Earth Sciences, Geography & Environment Books

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Book SynopsisAn invaluable guide to designing housing for children and young people, demonstrating why they must be listened to when building communities.

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.''I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.''Shipwrecked on the high seas, Lemuel Gulliver finds himself washed up on the strange island of Lilliput, a land inhabited by quarrelsome miniature people. On his travels he continues to meet others who force him to reflect on human behaviour the giants of Brobdingnag, the Houyhnhnms and the Yahoos. In this scathing satire on the politics and morals of the 18th Century, Swift''s condemnation of society and its institutions still resonates today.

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Book SynopsisHow does our economic system impact the way we live? Does it really affect what we truly care about? Oxford economist E. F. Schumacher provides an enlightening study of our economic system and its purpose, challenging the current state of excessive consumption in our society. Offering a crucial message for the modern world struggling to balance economic growth with the human costs of globalisation, Small Is Beautiful puts forward the revolutionary yet viable case for building our economies around the needs of communities, not corporations. One of the 100 most influential books published since World War II' The Times Literary SupplementTrade ReviewA book of heart and hope and downright common sense about the future. -- Peter Lewis * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisDr Paulina Rowinska has a PhD in Mathematics of Planet Earth from Imperial College London. Her 2017 TEDx talk Let's Have a Maths Party!' explained that maths is all around us. Thanks to her science communication activities, in 2019 she received the Imperial College President's Award for Excellence in Societal Engagement. Today, she creates interactive content for a leading innovative educational company, Brilliant. Mapmatics is her first book.

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Book SynopsisA source book for American culture in the 1960s and 1970s: “suggested reading” from the Last Whole Earth Catalog, from Thoreau to James Baldwin.The Whole Earth Catalog was a cultural touchstone of the 1960s and 1970s. The iconic cover image of the Earth viewed from space made it one of the most recognizable books on bookstore shelves. Between 1968 and 1971, almost two million copies of its various editions were sold, and not just to commune-dwellers and hippies. Millions of mainstream readers turned to the Whole Earth Catalog for practical advice and intellectual stimulation, finding everything from a review of Buckminster Fuller to recommendations for juicers. This book offers selections from eighty texts from the nearly 1,000 items of “suggested reading” in the Last Whole Earth Catalog.After an introduction that provides background information on the catalog and its founder, Stewart Brand (interesting fact: Brand go

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Book SynopsisGerald Durrell, director and owner of Jersey Zoo, was internationally famous for his amusing books about collecting wild animals. The Overloaded Ark, his first, remains his funniest book. It describes an expedition to the remote territory of the Cameroons in West Africa, before independence.''A delightful book . . . You can feel his bush-shirt sticking to his back . . . Bagging a monitor, smoking out a Pangolin (scaly anteater), celebrating the capture of the rare Angwantibo (small lemur), bird liming for Giant Kingfishers on the warm, milky waters of Lake Soden: he communicates every detail of his experiences with just the right degree of zest.'' New Statesman

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Book SynopsisLong before GPS and Google Earth, humans traveled vast distances using environmental clues and simple instruments. What is lost when technology substitutes for our innate capacity to find our way? Illustrated with 200 drawings, this narrative—part treatise, part travelogue, and part navigational history—brings our own world into sharper view.Trade ReviewOne of the repeated themes of The Lost Art of Finding Our Way is that even the most confused of us can improve our navigational understanding by paying closer attention to the world around us… A learned and encyclopedic grab bag, packed with information drawn from study and Huth’s own experience. -- Michael Dirda * Washington Post *It’s a great reference, filled with personal and historical anecdotes and fascinating bits of physics, astronomy, oceanography, and meteorology. And that’s one of Huth’s central points: To find your way in a world without maps, you can’t rely on any single cue—you need to make the best of whatever combination of cues is available to you… With a little study, The Lost Art of Finding Our Way could be your guide to reconnecting with the navigational aids in the world around you. -- Greg Miller * Wired *John Huth’s The Lost Art of Finding Our Way is a book for anyone who’s ever cursed themselves for not being able to get home by way of the stars and winds. Or for anyone who wants to learn how the Vikings and others once managed to. -- Thomas Meaney * Times Literary Supplement *Full of wisdom that is fast disappearing in an age of satnav and GPS. -- Arthur Musgrave * The Guardian *[Huth’s] exuberance shines through: he makes gadgets in his garage and narrates adventures at sea. Huth’s is a book filled with joy about what we might term the everyday mathematics of living on the Earth… Huth is concerned that we have become desensitized to our physical environment because of technology such as smartphones and global positioning systems, which do the work of plotting and routefinding for us. To live in what Huth dubs ‘the bubble’ created by such devices is to lose not only our wonder at the world but also a bundle of precious survival skills. To be able to find our way in the world is to reconnect with its value in a virtuous spiral of environmental awareness. -- Robert J. Mayhew * Times Higher Education *The book offers a clear, comprehensive, and entertaining short course in navigation that draws on Earth science, history, anthropology, neuroscience, archaeology, and linguistics. It provides both a primer on navigational techniques and a tour through ‘the historical evolution of way finding.’ Huth punctuates instruction on celestial navigation and reading wind, weather, and currents with engaging stories and images. These are derived from sources as varied as the oral histories of Pacific Islanders and Inuit hunters, Homer’s Odyssey, Icelandic sagas, navigational tables from the medieval Islamic world, and contemporary news reports and sailing accounts. -- Deirdre Lockwood * Science *Humanity’s lust for exploring terra incognita shaped and tested our prodigious capacity for mental mapping. Now, with the advent of the Global Positioning System, wayfaring skills are on the wane. Physicist John Edward Huth turns explorer in this rich, wide-ranging and lucidly illustrated primer on how to find yourself in the middle of somewhere. Huth’s prescription for navigating fog, darkness, open ocean, thick forests or unknown terrain rests first on harnessing compass, Sun and stars; then on the subtleties of weather forecasting and decoding markers such as the wind, waves and tides. * Nature *[An] irresistible book… Huth has an affable, smart tone, as welcoming as a Billy Collins poem. His knowledge of way-finding and its history is rangy and detailed, but his enthusiasm never flickers, lifting the educational factor to higher ground: rewarding, artful, ably conveying what can be some fairly abstruse material, the finer points of navigation being among them. There are, by the way, many, many fine points regarding navigation, and if Huth gets a bit windy in pointing them out, well, let the wind blow. It’s refreshing. -- Peter Lewis * Barnes & Noble Review *Early humans learned to navigate on land and sea by watching the world around them… Huth recovers some of this history by looking at Norse legends, the records of Arab traders moving across the Indian Ocean and Pacific Islanders… Huth’s subject is fascinating… We have lost many of our innate abilities on the way to this technologically advanced moment in time. But John Edward Huth believes, and his book shows, that some of what was lost can still be found. We just need to relearn how to read the signs. -- Anthony Sattin * Literary Review *Lamenting the loss of navigational skills, [Huth] set out to collect in one volume the many schemes that kept our forebears alive. Ancient explorers could, through navigational nous, undertake voyages over great expanses of ocean and land to establish settlements and trade routes, and return home. -- Peter Monaghan * Chronicle of Higher Education *Just as we are said to have abandoned the art of memory when we started writing things down, so Huth says that we have lost our instinct for knowing how to get from here to there. Before the scientific revolution we had the ability to interpret environmental information that enabled us to navigate long distances. Huth surveys Pacific Islanders, medieval Arab traders, Vikings and early Western European travellers before examining techniques for navigators to look to the stars for astronomical beacons, as well as to the weather and the water. -- Iain Finlayson * The Times *

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Book SynopsisExamines how US foreign policy since the 1960s has led to partial or total cover-ups of past domestic criminal acts, including, perhaps, the catastrophe of 9/11. This book probes how the policies of presidents since Nixon have augmented the tangled bases for the 2001 terrorist attack.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Preface. The America We Knew and Loved: Can It Be Saved? 1 Introduction: Wealth, Empire, Cabals, and the Public State 2 Nixon, Kissinger, and the Decline of the Public State 3 The Pivotal Presidency: Ford, Rumsfeld, and Cheney 4 Brzezinski, Oil, and Afghanistan 5 Carter's Surrender to the Rockefellers on Iran 6 Casey, the Republican Countersurprise, and the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, 1980 7 Afghanistan and the Origins of al Qaeda 8 Al-Kifah, al Qaeda, and the U.S. Government, 1988--98 9 The Pre-9/11 Cover-up of Ali Mohamed and al Qaeda 10 Al Qaeda and the U.S. Establishment 11 Parallel Structures and Plans for Continuity of Government 12 The 9/11 Commission Report and Vice President Cheney 13 The 9/11 Commission Report and Cheney's Deceptions about 9/11 14 Cheney, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Continuity of Government 15 Conclusion: 9/11 and the Future of America Notes Glossary of Open Politics Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisHave you ever wondered what it would be like to be given your own remote islands? Thirty years ago it happened to Adam Nicolson.Aged 21, Nicolson inherited the Shiants, three lonely Hebridean islands set in a dangerous sea off the Isle of Lewis. With only a stone bothy for accommodation and half a million puffins for company, he found himself in charge of one of the most beautiful places on earth.The story of the Shiants is a story of birds and boats, hermits and fishermen, witchcraft and catastrophe, and Nicolson expertly weaves these elements into his own tale of seclusion on the Shiants to create a stirring celebration of island life.Trade Review'Exceptionally well done, beautifully written, personal yet panoramic.' Observer 'An extraordinarily outward-looking book…a truly passionate attention to detail…. A love-letter no one else could hope to write so well.' Sunday Telegraph 'A passionate evocation, a compression of observation and anecdote which catches you up in its intelligence as well as its enthusiasm, and fill you with homesickness for a place you've never been to.' Daily Telegraph 'Generous, exuberant and a vividly written narrative…. history, travel-writing and memoir of the best sort.' Spectator 'Sharply observed, a finely written work, one to be savoured, turned over and over like a good whisky.' Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe book offers a broad framework for the study of man in his environment. Choice What Professor Tuan has achieved in this volume can properly be called a philosophical reflection on the aesthetics of environments...We are fortunate to have researchers such as Professor Tuan. Journal of Aesthetics

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Book SynopsisFrom celebrated writer Robert Macfarlane comes this brilliant, perspective-shifting new book which answers a resounding yes to the question of its title.At its heart is a single, transformative idea: that rivers are not mere matter for human use, but living beings who should be recognized as such in both imagination and law. Is a River Alive? takes the reader on an exhilarating exploration of the past, present and futures of this ancient, urgent concept.The book flows first to northern Ecuador, where a miraculous cloud-forest and its rivers are threatened by goldmining.Then, to the wounded rivers, creeks and lagoons of southern India, where a desperate battle to save the lives of these waterbodies is under way.And finally, to north-eastern Quebec, where a spectacular wild river the Mutehekau or Magpie is being defended from death by damming in a river-rights campaign.At once Macfarlane's most personal and most political book to date, Is a River Alive? will open hearts, spark debates and lead us to the revelation that our fate flows with that of rivers and always has

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Book SynopsisIn 221 BC the First Emperor of Qin unified what would become the heart of a Chinese empire whose major features would endure for two millennia. In the first of a six-volume series on the history of imperial China, Lewis highlights the key challenges facing court officials and scholars who set about governing an empire of such scale and diversity.Trade ReviewMark Lewis’s mind-opening and readable book reminds us of the enduring but changing realities of China. -- Jonathan Mirsky * Times Literary Supplement *The Early Chinese Empires is a brilliant example of nuanced, responsible popularization. As the first in a series of six volumes that will cover all of Imperial China, it sets a very high standard. -- Grant Hardy * The Historian *Inaugurating a six-volume series on the history of imperial China, this volume holds that characteristics of the first Chinese empire broadly endured for the succeeding 2,000 years… [Those] planning to acquire the entire series mustn’t omit Lewis’s solid foundation. -- Gilbert Taylor * Booklist *The standard multivolume history of China has long been the magisterial, exhaustive Cambridge History of China. Now Harvard University Press has announced a six-volume series that will cover the rise, development, and decline of dynastic China from the second century B.C.E. through the early 20th century in an up-to-date, compact, and approachable way. This opening volume by Lewis foretells that the series will become the new gold standard, as the author explains in clear and telling detail how the Qin dynasty ruthlessly defeated a succession of rivals to unify briefly what we now call China in 221 B.C.E. We then see how the succeeding Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) combined social engineering and political savvy to institutionalize control and form a ‘classical’ era parallel to the Greeks and Romans in the West. Han imperial structures, including religion, literature, and law, were quite different from what evolved out of them, but Lewis convincingly argues that later societies cannot be understood without understanding this classical foundation. -- Charles W. Hayford * Library Journal (starred review) *As the first volume in the History of Imperial China, The Early Chinese Empires sets an authoritative, reliable tone that bodes well for this important new series. The book meets a high standard of historical accuracy and covers an impressively broad range of topics. Accessible to a wide audience, it will appeal to anyone interested in the foundations of the Chinese imperial tradition. -- Victor H. Mair, University of PennsylvaniaThis series on China, brilliantly overseen by Timothy Brook, is a credit to Harvard University Press. Above all, it encourages us to think of China in different ways. -- Jonathan Mirsky * Literary Review *Table of Contents* Introduction * The Geography of Empire * A State Organized for War * The Paradoxes of Empire * The Imperial Capital * Rural Society * The Outer World * Kinship and Gender * Religion and Cults * Literature * Law * Conclusion * Dates and Usage * Acknowledgments * Notes * Bibliography * Index

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Book SynopsisPublisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product.The Landmark Water Use and Treatment ResourceâFully Updated  for Optimizing Water ProcessesThis industry-standard resource from the worldâs leading water management company offers practical guidance on the use and treatment of water and wastewater in industrial and institutional facilities. Revised to align with the latest regulations and technologies, The Nalco Water Handbook, Fourth Edition, explains water management fundamentals and clearly shows how to improve water quality, minimize usage, and optimize treatment processes. Throughout, new emphasis is placed on todayâs prevailing issues, including water scarcity, stressors, and business risk.Covers all essential wat

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Book SynopsisThe wind powers everything a sailor does and this book will help you to understand it. As a result you will be more prepared for your race, able to anticipate changes in the wind better and know what to do when they come. The first edition of this book was published in 1986, and it has been the go-to wind book for dinghy champions ever since. This new-look fourth edition is fully updated for modern forecasting and analyses a revised set of popular racing venues around the world: unveiling what to expect from the weather at over 25 regatta locations, it will get you ahead of the competition and powering up the leaderboard.Trade Review“Wind Strategy remains the ‘go to’ book for racing sailors seeking to improve their understanding of the vagaries of the wind.” (Yachting Life) “It covers everything a dinghy sailor could possibly need to know about how wind and weather can affect you on the race course, and the knowledge here can help put you one step ahead of the competition before the start gun has even fired.” (The Final Beat) "A good read for sailors of all abilities with plenty of illustrations to guide the club sailor and regular racers." (Gybe Magazine) “This is very well illustrated and explains the wind brilliantly.” (UK Laser Association)Table of ContentsAbout The Authors; Foreword; Chapter 1: The Wind-Wise Sailor; Chapter 2: The Sailor’s Wind; Chapter 3: Wind Facts: Coasts, Lakes & Islands; Chapter 4: Wind Facts: Wind Bands, Water Temperature & The Tide; Chapter 5: Wind Facts: Gusts & Lulls; Chapter 6: Wind Facts: Southern Hemisphere; Chapter 7: The Sea Breeze; Chapter 8: Sea Breeze with Gradient Wind; Chapter 9: Afternoon Winds: Gradient Wind Onshore; Chapter 10: Lakes, Mountains, Valleys & Peninsulas; Chapter 11: As the Sun Goes Down; Chapter 12: Afternoon & Evening Winds: Southern Hemisphere; Chapter 13: Gravity Waves, Billows & Surges; Chapter 14: The Message of The Clouds; Chapter 15: Light Airs; Chapter 16: Obstacles in The Wind; Chapter 17: Water Currents; Chapter 18: Waves; Chapter 19: Dangerous Waves; Chapter 20: At The Regatta; Chapter 21: Which Sails?; Chapter 22: Popular Racing Venues; Summary Sheets.

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Book SynopsisFrom his birth into the lowest stratum of the samurai class to his assassination by right-wing militarists, Takahashi Korekiyo (1854–1936) lived through tumultuous times that shaped the course of modern Japan. This biography underscores the profound influence of the charismatic finance minister on the political and economic development of Japan.Trade ReviewJapan emerged from worldwide economic depression in the 1930s more successfully and quickly than the other modern world economies. Without denying the role of rapid militarization in prompting economic growth, this new biography of Japan's seven-time finance minister shows how Takahashi's countercyclical fiscal and monetary policies overcame a steep deflationary spiral and in the process engineered a remarkable record of growth built on a novel deficit spending approach...In telling Takahashi's story, Smethurst uncovers some of the pushes and pulls shaping Japan's modem economic growth, and it is a story he tells well. -- W. D. Kinzley * Choice *Smethurst's biography is a major achievement reflecting some 20 years of work. Not to exclude the general reader--the book is a very good read--Takahashi's biography should interest not only Japanologists, but also students of economic history everywhere. Smethurst admits that it was difficult to balance the anecdotes of Takahashi's adventures with the necessary analysis of his historic accomplishments. He has succeeded, giving us a wise and immensely competent biography of a great Japanese and a vibrant human being. -- Rod Armstrong * Asahi Shimbun *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. A Remarkable Beginning, 1854-67 2. Takahashi in San Francisco, 1867-68 3. Many Mentors, Few Teachers: Takahashi's Career in and out of Government, 1869-81 4. Japan's First Trademark and Patent Laws, 1881-89 5. Maeda Masana and the Debate over Industrial Policy, 1882-85 6. Managing a Silver Mine in Peru, 1889-90 7. Entering the Bank of Japan, 1892-1904 8. Fundraising During the Russo-Japanese War: 1904 9. Fundraising During the Russo-Japanese War: 1905 10. The Lessons of Wars, 1906-18 11. Taisho Democracy, 1918-27 12. "Japan's Keynes": Japan and the World Depression, 1929-34 13. Takahasi's Fiscal Policies and the Rise of Militarism, 1932-36 Conclusion: Takahashi's Economic Philosophy and Its Roots Appendix: Takahashi's Memoirs Notes Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisDaphne Sheldrick''s best-selling love story of romance, life and elephants, An African Love Story: Love, Life and Elephants is an incredible story from Africa''s greatest living conservationist.A typical day for Daphne involves rescuing baby elephants from poachers; finding homes for orphan elephants, all the while campaigning the ever-present threat of poaching for the ivory trade.An African Love Story is the incredible memoir of her life. It tells two stories - one is the extraordinary love story which blossomed when Daphne fell head over heels with Tsavo Game Park and its famous warden, David Sheldrick. The second is the love story of how Daphne and David, who devoted their lives to saving elephant orphans, at first losing every infant under the age of two until Daphne at last managed to devise the first-ever milk formula which would keep them alive. ''Compulsively readable'', Mail on Sunday''An enchanting memoir'', TelegraTrade ReviewCompulsively readable...the more you hear about elephants from her, the more you wonder why they don't rule the world -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday *An enchanting memoir...Baby birds, antelopes, elephants, rhinos and a civet cat all pass through Sheldrick's life -- Helen Brown * Telegraph *Wonderfully candid -- Charlotte Kemp * Daily Mail *Absorbing, moving...paints a vivid picture of an extraordinary life in the bush that will delight everyone * BBC Wildlife Magazine *Moving and magical...a fascinating story...touching, funny and written with warmth and compassion * Lancashire Evening Post *Inspirational. A heart-warming read for anyone interested in wildlife and conservation * Compass *Africa has never been more vividly described...I read it straight through and it nearly broke my heart...her warnings about the decline of wildlife should be heeded the world over -- Joanna Lumley

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Book SynopsisOne of Iran's leading female poets, Zhale Qa'em-Maqami (1883-1946) witnessed pivotal social and political changes in Iran during its transition to modernity. Mirror of Dew is the first English translation of her poems. Deeply personal but including social critique, they offer a rare view of the impact of a modern awareness on private lives.Trade ReviewMirror of Dew is a fascinating collection that demonstrates just how lively a discussion was underway among elite Qajar women about the 'women's question'. These fascinating poems display feminist concerns in a way that we do not find in the poems of Parvin E'teskami, and thought we did not find until Forugh Farrokhzad. An important work for anyone interested in the history of Qajar women. -- Franklin Lewis, University of ChicagoThis book introduces a remarkable poet who is virtually unknown to all but specialists. The scholarly introduction along with the lyrical and sensitive translations fill serious gaps in our knowledge regarding the participation of women in the literary culture of modern Iran. -- Sunil Sharma, Boston University

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Book SynopsisShort-term, community-based projects - from pop-up parks to open streets initiatives - have become a powerful and adaptable new tool of urban activists, planners, and policy-makers seeking to drive lasting improvements in their cities and beyond. These quick, often low-cost, and creative projects are the essence of the Tactical Urbanism movement. Whether creating vibrant plazas seemingly overnight or re-imagining parking spaces as local gathering places, they offer a way to gain public and government support for investing in permanent projects, inspiring residents and civic leaders to experience and shape urban spaces in a new way. Tactical Urbanism, written by Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia, two founders of the movement, promises to be the foundational guide for urban transformation. The authors begin with an in-depth history of the Tactical Urbanism movement and its place among other social, political, and urban planning trends, and a detailed set of case studies demonstrate the breadth and scalability of tactical urbanism interventions. Finally, the book provides a detailed toolkit for conceiving, planning, and carrying out projects, including how to adapt them based on local needs and challenges. Tactical Urbanism will inspire and empower a new generation of engaged citizens, urban designers, land use planners, architects, and policymakers to become key actors in the transformation of their communities.

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Book SynopsisRegenerative practices for the farm, garden, orchard, forest, and landscape Mycorrhizal fungi have been waiting a long time for people to recognize just how important they are to the making of dynamic soils. These microscopic organisms partner with the root systems of approximately 95 percent of the plants on Earth, and they sequester carbon in much more meaningful ways than human “carbon offsets” will ever achieve. Pick up a handful of old-growth forest soil and you are holding 26 miles of threadlike fungal mycelia, if it could be stretched it out in a straight line. Most of these soil fungi are mycorrhizal, supporting plant health in elegant and sophisticated ways. The boost to green immune function in plants and community-wide networking turns out to be the true basis of ecosystem resiliency. A profound intelligence exists in the underground nutrient exchange between fungi and plant roots, which in turn determines the nutrient density of the foods we grow and eat. Exploring the science of symbiotic fungi in layman’s terms, holistic farmer Michael Phillips (author of The Holistic Orchard and The Apple Grower) sets the stage for practical applications across the landscape. The real impetus behind no-till farming, gardening with mulches, cover cropping, digging with broadforks, shallow cultivation, forest-edge orcharding, and everything related to permaculture is to help the plants and fungi to prosper . . . which means we prosper as well. Building soil structure and fertility that lasts for ages results only once we comprehend the nondisturbance principle. As the author says, “What a grower understands, a grower will do.” Mycorrhizal Planet abounds with insights into “fungal consciousness” and offers practical, regenerative techniques that are pertinent to gardeners, landscapers, orchardists, foresters, and farmers. Michael’s fungal acumen will resonate with everyone who is fascinated with the unseen workings of nature and concerned about maintaining and restoring the health of our soils, our climate, and the quality of life on Earth for generations to come.Trade ReviewPublishers Weekly- "Phillips, the inimitable author of The Apple Grower (2005) and The Holistic Orchard (2011), once again charms and instructs with an in-depth philosophical and practical exploration of fungi. Branching off from Paul Stamets’s Mycelium Running, Phillips focuses on fungi’s intimate relations with the plant community, revealing their essential roles in botanical and soil health and how we can nurture them for our benefit and that of the entire biosphere. The book includes extensive and specific information about the science of fungi and their symbiosis with plants; nurturing and propagating fungal networks and functions; minimizing soil disturbance in gardens, forests, farms, and orchards to build soil, capture carbon, and assist mycelial integrity and relationships; and gathering and growing edible mushrooms. In refreshing contrast to the pared-down utilitarianism of many books in the genre, Phillips’s poetic, conversational, rambling, humorous writing encourages readers to settle in for a thoughtful read. Organic, biodynamic, and permaculture practitioners will value this book, but Phillips writes for a general readership too.” “Mycorrhizal Planet isn’t just a book about wild-running fungi. It covers in great detail all the benefits, scientific research, and technical information known about mycorrhizae. It also outlines methods of how to manage soils with the use of organic fertilizers, crops grown, and proper tillage to get the biology to flourish—including mycorrhizae. Because if a grower knows why, he or she will teach themselves how.”--Gary Zimmer, founder, Midwestern BioAg; author of The Biological Farmer“The world desperately needs the information in Mycorrhizal Planet! I am so glad Michael Phillips wrote this book. His approach is creative, inspired, and down-to-earth. A worthy effort with many useful practices laid out for all.”--Dave Jacke, coauthor of Edible Forest Gardens“I firmly believe that the next big advancement in organic farming is learning how to harness the power of soil ecology by replacing mechanical tillage with biological tillage. Mycorrhizal Planet is an awesome book because it not only describes the importance of respecting living soil dynamics, it teaches how to act upon it. The chapter on practical nondisturbance techniques is especially enlightening to any serious market gardener.”--Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener“How lucky are we to be alive and growing plants right now? The humbling interconnectedness and relationships realized through Mycorrhizal Planet will fill you with wonder and have you questioning your role in the garden, orchard, or farm. This is the manual for upping your growing game!”--Eliza Greenman, restoration orchardist and fruit explorer “Michael Phillips is an emissary from the fungal realm, and he’s here to tell us, through both study and practice, how our partnership with fungi is not only crucial but how it can be carried out practically on our homesteads and farms.”--Ben Falk, author of The Resilient Farm and Homestead“Mycorrhizal Planet offers fascinating science and practical ideas for gardeners, farmers, foresters—for everyone, in fact. Learning how we can work with beneficial soil fungi is deeply relevant, not only to support optimal plant health and nutrition but as part of a lasting climate change solution.”--Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution“In Mycorrhizal Planet, Michael Phillips takes us on a journey into the realm of cutting-edge soil science, while always maintaining a playful sense of passion, excitement, and levity. As deep as Phillips goes into sharing his immense knowledge of the mechanics of vibrant living soils and their role in plant health, he never loses sight of the bigger picture—that of regenerating the planetary ecosystem. To that end, he offers robust practical applications for agricultural enterprises of all sizes. The beauty of this timely and important book is that we now know not only how but why we must embrace and cooperate with the innate intelligence of the biological world as we develop the agroecosystems that will sustain us in the future.”--Scott Vlaun, executive director, Center for an Ecology-Based Economy“Mostland plants depend on symbiotic fungi in their roots—mycorrhizas—to help them to grow. Some, like orchids and many pines, depend on them absolutely. In fact, with no mycorrhizas: no land plants to speak of, and hence no land animals, including human beings. Like dung beetles and flies and microbes in general, root fungi are the largely unsung heroes of nature, cryptic creatures that make the world work. Michael Phillips’s Mycorrhizal Planet brings them centre-stage—where, despite their modest demeanour, they deserve to be.”--Colin Tudge, founder, The College for Real Farming and Food Culture“Mycorrhizal Planet is a thoroughly researched treatise on the impact of root fungi on the functioning of our biosphere. It is written in Michael Phillips’s usual unique, enjoyable, and easily readable style. It is a must-read for all individuals seriously interested in the quality of human life and future of our planet.”--George W. Bird, professor, Michigan State University“Mycorrhizal Planet awakens the reader to the interconnected, interdependent network of souls working on behalf of the earth right under our feet. The mycorrhizal fungi are our allies in promoting health for forests, orchards, and fields. Michael Phillips’s comprehensive scientific knowledge, along with an abundance of practical information for the grower, and a good dose of positive vibes for the future of our planet, make this new book one to add to your collection.”--Linda Hoffman, orchardist, Old Frog Pond Farm“Our knowledge of how habitat restoration and regenerative agriculture work—how they proceed or falter—is being renovated as we speak. A new sense of how symbiotic mycorrhizae shape plant establishment and succession has been slowly emerging over the last quarter century. In his new book, Mycorrhizal Planet, Michael Phillips weaves his own web of astounding connections regarding what holds this earth together. Not since Paul Stamets's pioneering inquiry, Mycelium Running, have we been blessed by such a synthesis that tells how symbiotic fungi are the true and most trustworthy stewards of this planet. With his usual genius of explaining complex science in ways farmers and restorationists can grasp, Phillips reminds us that those in Washington, DC, have never really ‘run this country,’ our fungal allies have.”--Gary Paul Nabhan, author of Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land“Let’s make soil great again. Michael Phillips and Mycorrhizal Planet have a plan. This book focuses on the tangible things you can do on the land you love to make it healthier and more productive. In forty years doing USDA research and producing mycorrhizal fungi, I have read and reviewed thousands of mycorrhizal articles. Michael Phillips gets it. Finally we have a mycorrhizal book that is entertaining, practical, and vibrant. We truly live on a mycorrhizal planet, and people who read this book will emerge with a profound understanding of how these little creatures shape our earth and our future."--Dr. Mike Amaranthus, founder, Mycorrhizal Applications“Fungi are not just decomposers, they are composers of soil and orchestrators of soil biodiversity. Mycorrhizal Planet pays tribute to the small and unseen, the uncredited collaborations beneath our feet, and Michael Phillips leads the tour underground for everyone with a warm and crafted writing style that anyone can understand and put to use. Mycorrhizal Planet offers readers a whole new dimension in propagating mycorrhizae, with cover crop considerations and noninvasive soil preparation techniques, and encourages readers to complete the loop by creating more balanced and efficient cultivation systems with the mental tools to harmonize almost any soil and plant condition. Distilled from other complex texts and real world experience, Michael Phillips delivers a gem when the planet needs it the most."--Tradd Cotter, Mushroom Mountain, author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation

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Book SynopsisCelebrated for its natural beauty and its abundance of wildlife, the Mekong river runs thousands of miles through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Its basin is home to more than 70 million people and has for centuries been one of the world's richest agricultural areas and a biodynamic wonder. Today, however, it is undergoing profound changes. Development policies, led by a rising China in particular, aim to interconnect the region and urbanize the inhabitants. And a series of dams will harness the river's energy, while also stymieing its natural cycles and cutting off food supplies for swathes of the population. In Last Days of the Mighty Mekong, Brian Eyler travels from the river's headwaters in China to its delta in southern Vietnam to explore its modern evolution. Along the way he meets the region’s diverse peoples, from villagers to community leaders, politicians to policy makers. Through conversations with them he reveals the urgent struggle to save the Mekong and its unique ecosystem.Trade ReviewIn this compelling account, Brian Eyler travels down the river, meeting the rebels trying to save it from destruction. * China Dialogue *The book describes how unsustainable human society’s current relationship is with the Mekong * Council of Foreign Affairs *Brian Eyler … has penned an engaging and open-ended book, with a less elegiac tone than its title might imply. At many points a vividly reported travelogue. * China Dialogue *Eyler offers an unbiased, balanced, and nuanced sitrep of the challenges facing the Mekong ... Last Days of the Mighty Mekong is also full of stimulating facts and figures that grab and hold the reader’s attention. * Diplomat *The Last Days is a timely reminder that one of the world’s most remote and naturally beautiful areas is being trans­formed by industrial and urban development, the scale and pace of which have never been seen before. Eyler makes an erudite appeal for governments to face their past mistakes – including the over-damming of the river – and avert the further “wrecking of the Mekong’s amazing eco-system”. * South China Morning Post *Eyler has written a breathtaking account of a journey down the river, from high up in the Chinese province of Yunnan to the Mekong Delta more than 2,700 miles away [...] His book reads like a travelogue, filled with vivid descriptions of the places he visits and the people he encounters. But it is also a stark warning that the river is heading for irreparable ruin. * Wall Street Journal *A wonderfully illuminating and beautifully written portrait of life along the Mekong, and of the forces transforming the region. Eyler offers the type of insight that can only be gained from years of on-the-ground experience. * Elizabeth Economy, Director for Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations *A moving requiem for a complex ecosystem upon which millions depend for their livelihoods. The book is an indictment of the failure to treat the Mekong as a single integrated system or to incorporate the local wisdom of the communities who best understand the river. * Judith Shapiro, author of China’s Environmental Challenges *Readers of this book will respond as I have done to Eyler’s richly evocative prose when he writes of the experiences that may be had travelling on and by the river ... I regret not having met Eyler and becoming aware of his writing only recently. I am envious of his sustained personal association with the river over a decade and a half. * Milton Osborne, Mekong Review *Brian Eyler tells the story of a river veiled in mystique. He sounds a warning about the ominous challenges it now faces: the encroachment of the state, breakneck hydropower development, the threats of climate change, and an increasingly powerful China bent on harnessing the Mekong to power its continued rise. This is the definitive story of the present and possible future of the Mekong, and an elegy for one of Asia’s great rivers. * Sebastian Strangio, author of Hun Sen's Cambodia *The definitive work on Asia's most vital river, this book is more than sound scholarship and wise policy. Brian Eyler shares lyrical and haunting stories, showing how and why the Mighty Mekong must be saved. * Ted Osius, Former US Ambassador to Vietnam (2014–17) *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Yubeng: The Last Shangri-la 2. Damming the Upper Mekong 3. The Erhai Valley 4. The Akha as Modern Zomians 5. The Golden Triangle in Transition 6. Laos as a Contested Space 7. Damming the Lower Mekong 8. Phnom Penh and Boeung Kak Lake 9. The Tonle Sap 10. Whither the Mekong Delta

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Book SynopsisDiscover why we must protect the Amazon from climate change.Bursting with all kinds of life, the Amazon is one of the most incredible places on Earth. This richly illustrated picture book brings to life this extraordinary region for young children, exploring its tropical rainforest and scenic landscapes. It showcases the lush wildlife, diverse communities and life-saving medicines that can all be found there and therefore why it is so important that we act to protect this special part of the planet from the impact of climate change.Trade ReviewFeatured in The Bookseller's November previews. * The Bookseller *

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Book SynopsisComing from the market leader in European mapping, this compact spiral edition gives more to leisure travellers with its unique factfinder of key statistics, currency, driving regs and speed limits for each country. Packed with details of facilities at major ski resorts and top visitor attractions, country by country, with clear route-planning maps, which enable journeys of over 800 miles to be planned without turning a page.Along with detailed road maps, there are car ferries, toll-free and pre-pay motorways, all clearly marked.The continental road network is shown at four different scales from 1:250 000 to 1:4 500 000, with ultra-clear detailed mapping. Scenic routes are highlighted, and the maps show numerous places to visit including beaches, theme parks, national parks and World Heritage Sites

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Book SynopsisA rich and fascinating exploration of the Volga—the first to fully reveal its vital place in Russian historyTrade Review“Meticulously researched and sympathetically written. . . . ‘Without the Volga, there would be no Russia.’ The final words of Janet Hartley’s book sound sweeping. But its 400 pages make the case powerfully.”—The Economist“Well-researched and accessible to general readers. . . . Hartley has a good eye for the significant detail.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times, “Best Books of the Week”“Janet Hartley’s study of the Volga, the river that symbolises Russian identity, is a worthy companion to her 2014 book Siberia: A History of the People. She is particularly good on the way that Russians and non-Russians interacted in the centuries after Ivan the Terrible’s conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan in the 1550s.”—Tony Barber, Financial Times, “Best Books of 2021: History”“This is a work of masterful condensation, commanding storytelling and an invitation to marvel at the ‘gloomy grandeur’ of one of the Earth’s oldest residents.”—Matthew Janney, Spectator“Combines outstanding academic research with masterful and compelling storytelling. The result is a memorable journey into the heart of Russian social, political, and cultural history.”—Jennifer Eremeeva, Moscow Times“A vivid, human-centered story of the great river standing at a crossroad of peoples and cultures. . . . Hartley’s voyage along the serpentine river is magical and full of charm.”—Farah Abdessamad, Asian Review of Books“Accessible to the interested lay person as much as thought-provoking to experts in the field of Russian and Eurasian studies.”—Kees Boterbloem, Canadian-American Slavic Studies“The strength of The Volga is always its rich cultural and economic history. . . . Twenty-two illustrations, ten maps and a note on place names complete The Volga, and make it a welcome addition to other biographies of the world’s rivers.”—Paul Josephson, Cahiers du Monde russe“A splendid book. . . . This scholarly work provides not just a vivid chronicle of the Volga and its peoples, but an original perspective on the history of Russia as a whole.”—Maureen Perrie, European History Quarterly“Hartley does an excellent job of highlighting the many ethnic and religious groups that have lived in the shadows of Russia’s greatest river [and] creates a vivid picture of this region throughout history, and the powerful river that has shaped so many lives.”—Kit Gillet, Geographical, “Book of the Month”“Hartley treats the reader to captivating stories of conflict, conversion, trade, famine, migration and myth [and] convincingly shows that any understanding of Russian history requires an understanding of the Volga.”—Andy Bruno, History Today“A lucid and well-researched book.”—Anna Reid, Literary Review“A work of great range and erudition informed by a deep reading in published and archival sources. As I followed along, struck repeatedly by Hartley’s judicious attention to the river’s ever-flowing impact on the peoples and cultures around it, I came away impressed more than anything by the sheer scope of the story, which matches the vastness and complexity of Russia itself.”—Willard Sunderland, Slavonic and East European Review“Provides not just a vivid chronicle of the Volga and its peoples, but an original perspective on the history of Russia as a whole.”—Maureen Perrie, European History Quarterly“[This] impressive book on the Volga . . . will appeal to a wide range of readers, including specialists of Russian and Eurasian history, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and many general readers. Containing a wealth of intriguing detail and written in elegant and accessible language, it delivers new insights on Russia’s greatest river.”—Stefan B. Kirmse, Europe-Asia Studies“The Volga is an important study whose focus is the construction of Russian territorially-contiguous colonialism and its broad impacts, well worth the attention of both colleagues and the less specialist reader.”—Carol B. Stevens, Slavic Review“With clarity and commanding breadth of vision, Hartley chronicles the life of a great river through times of shocking violence and times of tranquillity.”—Rachel Polonsky, author of Molotov’s Magic Lantern“Taking a majestic sweep through centuries of turbulent history, Hartley traces in vivid detail the significance of a river that has served Russia’s multi-ethnic population as economic lifeline, strategic battleground and symbol of freedom.”—Simon Dixon, author of Catherine the Great“An impeccably documented and comprehensive history of the Volga region. It pays special attention to the ecological features of the region’s territories, and to the economic, ethnic, religious and cultural characteristics of its peoples.”—Geoffrey Hosking, Russia and the Russians“Engrossing. In lively prose Hartley tracks the not-always-easy imprint of Russian power on the peoples and environments of this vast river as it snakes through parts of the world little known to an English-speaking audience.”—Valerie A. Kivelson, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

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Book SynopsisThis market-leading textbook has been fully updated in response to extensive user feedback. It includes a new chapter on joints and veins, additional examples from around the world, and stunning new field photos. Extended online resources reinforce key topics using summaries, examples, and innovative animations to bring concepts to life.Trade Review'This new edition of Structural Geology has filled in a few gaps in the excellent first edition and the author and publishers are to be congratulated on their efforts to produce a really up-to-date text in a most attractive format.' John Ramsay, ETH Zentrum, Switzerland'This second edition has an impressive number of updates and improvements. Numerous color photographs and figures clearly illustrate concepts, while showing the inherent beauty of structures in the field. This is a book that cannot help but inspire students.' Frederick W. Vollmer, State University of New York, New Paltz'This is the best textbook in this field of the past decade. Both the book and the accompanying online resources have been extended with new topics and the animated e-modules are a fantastic extra teaching resource.' Roger Soliva, Université Montpellier II'The reviewer wholeheartedly believes that Fossen's work is the best textbook currently available within this field. It is extensively updated and beautifully illustrated with predominantly color photographs and sketches reflecting classic, global examples. … The 22 chapters treat the principles of strain, stress, and rheology; brittle and ductile deformation processes and their resultant structures; principal tectonic regimes, salt tectonics, map balancing, and restoration; an original chapter on joints and veins; and an overview of deformation, including intrusive, metamorphic, radiogenic dating, and P-T-t path data. The accompanying online e-modules provide a superb supplemental learning resource. The book's practical approach to potential economic applications with oil, gas, and groundwater enhance its value to students and practicing professionals … This book is an ideal text for undergraduate geology programs and is a must for every serious student of Earth science. It will also serve as an excellent, up-to-date refresher course for any active geologist.' M. E. McCallum, Choice'Several years after the publication of the first edition, the new version [of Structural Geology] turns out to be even better. The most important part of any educational book is to awake an interest on the reader's part and sustain it, on any given topic, without compromises as to content. I find such a potential in the present volume … this textbook is definitely a high value proposition for anyone who embarks on or continues his/her adventures in structural geology and tectonics.' Wojciech Stawikowski, Adam Mickiewicz University, PoznañReview of previous edition: 'Gorgeous. Nothing less. Everyone in need of structural geology - and that's quite a few of us - will certainly find this book very useful. There is a good balance between text and figures, and the figures are very good, be it the photos, maps, graphics or principle sketches. It is simply a pleasure to read this book. Seldom have we seen such a user-friendly textbook.' GEOReview of previous edition: '… Fossen is to be applauded for crafting a unique, high-caliber, and accessible undergraduate textbook on structural geology … beautifully illustrated, with excellent original color diagrams and with impressive color field photographs that are all keyed to locations and placed into geologic context … This book will likely get a lot of use; it is well written and priced right … an excellent, accessible introductory structural geology text that is admirably well illustrated and well written. It should prove to be a valuable resource for students and instructors alike.' Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical UnionReview of previous edition: 'Once in a while, an extraordinarily superior book appears in the midst of other good books on a subject. Without a doubt, this is the case with this introductory structural geology work by Fossen. Most outstanding, the book provides a balance between soft rock and hard rock, discusses the field's relevance to basic and applied applications, and includes unparalleled illustrations and photos that are critical for instruction and understanding … It is the most student- and instructor-friendly work this reviewer has seen. Essential.' ChoiceReview of previous edition: 'The illustrations are plentiful and outstanding in multiple colors. Very seldom can one buy a book of this quality …' Richard Jackson, Environmental and Engineering GeoscienceReview of previous edition: 'Lavishly illustrated in color, this textbook takes an applied approach to introduce undergraduate students to the basic principles of structural geology … Containing numerous end-of-chapter problems, e-learning modules, and with stunning field photos and illustrations, this book provides the ultimate learning experience for all students of structural geology.' The Eggs EGU Newsletter (the-eggs.org)Review of previous edition: '… the structural geology text that I have long been waiting for … this text truly shows the application of structural geology to real life academic and industry problems. It will go straight onto my syllabus as the required text.' Bruce Trudgill, Colorado School of MinesReview of previous edition: 'Evaluate it? … I've already put a change order into our bookstore to change to it for my Structure class next Fall! It's awesome.' Terry Naumann, University of AlaskaReview of previous edition: 'If you only buy one structural geology textbook - this is the one to get. It's both theoretical and practical … with excellent illustrations and thought-provoking examples.' Rob Butler, University of Aberdeen'A great online text book. Well-written, beautiful and meaningful sketches and photographs.' Timothy Byrne, Professor of Geosciences, University of ConnecticutTable of ContentsPreface; Acknowledgements; List of symbols; 1. Structural geology and structural analysis; 2. Deformation; 3. Strain in rocks; 4. Stress; 5. Stress in the lithosphere; 6. Rheology; 7. Fracture and brittle deformation; 8. Joints and veins; 9. Faults; 10. Kinematics and paleostress in the brittle regime; 11. Deformation at the microscale; 12. Folds and folding; 13. Foliation and cleavage; 14. Lineations; 15. Boudinage; 16. Shear zones and mylonites; 17. Contractional regimes; 18. Extensional regimes; 19. Strike-slip, transpression and transtension; 20. Salt tectonics; 21. Balancing and restoration; 22. A glimpse of a larger picture; Appendix A. More about the deformation matrix; Appendix B. Spherical projections; Glossary; References; Cover and chapter image captions; Index.

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Book SynopsisOxygen has had extraordinary effects on life. Three hundred million years ago, in Carboniferous times, dragonflies grew as big as seagulls, with wingspans ofnearly a metre. Researchers claim they could have flown only if the air had contained more oxygen than today -probably as much as 35 per cent. Giant spiders, tree-ferns, marine rock formations and fossil charcoalsall tell the same story. High oxygen levels may also explain the global firestorm that contributed to thedemise of the dinosaurs after the asteroid impact. The strange and profound effects that oxygen has had on the evolution of life pose a riddle, which this booksets out to answer. Oxygen is a toxic gas. Divers breathing pure oxygen at depth suffer from convulsionsand lung injury. Fruit flies raised at twice normal atmospheric levels of oxygen live half as long as theirsiblings. Reactive forms of oxygen, known as free radicals, are thought to cause ageing in people. Yet ifatmospheric oxygen reached 35 per cent in the Carboniferous, why did it promote exuberant growth,instead of rapid ageing and death? Oxygen takes the reader on an enthralling journey, as gripping as a thriller, as it unravels the unexpectedways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. The book explains far more than the size ofancient insects: it shows how oxygen underpins the origin of biological complexity, the birth of photosynthesis, the sudden evolution of animals, the need for two sexes, the accelerated ageing of cloned animals like Dolly the sheep, and the surprisingly long lives of bats and birds. Drawing on this grand evolutionary canvas, Oxygen offers fresh perspectives on our own lives and deaths,explaining modern killer diseases, why we age, and what we can do about it. Advancing revelatory new ideas,following chains of evidence, the book ranges through many disciplines, from environmental sciences tomolecular medicine. The result is a captivating vision of contemporary science and a humane synthesis of ourplace in nature. This remarkable book might just redefine the way we think about the world.Oxford Landmark Science books are ''must-read'' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.Trade Review'. . . popular science writing at its very best - clear yet challenging, speculative yet rigorous. The book is a tour de force which orchestrates a seamless story out of both venerable ideas and very recent discoveries in several disparate fields.' * Bernard Dixon *'. . . a breathtaking, broad vision of the role of a single gas in our life, from the origin of organisms, through the emergence of creatures, and to their deaths . . . packed full of interesting life-and-death stories...A wonderful read.' * Peter Atkins *'. . . one of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read.' * John Emsley *Nick Lane's chapters are dispatches from the frontiers of research into Earth and life history, but they contain nothing that will lose the patient reader and much that will reward. * The Guardian Review *a brisk revelatory study * Christopher Hirst, The Independent *. . . Nick Lane marshals an impressive array of evidence - [an] ambitious narrative . . . This is science writing at its best. * Jerome Burne, The Financial Times *Table of Contents1: Introduction: Elixir of Life - and Death 2: In the Beginning: The Origins and Importance of Oxygen 3: Silence of the Aeons: Three Billion Years of Microbial Evolution 4: Fuse to the Cambrian Explosion: Snowball Earth, Environmental Change and the First Animals 5: The Bolsover Dragonfly: Oxygen and the Rise of the Giants 6: Treachery in the Air: Oxygen Poisoning and X-Irradiation: A Mechanism in Common 7: Green Planet: Radiation and the Beginnings of Photosynthesis 8: Looking for LUCA: Last Ancestor in the Age Before Oxygen 9: Portrait of a Paradox: Vitamin C and the Many Faces of an Antioxidant 10: The Antioxidant Machine: A Hundred and One Ways of Living with Oxygen 11: Sex and the Art of Bodily Maintenance: Trade-offs in the Evolution of Ageing 12: Eat! Or You'll Live Forever: The Triangle of Food, Sex, and Longevity 13: Gender Bender: The Rate of Living and the Need for Sexes 14: Beyond Genes and Destiny: The Double Agent Theory of Ageing and Disease 15: Life, Death and Oxygen: Lessons From Evolution on the Future of Ageing Further Reading Glossary Index

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Book Synopsis‘In Richard Fortey’s capable hands the humble grey trilobite has been transformed into the E.T. of the Lower Palaeozoic – a remarkable and fascinating book.’ SIMON WINCHESTERTrade Review‘Astonishing… A delightful book, mixed autobiography, philosophy and palaeontology, which illuminates understanding of that critical time in the history of the Earth after the explosion of multicellular life between five and six hundred million years ago. There is nothing here to intimidate the non-scientist. It is as good for reading on the beach as anywhere else… We may be special in our own eyes, but in longevity the trilobites knock us into one of their beautiful conical hats’Financial Times ‘Suffused with the experience and affection of a lifetime spent with these common and attractive fossils… A gripping, splendid book’New Scientist ‘Delightful and beautifully written, Fortey has an eye for the world about him that would be envied by some travel writers… interesting and impassioned’Literary Review ‘Fortey has turned his considerable skills to bringing the human dances with trilobites before our eyes… wonderful. His reputation as a first-rate natural history writer will only be enhanced by this volume’TLS ‘Vivid, poetic, highly focussed and uncompromising’Spectator ‘A splendid book written with so much verge and depth’Sunday Telegraph ‘[Trilobites!] needs that exclamation point to shout that it should be read by everybody, whether you know what a trilobite is or not… This is the way science should be written: so engagingly that it makes you forget that you’re actually learning something (actually, you’re learning a lot), and carrying you swiftly from page to page so that before you know if, you’ve let the kettle boil over and you’re at the end… If I had five thousand words I couldn’t do Trilobite! justice. There is just no way to condense Fortey’s glittering book so filled with insight, science, history, charm and wit… you must read it!’Times

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Book SynopsisThere are five races of tiger on our planet and all but one live in tropical regions: the Siberian Tiger Panthera tigris altaica is the exception. Mysterious and elusive, and with only 350 remaining in the wild, the Siberian tiger remains a complete enigma. One man has set out to change this.Sooyong Park has spent twenty years tracking and observing these elusive tigers. Each year he spends six months braving sub-zero temperatures, buried in grave-like underground bunkers, fearlessly immersing himself in the lives of Siberian tigers. As he watches the brutal, day-to-day struggle to survive the harsh landscape, threatened by poachers and the disappearance of the pristine habitat, Park becomes emotionally and spiritually attached to these beautiful and deadly predators. No one has ever been this close: as he comes face-to-face with one tiger, Bloody Mary, her fierce determination to protect her cubs nearly results in his own bloody demise.Poignant, poetic and fiercely compassionate, The Trade ReviewPraise for The Great Soul of Siberia: ‘If you read one nature book this year, make it this one.’ Mark Cocker, Spectator ‘Wonderful … deserves to become a classic of wildlife literature.’ The Times ‘A wonderful evocation of the land and the habits of the desperately endangered Siberian tiger.’ Independent ‘The year's best wildlife book could already have arrived’ Wanderlust ‘Subtly intense … Park has a deep sense of oneness with the world around him. His close engagement with the forest ecology is the most extraordinary element of this remarkable book.’ New Statesman ‘It’s a masterpiece. One of the most moving outdoor texts I’ve read in years. This is a book about love – one exceptional human being’s love for the wild, beautiful and persecuted creatures to which his life is dedicated. It also comprehends a fortitude and hardihood so far beyond the everyday I was left shaking my head in astonished admiration.’ The Great Outdoors ‘Sooyong’s magical prose led me into little-known and breathtakingly beautiful forests, exposed me to the bitter cold of long winter months, and revealed the secret life of that most mysterious of cats, the Siberian tiger.’ Jane Goodall ‘A triumph of nature writing; an original and authentic voice from the wilderness.’ Jonathan and Angela Scott ‘The book is a love letter … To read it is to hear the voice of a remarkable man.’ Daily Telegraph ‘Spellbinding … Park’s book burns an indelible memory.’ Country Life

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Book SynopsisBased on an intimate knowledge and extensive research, Italian volcanoes, provides a complete introductory guide to one of the world's best known and most intensively studied volcanic areas. It is a unique guide to volcanic geology and an exciting introduction to how volcanoes work. Twelve detailed itineraries have been specially chosen to highlight the spectrum of volcanic products, their threat to human activity and their importance to understanding how volcanoes behave. Richly illustrated with maps and photographs, this guide is ideal for all geologists and visitors to Italy who have been captivated by some of the world's most spectacular volcanoes.Table of ContentsPreface. Volcanism in Italy. Somma - Vesuvius; Campi Flegerei (Phlegraean Fields); The Aeolian Islands; Mount Etna. Glossary. Index.

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Book SynopsisCan we prevent the destruction of the world''s tropical forests? In the fire-scarred hills of Costa Rica, award-winning science writer William Allen found a remarkable answer: we can not only prevent their destruction--we can bring them back to their former glory. In Green Phoenix, Allen tells the gripping story of a large group of Costa Rican and American scientists and volunteers who set out to save the tropical forests in the northwestern section of the country. It was an area badly damaged by the fires of ranchers and small farmers; in many places a few strands of forest strung across a charred landscape. Despite the widely held belief that tropical forests, once lost, are lost forever, the team led by the dynamic Daniel Janzen from the University of Pennsylvania moved relentlessly ahead, taking a broad array of political, ecological, and social steps necessary for restoration. They began with 39 square miles and, by 2000, they had stitched together and revived some 463 square mileTrade ReviewReview from Hardback edition ... the real value of the book kicks in where science and its application ends and Allen addresses the vital roles of politics, sociology, economics, and (incidentally) personalities in achieving conservation. * Science, May 2001 *Review from Hardback edition ... informative and inspiring ... offers a fresh perspective on scientists' involvement in practical conservation. * Science, May 2001 *Table of ContentsPART I: IN THE PLACE OF THE TREE WITH EARS ; PART II: ADVANCING THROUGH THE WORLD OF WOUNDS ; PART III: THE RISING PHOENIX

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWe rarely have as much of anything as we want, but we can learn to do more with it. Scott Sonenshein is a gifted thinker whose insights have sharpened my work for over a decade, and his fascinating debut book reveals how resourcefulness is a skill that's waiting to be learned. Get ready to unleash your inner MacGyver. -- Adam Grant, bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take I always appreciate a book that challenges me, forces me to think, and creates constructive discomfort. And I especially value such a book when its key conclusions have a base of research. Dr. Sonenshein has accomplished all this with Stretch, and I am thankful for the chance to grow from reading his work. -- Jim Collins, bestselling author of Good to Great and Great by Choice It's easy to feel like we never have enough time, resources, or money. Scott Sonenshein's surprising and entertaining book inspires and instructs us to make the most out of what we already have. The result is more-more creativity, more engagement, and more satisfaction. -- Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of To Sell is Human and Drive Stretch is a masterpiece. Whether you want to build a better life or a better business, Scott Sonenshein reveals how the power of constraints sets you free and why the lust for more is bad for your mental health and-ironically- your personal success and the success of your business. I love the stories, rigorous research, and especially, how Sonenshein's warmth and wisdom fill every page and make Stretch a joy to read -- Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of the The No Asshole Rule Well-informed and frequently enlightening...Sonenshein is an amiable guide to attaining the benefits of stretching. A convincing argument within a compelling narrative-recommended for business managers and resourceful individuals alike. -- Kirkus In Silicon Valley successful entrepreneurs value constraints to help define both the problem and solution. In Stretch, Scott Sonenshein explains how to turn limitations into valuable assets, helping us achieve our goals both at work and at home. -- Ann Doerr, Chairman, Kahn Academy A smart yet accessible book that will appeal to readers interested in simplifying their careers and lives. -- Library Journal

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Book SynopsisFrom U.S.-Mexico border walls to Flint''s poisoned pipes, there is a new urgency to the politics of infrastructure. Roads, electricity lines, water pipes, and oil installations promise to distribute the resources necessary for everyday life. Yetan attention to their ongoing processes also reveals how infrastructures are made with fragile and often violent relations among people, materials, and institutions. While infrastructures promise modernity and development, their breakdowns and absences reveal the underbelly of progress, liberal equality, and economic growth. This tension, between aspiration and failure, makes infrastructure a productive location for social theory. Contributing to the everyday lives of infrastructure across four continents, some of the leading anthropologists of infrastructure demonstrate in The Promise of Infrastructure how these more-than-human assemblages made over more-than-human lifetimes offer new opportunities to theorize time, politics, and prTrade Review"The Promise of Infrastructure offers a provocative reflection on the current academic, social, and political moment that we find ourselves in. . . . While The Promise of Infrastructure as a whole offers a surprisingly comprehensive condemnation of the 'radically human-centered thinking' that has produced the Anthropocene challenge that we now face, it also suggests the tools we will need to map out possible futures. Appropriately, these are not prescriptions promising a better future. Rather they are openings for possibility, for action, and for wonder." -- Tim Oakes * Technology and Culture *"The volume offers a highly valuable contribution to the study of human/non-human relations. Taking up Brian Larkin’s call against a premature separation of the material from the discursive, the editors argue that infrastructural matter becomes political only in relation to human ideologies, aesthetics or histories." -- Laura Kemmer * International Journal of Urban and Regional Research *"The Promise of Infrastructure is a timely and compelling account of the myriad ways in which infrastructures can be theorized and the limits and potentials of the same." -- Siddharth Menon * AAG Review of Books *"The Promise of Infrastructure is a stellar collection of essays by anthropologists and social scientists who explore roads, buildings, bridges, water meters, pipelines, power stations, and other structures which we encounter on a daily basis but whose contribution to the production of difference we frequently overlook." -- Natalia Kovalyova * Anthropology Book Forum *"This book presents a combination of insightful theorisations and an engaging ethnography." -- Sudha Vasan * Economic & Political Weekly *"The Promise of Infrastructure is essential reading for scholars and students who wish to more fully understand the ethical and social role of the 'Ideal Infrastructure,' its history, its criticisms and its (uncertain) future destiny." -- Marco Spada * Environment and History *“The edited collection by Anand, Gupta, and Appel highlights infrastructures as a promising site for ethnographic research.... [It] reveal[s] the potential of infrastructural ethnography to make visible power inequalities and exclusionary practices and expose infrastructures as powerful sites for redefining governance and belonging.” -- Daivi Rodima-Taylor * American Anthropologist *“The Promise of Infrastructure teaches the reader how large state-run infrastructures can possibly induce and solidify regimes in pursuing their political promises. . . . Insights stemming out of The Promise of Infrastructure—especially the concept of ‘ruination’—enable researchers to acquire a ‘fuller’ account of the lifecycle of an infrastructure.” -- Alex Christian * Journal of Cultural Economy *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction: Temporality, Politics, and the Promise of Infrastructure / Hannah Appel, Nikhil Anand, and Akhil Gupta 1 Part I. Time 1. Infrastructural Time / Hannah Appel 41 2. The Future in Ruins: Thoughts on the Temporality of Infrastructure / Akhil Gupta 62 3. Infrastructures in and out of Time: The Promise of Roads in Contemporary Peru / Penny Harvey 80 4. The Current Never Stops: Intimacies of Energy Infrastructure in Vietnam / Christina Schwenkel 102 Part II. Politics 5. Infrastructure, Apartheid Technopolitics, and Temporalities of "Transition" / Antina von Schnitzler 133 6. A Public Matter: Water, Hydraulics, Biopolitics / Nikhil Anand 155 Part III. 7. Promising Forms: The Political Aesthetics of Infrastructure / Brian Larkin 175 8. Sustainable Knowledge Infrastructures / Geoffrey C. Bowker 203 9. Infrastructure, Potential Energy, Revolution / Dominic Boyer 223 Contributors 245 Index 249

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Book SynopsisRice was a major plantation crop during the first 300 years of settlement in the Americas. It accompanied slaves across the Middle Passage throughout the New World to Brazil, the Caribbean, and the southern U.S. Carney reveals how racism has shaped our historical memory and neglected this critical African contribution to the making of the Americas.Trade ReviewExploring crops, landscapes and agricultural practices in Africa and America, [Carney] demonstrates the critical role Africans played in the creation of the system of rice production that provided the foundation of Carolina’s wealth… This detailed study of historical botany, technological adaptation and agricultural diffusion adds depth to our understanding of slavery and makes a compelling case for ‘the agency of slaves’ in the creation of the South’s economy and culture. -- Drew Gilpin Faust * New York Times Book Review *Judith A. Carney’s Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas…describes how the South Carolina rice industry was built not only on slave labor but on the agricultural and technological knowledge brought over by the Africans… [It] changes our understanding of the black contribution to American life. -- Barry Gewen * New York Times Book Review *Black Rice sets out to discredit for good an old Southern recipe for history that depicts slaves as mere laborers who dumbly performed work their masters conceived. Carney tells it the other way around. After years visiting West African rice fields, then digging in archives on both sides of the Atlantic, she has emerged with evidence that early slave traders sought and seized Africans who had the abilities to grow a specific African rice… Black Rice might be called an agricultural detective story. The historical crime—and that’s clearly how Carney sees it—is the relative lack of attention given to African rice. -- Allan M. Jalon * Los Angeles Times *Contrary to common belief, [Carney] explains, rice was not brought by Europeans to the Americas by way of Asia, but rather was introduced here by Africans and cultivated by African-American slaves, particularly in South Carolina, where rice crops proved to be one of the most profitable plantation-based economies. Though this is a scholarly work, Carney’s clear, uncluttered prose invites a wider readership. * Publishers Weekly *Black Rice is an original, knowledgeable, exciting, and important addition to the literature of the making and remaking of the Atlantic world. Judith Carney demonstrates how the trans-Atlantic transfer of rice cultivation marked not simply the movement of an important crop across the Atlantic, but also the relocation of an entire culture. -- Ira Berlin, author of Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North AmericaAmong the very finest examples of what African Diaspora Studies should be: multidisciplinary, multilingual, broad in geographic scope, and focused on Africa and Africans as vital, active contributors to the technology and culture of the Americas. -- Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, author of Africans in Colonial Louisiana: The Development of Afro-Creole Culture in the Eighteenth CenturyIf there were a field of ‘Trans-Atlantic Subaltern Studies,’ Black Rice would represent both a foundation stone of the edifice and one of its most impressive achievements. -- James C. Scott, Yale UniversityBlack Rice is a luminous, brilliant account of innovation, resistance, and identity linking Old and New Worlds. Carney has unearthed a compelling, and hitherto neglected, aspect of Africa’s contribution to the agrarian history of the Americas. A magisterial geographical history of the Black Atlantic. -- Michael Watts, University of California, BerkeleyAn intrepid and observant researcher who links African rice to North and South America in fresh and convincing ways, Judith Carney’s work is wide-ranging, provocative, and clear. Black Rice is a wonderfully rich and creative book about an amazing crop and the people who labored to grow it. You will never look at a bowl of rice—or the entire Atlantic basin—in quite the same way again. -- Peter H. Wood, author of Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono RebellionWith a fusion of highly original geographic, ethnographic, and historical analysis, Carney powerfully traces the provenance and provisioning of rice in the Americas, the profound role that it played in defining gender roles, and the myriad ways that slave labor altered the once hidden political ecology of rice landscapes. -- Karl Zimmerer, author of Changing Fortunes: Biodiversity and Peasant Livelihood in the Peruvian AndesTable of ContentsPreface Introduction 1. Encounters 2. Rice Origins and Indigenous Knowledge 3. Out of Africa: Rice Culture and African Continuities 4. This Was "Woman's Wuck" 5. African Rice and the Atlantic World 6. Legacies Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisHugh Brody has an international reputation as an anthropologist and documentary film-maker of the Inuit peoples. This book is a marvellous account of hunter-gatherer culture, gleaned from years of living and hunting with the Inuits of the Arctic and the salmon-fishing tribes in the Canadian Northwest. Brody explores the frontiers between hunters and farmers, and shows us how the encounter between radically different ways of being in the world is at the core of human history. He travels through exquisite landscapes of ice and snow, with people who know the land as part of their selves. Posing the question, ''Why did the farmer triumph over the hunter-gatherer?'', Brody finds answers in a variety of places, among them the Book of Genesis, the great creation myth at the centre of the agriculturalist view of the world.This is a book that invites the reader to embark on a series of expeditions, into the territories of hunter-gatherers, and into radical ideas about what itTrade Review'Often eloquent, sometimes moving, and always fascinating... Brody's gripping book brings the resourceful intelligence and courage of hunter-gatherers vividly to life.' New Scientist 'The case for the hunter's ethic has never been more persuasively argued than in this wide-ranging, eloquent book.' TLS

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Book SynopsisArgues, the financial crisis, a dysfunctional international monetary system, and US policies have paradoxically strengthened the dollar's importance. This book examines how the dollar came to have a central role in the world economy and demonstrates that it will remain the cornerstone of global finance for the foreseeable future.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2015 Gold Medal in Economics, Axiom Business Book Awards Honorable Mention for the 2015 PROSE Award in Business, Finance & Management, Association of American Publishers One of Financial Times (FT.com) Best Economics Books of 2014, chosen by Martin Wolf One of China Business News' Financial Books of the Year for 2014 "Thoughtful."--Jeff Sommer, New York Times "[A] surprising argument... [L]ucid."--David Wessel, Wall Street Journal "Richly detailed study of global finances, examining how and why the dollar became the favored currency of international trade."--Kirkus "To understand how the world of international finance works, what the agendas are and what is at stake, this work is indispensable."--Henny Sender, Financial Times "In his authoritative new book on the dollar, Eswar Prasad ... argues that China and other foreign countries that own around half the outstanding US federal government debt are trapped in a risky game where the US may be tempted to renege on its debt obligations by printing more dollars."--John Plender, Financial Times "A lively and compelling analysis on currency wars in the wake of the financial crisis--and the likely persistence of the U.S. dollar as the world's pre-eminent currency."--Harold James, Central Banking Journal "Highly recommended especially for those interested in understanding the paradigm shifts that happened in the international monetary regime in the 1970s and 1980s."--Mehmet Kerem Caban, Asian Journal of Public AffairsTable of ContentsList of Figures and Tables ix Preface xi PART ONE Setting the Stage 1. Prologue 3 2. What Is So Special about the Dollar? 11 PART TWO Building Blocks 3. The Paradox of Uphill Capital Flows 31 4. Emerging Markets Get Religion 47 5. The Quest for Safety 63 6. A Trillion Dollar Con Game? 89 PART THREE Inadequate Institutions 7. Currency Wars 125 8. Seeking a Truce on Currency Wars 158 9. It Takes Twenty to Tango 171 10. The Siren Song of Capital Controls 188 11. Safety Nets with Gaping Holes 201 PART FOUR Currency Competition 12. Is the Renminbi Ready for Prime Time? 229 13. Other Contenders Nipping at the Dollar's Heels 262 14. Could the Dollar Hit a Tipping Point and Sink? 283 15. Ultimate Paradox: Fragility Breeds Stability 299 Appendix 309 Notes 317 References 375 Acknowledgments 393 Index 395

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Book SynopsisCatch up, keep up and make expected progress with our Target intervention workbooks.

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Book Synopsis''One of history''s most impressive field studies; an instant animal classic'' TIMEJane Goodall''s classic account of primate research provides an impressively detailed and absorbing account of the early years of her field study of, and adventures with, chimpanzees in Tanzania, Africa. It is a landmark for everyone to enjoy.

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Book Synopsis “People who thought the 2008 financial collapse was over a long time ago need to meet the people Jessica Bruder got to know in this scorching, beautifully written, vivid, disturbing (and occasionally wryly funny) book.” — Rebecca Solnit Trade Review"Stirring reportage." -- O Magazine"A remarkable book of immersive reporting... Bruder is an acute and compassionate observer." -- Margaret Talbot - The New Yorker" Bruder is a poised and graceful writer." -- Parul Sehgal - The New York Times"[A] devastating, revelatory book." -- Timothy R. Smith - The Washington Post"Stunning and beautifully written... brilliant and haunting…" -- Arlie Russell Hochschild - The New York Times Book Review"A first-rate piece of immersive journalism." -- San Francisco Chronicle"At once wonderfully humane and deeply troubling, the book offers an eye-opening tour of the increasingly unequal, unstable, and insecure future our country is racing toward." -- Astra Taylor - The Nation"This [Nomadland] is not some lookie-loo movie, condescendingly imagining the poor: Zhao and McDormand did the legwork—as did journalist Jessica Bruder, whose book inspired the film—entering communities and engaging with them in order to better tell their stories." -- Vanity Fair"I thought the book [“Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century,” by Jessica Bruder] was a very important document." -- David Strathairn - Los Angeles Times"Bruder’s lively, thoroughly reported book of the same name..." -- AO Scott - The New York Times"Ms. Zhao based her screenplay on Jessica Bruder’s 2018 book of the same name, an exceptional piece of nonfiction that emphasized social and economic upheaval in the wake of the Great Recession... Ms. Bruder’s book staked out the territory and brought its shifting population to life with calm, empathetic reporting." -- The Wall Street Journal

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Book SynopsisThe ecological crisis is a very real crisis for the many species that face extinction, but it is also a crisis of sensibility – that is, a crisis in our relationships with other living beings. We have grown accustomed to treating other living beings as the material backdrop for the drama of human life: the animal world is regarded as part of ‘nature’, juxtaposed to the world of human beings who pursue their aims independently of other species.Baptiste Morizot argues that the time has come for us to jettison this nature─human dualism and rethink our relationships with other living beings. Animals are not part of a separate, natural world: they are cohabitants of the Earth, with whom we share a common ancestry, the enigma of being alive and the responsibility of living decent lives together. By accepting our identity as living beings and reconnecting with our own animal nature, we can begin to change our relationships with other animals, seeing them not as inferior lifeforms but as living creatures who have different ways of being alive.This powerful plea for a new understanding of our relationships with other animals will be of great interest to anyone concerned about the ecological crisis and the future of different species, including our own.Trade Review‘Morizot is no armchair or Left-Bank café philosopher. He is a field philosopher, tracking the wolves of Provence, calling to them in their own vernacular, helping shepherds protect their flocks from them. Deeply informed by evolutionary biology, ecology, ethology, and anthropology, this book provides a loadstar for reviving a moribund discipline.’J. Baird Callicott, author of Thinking Like a PlanetTable of ContentsIntroduction: The ecological crisis as a crisis of sensibilityChapter One: A season among the livingChapter Two: The promises of a spongeChapter Three: Cohabiting with our wild beastsChapter Four: To the other side of the nightEpilogue: Adjusted ConsiderationAfterword by Alain DamasioNotesCredits

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Book SynopsisHandy little full colour map of Arran, Bute and Kintyre.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 around the Firth of Clyde.

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