the unique collection of so many different perspectives will help to push readers out of their disciplinary views and work to bring theory and practice together in meaningful ways... an excellent resource for scholars and teachers ..." Teaching Philosophy

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Book SynopsisA new approach to environmental justice and its equitable distribution.Trade ReviewIn this excellent and balanced examination of the growth and future of the environmental justice movement, Rhodes (Indiana Univ. School of Public and Environmental Affairs) examines the background against which environmental justice issues are viewed. The roots of the environmental movement were in wilderness preservation, and even today, some environmental groups resist concerning themselves with what they regard as social policies and urban problems. Minorities had more pressing priorities. But now, a paradigm shift is occurring and the pivotal pioneering voices, such as Robert Bullard's, are being heard. Diversity in both membership and leadership of environmental groups is slowly increasing. Access to information about toxic waste facilities has improved, while the increase in pollution is now more visible. This book argues that the time has come when all the various factors have reached a critical mass. In the future, agencies must more explicitly address in their policies how actions and decisions about the environment will differentially affect increasingly segmented populations. The myth that minorities do not care about the environment is disappearing as communities become empowered by awareness and inclusion in decision-making processes. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels.July 2003 -- S. E. Wiegand * Saint Mary's College *Table of ContentsPreface and AcknowledgmentsPart I. The Dynamics of Environmental Justice1. Introduction2. Forms of Environmental Justice3. What Has Gone Before: Why Race Was Not on the Original Environmental Agenda4. The Evolution of Environmental Justice as a Policy Issue: A Movement Whose Time Has Come5. Misconceptions about Minority Attitudes toward Environmental Issues6. The EPA: An Agency with an AttitudePart II. Policy Analysis of Environmental Justice7. Environmental Justice through the Lens of Policy Analysis: Why Should Government Get Involved?8. The Measurement of Environmental Justice: Some Rules of Engagement9. A New Way of Looking at the Same Old Numbers: Using Data Envelopment Analysis to Evaluate Environmental QualityPart III. A Case, a Summary, and Some Conclusions10. A Case of Environmental Justice: The Disposal of Hazardous Material in Noxubee County, Mississippi11. Policy Directions and Recommendations12. Environmental Justice: A New Paradigm—A Time of ChangeAppendix A: Principles of Environmental JusticeNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisPractical, ecological, and philosophical grounds for a conservation ethicTrade ReviewIn this beautifully poetic set of meditations on conservation, Sanders issues a clarion call for reversing society's present path of ecological devastation and offers reflections on ways that individuals and society might provide better stewardship of the earth now and for future generations to come. . . . [His] eloquent book is a must-read for anyone committed to taking care of the natural world and passing it along to future generations. * ForeWord *Insightful essays . . . original and intriguing. . . . Sanders offers a 40-point Conservationist Manifesto, which, in its thoroughness, thoughtfulness and inclusion of environmental justice issues would serve the environmentalist community well. * Publishers Weekly *[Sanders] writes beautiful prose and never fails to stir our souls and imaginations. . . . In this awesome new book . . . Sanders outlines the practical, ecological, and ethical grounds for a conservation ethic. * Spirituality & Practice *This is a beautiful, right-minded, and reinforcing book for all who would be conservationists. . . . Scott Sanders gives us one of the most graceful tellings of our plight, with many examples of people protecting or restoring what counts. . . . We've never been more keenly in need of his loving manual for conserving what he calls 'the basic grammar of life.' * Orion Magazine *Sanders' style is full of the imagery and poetic prose of Aldo Leopold, the philosophic wanderings of Henry David Thoreau, and includes Wendell Berry's vital sense of place. A Conservationist Manifesto is sure to find its way on those treasured lists of must reads. * Indiana Living Green *A Conservationist Manifesto is a rich book and like a rich wine or rich dessert, it is meant to be savored. Sanders sees beyond the mass destruction of consumerism and prophetically calls us to the redemptive work of conserving creation and connecting deeply with our neighbors and the places in which we live. * Englewood Review of Books *In a world that focuses relentlessly on consumer culture, it's refreshing to read Scott Russell Sanders's plea for 'a new vision of the good life' in A Conservationist Manifesto. * Audubon *As an antidote to the destructive culture of consumption dominating American life today, this book calls for a culture of conservation that allows us to savor and preserve the world instead of devouring it. . . . [Its] main message is that conservation is not simply a personal virtue but a public one. * Abstracts of Public Administration, Development, and Environment *There are others writing about sustaining the planet and ourselves who should be read. . . . But there is something more to A Conservanist Manifesto. Sanders wirtes on a literary level that places him with Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, Wallace Stegner, Annie Dillard, and Wendell Berry—to name a few. * The Bloomsbury Review *Table of ContentsPrefacePart One: Caring for EarthBuilding ArksCommon WealthA Few Earthy WordsTwo StonesThe Warehouse and the WildernessPart Two: Caring for Our Home GroundThe Geography of SomewhereHometownOn Loan from the Sundance SeaBig Trees, Still Water, Tall GrassLimberlostPart Three: Caring for Generations to ComeWilderness as a Sabbath for the LandSimplicity and SanityStillnessA Conservationist ManifestoFor the ChildrenWords of ThanksFurther ReadingNotes

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Book SynopsisIntegrating environmental education throughout the curriculumTrade ReviewWhat makes Teaching Environmental Literacy noteworthy is its coherence and accessibility. . . . Providing useful overviews of topics such as ecosystem services, population, and sense of place, the authors focus on specific disciplines as well as cross-disciplinary topics. While not designed as a how-to guide, Teaching Environmental Literacy would serve well any institution seeking to implement revisions to the curriculum—or individuals looking to create or revise courses that foreground environmental literacy. T * Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment *This collection is an invaluable resource for developing integrated, campus-wide programs to prepare students to think critically about, and to work to create, a sustainable society. 2010 * Abstracts of Public Administration, Development, and Environment *Anyone reading this book will walk away with ideas for how to address the most critical issue of the 21st century in his or her classroom. For that reason, I recommend this book for a much larger audience than college and university faculty. Even educators who work with our youngest children will find fodder in this book for self-reflection about what, why, and how to teach. I recommend it for teachers of all stripes who work to promote a sustainable future for our children.July 2011 * National Science Teachers Association *[This] book is well written, engaging, thought provoking, and refreshingly free of errors. A particularly detailed and effective index is provided, as is an appendix. The volume is both inspirational and functional. August 2011, Vol. 61 No. 8 * BioScience *Teaching Environmental Literacy would serve well any institution seeking to implement revisions to the curriculum- or individuals looking to create or revise courses that foreground environmental literacy. October 19, 2011 -- Annie Merrill Ingram * Davidson College *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Rationale for Teaching Environmental Literacy in Higher Education / Heather L. Reynolds, Eduardo S. Brondizio, Jennifer Meta Robinson, Doug Karpa, and Briana L. GrossPart 1. A Model for Grassroots, Multidisciplinary Faculty Inquiry Jennifer Meta Robinson and Heather L. ReynoldsPart 2. Core Learning Goals for Campus-wide Environmental Literacy Overview / Heather L. Reynolds (Biology) 1. At the Forest's Edge: A Place-Based Approach to Teaching Ecosystem Services / Keith M. Vogelsang and Eric J. Baack (Biology) 2. Population, Energy, and Sustainability / Bennet B. Brabson (Physics) 3. Population, Consumption, and Environment / Emilio F. Moran (Anthropology) 4. Economics and Sustainability / Christine Glaser (Economics) 5. A Sense of Place / Scott Russell Sanders (English) 6. Environmental Justice and a Sense of Place / John Applegate (Law) 7. Environmental Literacy and the Lifelong Cultivation of Wonder / Lisa H. Sideris (Religious Studies) 8. Teaching Environmental Communication Through Rhetorical Controversy / Phaedra C. Pezzullo (Communication and Culture)Part 3. Strategies for Teaching Environmental Literacy: Beyond the Traditional Classroom Overview / Doug Karpa (Campus Instructional Consulting) 9. Effective Education for Environmental Literacy / Craig E. Nelson (Biology) 10. Learning in Place: The Campus as Ecosystem / James H. Capshew (History and Philosophy of Science) 11. Environmental Literacy and Service-Learning: A Multi-Text Rendering / Nicole Schonemann, Andrew Libby, and Claire King (Office of Service-Learning) 12. Sense of Place and the Physical Senses in Outdoor Environmental Learning / Matthew R. Auer (Public and Environmental Affairs and Hutton Honors College) 13. A Natural Environment for Environmental Literacy / Keith Clay (Biology) 14. Teaching Outdoors / Vicky J. Meretsky (Public and Environmental Affairs)Part 4. Beyond Courses: Teaching Environmental Literacy Across Campus and Across the Curriculum Overview / Jennifer Meta Robinson (Communication and Culture) 15. Environmental Literacy and the Curriculum—An Administrative Perspective / Catherine Larson (Spanish and Portuguese) 16. Faculty, Staff, and Student Partnerships for Environmental Literacy and Sustainability / Briana L. Gross (Biology) 17. Food for Thought: A Multidisciplinary Faculty Grassroots Initiative for Sustainability and Service-Learning / Whitney Schlegel (Human Biology), Heather L. Reynolds (Biology), Victoria M. Getty (Health, Physical Education, and Recreation), Diane Henshel (Public and Environmental Affairs), and James W. Reidhaar (Fine Arts)Conclusion / Eduardo S. Brondizio (Anthropology)AppendixContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisHow gaps in global governance impact the world's most challenging problemsTrade ReviewGlobal Governance and the UN will satisfy those who seek a serious grappling with the ethical aspects of international action to address the world's most pressing challenges. The book argues that the UN's evolution is an "unfinished journey": . . . global governance will continue to evolve, with the UN at the center, in the wake of each global crisis. dec 2011 * Ethics and International Affairs *Weiss and Thakur have managed to perform the difficult trick of producing a work that can function as textbook, scholarly reference, policy guide, and popular reading. . . . Recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsContentsList of Boxes, Tables, and FiguresSeries Editors' Foreword Louis Emmerij, Richard Jolly, and Thomas G. WeissForeword John Gerard RuggieAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroduction: The Problématique of Global Governance1. Tracing the Origins of an Idea and the UN's ContributionPart 1. International Security2. The Use of Force: War, Collective Security, and Peace Operations3. Arms Control and Disarmament4. TerrorismPart 2. Development5. Trade, Aid, and Finance6. Sustainable Development7. Saving the Environment: The Ozone Layer and Climate ChangePart 3. Human Rights8. Generations of Rights9. Protecting against Pandemics10. The Responsibility to ProtectNotesIndexAbout the AuthorsAbout the United Nations Intellectual History Project

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Book SynopsisA guide to management of the critical environmental issues on global agenda. It sketches the role played by organizations and individuals in the UN system in developing and consolidating principles of international law and international governance with respect to natural resource management.Trade Review'[T]his book is about the United Nations and global resources management, in particular the maintenance of the natural adaptability of ecosystems and the sustainable use of natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind.'August 2013 * Netherlands Intnl Law Review *Table of ContentsList of Figures and TablesSeries Editors' Foreword / Louis Emmerij, Richard Jolly, and Thomas G. WeissForeword / James CrawfordForeword / Supachai PanitchpakdiAcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction: Concepts and Principles1. Historical Background: Formative Phases of International Organization during the Pre–UN Period2. UN Involvement with Natural Resource Management at the National and Transboundary Levels3. Management of the Global Commons4. The International Architecture for Environmental Governance and Global Resource Management5. Natural Resources and Armed Conflict6. The Role of the International Court of Justice in the Settlement of Natural Resource Disputes7. The UN's Conceptual Contribution: Conclusions and ChallengesNotesIndexAbout the AuthorAbout the United Nations Intellectual History Project

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Book SynopsisThe people of Quirpini, a rural community in the Bolivian Andes, are in constant motion. They visit each other's houses, work in their fields, go to nearby towns for school, market, or official transactions, and travel to Buenos Aires for wage labour. This work argues that by their travels, they play a role in shaping the places they move through.Trade Review... an important contribution to the existing bibliography on the politics of movement.May 4, 2011 * Journal of Folklore Research *[O]ffers a nuanced portrait of life in rural Chuquisaca during the 1990s, which sheds light on the dynamic and multi-scalar processes that go into the making of a place. The book contributes to the . . . literature on the social construction of place . . . .Oct. 2013 * Bulletin of Latin American Research *[A] groundbreaking book . . . Rockefeller's in-depth descriptions and theoretically savvy analysis guide the reader through the process by which space and place [are] constituted.79.1 2014 * Rural Sociology *Starting from Quirpini is a beautifully crafted, accomplished text that is essential reading for those interested in migration, transnationalism, Andean ethnography, and the anthropology of space. * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *[T]his is an important book that should be widely read by scholars of the Andes and of migration, as well as those interested in the construction of places and borders. * American Anthropologist *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPart 1. Inscriptions Introduction: Disorientations 1. Places and History in and about QuirpiniPart 2. Facets of a Place 2. Bicycles and Houses 3. The Geography of Planting Corn 4. Carnival and the Spatial Practice of CommunityPart 3. From Quirpini 5. Ethnic Politics and the Control of Movement 6. Placing Bolivia in Quirpini: Civic Ritual and the Power of Context 7. Where Do You Go When You Go to Buenos Aires?Conclusion: Coming Back to QuirpiniGlossaryNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisApplying the analytical tools of GIS to new fields of researchTrade ReviewThe first attempt to tackle the issue of the humanities as an epistemic unit head-on, and to consider what the use of GIS . . . can bring to them. . . . The technical quality of the chapters is uniformly high: side-by-side they form a wide-ranging account, admirable in its ambition and scope, and authored by contributors who are recognized experts in their fields. The documentation and footnoting are exemplary, and the reader new to the field will find the further reading sections at the end extremely valuable. * Literary and Linguistic Computing *Table of ContentsIntroduction1. Turning toward Place, Space, and Time / Edward L. Ayers2. The Potential of Spatial Humanities / David J. Bodenhamer3. Geographic Information Science and Spatial Analysis for the Humanities / Karen K. Kemp4. Exploiting Time and Space: A Challenge for GIS in the Digital Humanities / Ian Gregory5. Qualitative GIS and Emergent Semantics / John Corrigan6. Representations of Space and Place in the Humanities / Gary Lock7. Mapping Text / May Yuan8. The Geospatial Semantic Web, Pareto GIS, and the Humanities / Trevor M. Harris, L. Jesse Rouse, and Susan Bergeron9. GIS, e-Science, and the Humanities Grid / Paul S. Ell10. Challenges for the Spatial Humanities: Toward a Research Agenda / Trevor M. Harris, John Corrigan, and David J. BodenhamerSuggestions for Further ReadingList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisSpace, governance, and ethnic conflict in contested citiesTrade ReviewThis book offers valuable interdisciplinary perspectives on the nature of identity conflicts and governance, and their impacts upon the urban condition. This book is an insightful read for the urbanist, sociologist, political geographer, and historian alike—or anyone for that matter who is searching for a deeper understanding of the complexities of identities and their relations with networks of sovereignty. * Contemporary Sociology *Table of ContentsPreface and AcknowledgmentsA Note on DatesIntroduction: Cities and Sovereignty: Identity Conflicts in the Urban Realm / Diane E. Davis and Nora Libertun de DurenPart 1. Modes of Sovereignty, Urban Governance, and the City 1. Jerusalem at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century: Spatial Continuity and Social Fragmentation / Nora Libertun de Duren 2. Imperial Nationhood and Its Impact on Colonial Cities: Issues of Intergroup Peace and Conflict in Pondicherry and Vietnam / Anne Raffin 3. Confessionalism and Public Space in Ottoman and Colonial Jerusalem / Salim TamariPart 2. Scales of Sovereignty and the Remaking of Urban and National Space 4. Sovereignty, Nationalism, and Globalization in Bilbao and the Basque Country / Gerardo del Cerro Santamaría 5. Contesting the Legitimacy of Urban Restructuring and Highways in Beirut's Irregular Settlements / Agnès Deboulet and Mona Fawaz 6. Urban Locational Policies and the Geographies of Post-Keynesian Statehood in Western Europe / Neil BrennerPart 3. Sovereignty, Representation, and the Urban Built Environment 7. Iconic Architecture and Urban, National, and Global Identities / Leslie Sklair 8. The Temptations of Nationalism in Modern Capital Cities / Lawrence J. Vale 9. Hurvat haMidrash—The Ruin of the Oracle: Louis Kahn's Influence on the Reconstruction of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem / Eric OrozcoConclusion: Theoretical and Empirical Reflections on Cities, Sovereignty, Identity, and Conflict / Diane E. DavisList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisDiscoveries of ancient vertebrates are eroding the traditionally recognized differences between the principal groups of vertebrates and radically changing our understanding of the evolutionary history of the major group of animals to which our species belongs. This book describes this changing scientific landscape.Trade ReviewMajor transitions present some of the most fascinating, and least understood, problems in the history of vertebrates. Indeed, some biologists have devoted their careers to understanding the origins of birds from theropod dinosaurs and the transition from aquatic vertebrates to tetrapods. This edited volume offers updates on several landmark transitions in the evolution of vertebrates by an outstanding lineup of authors. The editors' introduction to the volume hints at some evolutionary developmental biology ("evo-devo") content but, with the possible exception of one of the ten chapters, this book is decidedly aimed at paleontologists. The volume begins with a thorough and lavishly cited review of vertebrate skeletal tissue types, and subsequent chapters primarily address the origins of major lineages through phylogenetic systematics and comparative morphology. These chapters include treatments of: the earliest vertebrates; jawed vertebrates and the innovation of paired appendages; evolutionary relationships of modern amphibians; the origins of amniotes, snakes, and birds; evolutionary radiations of early mammals; and the aquatic transition of cetaceans. An additional chapter offers a new conceptual framework to analyze links between developmental and morphological transformations, and will be especially interesting to students of limb development. Notably, some of these chapters challenge previous assumptions about the concurrent appearance of suites of traits, such as large eyes, jaws, teeth, a stomach, and paired fins in gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates). In this and other cases, new fossil data contradict long-standing interpretations that such structures evolved in concert and were originally functionally integrated. A standout among the ten chapters is Michael Caldwell's contribution on the evolution of snakes. He includes an intriguing review of the history of snake paleontology and systematics, and seamlessly incorporates developmental data into his discussion of evolutionary morphology. In summary, Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution presents thorough and much-needed updates on several critical episodes in vertebrate history. Paleontologists and systematists will appreciate the depth of morphological and phylogenetic analyses, although the density of some chapters might challenge the stamina of even specialist readers. Biologists in other fields (for example, evolutionary developmental biology) will likely find many parts of the book less approachable. —The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol 83 Michael D. Shapiro, Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UtahIn this day of virulent creationist assaults on science, especially paleontology and evolutionary biology, it is valuable to have an up-to-date summary and synthesis of the important transitions in vertebrate evolution whose very existence the creationists must deny. Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution, edited by Jason S. Anderson and Hans-Dieter Sues, has its origins in a symposium at the 2003 Society of Verte- brate Paleontology meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota. Thus, unsurprisingly, it is a fairly technical volume aimed at the specialist audience, and assumes a fairly strong background in vertebrate paleontology, anatomy, and embryology. However, for those who have the training to understand the chapters, it is one of the most complete and current summaries of the topics discussed in the volume. Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution is beautifully produced, with numerous color plates in the center, and typographical errors or problems in the reproduction of the halftones were very nearly absent. The volume is complete and up-to-date on the transitions within the vertebrates, although it does not give a complete picture because it focuses on the lower vertebrates. In particular, many more well-documented examples exist of transitional fossils in the synapsids, and especially within the placental mammals. These would have been nice to include in a complete volume, but at 422 pages of dense, technical text, it was probably too much to ask that this volume be comprehensive. However, any scientist who wants to get a quick update on the current thinking about the transitions mentioned above would do well to consult the chapters in this book. -- Donald R. Prothero * BioScience *[This] book is a fine snapshot of current research on vertebrate macroevolution. 2010 No. 31 * The Systematist *. . . This book is an outstanding contribution to evolutionary biology and paleontology. . . . Essential. * Choice *. . . this is a useful volume – the individual chapters offer a combination of reviews and important new data that will interest an audience that should extend beyond vertebrate palaeontology to zoologists and evolutionary biologists.2009 -- Paul M. Barrett * Geological Magazine *...the volume as a whole offers a good deal more than just overviews of new fossils, namely a window into the contemporary Zeitgeist of vertebrate palaeontology itself... Major Transitions in Vertebrate Evolution reviews the rapidly growing knowledge in several of the most pertinent cases, and it also epitomises much that is good about the present state of the art.157 2009 -- T.S. Kemp * Zoological Jrnl Linnean Society *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Studying Evolutionary Transitions among Vertebrates Hans-Dieter Sues and Jason S. Anderson1. Plasticity of and Transitions between Skeletal Tissues in Vertebrate Evolution and Development Brian K. Hall and P. Eckard Witten2. Homologies and Evolutionary Transitions in Early Vertebrate History Philippe Janvier3. Paired Fins of Jawless Vertebrates and Their Homologies across the "Agnathan"-Gnathostome Transition Mark V. H. Wilson, Gavin F. Hanke, and Tiiu Märss4. MODEs of Developmental Evolution: An Example with the Origin and Definition of the Autopodium Hans C. E. Larsson5. Incorporating Ontogeny into the Matrix: A Phylogenetic Evaluation of Developmental Evidence for the Origin of Modern Amphibians Jason S. Anderson6. The Cranial Anatomy of Basal Diadectomorphs and the Origin of Amniotes Robert R. Reisz7. Snake Phylogeny, Origins, and Evolution: The Role, Impact, and Importance of Fossils (1869–2006) Michael W. Caldwell8. The Beginnings of Birds: Recent Discoveries, Ongoing Arguments, and New Directions Luis M. Chiappe and Gareth J. Dyke9. Successive Diversifications in Early Mammalian Evolution Zhe-Xi Luo10. The Terrestrial to Aquatic Transition in Cetacea Mark D. UhenContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisA wide-ranging volume of analytic and methodological essays on microvertebrate fossilsTrade ReviewVertebrate microfossil assemblages are collections of small, often-fragmented fossil remains, which usually contain a variety of taxa. Prior to the acceptance of taphonomy as part of mainstream paleontological studies, little attention was paid to microvertebrate fossil assemblages. Complete skeletons were far more popular as objects of study. Because of significant limitations in the collection and interpretation of information obtained from vertebrate microfossil assemblages, many researchers have expressed doubt as to the overall utility of microfossil-derived data. In large measure, this has been due to the lack of a standardized methodology for studying such sites. With recognition of the importance of microvertebrate assemblages to the study of paleobiology and evolution, methodology for studying such sites gradually evolved. Editors Sankey (California State Univ.) and Baszio (Univ. of Bonn, Germany) have divided this detailed work into two sections: "Importance of Microvertebrate Sites, Sampling, Statistical Methods, and Taphonomy" and "Guild Analysis, Ecological and Faunal Analysis, Biodiversity, and Paleobiogeopgraphy." In 13 well-referenced chapters, 17 authors present methodological approaches to the study of microfossil assemblages, results of several recent studies, and recommendations for future research. This book is sure to stimulate significant discussion among paleontologists and evolutionary biologists. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through research collections. -- D. A. Brass * Choice *. . . Here, the editors have brought together a fine collection of papers primarily addressing [vertebrate microfossil assemblages]. . . . I would say that anyone working in the Late Cretaceous of North America would do well to purchase a copy, as would those who work on some of the taxa detailed within (small theropods, frogs, etc.). Kudos to the editors and authors on this interesting contribution!September 11, 2008 -- Andy Farke * The Open Source Paleontologist *In 13 well-referenced chapters, 17 authors present methodological approaches to the study of microfossil assemblages, results of several recent studies, and recommendations for future research. This book is sure to stimulate significant discussion among paleontologists and evolutionary biologists. . . . Recommended.November 2008 -- D. A. Brass * independent scholar *Table of ContentsContentsPreface. Sven BaszioPart 1. Importance of Microvertebrate Sites, Sampling, Statistical Methods, and Taphonomy1. Information from Microvertebrate Localities: Potentials and Limits Sven Baszio2. How Much Is Enough? A Repeatable, Efficient, and Controlled Sampling Protocol for Assessing Taxonomic Diversity and Abundance in Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages Heather A. Jamniczky, Donald B. Brinkman, and Anthony P. Russell3. Taphonomic Issues Relating to Concentrations of Pedogenic Nodules and Vertebrates in the Paleocene and Miocene Gulf Coastal Plain: Examples from Texas and Louisiana, USA Judith A. Schiebout, Paul D. White, and Grant S. BoardmanPart 2. Guild Analysis, Ecological and Faunal Analyses, Biodiversity, and Paleobiogeography4. The Structure of Late Cretaceous (Late Campanian) Nonmarine Aquatic Communities: A Guild Analysis of Two Vertebrate Microfossil Localities in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada Donald Brinkman5. Vertebrate Paleoecology from Microsites, Talley Mountain, Upper Aguja Formation (Late Cretaceous), Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA Julia T. Sankey6. Terrestrial and Aquatic Vertebrate Paleocommunities of the Mesaverde Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Campanian) of the Wind River and Bighorn Basins, Wyoming, USADavid G. DeMar Jr. and Brent H. Breithaupt7. Lack of Variability in Feeding Patterns of the Sauropod Dinosaurs Diplodocus and Camarasaurus (Late Jurassic, Western USA) with Respect to Climate as Indicated by Tooth Wear Features Anthony R. Fiorillo8. Diversity of Latest Cretaceous (Late Maastrichtian) Small Theropods and Birds: Teeth from the Lance and Hell Creek Formations, USA Julia T. Sankey9. Small Theropod Teeth from the Lance Formation of Wyoming, USA Nick Longrich10. The First Serrated Bird Tooth Philip J. Currie and Clive Coy11. First Dinosaur Eggshells from Texas, USA: Aguja Formation (Late Campanian), Big Bend National Park Ed Welsh and Julia T. Sankey12. Review of the Albanerpetontidae (Lissamphibia), with Comments on the Paleoecological Preferences of European Tertiary Albanerpetontids James D. Gardner and Madelaine Böhme13. New Information on Frogs (Lissamphibia: Anura) from the Lance Formation (Late Maastrichtian) and Bug Creek Anthills (Late Maastrichtian and Early Paleocene), Hell Creek Formation, USA James D. GardnerList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisDeals with the iconic dinosaur Iguanodon and its worldTrade Review[T]here is much to be delved into here, and dinosaur scholars will be especially well served by a swathe of welcome reviews of some lesser-known Cretaceous localities, and unexpected gems . . . This book warrants a place on the shelf of researchers interested in terrestrial ecosystems, especially dinosaurs, and is a good addition to the ongoing Life of the Past series from Indiana University Press. * Quarterly Review of Biology *Although some of the chapters are more technical than others, the way in which [this book] is compiled offers a nice flow of information and can be used as a great reference for Early Cretaceous research. I would suggest this book to anyone who has not only an interest in vertebrate paleontology but also in geology. Well done! * Priscum *Table of ContentsPreface by David B. NormanPart 1. New Investigations into the Iguanodon Sinkhole at Bernissart and Other Early Cretaceous Localities in the Mons Basin (Belgium)1. Bernissart and the Iguanodons: Historical Perspective and New Investigations2. The Attempted Theft of Dinosaur Skeletons during the German Occupation of Belgium (1914–1918) and Some Other Cases of Looting Cultural Possessions of Natural History3. A Short Introduction to the Geology of the Mons Basin and the Iguanodon Sinkhole, Belgium4. 3D Modeling of the Paleozoic Top Surface in the Bernissart Area and Integration of Data from Boreholes Drilled in the Iguanodon Sinkhole5. The Karstic Phenomenon of the Iguanodon Sinkhole and the Geomorphological Situation of the Mons Basin during the Early Cretaceous6. Geodynamic and Tectonic Context of Early Cretaceous Iguanodon-Bearing Deposits in the Mons Basin 7. Biostratigraphy of the Cretaceous Sediments Overlying the Wealden Facies in the Iguanodon Sinkhole at Bernissart 8. On the Age of the Bernissart Iguanodons9. The Paleoenvironment of the Bernissart Iguanodons: Sedimentological Analysis of the Lower Cretaceous Wealden Facies in the Bernissart Area 10. Mesofossil Plant Remains from the Barremian of Hautrage (Mons Basin, Belgium), with Taphonomy, Paleoecology, and Paleoenvironment Insights 11. Diagenesis of the Fossil Bones of Iguanodon bernissartensis from the Iguanodon Sinkhole 12. Histological Assessment of Vertebrate Remains in the 2003 Bernissart Drill 13. Early Cretaceous Dinosaur Remains from Baudour (Belgium) 14. Geological Model and Cyclic Mass Mortality Scenarios for the Lower Cretaceous Bernissart Iguanodon Bonebeds Part 2. The Bernissart Iguanodons and Their Kin15. Iguanodontian Taxa from the Lower Cretaceous of England and Belgium16. The Brain of Iguanoian Taxa (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Lower Cretaceous of England and Belgium16. The Brain of Iguanodon and Mantellisaurus: Perspectives on Ornithopod Evolution17. Hypsilophodon foxii and Other Smaller Bipedal Ornithischian Dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous of Southern England18. The African Cousins of the European Iguanodontids 19. Anatomy and Relationships of Bolong yixianensis, an Early Cretaceous Iguanodontoid Dinosaur from Western Liaoning, China20. A New Basal Hadrosauroid Dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Kazakhstan Part 3. Early Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems In and Outside Europe21. Dinosaur Remains from the "Sables Verts" of the Eastern Paris Basin22. Dinosaur Faunas from the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian–Albian) of Spain23. New Early Cretaceous Multituberculate Mammals from the Iberian Peninsula24. Danish Dinosaurs: A Review25. The Age of Lycoptera Beds (Jehol Biota) in Transbaikalia (Russia) and Correlation with Mongolia and China26. A New Basal Ornithomimosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation, Northeast China 27. Australia's Polar Early Cretaceous Dinosaurs28. Assessment of the Potential for a Jehol Biota–like Cretaceous Polar Fossil Assemblage in ictoria, Australia 29. Freshwater Hybodont Sharks in Early Cretaceous Ecosystems: A Review Part 4. Cretaceous Vertebrate Faunas after the Bernissart Iguanodon30. The Late Cretaceous Continental Vertebrate Fauna from Iharkút: A Review31. First Discovery of Maastrichtian Terrestrial Vertebrates in Rusca Montană Basin32. First Late Maastrichtian Vertebrate Assemblage from Provence33. Reassessment of the Posterior Brain Region in Multituberculate Mammals Index

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Book SynopsisA leading economist develops a supply-side approach to fighting climate change that encourages resource owners to leave more of their fossil carbon underground.The Earth is getting warmer. Yet, as Hans-Werner Sinn points out in this provocative book, the dominant policy approach—which aims to curb consumption of fossil energy—has been ineffective. Despite policy makers' efforts to promote alternative energy, impose emission controls on cars, and enforce tough energy-efficiency standards for buildings, the relentlessly rising curve of CO2 output does not show the slightest downward turn. Some proposed solutions are downright harmful: cultivating crops to make biofuels not only contributes to global warming but also uses resources that should be devoted to feeding the world's hungry. In The Green Paradox, Sinn proposes a new, more pragmatic approach based not on regulating the demand for fossil fuels but on controlling the supply.The owners of carbon r

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Book SynopsisThe biological and philosophical implications of the emergence of new collective individuals from associations of living beings.Our intuitive assumption that only organisms are the real individuals in the natural world is at odds with developments in cell biology, ecology, genetics, evolutionary biology, and other fields. Although organisms have served for centuries as nature's paradigmatic individuals, science suggests that organisms are only one of the many ways in which the natural world could be organized. When living beings work together—as in ant colonies, beehives, and bacteria-metazoan symbiosis—new collective individuals can emerge. In this book, leading scholars consider the biological and philosophical implications of the emergence of these new collective individuals from associations of living beings. The topics they consider range from metaphysical issues to biological research on natural selection, sociobiology, and symbiosis.The contributors

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Book SynopsisA leading scientist argues that we must consider deploying climate engineering technology to slow the pace of global warming. Climate engineering—which could slow the pace of global warming by injecting reflective particles into the upper atmosphere—has emerged in recent years as an extremely controversial technology. And for good reason: it carries unknown risks and it may undermine commitments to conserving energy. Some critics also view it as an immoral human breach of the natural world. The latter objection, David Keith argues in A Scientist''s Case for Climate Engineering, is groundless; we have been using technology to alter our environment for years. But he agrees that there are large issues at stake. A leading scientist long concerned about climate change, Keith offers no naïve proposal for an easy fix to what is perhaps the most challenging question of our time; climate engineering is no silver bullet. But he argues that after decades during which very little progress has been made in reducing carbon emissions we must put this technology on the table and consider it responsibly. That doesn''t mean we will deploy it, and it doesn''t mean that we can abandon efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But we must understand fully what research needs to be done and how the technology might be designed and used. This book provides a clear and accessible overview of what the costs and risks might be, and how climate engineering might fit into a larger program for managing climate change.

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Book SynopsisThe relationship of texts and maps, and the mappability of literature, examined from Homer to Houellebecq.Literary authors have frequently called on elements of cartography to ground fictional space, to visualize sites, and to help readers get their bearings in the imaginative world of the text. Today, the convergence of digital mapping and globalization has spurred a cartographic turn in literature. This book gathers leading scholars to consider the relationship of literature and cartography. Generously illustrated with full-color maps and visualizations, it offers the first systematic overview of an emerging approach to the study of literature.The literary map is not merely an illustrative guide but represents a set of relations and tensions that raise questions about representation, fiction, and space. Is literature even mappable? In exploring the cartographic components of literature, the contributors have not only brought literary theory to bear on the map but hav

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive, coherent strategy for modernizing America's electricity infrastructure while ensuring affordable, reliable, secure, and environmentally sustainable electricity services.America's aging electricity infrastructure is deteriorating rapidly even as the need for highly reliable electric service—driven by the explosion of digital technology—continues to rise. Largely missing from national discussions, however, is a coherent, comprehensive national strategy for modernizing this critical infrastructure. Energy expert Mason Willrich presents just such a strategy in this book, connecting the dots across electric utilities, independent suppliers, government bureaucracies, political jurisdictions, and academic disciplines. He explains the need for a coherent approach, offers a framework for analyzing policy options, and proposes a step-by-step strategy for modernizing electrical infrastructure, end-to-end, in a way that ensures the delivery of affordable, rel

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Book SynopsisAn authoritative treatment of urban computing, offering an overview of the field, fundamental techniques, advanced models, and novel applications.Urban computing brings powerful computational techniques to bear on such urban challenges as pollution, energy consumption, and traffic congestion. Using today''s large-scale computing infrastructure and data gathered from sensing technologies, urban computing combines computer science with urban planning, transportation, environmental science, sociology, and other areas of urban studies, tackling specific problems with concrete methodologies in a data-centric computing framework. This authoritative treatment of urban computing offers an overview of the field, fundamental techniques, advanced models, and novel applications.Each chapter acts as a tutorial that introduces readers to an important aspect of urban computing, with references to relevant research. The book outlines key concepts, sources of data, and typical applicat

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Book SynopsisAn argument for the centrality of the visual culture of waste—as seen in works by international contemporary artists—to the study of our ecological condition.Ecological crisis has driven contemporary artists to engage with waste in its most non-biodegradable forms: plastics, e-waste, toxic waste, garbage hermetically sealed in landfills. In this provocative and original book, Amanda Boetzkes links the increasing visualization of waste in contemporary art to the rise of the global oil economy and the emergence of ecological thinking. Often, when art is analyzed in relation to the political, scientific, or ecological climate, it is considered merely illustrative. Boetzkes argues that art is constitutive of an ecological consciousness, not simply an extension of it. The visual culture of waste is central to the study of the ecological condition. Boetzkes examines a series of works by an international roster of celebrated artists, including Thomas Hirschhorn, F

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Book SynopsisTracing two centuries of rise, fall, and rebirth in the heart of downtown Detroit.Downtown Detroit is in the midst of an astonishing rebirth. Its sidewalks have become a dreamland for an aspiring creative class, filled with shoppers, office workers, and restaurant-goers. Cranes dot the skyline, replacing the wrecking balls seen there only a few years ago. But venture a few blocks in any direction and this liveliness gives way to urban blight, a nightmare cityscape of crumbling concrete, barbed wire, and debris. In Dream City, urban designer Conrad Kickert examines the paradoxes of Detroit's landscape of extremes, arguing that the current reinvention of downtown is the expression of two centuries of Detroiters' conflicting hopes and dreams. Kickert demonstrates the materialization of these dreams with a series of detailed original morphological maps that trace downtown's rise, fall, and rebirth.Kickert writes that downtown Detroit has always been different from o

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Book SynopsisInvestigating the entanglement of industry, politics, culture, and economics at the frontier of ocean excavations through an innovative union of art and science.The oceans are crucial to the planet's well-being. They help regulate the global carbon cycle, support the resilience of ecosystems, and provide livelihoods for communities. The oceans as guardians of planetary health are threatened by many forces, including growing extractivist practices. Through the innovative lens of artistic research, Prospecting Ocean investigates the entanglement of industry, politics, culture, and economics at the frontier of ocean excavation. The result is a richly illustrated study that unites science and art to examine the ecological, cultural, philosophical, and aesthetic reverberations of this current threat to the oceans.Prospecting Oceans takes as its starting point an exhibition by the photographer and filmmaker Armin Linke, which was commissioned by TBA21-Academy, London,

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Book SynopsisSouvenirs of the planet: Ten (and a half) life forms, each of which explains a key aspect of life on Earth.If an alien visitor were to collect ten souvenir life forms to represent life on earth, which would they be? This is the thought-provoking premise of Marianne Taylor's The Story of Life in 10 and a Half Species. Each life forms explains a key aspect about life on Earth. From the sponge that seems to be a plant but is really an animal to the almost extinct soft-shelled turtle deemed extremely unique and therefore extremely precious, these examples reveal how life itself is arranged across time and space, and how humanity increasingly dominates that vision. Taylor, a prolific science writer, considers the chemistry of a green plant and ponders the possibility of life beyond our world; investigates the virus in an attempt to determine what a life form is; and wonders if the human—“a distinct and very dominant species with an inevitably biased view

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Book SynopsisFollowing the trails of Hawai‘i’s snails to explore the simultaneously biological and cultural significance of extinction.In this time of extinctions, the humble snail rarely gets a mention. And yet snails are disappearing faster than any other species. In A World in a Shell, Thom van Dooren offers a collection of snail stories from Hawai‘i—once home to more than 750 species of land snails, almost two-thirds of which are now gone. Following snail trails through forests, laboratories, museums, and even a military training facility, and meeting with scientists and Native Hawaiians, van Dooren explores ongoing processes of ecological and cultural loss as they are woven through with possibilities for hope, care, mourning, and resilience. Van Dooren recounts the fascinating history of snail decline in the Hawaiian Islands: from deforestation for agriculture, timber, and more, through the nineteenth century shell collecting mania of

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Book SynopsisThe unexpected diversity, beauty, and strangeness of life in ancient lakes?some millions of years old?and the remarkable insights the lakes are yielding about the causes of biodiversity.Most lakes are less than 10,000 years old and short-lived, but there is a much smaller number of ancient lakes, tectonic in origin and often millions of years old, that are scattered across every continent but Antarctica: Baikal, Tanganyika, Victoria, Titicaca, and Biwa, to name a few. Often these lakes are filled with a diversity of fish, crustaceans, snails, and other creatures found nowhere else in the world. In Our Ancient Lakes, Jeffrey McKinnon introduces the remarkable living diversity of these aquatic bodies to the general reader and explains the surprising, often controversial, findings that the study of their faunas is yielding about the formation and persistence of species.The first single-authored volume to synthesize studies of ancient lakes, Our Ancient Lakes provides an overview of the lakes and their distinctive geological origins; accounts of the evolutionary processes that have generated the incredible diversity found in the lakes and produced some of the fastest speciation rates known for vertebrates; the surprisingly important role of interspecies mating in the most rapid diversifications; the uniquely complete records of the creatures that inhabited the lakes, which are being extracted from deep lake sediments; the prospects for the lakes as we tumble into the Anthropocene; and much more.Shining a light on a class of biodiversity hot spot that is equivalent to coral reefs in the ocean or tropical rainforests on land, Our Ancient Lakes chronicles in a refreshingly personal and accessible way the often singular wonders of these venerable water bodies.The MIT Press gratefully acknowledges Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

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Book SynopsisThe illuminating evolution of the iconic space of Times Square.What is it about Times Square that has inspired such attention for well over a century? And how is it that, despite its many changes of character, the place has maintained a unique hold on our collective imagination? In this book, which comes twenty years after her widely acclaimed Times Square Roulette, Lynne Sagalyn masterfully tells the story of profound urban change over decades in the symbolic space that is New York City’s Times Square. Drawing on the history, sociology, and political economy of the place, Times Square Remade examines how the public-private transformation of 42nd Street at Times Square impacted the entertainment district and adjacent neighborhoods, particularly Hell’s Kitchen.Sagalyn chronicles the earliest halcyon days of 42nd Street and Times Square as the nexus of speculation and competitive theater building as well as its darkest days as vice central, and on to the years of aggressive government intervention to cleanse West 42nd Street of pornography and crime. Thematically, the author analyzes the three main forces that have shaped and reshaped Times Square—theater, real estate, and pornography—and explains the politics and economics of what got built and what has been restored or preserved.Accompanied by nearly 160 images, more than half in color, Times Square Remade is a deftly woven narrative of urban transformation that will appeal as much to the general reader and New York City enthusiast as to urbanists, city planners, architects, urban designers, and policymakers.

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking chronicle of scientific ocean drilling—a crowning achievement of the twentieth century—and how it shaped our knowledge of Earth's past.Under the radar—or, rather, sonar—of most people and many scientists, for the last six decades ships have plied the world’s oceans, mining the seafloor for its secrets—and quietly resolving confounding geological mysteries. Continental drift and plate tectonics. The origin of the Hawaiʻian Islands. The erstwhile disappearance of the Mediterranean. The mystery of the ice ages. All are part of the story told by deep-sea drilling—and chapters in the history that unfolds in Mysteries of the Deep. In a series of vignettes ranging from the voyage of the HMS Challenger in the 1870s to the adventures of research ship Chikyū in the 2020s, James Powell recounts the surprises the seafloor has yielded to the probing of scientists.With a global, sometimes

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Book SynopsisFrom the U.S. lead negotiator on climate change, an inside account of the seven-year negotiation that culminated in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015?and where the international climate effort needs to go from here.The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change was one of the most difficult and hopeful achievements of the twenty-first century: 195 nations finally agreed, after 20 years of trying, to establish an ambitious, operational regime to address one of the greatest civilizational challenges of our time. In Landing the Paris Climate Agreement, Todd Stern, the chief US negotiator on climate change, provides an engaging account from inside the rooms where it happened: the full, charged, seven-year story of how the Paris Agreement came to be, following an arc from Copenhagen, to Durban, to the secret U.S.-China climate deal in 2014, to Paris itself. With a storyteller?s gift for character, suspense, and detail, Stern crafts a high-stakes narrative that illuminates the strategy, policy, politics, and diplomacy that made Paris possible. Introducing readers to a vivid cast of characters, including Xie Zenhua, Vice Minister of China?s National Development and Reform Commission, Bo Lidegaard, chief strategist for Denmark?s Prime Minster, and Indian minister Jairam Ramesh, Stern, who worked alongside President Barack Obama and Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, depicts the pitfalls and challenges overcome, the shifting alliances, the last-minute maneuvering, and the ultimate historic success. The book concludes with a final chapter that describes key developments since 2015 and the author?s reflections on what needs to be done going forward to contain the climate threat.A unique peek behind the curtain of one of the most important international agreements of our time, Landing the Paris Climate Agreement is a vital and fascinating read for anyone who cares about the future of our one shared home.

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Book SynopsisHow innovation hotspots for the world s aging population may prove to be of vital economic and strategic importance in the years ahead.

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Book SynopsisShows how to combine the forces of ecological science and participatory democracy to design urban landscapes that enable us to act as communities, are resilient rather than imperiled, and touch our hearts.Over the last fifty years, the process of community building has been lost in the process of city building. City and suburban design divides us from others in our communities, destroys natural habitats, and fails to provide a joyful context for our lives. In Design for Ecological Democracy, Randolph Hester proposes a remedy for our urban anomie. He outlines new principles for urban design that will allow us to forge connections with our fellow citizens and our natural environment. He demonstrates these principles with abundantly illustrated examples—drawn from forty years of design and planning practice—showing how we can design cities that are ecologically resilient, that enhance community, and that give us pleasure. Hester argues that it is only b

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Book SynopsisA new edition of a book that takes a comprehensive look at the ways economic processes affect global environmental outcomes. This comprehensive and accessible book fills the need for a political economy view of global environmental politics, focusing on the ways international economic processes affect environmental outcomes. It examines the main actors and forces shaping global environmental management, particularly in the developing world. Moving beyond the usual emphasis on international agreements and institutions, it strives to capture not only academic theoretical debates but also views on politics, economics, and the environment within the halls of global conferences, on the streets during antiglobalization protests, and in the boardrooms of international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and industry associations. The book maps out an original typology of four contrasting worldviews of environmental change—those of market liberals, institutionalists, bioen

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Book SynopsisAn examination of political conflicts over pesticide drift and the differing conceptions of justice held by industry, regulators, and activists.The widespread but virtually invisible problem of pesticide drift—the airborne movement of agricultural pesticides into residential areas—has fueled grassroots activism from Maine to Hawaii. Pesticide drift accidents have terrified and sickened many living in the country's most marginalized and vulnerable communities. In this book, Jill Lindsey Harrison considers political conflicts over pesticide drift in California, using them to illuminate the broader problem and its potential solutions. The fact that pesticide pollution and illnesses associated with it disproportionately affect the poor and the powerless raises questions of environmental justice (and political injustice). Despite California's impressive record of environmental protection, massive pesticide regulatory apparatus, and booming organic farming indust

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Book SynopsisReadings that point the way to a peaceful, democratic, and ecologically resilient transition to an era of localization, limits, and societal opportunities.Energy supplies are tightening. Persistent pollutants are accumulating. Food security is declining. There is no going back to the days of reckless consumption, but there is a possibility—already being realized in communities across North America and around the world—of localizing, of living well as we learn to live well within immutable constraints. This book maps the transition to a more localized world.Society is shifting from the centrifugal forces of globalization (cheap and abundant raw materials and energy, intensive commercialization, concentrated economic and political power) to the centripetal forces of localization: distributed authority and leadership, sustainable use of nearby natural resources, community self-reliance and cohesion (with crucial regional, national, and international dimensions

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Book SynopsisWalter Benjamin's magnum opus was a book he did not live to write. In The Dialectics of Seeing, Susan Buck-Morss offers an inventive reconstruction of the Passagen Werk, or Arcades Project, as it might have taken form. Working with Benjamin's vast files of citations and commentary which contain a myriad of historical details from the dawn of consumer culture, Buck-Morss makes visible the conceptual structure that gives these fragments philosophical coherence. She uses images throughout the book to demonstrate that Benjamin took the debris of mass culture seriously as the source of philosophical truth. The Paris Arcades that so fascinated Benjamin (as they did the Surrealists whose materialist metaphysics he admired) were the prototype, the 19th century ur-form of the modern shopping mall. Benjamin's dialectics of seeing demonstrate how to read these consumer dream houses and so many other material objects of the time—from air balloons to women's fashions, from Baude

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Book SynopsisHow Canada became an empire in its own right and how Canadian life came to be mediated through mineral extraction.Extraction is the process and practice that defines Canada, at home and abroad. Of the nearly 20,000 mining projects in the world from Africa to Latin America, more than half are Canadian operated. Not only does the mining economy employ close to 400,000 people in Canada, it contributed $57 billion CAD to Canada's GDP in 2014 alone. Globally, more than 75 percent of the world's mining firms are based in Canada. The scale of these statistics naturally extends the logic of Canada's historical legacy as state, nation, and now as global resource empire. Canada, once a far-flung northern outpost of the British Empire, has become an empire in its own right. This book examines both the historic and contemporary Canadian culture of extraction, with essays, interviews, archival material, and multimedia visualizations. The essayists and interviewees—who include

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Book SynopsisA concise overview of this multidisciplinary field, presenting key concepts, central issues, and current research, along with concrete examples and case studies.The emergence of the environmental humanities as an academic discipline early in the twenty-first century reflects the growing conviction that environmental problems cannot be solved by science and technology alone. This book offers a concise overview of this new multidisciplinary field, presenting concepts, issues, current research, concrete examples, and case studies. Robert Emmett and David Nye show how humanists, by offering constructive knowledge as well as negative critique, can improve our understanding of such environmental problems as global warming, species extinction, and over-consumption of the earth's resources. They trace the genealogy of environmental humanities from European, Australian, and American initiatives, also showing its cross-pollination by postcolonial and feminist theories. Emmett an

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