Earth Sciences, Geography & Environment Books
Rowman & Littlefield Enviromedics
Book SynopsisMany of us have concerns about the effects of climate change on Earth, but we often overlook the essential issue of human health. This book addresses that oversight and enlightens readers about the most important aspect of one of the greatest challenges of our time.The global environment is under massive stress from centuries of human industrialization. The projections regarding climate change for the next century and beyond are grim.The impact this will have on human health is tremendous, and we are only just now discovering what the long-term outcomes may be. By weighing in from a physician's perspective, Jay Lemery and Paul Auerbach clarify the science, dispel the myths, and help readers understand the threats of climate change to human health. No better argument exists for persuading people to care about climate change than a close look at its impacts on our physical and emotional well-being.The need has never been greater for a grounded, informative, and accessible discussion abouTrade ReviewThere is a growing understanding that climate change is impacting a broad range of health outcomes. Two emergency medicine experts have assembled evidence from several disciplines to demonstrate that politically motivated national and corporate behavior is creating dire consequences for global health. The information is presented in 15 chapters that tackle such diverse topics as vector-borne diseases, extreme weather, mental health, algal blooms, and food and water security. All in all, this is a brief book; its 146-page text is annotated with extensive references. The authors believe human-caused changes to our environment may soon “become irreversible," and their evidence is compelling. Though their backgrounds are in medicine, the authors' climate science is sound, with an appropriate emphasis on biodiversity and environmental justice. The examples are straightforward, and the writing is intended for a popular audience. The authors' prescription for the future requires acceptance of “the science” to unite people in the pursuit of a common future. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. * CHOICE *Global warming is hazardous to human health. Lemery and Auerbach, emergency-medicine physicians and past presidents of the Wilderness Medical Society, invent the word enviromedics to describe the medical consequences of environmental change, and argue that droughts, floods, hurricanes, forest fires, pollution, and toxic waste jeopardize the future of humankind. “Earth will go on, no matter what we do to it,” they say. “The more pertinent question is, will we?” Flooding causes allergenic mold, and hotter temperatures lead to, among other things, disease-carrying mosquitoes spreading to more locations. Despite detailing a scary list of horrors, the authors beg people not to give up. After all, they say, 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked 50 years ago, and only 17 percent do today. They credit regulations (bans in public places), economics (the increased cost of cigarettes), and awareness of medical science (media campaigns). Could a similar approach work when it comes to global warming? They give the last word to young people, such as Caroline Spears, co-director of Students for a Sustainable Stanford. “I can either give up or be inspired,” she says. “I choose the latter.” In their well-researched, fact-filled treatise, Lemery and Auerbach passionately make the case for how the continuation of the human species depends on people taking better care of the planet by investing in renewable energies, consuming wisely, voting for motivated public officials, and speaking out to give future generations a chance. It’s a sobering and empowering message. * Booklist, Starred Review *Lemery and Auerbach, of the schools of medicine at the University of Colorado and Stanford University, respectively, adopt a no-nonsense ‘doctor’s approach’ as they survey the effects of climate change on public health. As ‘doctors on the front line,’ the authors regularly observe the medical ramifications ‘of climate change, pollution, and the reduction of biodiversity.’ Their aim here is to spotlight how changing environments affect health, using a ‘fusion science’ they call ‘enviromedics.’ The authors document manifestations of climate change alongside medical case histories that support their bleak conclusion that climate change will worsen preexisting health problems. The patients profiled include Sid, an elderly man with lung disease whose condition is exacerbated on days with an unhealthy air-quality index; Mark, who contracted malaria (one of several tropical diseases creeping into higher latitudes) from mosquitoes in New Jersey; Amanda, whose already severe allergies are bound to worse as pollen counts are predicted to ‘more than double by 2040’; and John, who suffered a reaction to mussels tainted by an algae bloom, itself a result of elevated oceanic carbon dioxide levels. Climate science will continue to evolve, Lemery and Auerbach concede, but ‘if Earth is warming because of global climate change, then human health will suffer.’ * Publishers Weekly, Starred Review *The real crisis of climate change is one of public perception, and far too few of us realize the catastrophe that we're headed into. Lemery and Auerbach bring forth the human element from climate change – they bring us to the bedside and force us to rethink our risk assessment. For that reason alone, Enviromedics is one of the most important books of the year. -- James Balog, Director, Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision InstituteIt isn’t remotely possible to remove your body, and its health, from the environment you live in, air you breathe, food you eat. Enviromedics persuasively explains what we have done to our planet, and how we are already paying a price for climate change with our health. Heed Lemery and Auerbach’s message, before it’s too late. -- Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer; author of I Heard the Sirens ScreamIn anticipating the consequences of climate change, there has been insufficient discussion of the discrete medical consequences and the arising health care challenges. This thoughtful book provides a framework upon which to categorize, anticipate, and understand such critical medical issues. Lemery and Auerbach’s work is pioneering and will be the standard in this field. -- Abraham Verghese, MD, MACP, Professor of Medicine, Stanford University; recipient of the National Humanities Medal; author of Cutting for StoneWith this book, Lemery and Auerbach do what physicians do best: assess the patient's presenting symptoms, consider and apply the evidence at hand, and prescribe a path forward. They demonstrate the unique value that a medical perspective brings to the greatest health threat of the 21st century — climate change. -- Nick Watts, Executive Director, Lancet Commission: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate ChangeClimate change is a medical issue. That’s the starting point for Jay Lemery and Paul Auerbach in their compelling new book. They write about what doctors will face as more and more patients walk through their doors feeling dizzy and vomiting from heat stress, with burns from fighting wildfires, or with a mosquito-borne disease that never used to be found in these parts. It’s already happening and can only get worse, much worse. Their message is vital to the health of this and future generations. -- Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University; author of EarthmastersLemery and Auerbach have done a superb job demonstrating how and explaining why climate change threatens everyone. They have taken an issue understood by very few people and - in a clear and compelling fashion - shown why this needs to be regarded as a central aspect of global health and well-being. -- Mark Plotkin, PhD, LHD, President, Amazon Conservation Team; author of Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature’s Healing SecretsMany adolescents have the delusion that pretending to be invincible makes one so. They soon learn: taking risks with no benefits is often future-wrecking. America and other nations can no longer behave that way. They cannot ignore the evidence of impending collapse: ruined oceans, lands, and atmospheres, and thus sick people. During “teachable moments” in the emergency room, doctors sometimes confront people who are endangered by self-inflicted disease. With Enviromedics, these experienced and accessible doctors are intervening at a moment of urgency, offering their informed concerns and asserting the changes that their patient, all of us, must make. Every person, young and old, should read Enviromedics. -- Richard J. Jackson, MD MPH, Professor, Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles; author of Making Healthy Places; host of the PBS series "Designing Healthy Communities"Enviromedics is the most important book ever written about how the changes in our environment affect human health. Doctors understand the effects of diet, stress, lack of exercise, and sleep on health and disease. But our health care system mostly ignores the effects of pollution and climate change on human health. As the authors point out, Earth will survive these insults, but human life itself may not. This book should be read by everyone, including policy makers, health care professionals, and anyone who cares about their personal health. -- Mark Hyman, MD, Director, Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine; author of 10-Day Detox DietIt’s difficult for many Americans, particularly in this politically charged period, to know how to think about global climate change. Often they have no contact with scientists or environmentalists, and probably little confidence in their views. But they know and trust their doctors and nurses. And they care about the health of their families. That is why Lemery and Auerbach's explanation of the link between climate change and personal health is such an important and useful contribution. And, as a bonus, it's an easy read. -- Frank Loy, Former United States Under Secretary of State for Global AffairsAn eloquent, gentle, compassionate, humble, logical and clear communication — just the sort that all of us want from our doctors. The language and logic are easy to understand and, by not being 'preachy'— the book is all the more persuasive. This is an important book that, like Atul Gawande's Being Mortal, should be read by all members of the public as well as by the medical profession. -- Hugh Montgomery, MD, FRCP, FRGS, FRSB, FFICM, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine; Director of the Institute for Human Health and Performance, University College LondonClimate scientists often speak about the impacts of climate change in reference to aspects of our ecosystem, such as rising temperatures, rising seas, and more frequent extreme weather events. In Enviromedics, Doctors Lemery and Auerbach successfully identify the ominous links between climate change and human health, including mental health. This incredibly well-researched and well-written book by subject matter experts from the health field provides great insight into why we ALL should care deeply about preventing the worst effects of climate change. -- Bill Ritter, former Governor of ColoradoDoctors Lemery and Auerbach have done the world a great service by providing a straightforward and understandable must-read book that clearly connects human health with an often overlooked and unavoidably essential variable — our environment! -- Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS, 17th Surgeon General of the United States; Distinguished Professor of Public Health, University of ArizonaJay Lemery and Paul Auerbach’s book reads like the plot of a disaster movie — but that is exactly what climate change is. It brings to life the human element and the reasons why we really need to worry and take immediate action. It is a must-read for global policy makers. -- Vivek Wadhwa, Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Mellon School of Engineering; syndicated columnist, The Washington PostThe health of humans and environmental conditions on Earth are profoundly intertwined. I am immensely impressed by this book. Enviromedics takes the reader beyond debates about environmental change and its causes to a thoughtful, science-based discussion about the relationship between climate change and human health. This is a worthy conversation to be had among health care providers, and even more importantly, among our general populations. The authors take their Hippocratic oath seriously for the benefit of society and our precious planet. -- Chad P. Dawson, Professor Emeritus, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Editor-in-chief, International Journal of Wilderness; co-author, Wilderness Management: Stewardship and Protection of Resources and ValuesSmoking tobacco was a scourge to human health. In January 1964, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a report on smoking and human health. This courageous physician and others spoke their minds independent from global industrial interests, and their efforts triggered a series of concerted efforts by government and nongovernmental organizations to reduce the toll of cigarette smoking. With Enviromedics, Lemery and Auerbach bring to light a considerably greater threat. They describe hazards that are associated with global warming and the consequences for humanity, whether now or in the future. “Earth will survive. It is the living creatures that may perish.” We simply cannot ignore this possibility. The authors are emergency physicians who practice on the front lines and each day see the repercussions of global climate change. As experts in wilderness medicine, they know better than most the impacts of nature on human welfare. This amazing book is worth reading for anyone who is not afraid to contemplate what we are doing and how we must reverse course for the benefit of planet Earth. -- Hermann Brugger, MD, Head of the Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine, EURAC research, Bolzano, Italy; President of the International Society of Mountain MedicineEnviromedics is a very successful effort by Doctors Lemery and Auerbach that teaches us the effects and consequences of the impacts of environmental change upon human health. This comprehensive collection of information puts forth an easily understood critical concept that will undoubtedly be discussed, debated, and researched. Regardless of your opinion on climate change, it is essential to understand how environmental change could alter the reality of your day-to-day ability to function in an optimally healthy way. As physicians and global healthcare advocates, the authors make a convincing case that climate change creates definable causes and distribution of illnesses that will impact the human condition. Their point is that to treat these illnesses is not enough. The ability of mankind to survive resides in humans treating the environmental in the same way that we care for each other. If you are looking for a thorough understanding of environmental change and how it might be impacting your, your family’s, and your world’s health, this book is a must-read. -- Dan Orr, MS, President Emeritus, Divers Alert Network Foundation; President, Academy of Underwater Arts and SciencesEnviromedics is a timely and lucid account of the health effects caused by human-induced environmental change. The current and future consequences of this health crisis are widespread and monumental in their scale and scope. The world’s poorest people are the most severely impacted yet the most obviously under-addressed by anything approaching climate justice. Enviromedics should be required reading for anyone who has an interest in better understanding this unprecedented heath care crisis and how to address it. -- David Breashears, Executive Director, GlacierWorks; acclaimed filmmaker, author, and mountaineerEnviromedics is a compelling dive into the essential topic of health in a changing climate. Through a readable tour of the science and gripping examples, Lemery and Auerbach highlight the ways that shifting climate and related extreme conditions, heat waves to flooding, are affecting people. Whether the connections are direct or indirect, they are exceeding human limits for tolerance across global geographies. The authors underscore a key implication — responding effectively to the climate challenge can build vibrant societies with safety, health, and well-being at the core. -- Katharine Mach, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
£28.50
British Library Publishing Serpent Siren Maelstrom Myth
Book SynopsisGerry Smyth has gathered together myths and folktales from cultures around the world – Native American, Caribbean, Polynesian, Persian, Indian, Scandinavian and European.
£24.00
Duke University Press Oceaning
Book SynopsisDrones are revolutionizing ocean conservation. By flying closer and seeing more, drones enhance intimate contact between ocean scientists and activists and marine life. In the process, new dependencies between nature, technology, and humans emerge, and a paradox becomes apparent: Can we have a wild ocean whose survival is reliant upon technology? In Oceaning, Adam Fish answers this question through eight stories of piloting drones to stop the killing of porpoises, sharks, and seabirds and to check the vitality of whales, seals, turtles, and coral reefs. Drone conservation is not the end of nature. Instead, drone conservation results in an ocean whose flourishing both depends upon and escapes the control of technologies. Faulty technology, oceanic and atmospheric turbulence, political corruption, and the inadequacies of basic science serve to foil governance over nature. Fish contends that what emerges is an ocean/culture—a flourishing ocean that is distinct from but exists
£18.89
Michelin Editions des Voyages Hungary - Michelin National Map 732: Map
Book Synopsis(Edition revised in 2023) , MICHELIN National Map Hungary will give you an overall picture of your journey thanks to its clear and accurate mapping scale 1/400,000. Our National Map Series will help you easily plan your safe and enjoyable journey thanks to a comprehensive key, a complete name index as well a clever time & distance chart. Michelin's driving information will help you navigate safely in all circumstances. In addition, some MICHELIN National Maps are cross-referenced with the MICHELIN Green Guide highlighting destinations worth stopping for! With MICHELIN National Maps, find more than just your way! MICHELIN NATIONAL MAPS feature: * Up-to-date mapping * A scale adapted to the size of the country * A clear and comprehensive key * Distance and time chart * Place name index * Driving and road safety information * Tourist sights information Our maps are regularly updated even if the ISBN does not change.
£6.64
National Geographic Society NG Compact Atlas of the World National Geographic
Book SynopsisBeautiful, accurate, and up-to-the-minute, this completely updated mini atlas puts the entire world in the palm of your hand in an amazingly accessible format.National Geographic's maps and atlases are critically acclaimed and world-renowned for their accuracy, originality, authoritative content, and clean design. Now, the most convenient package of this trusted map content has been completely updated in Compact Atlas of the World, Second Edition. Sized at 4 x 6 inches with a resilient soft cover, this atlas is designed for easy reference and convenient storage in a pocket, backpack, or desk. All maps are newly researched and updated. Other enhancements include a new physical world map reflecting the latest cartographic techniques, plus world and continental coverage of population, climate, land cover, fresh water, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. Superb overall readability, engaging design, and navigational ease allow the reader
£12.74
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Grave
Book SynopsisObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Grave takes a ground-level view of how burial sites have transformed over time and how they continue to change. As a cemetery tour guide, Allison C. Meier has spent more time walking among tombstones than most. Even for her, the grave has largely been invisible, an out of the way and unobtrusive marker of death. However, graves turn out to be not always so subtle, reverent, or permanent. While the indigent and unidentified have frequently been interred in mass graves, a fate brought into the public eye during the COVID-19 pandemic, the practice today is not unlike burials in the potter's fields of the colonial era. Burial is not the only option, of course, and Meier analyzes the rise of cremation, green burial, and new practices like human composting, investigating what is next for the grave and how existing spaces of death can be returned to community life.Object Lessons Trade ReviewBeautifully written and filled with empathy and insight, Grave is a rumination over the how and why of human burial, complete with a slew of little known historical tidbits pulled together from years of the author’s fascination with the topic. It should be considered essential reading for anyone interested in funerary history, especially in the United States. * Paul Koudounaris, author of Heavenly Bodies, Memento Mori, and Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses *A thorough, insightful survey of the past, present, and future of the grave, and how humanity has grappled with the many problems and possibilities it represents. With compassion and an uncommon eye for detail, Allison Meier examines how the grave has functioned as a site of social inequality for centuries, and how a mixture of new technology and a revival of older practices may enliven cemeteries as sites of renewed community meaning. * Bess Lovejoy, author of Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses (2016) *Table of Contents1. The Grave: Our House of Eternity 2. Navigating Through Necrogeography 3. The Living and the Dead 4. The Privilege of Permanence 5. An Eternal Room of Our Own 6. No Resting Place 7. To Decay or Not to Decay 8. New Ideas for the Afterlife 9. Dead Space Notes Index
£9.49
Black Rose Books The End of the Street: Sustainable Growth within
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£17.09
Black Rose Books The Commonwealth of Life
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£10.95
Black Rose Books Green Politics, Green Economics
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£15.30
Princeton University Press Birds of Costa Rica
Book SynopsisTrade Review"An American Birding Association Best Bird Book of the Year""A very fine book, meeting all the established criteria for a successful modern field guide, and in many instances exceeding them."---David M. Gascoigne, Travels With Birds"This book is a MUST have for anyone birding Costa Rica!"---Ian Paulsen, The Birdbooker Report"Lavishly and beautiful[ly] illustrated."---Geoff Carpentier, North Durham Nature"An exemplary field guide and a rich source of information on Costa Rican birds. . . . We anticipate that it will become the guide of choice for many years to come."---Luke Owen Frishkoff & Evan Matthew, Journal of Field Ornithology"Costa Rica has long been a popular birding destination, and over time access to sites and our knowledge of the birds there has increased significantly. The authors have used all of that knowledge to produce an excellent, lightweight guide that will undoubtedly become the go-to guide for visitors to this wonderful country."---Frank Lambert, Frank Lambert Birding"The paintings are so elegant. . . . An impressive work."---Rebecca Minardi, American Birding Association
£21.25
HarperCollins Publishers In Search of One Last Song
Book SynopsisWonderful and enriching' Adam NicolsonThe best book on conservation and the countryside I have read in years' John Lewis-StempelA modern pastoral written with intelligence, wit and lyricism' Cal FlynOur wild places and wildlife are disappearing at a terrifying rate. This is a story about going in search of the people who are trying to save our birds, as well as confronting the enormity of what losing them would really mean.In this beautiful and thought-provoking blend of nature and travel writing Patrick Galbraith sets off across Britain on a journey that may well be his last chance to see some of our disappearing birds. Along the way, from Orkney to West Wales, from the wildest places to post-industrial towns, he meets a fascinatingly eclectic group of people who in very different ways are on the front line of conservation, tirelessly doing everything they can to save ten species teetering dangerously close to extinction.In Search of One Last Song mixes conservation, folklore, historyTrade Review‘One of the great oral histories of British nature and the British countryside … Sad and honest and important and often very funny’ Richard Smyth, Review 31 ‘A treasury of a book … filled with beautiful moments, amazing and sometimes rather surprising characters, and, if we could only learn from them, reasons for hope.’ John Burnside, New Statesman 'It's a delight to jump into this slightly strange parallel world. Galbraith is such an able communicator of its weirdness, that it is a pleasure to go along for the ride’ The Times ‘In terms of both scope and execution, this book is a hugely impressive achievement, and it will be fascinating to see where Galbraith goes from here.’ The Scotsman ‘An important and timely book that explores the human context of an ecological emergency. Galbraith is a thoughtful, assured and elegant writer who brings a mature intelligence and open-minded insight to his subject.' Oban Times ‘Entertaining’ Jamie Blackett, Country Life ‘Galbraith’s writing is beautiful … In Search of One Last Song feels like an important step in the right direction’ Stephen Rutt, British Birds ‘The birds come to life in his fine writing’ Helen Bynum, Literary Review ‘Galbraith combines the ability to write lyrically with a formidable grasp of his subject’ The Week ‘Patrick Galbraith’s engaging debut volume will appeal to the layman as much as to the committed naturalist, being a quirkily enjoyable journey through a slightly nether worldly version of Britain.’ David Profumo, The Critic ‘The writing is strong, the book an impressive debut, establishing Galbraith as a quality writer.’ Tim Dee, Caught by the River ‘The best book on conservation and the countryside I have read in years’ John Lewis-Stempel ‘Beautifully written and earthy’ Philip Womack, The London Magazine
£9.49
RIBA Publishing High Street: How our town centres can bounce back
Book SynopsisThe high street is in crisis. How did we get here and what happens next? The global pandemic has made the crisis immeasurably worse but it wasn’t the cause. The crisis was already raging in 2019 with thousands of store closures. Large retailers became complacent and failed to respond to changing consumer behaviour. Town centres are the victims of these changes rather than the cause of them. To understand the current crisis and how it might be addressed, this book takes a long view of retailing based on a hundred case studies. It looks at the way town centres responded to previous crises and explores current trends affecting town centres and how places are responding. The message is optimistic: adaptable town centres can once more become the diverse, characterful, independent places that existed before they were homogenised by big retail. Explore the past – understand the present – find a better future.Table of ContentsIntroduction PART 1: The Roots of the Crisis Chapter 1: Places of exchange Chapter 2: Death by supermarket Chapter 3: Heading Out of Town Chapter 4: From Boom to Bust PART 2: Future Retail Chapter 5: Independent and Creative Chapter 6: Grocers and Purveyors of Fine Food Chapter 7: Food and Beverage Chapter 8: Online and e-Commerce Chapter 9: Sound and Vision Chapter 10: Home and GardenChapter 11: Fashion and Beauty PART 3: Future High Street Chapter 12: The City Chapter 13: The Mall Chapter 14: The Town Chapter 15: The High Street Part 4: ConclusionsChapter 16; Conclusions
£36.00
The History Press Ltd Zero Altitude
Book SynopsisHow going flight-free can save the planet - and change how you see the worldTrade ReviewHelen Coffey’s book is an inspiration to share the joys of terrestrial travel – whether on high-speed rail, a slow boat to Africa or, as a pilgrim, on two feet. Be transported to a gentler, more analogue world – with simple pleasures such as the splash of the Adriatic less than 24 hours after leaving London -- Simon Calder, author of No Frills: The Truth Behind the Low-Cost Revolution in the SkiesZero Altitude is passionate, entertaining and compelling, yet light-hearted. Helen puts forward a strong case for travelling without flying that will have you yearning to follow in her grounded footsteps -- Anna Hughes, director of Flight Free UK
£15.29
Firefly Books Ltd Planktonia
Book SynopsisPlanktonia invites readers to dive into the dazzling nighttime ocean. Countless microscopic plankton ascend to the upper waters to feed, returning to the depths before sunrise. These tiny planktonic creatures are delicate and beautiful; some look terrifying; and most look nothing like the creatures they will become as adults.
£23.80
Nova Science Publishers Inc Explorers & the New World
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£33.14
Duke University Press Ruderal City
Book SynopsisIn Ruderal City Bettina Stoetzer traces relationships among people, plants, and animals in contemporary Berlin as they make their lives in the ruins of European nationalism and capitalism. She develops the notion of the ruderal—originally an ecological designation for the unruly life that inhabits inhospitable environments such as rubble, roadsides, train tracks, and sidewalk cracks—to theorize Berlin as a “ruderal city.” Stoetzer explores sites in and around Berlin that have figured in German national imaginaries—gardens, forests, parks, and rubble fields—to show how racial, class, and gender inequalities shape contestations over today’s uses and knowledges of urban nature. Drawing on fieldwork with gardeners, botanists, migrant workers, refugees, public officials, and nature enthusiasts while charting human and more-than-human worlds, Stoetzer offers a wide-ranging ethnographic portrait of Berlin’s postwar ecologies that reveals Table of ContentsPreface: Forest Tracks vii Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Rubble 1. Botanical Encounters 35 Gardens 2. Gardening the Ruins 67 Parks 3. Provisioning against Austerity 103 4. Barbecue Area 138 Forests 5. Living in the Unheimlich 173 6. Stories of the “Wild East” 205 Epilogue: Seeding Livable Futures 239 Notes 245 References 283 Index 319
£20.69
New York University Press The Creative Lives of Animals
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2023 Nautilus Book Award in the category of Animals & NatureThe surprising, fascinating, and remarkable ways that animals use creativity to thrive in their habitatsMost of us view animals through a very narrow lens, seeing only bits and pieces of beings that seem mostly peripheral to our lives. However, whether animals are building a shelter, seducing a mate, or inventing a new game, animals' creative choices affect their social, cultural, and environmental worlds.The Creative Lives of Animals offers readers intimate glimpses of creativity in the lives of animals, from elephants to alligators to ants. Drawing on a growing body of scientific research, Carol Gigliotti unpacks examples of creativity demonstrated by animals through the lens of the creative process, an important component of creative behavior, and offers new thinking on animal intelligence, emotion, and self-awareness. With examples of the elaborate dams built byTrade ReviewCarol Gigliotti’s The Creative Lives of Animals deconstructs our conceit that humans alone are capable of emotion, creativity and synthetic thinking. The author joyfully perforates the rigid tenets of behavioral science with vivid stories from the fresh edge of research. It is good to live in a time when human self-reference is finally yielding to the undeniable evidence of magnificent animal minds. -- Julie Zickefoose * Wall Street Journal *The Creative Lives of Animals makes its strongest case when advocating a revision of how to think about, and act towards, animals. Ms. Gigliotti points out that humans are only one of millions of species on Earth. She suggests a retreat from anthropocentrism in favor of recognition that animals are individuals with complicated, powerful, creative lives of their own. * The Economist *An illuminating account of creativity in the wild. Gigliotti makes a solid case that humans have a lot to learn about the creatures that they share the planet with, and that much of what scientists previously thought was uniquely human isn’t. Fans of Jane Goodall and Frans de Waal will be pleased. * Publishers Weekly (starred) *Gigliotti builds the case that animals of all types—from elephants to ants—are intelligent, albeit in ways that may manifest differently than humans, and they can communicate nuance, allowing individual behavioral innovation to spread through a community. Ultimately, her agenda is to seek greater empathy, value, and protection for animals by including them into a global creative force. This broad survey of creative animal behavior will appeal to artists of all types and to animal lovers. * Library Journal *If you’ve ever purchased one of the many different types of ‘squirrel proof’ bird feeders, you can attest to the resourcefulness of animals. In this intriguing investigation of animal ingenuity, Gigliotti contemplates the novelty and meaning of creativity along with some essential elements, such as curiosity, flexibility, and persistence. * Booklist *From playfully bowing puppies to seductively singing alligators, Carol Gigliotti combines examples from interviews with scientists and excerpts of previously published books in this delightful index of animal inventiveness. -- Fionna M. D. Samuels * Scientific American *The Creative Lives of Animals is a game-changer. Carol Gigliotti shows how important creativity –improvisation and invention–is in a wide variety of contexts including expressing different emotions, playing, socially communicating with others, courting, mating, and raising children, and designing and engineering animals' homes. Easy-to-read and science-based, The Creative Lives of Animals will be of interest to a broad audience including researchers and non-researchers alike, and surely will change the ways in which humans view and treat the fascinating animals with whom we share our magnificent planet. * Marc Bekoff, author of Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do *Finely written. Gigliotti, tuned into nature and the lives of animals, offers a good model for the rest of us to follow, helping us see the world not from myopic humanism but from the perspective of animals. Implicitly, Gigliotti asks everyone and not just scientists to learn about the lives of animals in our shared ecosphere to which we are all tied with an equal fate. -- Gregory F. Tague * Leonardo Reviews *In her marvelous book, Gigliotti reveals the astonishing depth and genius of animal creativity, demolishing a common view of animals as little more than robots mindlessly enacting the scripts given to them by Nature. Drawing on a century of ethological findings, the author shows how animals bring deep intelligence, emotions, and even an aesthetic sensibility to bear on their daily challenges. Animals are shown to be not mere ‘types,’ but creative individuals and artists of their own lives. This is the rare work that opens our eyes to worlds of experience and being that would otherwise remain hidden from us. * John Sanbonmatsu, author of Critical Theory and Animal Liberation *The Creative Lives of Animals is smart, original, and well-written. Gigliotti topples one of the last remaining conceits about what distinguishes humans from nonhuman animals: the aptitude for creative expression and aesthetic appreciation. The Creative Lives of Animals is masterfully researched, and will surely make vital contributions to debates not only in animal studies but also in the philosophy of mind and even performance studies. At the same time, the writing sparkles, and the book overflows with stories so accessible and well-crafted that the book deserves wide readership. This is a work that has the potential to fundamentally change the way we think about animals--and ourselves. * Colin Jerolmack, author of The Global Pigeon *If you doubt that other beings can create, prepare to be convinced otherwise. With a delightful combination of science and anecdote, Gigliotti explores a neglected facet of the inner lives of our fellow denizens of planet Earth. The result is a highly readable and accessible foray into the creative lives of animals. -- Jonathan BalcombeSo many people are reluctant to admit that the species we share this planet with are also creative. Perhaps this book will change their minds. Eye-opening and fascinating. -- John Yunker * EcoLit Books *Many songbirds are born without the ability to sing. So should those that learn — and other animals — be called creative? Carol Gigliotti interviews scientists who think they should be, and agrees with them. An animal activist, author and artist who has taught design and dynamic media, she defines creativity as a 'dynamic process' in which individuals generate 'novel and meaningful behavior' that might affect others at cultural, species and evolutionary levels. -- Andrew Robinson * Nature *This broad survey of creative animal behaviour makes a compelling case that animals of all types (from insects to mammals) are capable of behavioural innovation and provides artists insight into their own creativity. -- Nathalie Atkinson * The Globe and Mail *Gigliotti's palpable love of the animal world is expressed in graceful and affecting prose… the author deserves praise for creating this beautiful prose paean to the other animals who inhabit our shared world. -- D. Altschiller, Boston University * CHOICE *
£22.79
Island Press The Burning Season: The Murder of Chico Mendes
Book Synopsis"In the rain forests of the western Amazon," writes author Andrew Revkin, "the threat of violent death hangs in the air like mist after a tropical rain. It is simply a part of the ecosystem, just like the scorpions and snakes living in the leafy canopy that floats over the forest floor like a seamless green circus tent." Violent death came to Chico Mendes in the Amazon rain forest on December 22, 1988. A labor and environmental activist, Mendes was targetted by powerful ranchers for organizing resistance to the wholesale burning of the forest. He was a target because he had convinced the government to take back land ranchers had stolen at gunpoint or through graft and then to transform it into "extractive reserves," set aside for the sustainable production of rubber, nuts, and other goods harvested from the living forest. This was not just a local land battle on a remote frontier. Mendes had invented a kind of reverse globalization, creating alliances between his grassroots campaign and the global environmental movement. Some 500 similar killings had gone unprosecuted, but this case would be different. Under international pressure, for the first time Brazilian officials were forced to seek, capture, and try not only an Amazon gunman but the person who ordered the killing. In this reissue of the environmental classic The Burning Season, with a new introduction by the author, Andrew Revkin artfully interweaves the moving story of Mendes's struggle with the broader natural and human history of the world's largest tropical rain forest. "It became clear," writes Revkin, acclaimed science reporter for The New York Times, "that the murder was a microcosm of the larger crime: the unbridled destruction of the last great reservoir of biological diversity on Earth." In his life and untimely death, Mendes forever altered the course of development in the Amazon, and he has since become a model for environmental campaigners everywhere.
£22.79
Princeton University Press The New Natural History of Madagascar
Book Synopsis
£116.80
Protea Boekhuis Hunters of the dunes The Story of the Kalahari
Book Synopsis
£18.90
Headline Publishing Group We Will Not Be Saved
Book SynopsisThe first memoir by an indigenous tribal leader in the Amazon, who fought Big Oil to preserve her tribe's territories, and thousands of acres of pristine rainforest.
£10.44
University of Wales Press Theorising the Contemporary Zombie: Contextual
Book SynopsisZombies have become an increasingly popular object of research in academic studies and, of course, in popular media. Over the past decade, they have been employed to explain mathematical equations, vortex phenomena in astrophysics, the need for improved laws, issues within higher education, and even the structure of human societies. Despite the surge of interest in the zombie as a critical metaphor, no coherent theoretical framework for studying the zombie actually exists. Addressing this current gap in the literature, Theorising the Contemporary Zombie defines zombiism as a means of theorising and examining various issues of society in any given era by immersing those social issues within the destabilising context of apocalyptic crisis; and applying this definition, the volume considers issues including gender, sexuality, family, literature, health, popular culture and extinction.Table of ContentsContents: Abstract Author Biographies List of Figures Introduction - Scott Hamilton and Conor Heffernan I. Zombified Bodies 1. Zombies, Deviance, and the Right to Posthuman Life - Poppy Wilde (Birmingham City University) 2. The Apocalypse Workout: Health, Identity and Zombies - Conor Heffernan (University of Texas at Austin) 3. Zombie Orgies and the Fear of the Outer Limits: Examining the Relationship between Fear, Pornography and Zombies - Caroline West (Dublin City University) 4. Aloha-oe: Hello, Goodbye to Love and Family in Sang-ho Yeon's Train to Busan - Harvey O'Brien (University College Dublin) II. Critical Environments 5. The Stalking Dead: Ireland's Ambiguous Revenants and the Case for a Folk-Zombie Revival - Jack Fennell (University of Limerick) 6. M.R. Carey's The Boy on the Bridge: Ethics and the Apocalypse - Scott Eric Hamilton (University College Dublin) 7. Zombie Colony: The Heteronomy of the Greek State & The Datura of Cultural Capital - Konstantinos Kerasovitis (University of Wolverhampton) 8. Last Ones Left Alive: Zombies and Post-Politics - Deirdre Flynn (University College Dublin) III. Undead Cultures 9. Beware the Zuvembies: Comics, Censorship, and the Ubiquity of Not-Quite-Zombies - Chera Kee (Wayne State University) 10. Distortions of the Video Dead: The Degradation of Reality in the Era of Zombie VHS - Peter Wright (The University of Sydney) 11. 'Violence is Italian art': Art and Adaptation in Lucio Fulci's 'Gates of Hell' Trilogy - Miranda Corcoran (University College Cork) 12. Surviving the Shambling Signifieds: Zombies, Language, and Chaos - Andrew Ferguson (University of Maryland) Bibliography Index
£42.75
OR Books Extinction: A Radical History
Book SynopsisWith a new introduction by the author Some thousands of years ago, the world was home to an immense variety of large mammals. From wooly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers to giant ground sloths and armadillos the size of automobiles, these spectacular creatures roamed freely. Then human beings arrived. Devouring their way down the food chain as they spread across the planet, they began a process of voracious extinction that has continued to the present. Headlines today are made by the existential threat confronting remaining large animals such as rhinos and pandas. But the devastation summoned by humans extends to humbler realms of creatures including beetles, bats and butterflies. Researchers generally agree that the current extinction rate is nothing short of catastrophic. Currently the earth is losing about a hundred species every day. This relentless extinction, Ashley Dawson contends in a primer that combines vast scope with elegant precision, is the product of a global attack on the commons, the great trove of air, water, plants and creatures, as well as collectively created cultural forms such as language, that have been regarded traditionally as the inheritance of humanity as a whole. This attack has its genesis in the need for capital to expand relentlessly into all spheres of life. Extinction, Dawson argues, cannot be understood in isolation from a critique of our economic system. To achieve this we need to transgress the boundaries between science, environmentalism and radical politics. Extinction: A Radical History performs this task with both brio and brilliance.Trade ReviewPraise for the first edition: “Ashley Dawson’s slim and forceful book … makes a case for being the most accessible and politically engaged examination of the current mass extinction … a welcome contribution to the growing literature on this slow-motion calamity.” —Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, Yale University, in the Los Angeles Review of Books “Dawson's searing report on species loss will sober up anyone who has drunk the Kool-Aid of green capitalism. For a bonus, readers will learn a lot from his far-sighted, prehistoric survey of extinction.” —Andrew Ross, author of Creditocracy and the Case for Debt Refusal “Dawson has summed up the threat to our fellow species on Earth with clarity, urgency and the finest reasoning available within the environmental justice literature. He explains how capital's appropriation of nature cannot be 'offset,' nor solutions found in financialization. Fusing social and ecological challenges to power is the only way forward, and here is a long-awaited, elegant and comprehensive expression of why the time is right to make these links.” —Patrick Bond, Professor of Political Economy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and author of Politics of Climate Justice: Paralysis Above, Movement Below “A succinct and moving account of the co-evolution of capitalism, imperialism, and climate change. Dawson demonstrates not only how capitalism created climate change but also why the former must be challenged in order to halt the latter. Offering not only critique but also solutions, this rousing book is a great tool for anti-capitalists, climate change activists, and those still making sense of the intrinsic connections between the two.” —Jasbir Puar, Associate Professor, Graduate Program Director Women's and Gender Studies, Rutgers University, author of Terrorist Assemblages “Historically grounded, densely researched, fluidly written, Ashley Dawson’s book on extinction is a powerful and painful exploration of human civilization's environmental irrationalities. Yet Dawson does not see annihilation as inevitable and he even points towards an alternate path.” —Christian Parenti, author of Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence
£12.34
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Fire on Earth
Book SynopsisEarth is the only planet known to have fire. The reason is both simple and profound: fire exists because Earth is the only planet to possess life as we know it. Fire is an expression of life on Earth and an index of life s history. Few processes are as integral, unique, or ancient.Trade ReviewThe well-organized and illustrated work can be used as a textbook or a reference source for practitioners. Each chapter has a list of further readings, and each part has its own extensive bibliography. This phenomenal contribution will become a classic reference for five mangers, students of fire ecology and climate, and researchers for years to come. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries." (Choice, 1 October 2014) "Overall, the book provides an excellent, multidisciplinary introduction to fire, authored by leading experts in their fields, written in a very accessible style and supported by superb illustrations and extensive references. Hence, I highly recommend it to potential readers, who may be upper level undergraduate students, graduate students, teaching staff and everyone working, or simply interested, in the area of environmental science." (International Journal of Wildland Fire, 1 August 2014) "Fire and earth scientists, anthropologists, ecologists, resource managers, and especially advanced students in natural sciences will find the text, along with its online resources, a requisite addition to their libraries. Not only is it a pleasure to read, simply put, it sparks the imagination." (Fire Ecology, 1 June 2014) "With wildfire recognised in key government contingency documents, not least for climate change, foresters looking for greater understanding of this future challenge over the coming decades, should look no further." (Chartered Forester, 1 May 2014) "This book is a good example of a multidisciplinary investigation. The writers express the wish that it may stimulate further research into fire processes, both 'natural' and induced by humanity. A book worth reading!." (Geological Journal, 29 April 2014) "Each part has an extensive reference list reflecting the worldwide significance of wildfire and varied scientific approaches: tables, diagrams and colour photographs are abundant, and there is a welcome companion website with a host of useful teaching/demonstration material." (The Biologist 2016) "Fire on Earth would serve as an outstanding basis for a graduate course in fire science and management. It is also a valuable reference that has a place on the bookshelf of any instructor, scientist, or land manager whose work involves the role of fire in terrestrial ecosystems and human civilization." (The Quarterly Review of Biology 2016)Table of ContentsPreface xiii Acknowledgements xv About the Authors xvii About the Companion Website xix PART ONE FIRE IN THE EARTH SYSTEM 1 Preface to part one 2 Chapter 1 What is fire? 3 1.1 How fire starts and initially spreads 3 1.2 Lightning and other ignition sources 4 1.3 The charring process 6 1.4 Pyrolysis products 7 1.5 Fire types 10 1.6 Peat fires 14 1.7 Fire effects on soils 15 1.8 Post-fire erosion-deposition 18 1.9 Fire and vegetation 22 1.10 Fire and climate 26 1.11 Fire triangles 30 1.12 Fire return intervals 30 1.13 How we study fire: satellites 31 1.14 Modelling fire occurrence 38 1.15 Climate forcing 42 1.16 Scales of fire occurrence 44 Further reading 45 Chapter 2 Fire in the fossil record: recognition 47 2.1 Fire proxies: fire scars and charcoal 47 2.2 The problem of nomenclature: black carbon, char, charcoal, soot and elemental carbon 49 2.3 How we study charcoal: microscopical and chemical techniques 51 2.4 Charcoal as an information-rich source 56 2.5 Charcoal reflectance and temperature 56 2.6 Uses of charcoal 58 2.7 Fire intensity/severity 59 2.8 Deep time studies 60 2.9 Pre-requisite for fire: fuel – the evolution of plants 61 2.10 Charcoal in sedimentary systems 62 Further reading 63 Chapter 3 Fire in the fossil record: earth system processes 65 3.1 Fire and oxygen 65 3.2 Fire feedbacks 67 3.3 Systems diagrams 67 3.4 Charcoal as proxy for atmospheric oxygen 69 3.5 Burning experiments – fire spread 69 3.6 Fire and the terrestrial system 70 Further reading 72 Chapter 4 The geological history of fire in deep time: 420 million years to 2 million years ago 73 4.1 Periods of high and low fire, and implications 73 4.2 The first fires 73 4.3 The rise of fire 75 4.4 Fire in the high-oxygen Paleozoic world 77 4.5 Collapse of fire systems 80 4.6 Fire at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary 82 4.7 Jurassic variation 82 4.8 Cretaceous fires 84 4.9 Fire at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-P or K-T) boundary 87 4.10 Paleocene fires 88 4.11 Fires across the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) 88 4.12 Dampening of fire systems 89 4.13 Rise of the grass-fire cycle 89 Further reading 89 Chapter 5 The geological history of fire – the last two million years 91 5.1 Problems of Quaternary fire history 91 5.2 The Paleofire working group: techniques and analysis 93 5.3 Fire and climate cycles 97 5.4 Fire and humans: the fossil evidence 98 5.5 Fire and the industrial society 101 Further reading 101 References for part one 103 PART TWO BIOLOGY OF FIRE 111 Preface to part two 112 Chapter 6 Pyrogeography – temporal and spatial patterns of fire 113 6.1 Fire and life 113 6.2 Global climate, vegetation patterns and fire 113 6.3 Pyrogeography 116 6.4 Fire and the control of biome boundaries 121 6.5 The fire regime concept 125 6.6 Fire ecology 128 6.7 Conclusion 129 Further reading 129 Chapter 7 Plants and fire 131 7.1 Introduction 131 7.2 Fire and plant traits 131 7.3 Fire regimes and the characteristic suite of fire plant traits 137 7.4 Evolution of fire traits 140 7.5 Summary and implications 145 Further reading 145 General reading 146 Chapter 8 Fire and fauna 147 8.1 Direct effects of fire on fauna 147 8.2 The effect of fire regimes on fauna 148 8.3 The landscape mosaic and pyrodiversity 150 8.4 The effect of fauna on fire regimes 152 8.5 Fire and the evolution of fauna 154 8.6 Summary 155 Further reading 155 Chapter 9 Fire as an ecosystem process 157 9.1 Introduction 157 9.2 Fire and erosion 157 9.3 Fire and nutrient cycling 160 9.4 Fire and pedogenesis 163 9.5 Fire and atmospheric chemistry 164 9.6 Fire and climate 165 9.7 Summary 168 Further reading 169 Chapter 10 Fire and anthropogenic environmental change 171 10.1 Introduction 171 10.2 Prehistoric impacts 171 10.3 Prehistoric fire management 174 10.4 Contemporary fire management 176 10.5 Climate change 177 10.6 Fire and carbon management 180 10.7 Fire regime switches: a major challenge for fire ecology 180 10.8 Invasive plants and altered fire regimes 184 10.9 Conclusion 187 Further reading 187 References for part two 189 PART THREE ANTHROPOGENIC FIRE 193 Preface to part three 194 Chapter 11 Fire creature 195 11.1 Early hominins: spark of creation 195 11.2 Aboriginal fire: control over ignition 198 11.3 Cultivated fire: control over combustibles 206 11.4 Ideas and institutions: lore and ritual 220 11.5 Narrative arcs (and equants) 221 Further reading 229 Chapter 12 A new epoch of fire: the anthropocene 231 12.1 The Great Disruption 231 12.2 The pyric transition 232 12.3 Enlightenment and empire 236 12.4 Scaling the transition 238 12.5 After the revolution 245 Further reading 257 Chapter 13 Fire management 259 13.1 Introducing integrated fire management 259 13.2 Two realms: managing the pyric transition 260 13.3 Strategies 261 13.4 Institutions: ordering fire 272 13.5 Ideas: conceptions of fire 277 13.6 Fire management: selected examples 279 Further reading 289 References and further reading for part three 291 PART FOUR THE SCIENCE AND ART OF WILDLAND FIRE BEHAVIOUR PREDICTION 295 Preface to part four 296 Chapter 14 Fundamentals of wildland fire as a physical process 297 14.1 Introduction 297 14.2 The basics of combustion and heat transfer 298 14.3 The wildland fire environment concept 303 14.4 Characterization of wildland fire behaviour 315 14.5 Extreme wildland fire behaviour phenomena 329 14.6 Field methods of measuring and quantifying wildland fire behaviour 336 14.7 Towards increasing our understanding of wildland fire behaviour 337 Further reading 339 Chapter 15 Estimating free-burning wildland fire behaviour 341 15.1 Introduction 341 15.2 A historical sketch of wildland fire behaviour research 342 15.3 Models, systems and guides for predicting wildland fire behaviour 350 15.4 Limitations on the accuracy of model predictions of wildland fire behaviour 359 15.5 The wildland fire behaviour prediction process 363 15.6 Specialized support in assessing wildland fire behaviour 370 15.7 Looking ahead 371 Further reading 372 Chapter 16 Fire management applications of wildland fire behaviour knowledge 373 16.1 Introduction 373 16.2 Wildfire suppression 376 16.3 Wildland firefighter safety 378 16.4 Community wildland fire protection 382 16.5 Fuels management 383 16.6 Prediction of fire effects 388 16.7 Getting on the road towards self-improvement 389 Further reading 390 References for part four 393 Index 405
£42.26
Simon & Schuster Prisoners of Geography
Book Synopsis
£21.75
Guilford Publications Weaponizing Maps
Book SynopsisMaps play an indispensable role in indigenous peoplesâ efforts to secure land rights in the Americas and beyond. Yet indigenous peoples did not invent participatory mapping techniques on their own; they appropriated them from techniques developed for colonial rule and counterinsurgency campaigns, and refined by anthropologists and geographers. Through a series of historical and contemporary examples from Nicaragua, Canada, and Mexico, this book explores the tension between military applications of participatory mapping and its use for political mobilization and advocacy. The authors analyze the emergence of indigenous territories as spaces defined by a collective way of life--and as a particular kind of battleground.Trade Review"A gripping account of how academic research, military intelligence, and indigenous mapping projects became embroiled in the service of geopolitics. Bryan and Wood present an adventure story of geopolitical struggle right in the heart of geographical research institutions in the United States and indigenous communities in the Americas. This book is necessary reading for geographers and all social scientists interested in the ways in which knowledge production and state interests merged in the late 20th century."--John Pickles, PhD, Earl N. Phillips Distinguished Professor of International Studies, Department of Geography, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill "'Map or be mapped,' the saying goes among those associated with the wave of participatory mapping that began in the 1980s. Weaponizing Maps gives this saying radically new meaning, with equal parts analytic depth and political charge. Readers inclined to use maps for causes of social justice will proceed fully informed of the daunting forces they are up against--from the counterinsurgency designs of the world’s most powerful military to ostensibly progressive scholars who deploy the fine tradition of participatory mapping toward dubious ends."--Charles R. Hale, PhD, Director, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, University of Texas at Austin "Bold and confrontational. Bryan and Wood pull no punches in their indictment of the creeping militarization of geography and the once-respected American Geographical Society. The book's legacy will be marked by the extent to which geographers rethink their relationships with indigenous groups. It’s quite possible that we’re seeing the next generation of critical thinking about mapping in this book."--Jeremy Crampton, PhD, Department of Geography, University of Kentucky "Using Oaxaca as a case study of a global trend, the book makes a compelling case that militarized colonial geographies seek to replace Indigenous collective lands with a privatized Western model, under the guise of both national security and Native self-determination. But the book is also a rich example of interdisciplinary inquiry, straddling the normative divides between domestic and foreign colonialism, historical and contemporary surveys, academic and activist analysis, and Indigenous and Left discourse. It is essential for understanding land disputes of the 21st century, anywhere in Native America or the world."--Zoltán Grossman, PhD, Professor of Geography and Native Studies, The Evergreen State College -At times refreshingly polemical and unapologetically critical, Bryan and Wood provide valuable historical sketches that link the ideological and material ramifications of maps on indigenous communities and trace the development of property-based cartographic and geographic logics during wartime. Though the México Indígena project serves as a focal point, the authors deftly weave together the development of the American Geographical Society, the rise of indigenous mapping projects in the 1990s and their subsequent limitations, and the relationship between dominant geographic practices and the academic-military-industrial complex.--Great Plains Research, 10/18/2017ƒƒJoe and Denis trace how maps, over and over and over again, perform vital discursive work, how they transform territory into property, how they create facts, and how those facts seem to, time and time again, serve the particular interest of the state and/or capital at the expense of certain groups of people.--Human Geography, 3/28/2017ƒƒRecommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.--Choice Reviews, 10/1/2015Table of ContentsList of Figures A Narrative Table of Contents 1. In the Rincón of the Sierra Juárez 2. The Decline and Fall of the Once August American Geographical Society 3. “Red Mike” Edson’s U.S. Marine Patrols Up Nicaragua’s Río Coco in 1928–1929 and the Development of the Small Wars Manual 4. The Birth of Indigenous Mapping In Canada 5. Maps, Guns, and Indigenous Peoples 6. From Territory to Property: Indigenous Mapping after the Cold War 7. Counterinsurgency and the Rise of the “Warrior Scholars” 8. The AGS, the Bowman Expeditions, and the México Indígena Project Coda: Kill the Insurgent, Save the Man—Indigenous Peoples and Human Terrain A Note on Maps Notes Bibliography Index
£31.34
Simon & Schuster True Spirit The True Story of a 16YearOld
Book Synopsis
£17.09
Oxford University Press Islands Beyond the Horizon
Book SynopsisIslands have an irresistible attraction and an enduring appeal. Naturalist Roger Lovegrove has visited many of the most remote islands in the world, and in this book he takes the reader to twenty that fascinate him the most. Some are familiar but most are little known; they range from the storm-bound island of South Georgia and the ice-locked Arctic island of Wrangel to the wind-swept, wave-lashed Mykines and St Kilda. The range is diverse and spectacular; and whether distant, offshore, inhabited, uninhabited, tropical or polar, each is a unique self-contained habitat with a delicately-balanced ecosystem, and each has its own mystique and ineffable magnetism. Central to each story is also the impact of human settlers. Lovegrove recounts unforgettable tales of human endeavour, tragedy, and heroism. But consistently, he has to report on the mankind''s negative impact on wildlife and habitats -- from the exploitation of birds for food to the elimination of native vegetation for crops. By Trade ReviewRoger Lovegrove's admiration for wildlife shines * Nature *Table of ContentsPreface ; Acknowledgements ; Introduction ; 1. Wrangel ; 2. Chinijo Archipelago ; 3. Jan Mayen ; 4. Mykines ; 5. Guam ; 6. San Blas Islands ; 7. Ascension ; 8. Fernando de Noronha ; 9. Mingulay ; 10. Pico ; 11. Tristan da Cunha ; 12. Vigur ; 13. St Kilda ; 14. South Georgia ; 15. Halfmoon Island ; 16. The Skelligs ; 17. Isle aux Aigrettes ; 18. Solovetski Islands ; 19. St Peter and St Paul Rocks ; 20. Tuamotu Archipelago ; Epilogue ; Scientific Names of Species ; References
£10.44
Oxford University Press Modern China
Book SynopsisChina today is never out of the news: from international finance to human rights controversies, global coverage of its rising international presence, and the Chinese ''economic miracle''. It seems to be a country of contradictions: a peasant society with some of the world''s most futuristic cities, heir to an ancient civilization that is still trying to find a modern identity. This Very Short Introduction offers the reader an entry to understanding the world''s most populous nation, giving an integrated picture of modern Chinese society, culture, economy, politics, and art. In this new edition, Rana Mitter addresses China''s current global position, accounting for the country''s growth in global significance over the past decade. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewMitter shows the dragon with its fires lit. * Steve Craggs, Northern Echo *Table of ContentsFURTHER READING; REFERENCES
£14.67
Hodder Education Essential Maths Skills for ASAlevel Geography
Book SynopsisExam Board: AQA, OCR, Edexcel, WJEC Eduqas, WJECLevel: A-levelSubject: GeographyFirst teaching: September 2016First exams: Summer 2017 (AS), Summer 2018 (A-level)Don''t let your students miss out on easy marks; help them improve their skills and feel confident about the maths they need for AS/A-level Geography with this essential guide.If your students struggle with student t-test or Spearman rank correlation, this is the book for them. This textbook companion will improve students'' essential maths skills for geography, whichever awarding body specification you''re following. You can use it throughout the course, whenever you feel your students need some extra help.- Develop understanding of both maths and geography using worked examples and questions that are all set within a geography context- Improve confidence with a step-by-step approach to every maths skill- Measure progress with
£12.50
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Wildlife Ecology Conservation and Management
Book SynopsisWith emphasis on practical application and quantitative skill development, this book weaves together these disparate elements in a single coherent textbook for senior undergraduate and graduate students. It reviews analytical techniques, explaining the mathematical and statistical principles behind them.Trade Review�I recommend the book unreservedly to wildlife managers, park rangers, biological resource managers, and those working in ecotourism.� (Tahrcountry, 10 August 2014) "This book offers an integrated vision on [rapidly evolving wildlife management] in a comprehensive, experience driven, coherent overview. It is structured in two parts, of which the first one provides an overview of the key ecological concepts on which this field of applied ecology is based...The second section deals with wildlife conservation and management... Books that target their subject [this] specifically and in-depth are rare. All over the publication general subjects in ecology are most convincingly tailored to wildlife management. It provides applicable information on new (sometimes developing) methods. It illustrates the theory with a wealth of graphs, figures, and examples from the literature. This third edition entails new chapters on climate changes, wildlife response to rapidly changing conditions, habitat selection, and corridors in increasingly fragmented landscapes... A glossary and an impressive 36-page reference list enhance the documentary and didactical value of this book, which is excellent for senior undergraduates and graduate students in ecology, biology, and environment sciences. However, it is equally valuable for professional wildlife managers, park rangers, and those working in ecotourism. The book has a most useful accompanying website where additional resources, power points and PDFs of all tables can be found. The whole atmosphere of the book combines academic diligence with wildlife management practice... A great book of applied ecology in a most useful sector of increasing specialisation and professionalism." (International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2016, http://www.inderscience.com/editorials/f164312115298710.pdf)Table of ContentsPreface xi 1 Introduction: goals and decisions 1 1.1 How to use this book 1 1.2 What is wildlife conservation and management? 2 1.3 Goals of management 3 1.4 Hierarchies of decision 6 1.5 Policy goals 7 1.6 Feasible options 7 1.7 Summary 8 Part 1 Wildlife ecology 9 2 Food and nutrition 11 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 Constituents of food 11 2.3 Variation in food supply 14 2.4 Measurement of food supply 17 2.5 Basal metabolic rate and food requirement 20 2.6 Morphology of herbivore digestion 23 2.7 Food passage rate and food requirement 26 2.8 Body size and diet selection 27 2.9 Indices of body condition 28 2.10 Summary 33 3 Home range and habitat use 35 3.1 Introduction 35 3.2 Estimating home range size and utilization frequency 36 3.3 Estimating habitat availability and use 38 3.4 Selective habitat use 40 3.5 Using resource selection functions to predict population response 42 3.6 Sources of variation in habitat use 42 3.7 Movement within the home range 45 3.8 Movement among home ranges 48 3.9 Summary 51 4 Dispersal, dispersion, and distribution 53 4.1 Introduction 53 4.2 Dispersal 53 4.3 Dispersion 55 4.4 Distribution 56 4.5 Distribution, abundance, and range collapse 61 4.6 Species reintroductions or invasions 62 4.7 Summary 67 5 Population growth and regulation 69 5.1 Introduction 69 5.2 Rate of increase 69 5.3 Geometric or exponential population growth 73 5.4 Stability of populations 73 5.5 The theory of population limitation and regulation 76 5.6 Evidence for regulation 81 5.7 Applications of regulation 85 5.8 Logistic model of population regulation 86 5.9 Stability, cycles, and chaos 88 5.10 Intraspecific competition 90 5.11 Interactions of food, predators, and disease 93 5.12 Summary 93 6 Competition and facilitation between species 95 6.1 Introduction 95 6.2 Theoretical aspects of interspecific competition 96 6.3 Experimental demonstrations of competition 98 6.4 The concept of the niche 103 6.5 The competitive exclusion principle 106 6.6 Resource partitioning and habitat selection 106 6.7 Competition in variable environments 113 6.8 Apparent competition 113 6.9 Facilitation 114 6.10 Applied aspects of competition 119 6.11 Summary 122 7 Predation 123 7.1 Introduction 123 7.2 Predation and management 123 7.3 Definitions 123 7.4 The effect of predators on prey density 124 7.5 The behavior of predators 125 7.6 Numerical response of predators to prey density 129 7.7 The total response 130 7.8 Behavior of the prey 136 7.9 Summary 138 8 Parasites and pathogens 139 8.1 Introduction and definitions 139 8.2 Effects of parasites 139 8.3 The basic parameters of epidemiology 140 8.4 Determinants of spread 143 8.5 Endemic pathogens 144 8.6 Endemic pathogens: synergistic interactions with food and predators 144 8.7 Epizootic diseases 146 8.8 Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife 147 8.9 Parasites and the regulation of host populations 150 8.10 Parasites and host communities 151 8.11 Parasites and conservation 152 8.12 Parasites and control of pests 155 8.13 Summary 156 9 Consumer–resource dynamics 157 9.1 Introduction 157 9.2 Quality and quantity of a resource 157 9.3 Kinds of resource 157 9.4 Consumer–resource dynamics: general theory 158 9.5 Kangaroos and their food plants in semi-arid Australian savannas 161 9.6 Wolf–moose–woody plant dynamics in the boreal forest 167 9.7 Other population cycles 172 9.8 Summary 175 10 The ecology of behavior 177 10.1 Introduction 17710.2 Diet selection 177 10.3 Optimal patch or habitat use 183 10.4 Risk-sensitive habitat use 186 10.5 Social behavior and foraging 187 10.6 Summary 190 11 Climate change and wildlife 191 11.1 Introduction 191 11.2 Evidence for climate change 191 11.3 Wildlife responses to climate change 192 11.4 Mechanisms of response to climate change 196 11.5 Complex ecosystem responses to climate change 199 11.6 Summary 201 Part 2 Wildlife conservation and management 203 12 Counting animals 205 12.1 Introduction 205 12.2 Total counts 205 12.3 Sampled counts: the logic 207 12.4 Sampled counts: methods and arithmetic 212 12.5 Indirect estimates of population size 220 12.6 Indices 227 12.7 Harvest-based population estimates 228 12.8 Summary 231 13 Age and stage structure 233 13.1 Introduction 233 13.2 Demographic rates 233 13.3 Direct estimation of life table parameters 235 13.4 Indirect estimation of life table parameters 236 13.5 Relationships among parameters 238 13.6 Age-specific population models 239 13.7 Elasticity of matrix models 242 13.8 Stage-specific models 243 13.9 Elasticity of the loggerhead turtle model 245 13.10 Short-term changes in structured populations 246 13.11 Environmental stochasticity and age-structured populations 246 13.12 Summary 249 14 Experimental management 251 14.1 Introduction 251 14.2 Differentiating success from failure 251 14.3 Technical judgments can be tested 252 14.4 The nature of the evidence 255 14.5 Experimental and survey design 257 14.6 Some standard analyses 262 14.7 Summary 271 15 Model evaluation and adaptive management 273 15.1 Introduction 273 15.2 Fitting models to data and estimation of parameters 274 15.3 Measuring the likelihood of the observed data 276 15.4 Evaluating the likelihood of alternate models using AIC 278 15.5 Adaptive management 281 15.6 Summary 284 16 Population viability analysis 285 16.1 Introduction 285 16.2 Environmental stochasticity 285 16.3 PVA based on the exponential growth model 286 16.4 PVA based on the diffusion model 287 16.5 PVA based on logistic growth 290 16.6 Demographic stochasticity 291 16.7 Estimating both environmental and demographic stochasticity 294 16.8 PVA based on demographic and environmental stochasticity 296 16.9 Strengths and weaknesses of PVA 296 16.10 Extinction caused by environmental change 298 16.11 Extinction threat due to introduction of exotic predators or competitors 298 16.12 Extinction threat due to unsustainable harvesting 300 16.13 Extinction threat due to habitat loss 302 16.14 Summary 302 17 Conservation in practice 305 17.1 Introduction 305 17.2 How populations go extinct 305 17.3 How to prevent extinction 315 17.4 Rescue and recovery of near-extinctions 316 17.5 Conservation in National Parks and reserves 317 17.6 Community conservation outside National Parks and reserves 322 17.7 International conservation 323 17.8 Summary 324 18 Wildlife harvesting 325 18.1 Introduction 325 18.2 Fixed-quota harvesting strategy 325 18.3 Fixed-proportion harvesting strategy 329 18.4 Harvesting in practice: dynamic variation in quotas or effort 332 18.5 No-harvest reserves 334 18.6 Age- or sex-biased harvesting 335 18.7 Commercial harvesting 340 18.8 Bioeconomics 340 18.9 Game cropping and the discount rate 344 18.10 Summary 346 19 Wildlife control 347 19.1 Introduction 347 19.2 Definitions 347 19.3 Effects of control 348 19.4 Objectives of control 348 19.5 Determining whether control is appropriate 349 19.6 Methods of control 350 19.7 Summary 356 20 Evolution and conservation genetics 357 20.1 Introduction 357 20.2 Maintenance of genetic variation 358 20.3 Natural selection 359 20.4 Natural selection and life history tradeoffs 361 20.5 Natural selection due to hunting 363 20.6 Natural selection due to fishing 365 20.7 Selection due to environmental change 367 20.8 Ecological dynamics due to evolutionary changes 372 20.9 Heterozygosity 374 20.10 Genetic drift and mutation 375 20.11 Inbreeding depression 376 20.12 How much genetic variation is needed? 377 20.13 Effective population size 378 20.14 Effect of sex ratio 379 20.15 How small is too small? 380 20.16 Summary 380 21 Habitat loss and metapopulation dynamics 381 21.1 Introduction 381 21.2 Habitat loss and fragmentation 381 21.3 Ecological effects of habitat loss 384 21.4 Metapopulation dynamics 386 21.5 Territorial metapopulations 389 21.6 Mainland–island metapopulations 390 21.7 Source–sink metapopulations 391 21.8 Metacommunity dynamics of competitors 392 21.9 Metacommunity dynamics of predators and prey 393 21.10 Corridors 394 21.11 Summary 398 22 Ecosystem management and conservation 399 22.1 Introduction 399 22.2 Definitions 400 22.3 Gradients of communities 400 22.4 Niches 400 22.5 Food webs and intertrophic interactions 400 22.6 Community features and management consequences 402 22.7 Multiple states 404 22.8 Regulation of top-down and bottom-up processes 405 22.9 Ecosystem consequences of bottom-up processes 407 22.10 Ecosystem disturbance and heterogeneity 408 22.11 Ecosystem management at multiple scales 410 22.12 Biodiversity 411 22.13 Island biogeography and dynamic processes of diversity 413 22.14 Ecosystem function 415 22.15 Summary 417 Appendices 419 Glossary 423 References 435 Index 489
£105.26
Cambridge University Press The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema in Egypt Syria Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix in Persia Ind Translated from the Original Italian Edition of Library Collection Hakluyt First Series
Book SynopsisThe publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This 1863 volume contains a Victorian translation of Ludovico di Varthema's account of his travels, originally published in 1510, and translated into many European languages within a few years. Ludovico set off from Italy in 1502 (determined, he says, 'to investigate some small portion of this our terrestrial globe') and travelled first to Egypt and Syria; he then journeyed through the Arabian peninsula (where he was imprisoned as a spy), Persia and India, and reached the Molucca islands before returning to Europe in 1508.Table of ContentsPreface; Introduction; Travels of Ludovico di Varthema: Book concerning Arabia Deserta; The second book - Of Arabia Felix; The book concerning Persia; The first book concerning India; The second book concerning India; The third book concerning India; The book concerning Ethiopia; Index.
£38.99
John Murray Press Geology A Complete Introduction Teach Yourself
Book SynopsisWhat processes and physical materials have shaped the planet we live on? Why do earthquakes happen? And what can geology teach us about contemporary issues such as climate change?From volcanoes and glaciers to fossils and rock formations, this user-friendly book gives a structured and thorough overview of the geology of planet Earth and beyond. Geology: A Complete Introduction outlines the basics in clear English, and provides added-value features like a glossary of the essential jargon terms, links to useful websites, and examples of questions you might be asked in a seminar or exam.Topics covered include the Earth''s structure, earthquakes, plate tectonics, volcanoes, igneous intrusions, metamorphism, weathering, erosion, deposition, deformation, physical resources, past life and fossils, the history of the Earth, Solar System geology, and geological fieldwork. There are useful appendices on minerals, rock names and geological time.Whether you
£13.49
Georgetown University Press The Violence of Climate Change: Lessons of
Book SynopsisClimate change is viewed as a primarily scientific, economic, or political issue. While acknowledging the legitimacy of these perspectives, Kevin J. O'Brien argues that we should respond to climate change first and foremost as a case of systematic and structural violence. Global warming is largely caused by the carbon emissions of the affluent, emissions that harm the poor first and worst. Climate change is violence because it divides human beings from one another and from the earth. O'Brien offers a constructive and creative response to this violence through practical examples of activism and nonviolent peacemaking, providing brief biographies of five Christians in the United States-John Woolman, Jane Addams, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr., and Cesar Chavez. These activists' idealism, social commitment, and political savvy offer lessons of resistance applicable to the struggle against climate change and for social justice.Trade ReviewAn engaging work . . . In its essence, this book is a call to resist. To resist the structural violence that O’Brien identifies climate change to be. * Environmental Values *O’Brien is at his strongest when he attends to the idiosyncrasies of his witnesses and their distinctive contributions to thinking about climate change. He is thoughtful and constrained, presenting clear connections and lessons for the reader. * Christian Century *A creative, timely, and helpful contribution to the canon of Christian environmentalist literature. . . . The book is an excellent resource for scholars and particularly for climate activists facing the discouragement common in their work. * Reading Religion *A powerful addition to the developing study of evironmental and social justice. * Choice *O’Brien points to the practical examples of activism and nonviolent peacemaking * Yale Climate Connection *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Toward a Witness of Resistance Part 1: Climate Change and Nonviolence 1. The Wicked Problem of Climate Change2. Nonviolent Resistance Part II: Five Witnesses of Nonviolent Resistance3. John Woolman's Moral Purity and Its Limits4. Jane Addams and the Scales of Democracy5. Dorothy Day and the Faith to Love6. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Hope for an Uncertain World7. Cesar Chavez and the Liberating Power of Sacrifice Conclusion: What Can We Do?BibliographyIndexAbout the Author
£19.35
St Martin's Press The World Is Flat 3.0 A Brief History of the
Book SynopsisA New Edition of the Phenomenal #1 BestsellerOne mark of a great book is that it makes you see things in a new way, and Mr. Friedman certainly succeeds in that goal, the Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote in The New York Times reviewing The World Is Flat in 2005. In this new edition, Thomas L. Friedman includes fresh stories and insights to help us understand the flattening of the world. Weaving new information into his overall thesis, and answering the questions he has been most frequently asked by parents across the country, this third edition also includes two new chapters--on how to be a political activist and social entrepreneur in a flat world; and on the more troubling question of how to manage our reputations and privacy in a world where we are all becoming publishers and public figures.The World Is Flat 3.0 is an essential update on globalization, its opportunities for individual empowerment, its achievements at lifting milli
£16.50
Yale University Press An Empire of Ice
Book SynopsisPublished to coincide with the centenary of the first expeditions to reach the South Pole, this book presents a fresh take on Antarctic exploration. By focusing on the larger purpose, it deepens our appreciation of the explorers' achievements, shares little-known stories, and shows what the Heroic Age of Antarctic discovery was really about.Trade Review"'In this fascinating book... Larson's intriguing accounts begin to reveal the bigger picture of early scientific research in Antarctica and its place in European geopolitics of the time.' (Michael Bravo, New Scientist) 'Larson is a brilliant researcher, going far beyond the standard source materials, so even devotees of polar literature will learn things' (Jennifer Kingson, The Scotsman) 'This is a great and needed book, highly worth reading whether your Antarctic focus is history or science.' (The Antarctican Society Newsletter)"
£18.99
The University of Chicago Press Writing Ground Zero Japanese Literature and the
Book SynopsisA study of the nuclear theme in Japanese intellectual and artistic life, recounting the history of Japanese public discourse around Hiroshima and Nagasaki from August 6, 1945, to the present day. It studies works from the earliest survivor writers up to Japanese intellectuals writing today.Table of ContentsAtrocity into words; genre and post-Hiroshima representation; the three debates; Hara Tamiki and the documentary fallacy; poetry against itself; Ota Yoko and the place of the narrator; Oe Kenzaburo - humanism and Hiroshima; Ibuse Masuji - nature, nostalgia, memory; Nagasaki and the human future; the atomic, the nuclear, and the total - Oda Makoto.
£28.50
Turner Publishing Company Diamonds (4th Edition): The Antoinette Matlins
Book SynopsisNewly updated and expanded, Diamonds gives you all the information you need to buy, collect, sell—or simply enjoy—diamonds with confidence and knowledge. Whether you are buying a diamond for an engagement ring, anniversary, to commemorate a special moment or for personal pleasure, today it is more important than ever to understand what you are buying. There are new shapes and cuts, fancy colors, high-tech treatments and sophisticated frauds. There are new ways to buy—such as Internet auctions. Buyers need a source of expert guidance. Practical, comprehensive and easy to understand, this book offers in depth all the information you need to buy sparkling diamonds with confidence, including: What is a diamond? An in-depth look at factors affecting differences in quality and cost. Diamond grading reports—why all the information is important, and what it tells you. How to compare prices. How to spot differences in stones that may appear to be the same quality. How to protect yourself from misrepresentation. Questions to ask when buying any diamond. What to get in writing. How to get what you want within your budget. Important information about buying on the Internet … and much more! Written by an "insider," this easy-to-read guide is the “unofficial diamond bible” for anyone who wants to get the most for their money and enjoy what they have purchased.Trade Review"The book you can't do without … all the information you need, in no-nonsense language." —Rapaport Diamond Report "An appropriate book for the uninformed public, but more than that, it is a good reference book for jewelers and their staffs, gem collectors, students of gemology, travelers, teachers and even those who know gemology but want a state-of-the-art review." —Lapidary Journal “Almost every newly engaged couple is eager to know as much as possible about their once-in-a-lifetime purchase … the diamond engagement ring…. [This book] take[s] the guesswork out of this important decision … [and helps you] obtain the best value for your money.” —Modern Bride “The information needed for investing and purchasing gems of all types. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal “To answer critical buying questions, it takes an author who has been immersed in the jewelry business, has seen the full range of material, and is able to share those experiences in a thorough yet easy-to-read manner. Antoinette Matlins has managed to do just that with her Colored Gemstones and Diamonds buying guides.” —Gems & Gemology “Provides consumers with a virtual 'key' to getting the stone they really want at the right prices.” —Canadian Diamonds “Restores the magic! [Will] entertain and enlighten all its readers and save some from heartbreak. Recommended reading.” —Paul Harvey, Paul Harvey NewsTable of ContentsList of Price Guides List of Special Charts and Tables Acknowledgments Preface to the Fourth Edition Introduction Part One: Appreciating Diamonds 1. The Magic of Diamonds 2. Becoming Familiar with Diamonds 3. Looking for a Diamond That's a "Cut Above" Part Two: Diamonds 4. What Is a Diamond? 5. The Importance of Cut & Proportion 6. Body Color 7. Clarifying Clarity: How Flaws Affect Diamonds 8. Weight 9. How to Read Diamond Grading Reports 10. False Claims & Costly Bargains: How to Spot Fraud and Avoid Misrepresentation 11. Comparing Colorless Diamond Prices 12. Fancy-Color Diamonds 13. Comparing Fancy Natural-Color and Treated-Color Diamond Prices 14. A Word about “Synthetic” Diamonds Part Three: Design & Style—Getting the Look You Want … and Keeping It That Way 15. Choosing the Right Metal 16. Choosing the Design of the Setting 17. Caring for Your Diamond Jewelry Part Four: Important Advice Before & After You Buy 18. What to Ask When Buying the Stone 19. How to Select a Reputable Jeweler & Gemologist Consultant 20. Buying on the Internet: E-Commerce & Online Auctions 21. Choosing the Appraiser & Insurer Appendix: A Selected List of Recognized Laboratories Selected Readings Credits Index
£26.34
ECW Press,Canada 12,000 Canaries Can't Be Wrong: What's Making Us
Book Synopsis
£26.39
TouchWood Editions The Discovery of a Northwest Passage
Book SynopsisFor centuries, colonial powers searched for a sea passage that would link the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The route, known as the Northwest Passage, would cut thousands of miles from sea travel and open up commercial trade to and from Asia. There were numerous expeditions to find the passage, though none successful. It was while searching for one of these failed expeditions--the Franklin Expedition--that Captain Robert McClure and his crew aboard the HMS Investigator became the first via sea and sledge to traverse and chart the elusive Northwest Passage.First published in 1856, The Discovery of a Northwest Passage is comprised of McClure''s logs and journals from his time in the Arctic from 1850 to 1854. What began as a joint venture between commanding captain Richard Collinson of the Enterprise and Captain McClure, as his subordinate on the Investigator, became a solitary expedition. Separated along the way, McClure took a dangerous shortcut through the Aleutian Islands and ended up in the Bering Strait, ahead of his commanding ship. His route carried him to Banks Island and to the discovery of the Prince of Wales Strait. The first-hand account tells of the two harsh winters that McClure and his crew spent iced in the Bay of Mercy. And their rescue in 1853, when many from the ship were found suffering malnutrition and on the brink of death.With an introduction by bestselling author and adventurer Anthony Dalton, The Discovery of a Northwest Passage is the original narrative of one of the most dramatic discoveries in Arctic sea travel.
£16.79
Reaktion Books Global Undergrounds: Exploring Cities Within
As the world rapidly urbanizes, its cities sink themselves into the ground in sprawling tendons of tunnels - conduits for transport, utility, communication, shelter and storage. The excavation of these spaces, at ever-increasing depths and speed, has changed our lives in ways that we tend to take for granted. For the first time, this book charts the global reach of urban underground spaces, bringing together a collection of 80 stories of subterranean sites around the world. The book draws out the extraordinary range of meanings suggested by urban underground spaces, whether their power as places of hope, fear, memory, labour and resistance, or their capacity to evoke both long histories and futures in the making. Illustrated with often breathtaking photographs, Global Undergrounds creates a new sense of the richness and global diversity of urban underground spaces. Its breadth and depth will appeal to all those who are engaged with these spaces: from urban planners, geographers, architects and engineers to urban explorers, photographers and anyone who encounters underground spaces in their cities.Indeed we inhabit a world where the material stuff beneath our feet is constantly in flux, where layer upon layer of things, people and substances circulate, dream and dwell.
£34.75
Chelsea Green Publishing Co The Art and Science of Grazing: How Grass Farmers
Book SynopsisGrazing management might seem simple: just put livestock in a pasture and let them eat their fill. However, as Sarah Flack explains in The Art and Science of Grazing, the pasture/livestock relationship is incredibly complex. If a farmer doesn’t pay close attention to how the animals are grazing, the resulting poorly managed grazing system can be harmful to the health of the livestock, pasture plants, and soils. Well-managed pastures can instead create healthier animals, a diverse and resilient pasture ecosystem, and other benefits. Flack delves deeply below the surface of “let the cows eat grass,” demonstrating that grazing management is a sophisticated science that requires mastery of plant and animal physiology, animal behavior, and ecology. She also shows readers that applying grazing management science on a working farm is an art form that calls on grass farmers to be careful observers, excellent planners and record-keepers, skillful interpreters of their observations, and creative troubleshooters. The Art and Science of Grazing will allow farmers to gain a solid understanding of the key principles of grazing management so they can both design and manage successful grazing systems. The book’s unique approach presents information first from the perspective of pasture plants, and then from the livestock perspective—helping farmers understand both plant and animal needs before setting up a grazing system. This book is an essential guide for ruminant farmers who want to be able to create grazing systems that meet the needs of their livestock, pasture plants, soils, and the larger ecosystem. The book discusses all the practical details that are critical for sustained success: how to set up a new system or improve existing systems; acreage calculations; paddock layout; fence and drinking water access; lanes and other grazing infrastructure; managing livestock movement and flow; soil fertility; seeding and reseeding pastures; and more. The author includes descriptions of real grazing systems working well on dairy, beef, goat, and sheep farms in different regions of North America. The book covers pasture requirements specific to organic farming, but will be of use to both organic and non-organic farms.Trade ReviewCHOICE- "This is a great book. After reading this work, the reviewer felt as if he could almost start his own grazing system; the title provides readers with the right questions to ask. Flack (a consultant on grazing and organic livestock) is a concise and articulate author and educator. She knows the value of telling a simple story and supporting it with relevant illustrations. She has an elegant style and knows how to use the power of repetition to show how no part of grazing management is wholly independent. She has biases with respect to the best grazing management, but is evenhanded in presenting multiple alternatives to grazing issues. Her case studies are aptly chosen to illustrate how the grazing management she advocates can be both sustainable and profitable. Each chapter plays a role and successively builds on the knowledge previously gained. As a manual for introducing good land stewardship, this book admirably succeeds. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.”“I have long been fascinated by the logic of André Voisin’s system of Rational Grazing. Sarah Flack’s book has persuaded me that this could be a practical option for my own micro-dairy holding.”--Simon Fairlie, author of Meat“It gives me pleasure to recommend Sarah Flack’s The Art and Science of Grazing. Sarah offers sound practical information for management of pastures in humid environments. Her years of experience and study allow her to explain the limitations of rotational grazing that were first highlighted by Andre Voisin and to confirm the soundness of Voisin’s Rational Grazing.”--Allan Savory, president, Savory Institute“With feet firmly planted in both practice and science, Sarah Flack introduces pasture-based livestock production in a way that is sure to encourage and empower.”--Joel Salatin, author of Salad Bar Beef“The Art and Science of Grazing is a beautiful and highly useful book. Read it, learn how to manage pasture well, then do it! Sarah Flack’s good counsel can save your farm and family and bring you happiness. What else is there?”--Bill Murphy, author of Greener Pastures on Your Side of the Fence“Amidst the flood of information on modern grass farming, Sarah Flack performs nothing short of a rescue operation, distilling the art and science of grazing into an immensely useful book. Experienced hands will learn plenty, but newcomers won’t be overwhelmed. The Art and Science of Grazing is sure to become one of the most well-worn books on graziers’ bookshelves.”--Fred Walters, publisher, Acres U.S.A.“Sarah Flack has written a wonderful guide to sustainable grazing. She discusses fundamental principles and specific practices that make her book meaningful for anyone interested in the art and science of grazing.”--Fred Provenza, professor emeritus, Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University “More and more farmers and ranchers are thirsting for information on animal husbandry that truly protects and regenerates natural resources while enhancing economic viability. Sarah Flack is answering the call. In a readable, user-friendly format, her book provides concrete information and plenty of inspiration. An invaluable resource for anyone raising grazing animals.”--Nicolette Niman, author of Defending Beef“Sarah Flack’s The Art and Science of Grazing is an excellent guide for anyone with an interest in the regenerative potential of livestock grazing done right. Whether you are a farmer, rancher, conscientious consumer of meat, or concerned citizen of the planet, Flack’s clear, concise prose explains how good grazing is a natural fit in our world.”--Courtney White, author of Two Percent Solutions for the Planet“Intelligently managed grazing has tremendous potential to mitigate climate turmoil, and The Art and Science of Grazing contains everything you need to know to do the very best job of grazing. Sarah Flack explores every aspect of holistic pasture management in a most delightful manner that will help all who consult her book, from beginners to the most experienced graziers, to achieve their maximum potential in healing the Earth with livestock and land.”--Jack Lazor, author of The Organic Grain Grower“The Art and Science of Grazing is a comprehensive guide for new and experienced graziers. If I had to choose one book as a reference on grazing for both new and experienced livestock graziers, this would be it. The book is well organized, containing many excellent illustrations and beautiful photographs. Sarah Flack shares her knowledge on all aspects of grazing with emphasis on key principles that apply to all farms in humid regions. Multiple case studies provide interest and wisdom gained by farmers who have developed diverse, successful grazing operations throughout the country.”--Guy Jodarski, DVM, CROPP Cooperative/Organic Valley
£27.00
Penguin Books Ltd The Diversity of Life
Book SynopsisNot since Darwin has an author so lifted the science of ecology with insight and delightful imagery - Richard Dawkins In this book a master scientist tells the great story of how life on earth evolved. E.O. Wilson eloquently describes how the species of the world became diverse, and why the threat to this diversity today is beyond the scope of anything we have known before. In an extensive new foreword for this edition, Professor Wilson addresses the explosion of the field of conservation biology and takes a clear-eyed look at the work still to be done.Trade Review"Not since Darwin has an author so lifted the science of ecology with insight and delightful imagery" - Richard Dawkins"
£11.69
Oxford University Press The Antarctic
Book SynopsisAntarctica attracts great interest from political leaders, journalists, and public audiences around the world. In this Very Short Introduction, Klaus Dodds presents a modern account of Antarctica, looking closely at contemporary developments in commerce, science, sovreignty, and governance.Trade ReviewThe book's focus is very good and I think that many of my colleagues could benefit from reading it. On that basis, I would recommend it. * Mark Brandon, Geographical *Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; FURTHER READING; INDEX
£9.49
Oxford University Press Inc The Power of Place
Book SynopsisThe world is not as mobile or as interconnected as we like to think. As Harm de Blij argues in The Power of Place, in crucial ways--from the uneven distribution of natural resources to the unequal availability of opportunity--geography continues to hold billions of people in its grip. We are all born into natural and cultural environments that shape what we become, individually and collectively. From our mother tongue to our father''s faith, from medical risks to natural hazards, where we start our journey has much to do with our destiny. Hundreds of millions of farmers in the river basins of Asia and Africa, and tens of millions of shepherds in isolated mountain valleys from the Andes to Kashmir, all live their lives much as their distant ancestors did, remote from the forces of globalization. Incorporating a series of persuasive maps, De Blij describes the tremendously varied environments across the planet and shows how migrations between them are comparatively rare. De Blij also looks at the ways we are redefining place so as to make its power even more potent than it has been, with troubling implications.Trade Review"Should be set upon the desks of every legislator, policy wonk and concerned citizen."Table of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgments1. Globals, Locals, and Mobals2. The Imperial Legacy of Language3. The Fateful Geography of Religion4. The Rough Topography of Human Health5. Geography of Jeopardy6. Places Open and Shut7. Same Place, Divergent Destinies8. Power and the City9. Promise and Peril in the Provinces10. Lowering the BarriersWorks CitedIndex
£13.99
Seven Stories Press,U.S. Arctic Voices: Resistance at the Tipping Point
Book SynopsisA powerful collection of voices and images from the frontlines of the war against ecological devastation in the Arctic.
£19.54
Oxford University Press Weather
Book SynopsisFrom deciding the best day for a picnic, to the devastating effects of hurricanes and typhoons, the weather impacts our lives on a daily basis. Although new techniques allow us to forecast the weather with increasing accuracy, most people do not realise the vast global movements and forces which result in their day-to-day weather.In this Very Short Introduction Storm Dunlop explains what weather is and how it differs from climate, discussing what causes weather, and how we measure it. Analysing the basic features and properties of the atmosphere, he shows how these are directly related to the weather experienced on the ground, and to specific weather phenomena and extreme weather events. He describes how the global patterns of temperature and pressure give rise to the overall circulation within the atmosphere, the major wind systems, and the major oceanic currents, and how features such as mountains and the sea affect local weather. He also looks at examples of extreme and dangerous weather, such as of tropical cyclones (otherwise known as hurricanes and typhoons), describing how ''Hurricane Hunters'' undertake the dangerous task of flying through them.We measure weather in a number of ways: observations taken on the land and sea; observations within the atmosphere; and measurements from orbiting satellites. Dunlop concludes by looking at how these observations have been used to develop increasingly sophisticated long- and short-range weather forecasting, including ensemble forecasting.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewThe perfect introduction to one of the most fascinating topics. * Professor Liz Bentley, Chief Executive, Royal Meteorological Society *Though the book is small ... there's plenty of information in here, illustrated with black and white diagrams and photography. * TGO The Great Outdoors *Table of ContentsREFERENCES; FURTHER READING; INDEX
£9.49
Yale University Press Bering
Trade ReviewFinalist for the 2004 PEN American Center Literary Award in the Research Nonfiction categoryFinalist for the 2004 Caroline Bancroft Western History Prize sponsored by the Denver Public Library“A biography of Bering has long been needed and no one is better suited to write it than Orcutt Frost. Based on meticulous scholarship and a lifelong knowledge of the subject, this biography will be a revelation to anyone interested in the history of exploration.”—Glyn Williams, author of Voyages of Delusion: The Quest for the Northwest Passage
£35.82
