Earth Sciences, Geography & Environment Books

Book SynopsisTrade Review"[Simran Sethi] looks at ways in which monoculture and an increasingly standardized global diet put food systems in peril and leave crops vulnerable to blight and climate change." -- Wall Street Journal "In Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love, Sethi describes how, in recent years, environmental and economic forces have decreased biodiversity and threatened the existence of some of our favorite foods and beverages." -- Boston Globe "Our tables ... are never really of, or for, one, as Sethi elegantly shows us." -- NPR "Bread, wine, chocolate-three things many of us refuse to live without. But, as Simran Sethi tells us in her new book, Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love, we might have to." -- Acquired Taste "Read this wonderful book and you will become immersed in the intricate worlds of no less than six (delicious) foods and drinks. It is about our relationships with the life forms that sustain us-and how we might learn to approach those relationships with far more love, compassion, and good taste." -- Naomi Klein, New York Times bestselling author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine "Simran Sethi's passionate book on food and biodiversity reminds us how healing food can be. The world is on our plate." -- Deepak Chopra, M.D. "A powerful reminder that we can eat in ways that don't cause damage to the planet or its poorest people--and that can delight us, not just fill us up. Don't read it on an empty stomach!" -- Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy "A passionate plea to save and restore the things most precious about our food-its myriad flavors and its connection with nature. As global economic forces slowly squeeze the uniqueness out of what we eat, Simran Sethi explores the delicate culinary delights that offer hope, and deliciousness, for the future." -- John McQuaid, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Tasty: The Art and Science of What We Eat "A stirring call to arms for anyone who loves food!" -- Andrea Reusing, James Beard award-winning chef and author of Cooking in the Moment: A Year of Seasonal Recipes "Should be required reading for culinary students, journalists, scholars and citizens who care about what they put into their mouths and what we're doing to Mother Earth. Sethi is the kind of writer who can coat the bitter pill in honey and we all just swallow and say thank you." -- Linda West Eckhardt, James Beard award-winning cookbook author, Editor/Founder of Everybody Eats News "In this illuminating and impactful book, Simran Sethi sheds light on the dwindling diversity of our diets and our landscapes through the stories of our most beloved tastes. Bread, Wine, Chocolate calls on all of us to cherish-and thus preserve-the world's endangered flavors." -- Dan Barber, chef/co-owner of Blue Hill and New York Times bestselling author of The Third Plate "Read this and you will understand that cuisine is how we kiss the world. There is more good news: it kisses back." -- Paul Hawken, New York Times bestselling author of Natural Capitalism and Blessed Unrest "By turns explorer and explainer, Simran Sethi conducts a thoughtful and heartfelt tour of humanity's most beloved tastes-and the threats that could extinguish them forever." -- Michael Brune, executive director, Sierra Club "Bread, Wine, Chocolate is for anyone who has ever longed for a richer understanding of the foods you love, and for greater awareness of what it takes to bring them to you." -- Kaelyn Riley, Experience Life Magazine "In a new book, author Simran Sethi argues that we are facing one of the most radical shifts in food ever." -- Smithsonian Magazine "[Sethi] writes with a deep understanding of pleasure and taste to convey her urgent message - we must make uncompromising, purposeful choices when it comes to what we eat before it's too late!" -- Alice Waters, chef, author and the proprietor of Chez Panisse "...Simran Sethi's new book Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love, an excellent look at loss of biodiversity through something that we all know, and love, well: food." -- Paste Magazine "Simran Sethi... argues convincingly about the deep importance of these humble foods that human beings have been imbibing for millennia." -- Civil Eats "Bread, Wine, Chocolate is full of wonderfully geeky bits of science, including an excellent section on how memory and culture influences our perception of taste. But Sethi's friendly, welcoming tone makes serious topics digestible and pleasurable." -- Associated Press

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Book Synopsis“Steadily—by redefining green—Jones is making sure that our planet and our people will not just survive but also thrive in a clean-energy economy.”—Leonardo DiCaprioA New York Times bestseller, The Green Collar Economy by award-winning human rights activist and environmental leader Van Jones delivers a much-needed economic and environmental solution to today’s two most critical problems. With a revised introduction and new afterword by the author—a man who counsels President Barack Obama on environmental policy—The Green Collar Economy and Jones have been highly praised by a multitude of leaders and legislators, including Al Gore, Senator Tom Daschle, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Van Jones was named one of “The World’s 100 Most Influential People of 2009” by Time magazine, and with The Green Collar Economy he offers a wise, necessary,

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Book SynopsisHistorianNigel Cliff delivers a sweeping, radical reinterpretation of Vasco da Gama’spioneering voyages, revealing their significance as a decisive turning point inthe struggle between Christianity and Islam—a series of events which foreveraltered the relationship between East and West. Perfect for readers of Endurance:Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, Galileo’sDaughter, and Atlantic, this first-ever completeaccount of da Gama’s voyages includes new information from the recentlydiscovered diaries of his sailors and an extraordinary series of lettersbetween da Gama and the Zamorin, a king of modern-dayKerala, India. Cliff, the author of The Shakespeare Riots, draws uponhis own travels in da Gama’s footsteps to add detail, authenticity, and acontemporary perspective to this riveting, one-of-a-kind historical epic.

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Book SynopsisThe thrilling #1 bestselling memoir by adventure legend and survivalist Bear Grylls.Bear Grylls has always sought the ultimate in adventure. Growing up on a remote island off of Britain''s windswept coast, he was taught by his father to sail and climb at an early age. Inevitably, it wasn''t long before the young explorer was sneaking out to lead all-night climbing expeditions.As a teenager at Eton College, Bear found his identity and purpose through both mountaineering and martial arts. These passions led him into the foothills of the mighty Himalayas and to a karate grandmaster''s remote training camp in Japan, an experience that soon helped him earn a second-degree black belt. Returning home, he embarked upon the notoriously grueling selection course for the British Special Forces to join the elite Special Air Service unit 21 SAS—a journey that would push him to the very limits of physical and mental endurance.Then, disaster. Bear broke

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Book SynopsisA rich and revelatory memoir of a young woman confronting her fears and finding home in the North.Blair Braverman fell in love with the North at an early age: By the time she was nineteen, she had left her home in California, moved to Norway to learn how to drive sled dogs, and worked as a tour guide on a glacier in Alaska.By turns funny and sobering, bold and tender, Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube charts Blair’s endeavor to become a “tough girl”—someone who courts danger in an attempt to become fearless. As she ventures into a ruthless arctic landscape, Blair faces down physical exhaustion—being buried alive in an ice cave, and driving a dogsled across the tundra through a whiteout blizzard in order to avoid corrupt police—and grapples with both love and violence as she negotiates the complex demands of being a young woman in a man’s land.Brilliantly original and bracingly honest, Welcome to the Goddamn Ic

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A fascinating look at the men and women who devote their lives to this service." -- Esquire.com "You think your job's hard? Jason Ramos and his colleagues parachute into the wilderness in order to save nature from going up in flames. He takes readers into the world of smokejumping, which has become more important as drought in America becomes more widespread." -- MensJournal.com (a 7 Best Books of the Month selection) "Jason Ramos's Smokejumper is a rousing personal adventure story, a nutshell history of the great wildland fires, and insider's brief for making smokejumpers more relevant on today's fire line." -- John N. Maclean, author of Fire on the Mountain "Jason Ramos weaves personal experiences, smokejumper history, fire science, and fire operations into a fascinating book. It is a must read for all firefighters as well as any American who lives or recreates in or near wildfire prone areas." -- Larry Lufkin, son of Francis Lufkin, Smokejumper NCSB '40, '46, '48-'50, MSO '42-44 "Nothing can ever measure up to the sound of engines roaring as you step out into the cold air, into harm's way--to the smell of smoke and the endless beauty of the western mountains of America. Jason Ramos brings all that alive in this book." -- Bill Furman, CEO, Greenbrier Companies, Inc., Smokejumper NCSB '62-'67 A Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association bestseller -- - "[A] touching and fast-paced memoir... written with precision and perspective, sometimes with a touch of poetry. ... A fun and valuable read for anyone seeking to learn more about those who are willing to risk their lives to battle such deadly infernos." -- Washington Post "Compelling. ... A fast-paced, eye-opening read." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "Interwoven with his exciting adventures on fires throughout the west, Jason educates the reader about the art of firefighting, the smokejumper culture, and the human tragedies associated with his 26-year firefighting career." -- Bill Moody, NCSB Jumper & Base Manager (retired) 1957-89, currently seasonal Air Tactical Group Supervisor and Aerial Fire Suppression Consultant "Jason Ramos tells of nature at its most savage, of 2,000-degree heat and hurricane-force drafts, of heroic, sometimes lethal efforts to save the lives of people less prepared. Here you'll meet the people who fly between Heaven and Hell. And jump." -- Wayne van Zwoll, PhD, former Special Projects Editor, Intermedia Outdoors "Fast-paced. ... Ramos is an expert guide through a fearful world. ... His passion is unmistakable." -- USA Today "Ramos chronicles the history of the elite group of airborne firefighters who attack blazes in some of the West's most remote and rugged country. ... Ramos' narrative will surely spark hearty debate." -- High Country News

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Book Synopsis“A cracking read, combining storytelling of the highest order with a trove of information. . . . What’s remarkable is that it all fits together.”—Wall Street Journal“Successful science writing tells a complete story of the ‘how’—the methodical marvel building up to the ‘why’—and Randall does just that.”—New York Times Book Review“[Randall] is a lucid explainer, street-wise and informal. Without jargon or mathematics, she steers us through centuries of sometimes tortuous astronomical history.”—The GuardianIn Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs, Professor Lisa Randall, one of today’s most influential theoretical physicists, takes readers on an intellectual adventure through the history of the cosmos, showing how events in the farthest reaches of the Universe created the conditions for life—and death—on our planet.Sixty-six million years ago, an object the size of a city crashed into Earth, killing off the dinosaurs, along with three-quarters of the planet’s species. Challenging the usual assumptions about the simple makeup of the unseen material that constitutes 85% of the matter in the Universe, Randall explains how a disk of dark matter in the Milky Way plane might have triggered the cataclysm.But Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs does more than present a radical idea. With clarity and wit, it explains the nature of the Universe, dark matter, the Milky Way galaxy, comets, asteroids, and impacts. This breathtaking synthesis, illuminated by pop culture references and social and political viewpoints, reveals the deep relationships among the small and the large, the visible and the hidden, as well as the astonishing beauty of the connections that surround us. It’s impossible to read this book and look at either the Earth or the sky again in the same way.

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Book SynopsisOne of Library Journal’s 10 Best Books of 2015Following his acclaimed Atlantic and The Men Who United the States, New York Times bestselling author Simon Winchester offers an enthralling biography of the Pacific Ocean and its role in the modern world, exploring our relationship with this imposing force of nature.As the Mediterranean shaped the classical world, and the Atlantic connected Europe to the New World, the Pacific Ocean defines our tomorrow. With China on the rise, so, too, are the American cities of the West coast, including Seattle, San Francisco, and the long cluster of towns down the Silicon Valley.Today, the Pacific is ascendant. Its geological history has long transformed us—tremendous earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis—but its human history, from a Western perspective, is quite young, beginning with Magellan’s sixteenth-century circumnavigation. It is a natural wonder whose most fascinating history is currently being made.In telling the story of the Pacific, Simon Winchester takes us from the Bering Strait to Cape Horn, the Yangtze River to the Panama Canal, and to the many small islands and archipelagos that lie in between. He observes the fall of a dictator in Manila, visits aboriginals in northern Queensland, and is jailed in Tierra del Fuego, the land at the end of the world. His journey encompasses a trip down the Alaska Highway, a stop at the isolated Pitcairn Islands, a trek across South Korea and a glimpse of its mysterious northern neighbor.Winchester’s personal experience is vast and his storytelling second to none. And his historical understanding of the region is formidable, making Pacific a paean to this magnificent sea of beauty, myth, and imagination that is transforming our lives.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of the greatest polar rescue efforts ever mounted, a saga that journalist Mark Piesing retells in N-4 Down. ... Gripping. ... This is a book with much to enjoy and a good illustration of what human curiosity, determination and courage—and sometimes a healthy dollop of vanity—can achieve." — Wall Street Journal "In compelling prose, Piesing draws us into the feverish efforts to conquer the Arctic by air. ... Refreshingly well-written. ... Piesing deserves credit for bringing this forgotten bit of aerospace history back to light." — Forbes "Mark Piesing evocatively brings to life a lesser-known tale in the ill-fated history of polar exploration. Like the stories of Franklin and Shackleton, it combines triumph, disaster, heroism, hubris and mystery—but unlike them it features dashing aviators in airships and seaplanes. It is an epic tale that deserves to be far more widely known." — Tom Standage, New York Times bestselling author of A History of The World in 6 Glasses "A meticulously researched and utterly gripping account of adventure, airships and adversity, Mark Piesing's N-4 Down is a brilliant book. Packed with a cast of vivid characters, magnificent flying machines, political machinations and tales of survival against all imaginable odds, it depicts one of the most extraordinary stories of not just aviation and exploration, but the twentieth century as a whole. You will never forget General Nobile, the airship and the endless ice they faced." — Michael Bhaskar, author of Human Frontiers: The Future of Big Ideas in an Age of Small Thinking “N-4 Down is a gripping, detailed tale of exploration, betrayal and rescue. Mark Piesing has crafted a fascinating recounting of a liminal time when flying and polar expeditions were equally risky, so of course people tried to combine them. Think The Terror, but with airships.” — Charles Arthur, author of Social Warming and Digital Wars, former technology editor at The Guardian "A gripping telling of the story of the crash of N-4 Italia and the deadly attempt at rescue.. ... N-4 Down is an engrossing read." — New York Journal of Books "One of the joys of reading accounts of events a century ago is that authors gain access to letters, diaries, journals and other handwritten material that provide so much texture to narratives. Consequently, the stories are rich in detail. Piesing provides great context about the aviation era. ... A fine book." — Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star “Takes readers on a thrilling, nail-biting adventure of the largest arctic rescue operation in history as famed Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, rushed to save the surviving crew of the airship Italia, which crashed during its attempt to land men at the North Pole in 1928. The history and aeronautical buffs on your holiday shopping list are going to absolutely love it.” — Engadget “The author has visited the places about which he writes, and his sketches of remote locales make for interesting reading. He also offers useful insights on the strange blend of competition and cooperation that characterized Arctic exploration. … Of interest to would-be Arctic explorers and armchair adventurers.” — Kirkus Reviews “N-4 Down is the work of a real writer, who can create a difficult balance among facts, characters and history coming from so many sources, also daring 'to nose' into situations of which he tries to see what is behind and beyond appearances. Besides, the book is the testimony that the true hero’s feats never have an end, especially in our times where we rarely witness such examples." — Antonio Ventre, Director of Umberto Nobile Museum

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewBrainy and provocative. — Financial Advisor “A meticulous and captivating study… This comprehensive and thoughtful study of the often troubled relationship between business and benevolence will provide readers unexpected food for thought.” — Publishers Weekly “The book serves as an informative road map for leaders who dare to break the mold. A tapestry of remarkable characters, high drama, and entertaining story arcs for leaders of businesses large and small.” — Kirkus Reviews “As the issue is top of mind for Wall Street and Silicon Valley today, O’Toole’s book will be a valuable collection of case studies on what works and what doesn’t.” — Business Insider “James O’Toole’s clear-eyed assessment of the history of ‘enlightened capitalism’ is a must-read for any business leader serious about shaping its future--and thus our own.” — Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder, B Lab “[An] admiring but unflinching survey… Mr. O’Toole has made a strong case that enlightened stewardship is in the interest of stockholders. In setting out to write a brief for social responsibility, he has delivered some managerial wisdom. Humanity in the corner office need not be altruistic; it may simply be good business.” — Wall Street Journal “[An] enormous but accessible book… Fascinating.” — Financial Times

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Book SynopsisThe first hopeful book about climate change, The Future Earth shows readers how to reverse the short- and long-term effects of climate change over the next three decades.The basics of climate science are easy. We know it is entirely human-caused. Which means its solutions will be similarly human-led. In The Future Earth, leading climate change advocate and weather-related journalist Eric Holthaus (“the Rebel Nerd of Meteorology”—Rolling Stone) offers a radical vision of our future, specifically how to reverse the short- and long-term effects of climate change over the next three decades. Anchored by world-class reporting, interviews with futurists, climatologists, biologists, economists, and climate change activists, it shows what the world could look like if we implemented radical solutions on the scale of the crises we face.  What could happen if we reduced carbon emissions by 50 percent in the next decade? What could living in a city look like in 2030? How could the world operate in 2040, if the proposed Green New Deal created a 100 percent net carbon-free economy in the United States? This is the book for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the current state of our environment. Hopeful and prophetic, The Future Earth invites us to imagine how we can reverse the effects of climate change in our own lifetime and encourages us to enter a deeper relationship with the earth as conscientious stewards and to re-affirm our commitment to one another in our shared humanity.

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Book SynopsisIn 1991, Doug Tompkins abandoned his comfortable life in San Francisco and flew 6,500 miles south to a shack in Patagonia. Instead of the Golden Gate Bridge, Tompkins stared out the window at Volcano Michinmahuida, blanketed in snow and prowled by mountain lions. Shielded by waterfalls and wilderness, the founder of such groundbreaking companies as Esprit and The North Face suddenly regretted the corporate capitalism from which he had profited from years. As a CEO he had caused much pollution and, “made things nobody needed.” Now, he declared, it was time to reverse the damage to the planet, and maybe even himself. In A Wild Idea, award-winning journalist and bestselling author Jonathan Franklin tells the incredible true story of Douglas Tompkins, who became one of the primary founders of our modern conservation and land protection movement. Piloting his small plane, Tompkins explored the uninhabited lands of Patagonia and gaped at the singular beauty: active volcanoes, forests never logged, rivers never dammed—all so undisturbed, so exquisitely designed. Could he protect this wild beauty? For the ensuing quarter century, that dream— that obsession—became his life. Only in death did it become his legacy.

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