Earth Sciences, Geography & Environment Books

Book SynopsisThis is a book about how ecologists can integrate remote sensing and GIS in their daily work. It will allow ecologists to get started with the application of remote sensing and to understand its potential and limitations. Using practical examples, the book covers all necessary steps from planning field campaigns to deriving ecologically relevant information through remote sensing and modelling of species distributions. All practical examples in this book rely on OpenSource software and freely available data sets. Quantum GIS (QGIS) is introduced for basic GIS data handling, and in-depth spatial analytics and statistics are conducted with the software packages R and GRASS. Readers will learn how to apply remote sensing within ecological research projects, how to approach spatial data sampling and how to interpret remote sensing derived products. The authors discuss a wide range of statistical analyses with regard to satellite data as well as specialised topics such as time-series analysis. Extended scripts on how to create professional looking maps and graphics are also provided. This book is a valuable resource for students and scientists in the fields of conservation and ecology interested in learning how to get started in applying remote sensing in ecological research and conservation planning.Trade ReviewRemote Sensing and GIS for Ecologists could become an essential undergraduate-level textbook, but it is also a guide to practising ecologists who want to broaden their toolkit. * Conservation Biology *We recommend this book not only as an interesting and informative guide to remote sensing concepts, but also as a vehicle to quickly delve into hands-on processing and analysis of remote sensing data to answer many questions relevant to landscape ecologists. -- Danica Schaffer-Smith and Jennifer J. Swenson * Landscape Ecology *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 Spatial Data and Software 2 Introduction to Remote Sensing and GIS 3 Where to Obtain Spatial Data? 4 Spatial Data Analysis for Ecologists: First Steps 5 Pre-Processing Remote Sensing Data 6 Field Data for Remote Sensing Data Analysis 7 From Spectral to Ecological Information 8 Land Cover or Image Classification Approaches 9 Land Cover Change or Change Detection 10 Continuous Land Cover Information 11 Time Series Analysis 12 Spatial Land Cover Pattern Analysis 13 Modelling Species Distributions 14 Introduction to the added value of Animal Movement Analysis and Remote Sensing Outlook and Acknowledgements Index

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Book Synopsis(Edition updated in 2023) MICHELIN zoom map Zoom Barcelona & Costa Brava is the ideal travel companion to fully explore this tourist destination thanks to its easy-to-use format and its scale of 1/150,000. The Zoom collection are characterized by the high precision of their detailed scale, specially adapted for very touristy areas or with a high density road network, including new developments and industrial areas. In addition to clarity, reliability and up-to-date information, all Michelin cartography features include a wealth of practical information: places and monuments of tourist interest, picturesque tours, areas for sports and leisure activities ... Useful plans of cities and a practical index of localities. Also the maps contain places of interest and signposting of tracks for bicycles and green-ways MICHELIN ZOOM MAPS are perfect to discover major tourist areas, with a high level of details in an easy to use format. They nicely complement our Michelin Guides and include: * Various leisure activities, such as water parks, tourist trains, horse racing, etc * Scenic routes and tourist sights crossed referenced with the famous Michelin's Green Guides * Camping sites information from Michelin's Camping Guides * Hotel information from the world famous MICHELIN Guides

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Book SynopsisDiscover why we must protect Okavango Delta from climate change.Explore the Okavango Delta, Africa's incredible inland wetland, a sparkling jewel at the heart of the Kalahari Desert. This richly illustrated picture book brings to life this extraordinary region for young children, navigating its maze of shimmering lagoons, meandering channels and overgrown islands teeming with wildlife. In this watery wilderness, lion, cheetah, leopard and African wild dog share the floodplains with large herds of elephant and buffalo. It delves into the important role wetlands play in reducing the effects of greenhouse gases, and showcases the rich wildlife and diverse communities that can all be found there and therefore why it is so important that we act to protect this special part of the planet from the impact of climate change.Trade ReviewLet’s Save The Okavango Delta is a timely and beautifully illustrated book […] This is a very special book which easily communicates big topics to young people […] Perfect as a leisure book, but also as part of a topic, this is a great book for your libraries. * The School Librarian *As we explore this book we also explore the Delta and discover just how important it is, how important all Deltas are to us, to wildlife, to our planet. * Armadillo Magazine *Featured in the Bookseller's February 2023 Previews * The Bookseller *A really important piece of climate justice work to help children understand how issues are interconnected and why it is important to fight against climate change. * The English Association *

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Book SynopsisA romantic retelling of a classic fairy tale about a beautiful herbalist and a lovestruck prince.Shirayuki is an herbalist famous for her naturally bright-red hair, and the prince of Tanbarun wants her all to himself! The prince from the neighboring kingdom, Zen, rescues her from her plight, and thus begins their love story.Hoping for permission to line the roads between the wintry cities with the glowing phostyrias plant, Shirayuki, Obi, and Ryu arrive at the Oriold checkpoint. The knight captain there won’t stand in their way, but due to political instability in the northern region, they’ll have to win over a certain Lord Lugiria. Deep in uncharted territory, can they light a path to the future?

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Book SynopsisMany people have a love of maps. But what lies behind the process of map-making? How have cartographers through the centuries developed their craft and established a language of maps which helps them to better represent our world and users to understand it? This book tells the story of how widely accepted mapping conventions originated and evolved – from map orientation, projections, typography and scale, to the use of colour, map symbols, ways of representing relief and the treatment of boundaries and place names. It charts the fascinating story of how conventions have changed in response to new technologies and ever-changing mapping requirements, how symbols can be a matter of life or death, why universal acceptance of conventions can be difficult to achieve and how new mapping conventions are developing to meet the needs of modern cartography. Here is an accessible and enlightening guide to the sometimes hidden techniques of map-making through the centuries.Trade Review‘Elegantly written and beautifully illustrated, Why North is Up tells you everything you need to know about the signs, symbols and science behind map-making. It will also reveal a few things you didn’t know about maps. Essential reading for any map lover.' -- Jerry Brotton‘In this handsome and informative book, Mick Ashworth picks through the conventions that have shaped cartography thus far, in a lively narrative augmented by lavish illustrations of the maps in question. For map addicts and casual bystanders alike, this is a terrific work that both entertains and enlightens.’ -- Mike Parker'The book is ideal for the satnav generation, showing how cartographic language has evolved from Ptolemy's Geographia to crowd-sourced online OpenStreetMap. But this is far from just an introduction for newcomers; most readers are sure to discover something new here...the book is copiously illustrated with relevant map extracts, faithfully reproduced; many are from the Bodleian Library, other from a variety of other sources.' * Sheetlines *'Ashworth presents an entertaining foray into the history, structure and evolution of maps and mapmaking. His conversational style makes learning about the intricacies of mapmaking, specifically the importance of legends, grids and symbols, fun.' * The Globe *'For anyone with an interest in maps it should be essential reading. … I would expect this book to be popular - it certainly deserves to be.' * The Bulletin of the Society of Cartographers *'Ashworth provides an eminently readable introduction that is beautifully illustrated with a wide selection of carefully reproduced maps. Both a beautiful book to own and to give, this is a must-have for anyone with an interest in maps.' * NHBS *

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Book SynopsisAcross ten captivating and beautifully illustrated chapters, Morgan Phillips recounts stories of adaptation from the air-conditioned pavements of Doha and the feral camels of Australia, to the ‘cool rooms’ of Paris and the ‘fog catchers’ of Morocco. These are the lesser-told stories of good, bad, ugly and very ugly adaptation to climate change – they will be the inspirations for the positive adaptations of the future; and the forewarnings of the mal-adaptations that must be avoided. Great Adaptations is a call to action, it presses home the need for adaptations that are ecologically restorative and socially just. It examines how adaptation is framed, unpicks the contested notion of Deep Adaptation, explores the potential of Transformative Adaptation, and questions the legitimacy of the ‘reassuring stories’ that still dominate mainstream climate discourse. It is conversational, provocative, engaging and visually arresting – a tactile, pocket-sized and very shareable object.Trade Review‘My earnest hope is that this book will be a turning of the tide; and that, with the silence broken, the world can finally begin the painful process of awakening properly to climate reality... including to the reality of how we must now adapt transformatively, if we are to have any chance of heading off eco-induced collapses.’ Prof. Rupert Read, University of East Anglia.

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Book SynopsisPotent and timely lessons on healing and connection?both individually and collectively?through the wisdom and magic of honeybees. We?ve heard the refrain to save the bees, but what if the bees can save us too? Beloved equity educators, authors, and beekeepers Michelle Cassandra Johnson and Amy Burtaine invite us to contemplate this question deeply. By looking at bees as teachers, the authors draw us into an examination of our relationship with each other and the world at large. Honeybees illustrate communal interdependence, attunement to nature, coexistence with darkness, and so much more?lessons worthy of emulating within our own human world. In times marked by turmoil and uncertainty, honeybees offer a powerful example of how to turn toward each other, to deeply commit to creating conditions for survival of all beings, and to build a future where all can thrive. As Michelle and Amy write, ?We won?t survive unless we remember our interconnectedness to all beings and change our ways of being?how we are to ourselves, one another, and the planet.?This beautiful and thought-provoking book offers:? Insights from beekeeping, Buddhism, and nature-based shamanic practices? Stories, meditations, reflection questions, and practices to bring the wisdom of the hive to our own lives and bodies? Encouragement to connect with nature and each other in new waysWith each chapter, we learn more about the life of a honeybee, our own lives, and our relationship to the collective as a part of an ever-changing ecosystem.

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Book SynopsisWe all need food to survive, and forty percent of the world’s population relies on agriculture for their livelihood. Yet control over food is concentrated in relatively few hands. Turmoil in the world food economy in recent decades has highlighted a number of vulnerabilities and contradictions inherent in the way we currently organize this vital sector. Extremes of both undernourishment and overnourishment affect a significant proportion of humanity. And attempts to increase production through the spread of an industrial model of agriculture has resulted in serious ecological consequences. The fully revised and expanded third edition of this popular book explores how the rise of industrial agriculture, corporate control, inequitable agricultural trade rules, and the financialization of food have each enabled powerful actors to gain fundamental influence over the practices that dominate the world food economy and result in uneven consequences for both people and planet. A variety of movements have emerged that are making important progress in establishing alternative food systems, but, as Clapp’s penetrating analysis ably shows, significant challenges remain.Trade Review“Jennifer Clapp has done it again. Bravo! A true classic, Food is breathtaking in its scope and insight. In bringing this brilliant work up to the moment, Clapp demystifies the global food economy so we can all realize our power to transform it.”Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet and co-author of World Hunger: 10 Myths “The global food economy may seem remote from daily experience, but Jennifer Clapp explains how it affects every aspect of what we eat and, therefore, our health and welfare. Best of all, she provides the information and tools advocates can use to redesign the global food economy to promote fair trade, food justice, and food sovereignty.”Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, and author of Soda Politics“In the third edition of this invaluable text, Jennifer Clapp synthesizes the latest literature in a rapidly changing and vital field, in ways that are rigorous, accessible, and always thought-provoking. From the end of the Second World War to the thick of the climate emergency, Food tells the story of the modern food system with signature clarity and sophistication.”Raj Patel, University of Texas at Austin “Food is detailed, it is engrossing, and it is clear. The documentation of the political and economic motivations that have shaped the current food system over the past decades is enlightening for the scientific food community and the general public.”Nature FoodTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsAbbreviationsFigures and TablesChapter 1: Unpacking the World Food EconomyChapter 2: The Rise of a Global Industrial Food MarketChapter 3: Expanding Food TradeChapter 4: Growing Corporate ControlChapter 5: The Financialization of FoodChapter 6: Justice and Sustainability in the World Food Economy?NotesSelected ReadingsIndex

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Book Synopsis''It''s important that everyone with an interest in fashion reads this book so we can live on a healthier planet'' Arizona Muse ''The most timely book you''ll read this year'' India Knight* * * * * Running out of space for the clothes you can''t stop buying? Curious about how you can make a difference to the environmental challenges our planet faces? Join Orsola''s care revolution and learn to make the clothes you love, last longer.This book will equip you with a myriad of ways to mend, rewear and breathe new life into your wardrobe to achieve a more sustainable lifestyle. By teaching you to scrutinise your shopping habits and make sustainable purchases, she will inspire you to buy better, care more and reduce your carbon footprint by simply making your loved clothes last longer.Following Orsola''s practical tips to lavish care and attention on the clothes you already own will not only have a positive environmental impact, but will be personally rewarding too: hand wash, steam and spot clean your clothes, air dry instead of tumble drying, or revive your clothes by sewing or crocheting.Fast fashion leaves behind a trail of human and environmental exploitation. Our wardrobes don''t have to be the finish line; they can be a starting point. We can all care, repair and rewear. Do you accept the challenge?* * * * *''An incredibly thoughtful, must-read guide'' Kenya Hunt''A must read for anyone who wants to understand the fashion industry as an outsider and wants direction as to where we go next'' Aja BarberTrade ReviewOrsola's writing is musical and I hear her song through every word. It's important that everyone with an interest in fashion reads this book so we can live on a healthier planet * Arizona Muse *An incredibly thoughtful, must-read guide to future-proofing our wardrobes and most importantly the planet [...] Loved Clothes Last will change the way you see your wardrobe and how our day to day actions impact the environment * Kenya Hunt, Fashion Director, Grazia UK *The most timely book you'll read this year. We all know that the people who make our clothes are mistreated and underpaid, and we all feel a free-floating anxiety about it. But what to do? This brilliant, witty, eye-opening book will tell you * India Knight *This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the fashion industry as an outsider and wants direction as to where we go next. The industry is often shrouded in mystery and this book breaks it down in bite size pieces * Aja Barber, writer, activist and fashion consultant *An indispensable guide to the ethical and sustainable fashion resistance, from the woman who helped launch it into the stratosphere * Elizabeth L. Cline *Loved Clothes Last walks the small steps we can take to stop participating in this throw away culture. She talks of clothes as our "chosen skin" [...] With a needle we sew and repair clothes, but also the tears and ruptures in our relationship with nature and society. Read her book to bring love and beauty, uniqueness and permanence back in your life * Dr Vandana Shiva, scholar, author, environmental activist, and food sovereignty advocate *Congrats Orsola on crafting such a complex far reaching and urgent global issue into a helpful inspiring book with simple steps that we can all commit too and benefit from straight away * Melissa Hemsley, author and columnist for British Vogue *This book is the culmination of Orsola's lifetime of experience as a clothes healer, a mender, a designer, a radical thinker and a constant source of inspiration. She is a true pioneer, the Queen of Upcycling, an unending source of brilliant advice and truly creative ideas that will literally turn the way you think about fashion and your relationship with your clothes upside down * Tamsin Blanchard, Fashion Journalist and author *Loved Clothes Last serves as a wonderful antithesis to the idea that fashion is inherently bad. Showing us the problems that we are facing, however, showing us even more solutions and ways to individually, and collectively, make a change * Wilson Oryema, artist and writer *Always a fan of Orsola, her thinking & doing. You'll not want to put her new book down! * Safia Minney, MBE, Founder People Tree, Author & Climate Activist *A high energy book which brings powerful ideas of change to a new audience * Professor Kate Fletcher, Centre for Sustainable Fashion, University of the Arts London *This is such a progressive step for humanity! Orsola makes changing our consumption habits and saving our planet a fun and doable practice. With all the glaringly obvious facts, how can we not take part in the fashion revolution? Yes to mending, repairing and rewearing! * Samantha Moyo, ‘Extinction Rebellion Together’ Diversity Coordinator *A helpful inspiring book with simple steps that we can all commit too and benefit from straight away * Melissa Hemsley, author and columnist for British Vogue *I'm a huge admirer of Orsola and her work. I love this book's mindful approach to looking after our clothes, giving us the tools to love them for longer and show respect to the people who made them * Venetia La Manna 'Slow fashion campaigner, broadcaster and co-founder of Remember Who Made Them' *Hands down Academic Couture. Loved Clothes Last is a beautifully constructed and eloquently written masterpiece. Orsola weaves the importance of the cultural influence of the fashion industry, how it's destroyed us and how it can save us with the economic and environmental impact on people and planet, the beauty of buttons and how to darn a sock, she successfully interlaces "why we wear" with "why we should care * Patrick Duffy *Orsola represents both radical grace and graceful radicalness. This book is a super inspiring how to guide for all of us that want to emulate her * Alice Jay, activist and conservationist *

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Book SynopsisThe environmental crisis under way is unique in human history. It is a true existential crisis. Those alive today will decide the fate of humanity. Meanwhile, the leaders of the most powerful state in human history are dedicating themselves with passion to destroying the prospects for organized human life. At the same time, there is a solution at hand, which is the Green New Deal. Putting meat on the bones of the Green New Deal starts with a single simple idea: we have to absolutely stop burning fossil fuels to produce energy within the next 30 years at most; and we have to do this in a way that also supports rising living standards and expanding opportunities for working people and the poor throughout the world. This version of a Green New Deal program is, in fact, entirely realistic in terms of its purely economic and technical features. The real question is whether it is politically feasible. Chomsky and Pollin examine how we can build the political force to make a global Green New Deal a reality.Trade ReviewThis little book contains a big idea: climate stabilisation that avoids the collapse of organised social life can be achieved, along with more decent jobs, improved living standards and reduced poverty everywhere in the world. Two eminent thinkers present a convincing case for a realistic, feasible Global Green New Deal. * Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi *The project that is the Green New Deal is enriched by the insights of two great minds: those of Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin. Both understand that the GND will fail if it does not protect the jobs and livelihoods of the working class. They explain how a transformation needed to restore the ecosystem can, and will transform the organisations and lives of working people worldwide - for the better. * Ann Pettifor, author of The Case for The Green New Deal *This book is a survival manual for civilization. I want everyone--yes, every person on the planet--to learn its message and to face the challenge it poses: "What am I doing to help bring about a global Green New Deal in the early years of this decade?" For Americans, the first steps are clear: consign all climate deniers to permanent political oblivion and force all other policymakers to match fine words with deeds - i.e.commit to the Pollin-Chomsky global program for climate stabilization, a massive expansion of good jobs, and just transition. -- Daniel Ellsberg, author of The Doomsday MachineBrisk and lucid. -- Lit Hub ("Most Anticipated Books of 2020") * John Freeman *In this compelling read, linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky and progressive economist Robert Pollin present a convincing case for a realistic, feasible Global Green New Deal. * Dazed *A thought-provoking and succinct manifesto. -- Russell Whitehouse * International Policy Digest *[Chomsky and Pollin] argue it is possible to tackle climate collapse over the next 30 years ... A capitalist system that fails to respond does not deserve to survive. * Irish Times *Emphasises the crisis our planet faces but also says 'there is a solution at hand'. * Irish Examiner *

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Book SynopsisReflecting on the experience, philosophy, and practice of Latin American indigenous and Afro-descendant activist-intellectuals who mobilize to defend their territories from large-scale extraction, Arturo Escobar shows how the key to addressing planetary crises is the creation of the pluriverse—a world of many epistemological and ontological worlds.Trade Review“Conveying a powerful message about the dire state of the world, Arturo Escobar offers a monumental critique: the crisis we face is civilizational; the tools that modernity has made available are inadequate to the tasks we face; and the only viable way forward entails a radical break from conventional practices. Escobar's vigorous call to decolonize our imaginaries in order to liberate our individual and collective sense of what is possible is compelling, deeply inspiring, and sure to spark urgently needed dialogue.” -- Charles R. Hale, coeditor of * Otros Saberes: Collaborative Research on Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Cultural Politics *“With optimism of the will and of the intellect, Arturo Escobar does not tell us what is or what could be; rather he contributes tools to imagine possibility differently—to dare think the unthinkable. The pluriverse he proposes is unknown practice, that, however, does not authorize us to think it is impossible practice.” -- Marisol de la Cadena, author of * Earth Beings: Ecologies of Practice across Andean Worlds *"Escobar begins with a fundamental question: “are we really the autonomous individuals we imagine ourselves to be?” (5). . . . Over the course of subsequent chapters, Escobar convincingly demonstrates how modern individualism, far from being an innate condition of contemporary reality, is rather one possibility among many that has prevailed only because it forecloses other worldviews." -- Pedro Ponce * SFRA Review *“Pluriversal Politics is an inspirational book that not only makes us believe in the possibilities of civilizational transitions, but also offers some theoretical tools and intuitive clues for academics. . . . The book is a great entry point to the work of one of the most influential social scientists from Latin America.” -- Paola Solís Huertas * KULT Online *“Escobar calls for us to think about the possibility of another world by asking if we can separate ourselves from the nonhuman things we have created. . . . Escobar presents a woven tapestry of revolutionism, social movements, social struggles, and bottom-up approaches to call for transformation.” -- Tavis D. Jules & Benjamin D. Scherrer * Comparative Education Review *"Pluriversal Politics is a valuable contribution to conversations around politics in theAnthropocene and potential transitions. Its regional focus makes it of particular interest to thoseengaged in Latin America, but should be stimulating to anyone interested in environmental orpolitical anthropology, more-than-human anthropology, or the ontological turn more widely." -- Gabriel Urlich Lennon * Anthropology Book Forum *“[Escobar] offers ways of philosophizing life that not only have a strong emphasis on but also rootedness in praxis and activism. . . . In addition, despite the volume’s regional focus on Abya Yala/Afro/Latino América, Escobar’s decolonial lens and focus on the (re)localization of action invite any reader to extrapolate his ideas to other contexts.” -- Lisa Ausic * Politics, Religion & Ideology *Table of ContentsPreface to the English Edition ix Prologue xxxv Acknowledgments xxxix Introduction: Another Possible Is Possible 1 1. Theory and the Un/Real: Tools for Rethinking "Reality" and the Possible 13 2. From Below, on the Left, and with the Earth: The Difference that Abya Yala/Afro/Latino América Makes 31 3. The Earth-Form of Life: Nasa Thought and the Limits to the Episteme of Modernity 46 4. Sentipensar with the Earth: Territorial Struggles and the Ontological Dimension of the Epistemologies of the South 67 5. Notes on Intellectual Colonialism and the Dilemmas of Latin American Social Theory 84 6. Postdevelopment @ 25: On "Being Stuck" and Moving Forward, Sideways, Backward, and Otherwise (a Conversation with Gustavo Esteva) 97 7. Cosmo/Visions of the Colombian Pacific Coast Region and Their Socioenvironmental Implications: Elements for a Dialogue of Cosmo/Visions 120 8. Beyond "Regional Development": A Design Model for Civilizational Transition in the Cauca River Valley, Colombia 136 Notes 159 References 175 Index 185

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Book SynopsisAn accessible and comprehensive guide to all things acoustic bat detection. This highly illustrated handbook provides an in-depth understanding of acoustic detection principles, study planning, data handling, properties of bat calls, manual identification of species, automatic species recognition, analysis of results, quality assurance and the background physics of sound. No other method of detecting bats is so popular and widespread in the context of environmental assessment and voluntary work as acoustic detection, and its increased use has driven the development of a large number of sophisticated devices and analytical methods. Acoustic detection has become a standard approach for establishing the presence of bats, carrying out species identification and monitoring levels of activity. The resolution, accuracy and scale with which these tasks can be done has risen dramatically with the availability of automated real-time recording. But anyone interested in acoustic recording will quickly recognise that there are still quite a few open questions about the limits and possibilities of acoustic detection. Clear definitions of how to handle the data are usually missing, for example, and there are no clearly described activity indices. In response to the lack of thorough information on the underlying science of acoustic detection, the authors present this handbook.Trade ReviewAcoustic detection has become a standard method for determining the presence of bats, and for species identification and monitoring. The resolution, accuracy and scale with which these surveys can be carried out has risen dramatically with the availability of automated real-time recording. Acoustic monitoring does have its limitations, however, and The Handbook of Acoustic Bat Detection addresses these by providing an in-depth understanding of the properties of bat calls, manual species identification, analysis of results and the background physics of sound. First published in German in 2018, this English translation includes new content that was not included in the original. * Conservation Land Management *This well-written and ably translated volume presents a thorough but accessible compendium on a timely subject. Runkel et al. give excellent coverage of highly technical systems applied to the biology of the animals. They explain methods with direct application to large-scale industrial developments, but never lose sight of the fundamental importance of the experienced observer who understands the animals and the environment. -- Winston C. Lancaster * The Quarterly Review of Biology *Table of Contents1 - Acoustic recording 2 - Examples of acoustic studies 3 - The planning of acoustic studies 4 - Manual and automatic acoustic recording 5 - Manual identification of species 6 - Automatic species recognition 7 - A comparison of identification methods 8 - The complexities of call analysis 9 - Criteria for detector systems 10 - Interpretation of the results 11 - Quality assurance of reports 12 - Nacelle monitoring – its benefits and its limitations 13 - Bat calls 14 - The physics of sound

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Book SynopsisEcotoxicology offers a comprehensive overview of the science underpinning the recognition and management of environmental contamination. It describes the toxicology of environmental contaminants, the methods used for assessing their toxicity and ecological impacts, and approaches employed to mitigate pollution and ecological health risks globally. Chapters cover the latest advances in research, including genomics, natural toxins, endocrine disruption and the toxicology of radioactive substances. The second half of the book focuses on applications, such as cradle-to-grave effects of selected industries, legal and economic approaches to environmental regulation, ecological risk assessment, and contaminated site remediation. With short capsules written by invited experts, numerous case studies from around the world and further reading lists, this textbook is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate one-semester courses. It is also a valuable reference for graduate students and professionals. Online resources for instructors and students are also available.Table of ContentsPreamble; Preface; Part I. Approaches and Methods: 1. The history and emergence of ecotoxicology as a science Pamela Welbourn and Peter V. Hodson; 2. Measuring toxicity Peter V. Hodson and David A. Wright; 3. Contaminant uptake and bioaccumulation: mechanisms, kinetics and modelling Peter G. C. Campbell, Peter V. Hodson, Pamela M. Welbourn, David A. Wright; 4. Methods in ecotoxicology Peter. V. Hodson and David W. Wright; 5 Ecotoxicogenomics Valérie S. Langlois and Christopher J. Martyniuk; Part II. Toxicology of Individual Substances: 6. Metals and metalloids Peter G. C. Campbell, Pamela M. Welbourn and Christopher D. Metcalfe; 7. Organic compounds Christopher D. Metcalfe, David A. Wright, Peter V. Hodson; 8. Endocrine disrupting chemicals Christopher D. Metcalfe, Christopher J. Martyniuk, Valérie S. Langlois, and David A. Wright; 9. Natural toxins David A. Wright and Pamela M. Welbourn; 10. Ionising radiation Louise Winn; Part III. Complex Issues: 11. Complex issues, multiple stressors and lessons learned Pamela M. Welbourn, Peter G. C. Campbell, Peter V. Hodson and Christopher D. Metcalfe) 12. Regulatory toxicology and ecological risk assessment Peter V. Hodson, Pamela Welbourn and Peter G. C. Campbell; 13. Recovery of contaminated sites Pamela M. Welbourn and Peter V. Hodson; 14. Emerging concerns and future visions David A. Wright and Peter G. C. Campbell; Index.

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Book Synopsis‘I never knew how fascinating a book about herding and grazing could be… This book is remarkable.’ Joanna Lumley ‘Ilse’s deep understanding of herding cultures, and their relationship with the land and life itself, is both moving and revelatory… I loved this book.’ Isabella Tree, author of Wilding ‘Ilse Köhler-Rollefson emerges as a voice worth listening to in this fascinating book about traditional herding culture.’ Country Life Hoofprints on the Land is a fascinating, original and lyrical description of the working partnerships between people and animals that are based on profound respect and relationships that, with the land itself, are founded not on exploitation but reciprocity. Ilse draws on her experience of living with the Raika camel herding community in India for the past 30 years to show how herding cultures tend their flocks in harmony with the land and in partnership with their animals. Nomadic livestock herding is the most ancient and natural means of keeping livestock, yet through colonisation and modernisation, these pioneers have been pushed to the edges of society and their methods have been dismissed as old fashioned and out of touch. Hoofprints on the Land debunks the myth that animal-free agriculture is the only way forward for a healthy planet, and reflects on how we can work with animals to regenerate the landscape. As Ilse writes: ‘Herding is therapy, not just for the planet, but also for our souls.’Trade Review'Grazing done right can improve biodiversity and regenerate pastureland. You will gain many insights into how to improve land from Hoofprints on the Land.' Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation‘Ilse’s deep understanding of herding cultures, and their relationship with the land and life itself, is both moving and revelatory. Pastoralism, she shows us brilliantly, is not a marginal issue but a symbiotic partnership between animals, humans and ecosystems that should be at the heart of our efforts to heal the planet. I loved this book.’ Isabella Tree, author of Wilding‘Ilse Köhler-Rollefson’s Hoofprints on the Land reminds us that animals are not objects to be manipulated in factory farms. They are not a “technology” to be pushed to obsolescence and extinction in the new rush for making fake milk, fake cheese and fake meat. Ilse shows how animals are sentient beings, subjects not objects, members of our families. Animals should never have been put in factory farms. Factory farms violate the rights of animals and contribute to pollution, including climate change. Ilse shows that free-range animals and animals in pastoral cultures are a solution to climate change that factory farming has contributed to. She shows us how the highest love for animals is respecting them as family, living with them in a loving, caring relationship, as she does in the desert of Rajasthan.’ Vandana Shiva, author of Terra Viva‘I never knew how fascinating a book about herding and grazing could be, never understood how vital is the part that pastoralists play concerning the health of the planet and its grazing animals. But I have drunk the delicious camel milk in Ilse Köhler-Rollefson’s dairy, and am a convert to everything she espouses. This book is remarkable: scholarly, accessible and hugely important.’ Joanna Lumley‘A beautiful, deeply thoughtful and intelligent book that completely reframes the fraught discussion around the role of animals in our food system. Every reader will not only learn a great deal but will also see the world in a new and better light.’ Nicolette Hahn Niman, author of Defending Beef‘Entirely timely, unique and massively thought provoking. It raises a whole host of intriguing issues which often, in my view, although identified as pertinent to the Southern Hemisphere, have clear and painful parallels in the north. I am not sure that many involved with limited appreciations of how livestock farming works will realise these synergies. But they should be illuminated and understood. Ilse’s depth of knowledge of subject is splendid.’ Derek Gow, author of Bringing Back the Beaver‘Inspiration for western agriculture as an extension of the ever-growing interest in regenerative agriculture, Hoofprints on the Land opens our minds to the important role nomadic herding could play in securing the future of people in dry lands, while also playing a vital role in environmental management. For most of us farming in temperate climes, nomadism may seem an irrelevance, a nostalgia from bygone ages; Hoofprints on the Land helps us to understand how misguided these impressions are. Thank you, Ilse, for opening this world to us!’ Helen Browning, chief executive, Soil Association‘A must-read for anyone who cares about the Earth. Hoofprints on the Land is a powerful story of hope, sharing a way of producing food that gives back more than it takes away from nature and humanity combined. Ilse has a skilful way of blending scientific research with observations and personal stories to illustrate how the relationship between people and livestock can be a true force for good. A genuinely inspirational book – I absolutely devoured it.’ Lynn Cassells, coauthor of Our Wild Farming Life‘In Hoofprints on the Land, Ilse Köhler-Rollefson shows us how, since prehistory, grazing animals literally knit together the world’s biosphere—its soil, earth, and air—and how traditional herding cultures today, often impoverished and overlooked, might still save the planet. This is a passionate, important book, a must-read for anyone interested in ecology or food or our future coexistence with wild and domestic animals.’ Brad Kessler, author of Goat Song‘A provocative and thoughtful meditation on the necessity of distinguishing between industrialised farming and traditional methods of pastoralism when discussing food security and the future of agriculture. Transhumance has been around since the beginning of animal domestication and works within established ecosystems, putting in more than it takes out. There is wisdom in age-old practices of animal herding that deserve to be preserved and protected.’ Dr Ross Barnett, author of The Missing Lynx‘Pastoralists care for the Earth, provide a flood of protein resources, and maintain cultures of enormous depth. All of this is stunningly clear from the story of the Raika camel herders of Rajasthan, told by one of their closest allies and most thoughtful observers. This wonderfully documented book shows that herding is a twenty-first-century technology for sustainability.’ Paul Robbins, dean, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison‘All of us who are concerned and worried about pastoralists and traditional livestock herders and their role in our world simply have to read this book by Ilse Köhler-Rollefson – and soon. Those of us who are unconcerned or unaware of how intertwined our world is with theirs, simply have to read this book – even sooner.’ P. Sainath, author of Everybody Loves a Good Drought‘For centuries, the Raika communities have lived in harmony with nature, in the course of which they have developed some of India’s most vibrant oral and folk traditions. Ilse Köhler-Rollefson’s work to revive the Raika community’s traditions and document the “Raika way of life” is an important contribution to India’s civilisational message to the world. Having worked with the Raika community for many decades, I believe their worldview, traditions and way of regenerative and sustainable livestock rearing show the world an important way forward in dealing with many challenges that we face today, especially in the area of climate change.’ William Nanda Bissell, executive vice chairman, Fabindia Limited ‘“We women pastoralists want our children, and our children’s children, to have the tools and the opportunities they need to adapt to the realities of the modern world while retaining their traditional cultural legacies and lifestyles”, the women pastoralists declared during the Global Gathering of Women Pastoralist held in Meera, Gujarat in 2010. In her book, Ilse vividly testimonies the energy of this unique gathering that voiced women pastoralists and their vision for the future generations for youth to have a double curriculum – their traditional rich heritage and modern tools. It is the seventh-generation principle of Indigenous peoples that for millennia has promoted true sustainability, of which the women are the custodians.’ Antonella Cordone, senior technical specialist, Nutrition and Social Inclusion, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)'I took away a deeper understanding of how the knowledge of both herding and grazing is in such great peril . . . Hoofprints made me appreciate even more deeply the incredible knowledge of those managing working lands and what vital work this is.' Holistic Management International

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Book SynopsisOur planet, the Earth, is under threat, with potentially catastrophic consequences for ourselves and the other lifeforms it sustains. Yet Nature itself can still rescue us - with plants playing a pivotal role, in the countryside - and everywhere. In gardens and parks, plants are the mainstay of our relationship with the natural world, and we celebrate them for the pleasures they bring. However, that can be part of the problem: too often we value plants for their aesthetic qualities rather than the vital role they play in the ecology of the Earth. In Gardening in a Changing World Darryl Moore explores how gardens can be better for human beings and for all the other lifeforms that inhabit them. Recent developments in horticulture and plant science show us that we need to rethink our attitude to plants beyond purely aesthetic concerns, and to adopt more holistic approaches to how we design, inhabit and enjoy our gardens. He looks at the history of garden design, to show how we got to where we are today, and recommends ways of changing to new principles of sustainable ecological horticulture. This challenging and important new book will be essential reading for professionals and students of horticulture and garden and landscape design, as well as for anyone interested in making gardens part of the solution to the future of life on Earth.Trade Review‘The most illuminating book on this very important subject.’ -- Cleve West, multi-award-winning garden designer and popular author of books including Our Plot and The Garden of Vegan"I can't recommend this new book enough...a comprehensive and deeply researched account of humans' relationship with plants. The depth of the book is quite extraordinary. It's not a glossy image-led garden book, it's a serious text. And it is a fantastic and up-to-date overview of current trends and approaches in planting design." -- Nigel Dunnett, academic, plantsman, Olympic Park planting designer, author'This book not only acknowledges some of our greatest plantspeople, but ensures that we must always remember plants are front and centre stage on Earth . . . always!' -- Arit Anderson, garden designer, presenter Gardeners' World"The book every gardener needs." -- Claire Masset * Author, Secret Gardens of the National Trust, via Twitter *"Darryl Moore has been revolutionising how we grow in cities for the past decade and picked up a medal for his city-friendly design at RHS Chelsea this year. Here he galvanises readers to make meaningful change - whether in their gardens or beyond." * Sunday Times Best Gardening Books Autumn 2022 *"If there were a prize for most timely publication of the year, this would be a contender...This must-read book is expertly divided into neat, digestible sections that are jam-packed with fascinating and vital information." * Gardens Illustrated Books of the Year *"The premise of this book is simple. To avert further climate crisis and biodiversity loss, we need to rethink our relationship with plants. Gardening in a Changing World covers many complex topics, but it does so in short, digestible chapters and a lucid style...It will alter the way you garden." * Garden Design Journal *"The book forms a new intellectualism towards the use of plants. Moore's book cites more than 300 sources showing how recent developments in horticulture and plant science show how gardens can be better for humans and other lifeforms." -- Matthew Appleby * Horticulture Week *"Darryl Moore explores how our humble gardens could be key to saving us all from the climate crisis. He turns our enjoyment of plants on its head, showing how their vital importance to the future of the planet is even more beautiful than their aesthetic appeal. The book also draws on recent scientific research to offer guidance into changing our gardening habits and rethinking the design and use of our outside spaces for sustainable, future-proof gardens." * Evening Standard *"Hugely informative" * Amateur Gardening *"Gardening in a Changing World sets a new high-water mark in our individual and collective understanding and appreciation of the art and science of ecological planting design. A book for any ecologically-minded gardener or design professional looking to seriously sharpen and elevate their knowledge, awareness, and skill levels." * The New Perennialist *"A fascinating exploration of how gardens can be better for human beings, with reference to recent plant science that demonstrates the need to have a new attitude to plants beyond aesthetics. This book provides an introduction to taking a holistic approach when designing, inhabiting and enjoying our gardens." -- The Garden (RHS)Table of Contents Preface Introduction - A Changing World: Life in the Anthropocene; the climate and extinction crises 1. Plants as Producers: In Praise of Plants; Plants and a Changing Planet 2. Plants as Panacea: The Unseen Green- Plant Blindness; Health and Well-being; The Nature Disconnect; Managing the Environment; Ecosystem Services; Environmental Practice; Novel Ecosystems; Urban Ecology; Garden Ecology; Cleaning up the Garden 3. Plants as Pictures - Historical Planting Styles: Growing the Idea of the Garden; The Colourists (Gertrude Jekyll, the Garden Club of America, Lawrence Johnston, Vita Sackville-West, Margery Fish, Rosemary Verey, Penelope Hobhouse, etc.); Planting Through the Lens of Modernism (Garrett Eckbo, Thomas Church, Roberto Burle Marx, John Brookes, etc); The Zenith of Pictorial. Planting and the Path to Biodiversity (Christopher Lloyd and Fergus Garrett at Great Dixter); Right Plant, Right Place (Beth Chatto) 4. Plants as Processes - The ecological alternative: Ecological Planting; Plant Communities; The Competitive Edge and Beyond; Ecological Developments in the United States; Growing Wild in the Netherlands; Ecological Developments in Germany; New Directions in Britain; France: All Change 5. Plant as Possibilities: Ecotypes; The Rhizosphere; Mutualisms; Microbiomes; Biocenology; Plant Intelligence (Thinking Like a Plant) 6. Plants as Partners Traditional Ecological Knowledge; The Law of the Land; A Plantcentric Perspective Notes, Resources, Index, Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisHow does Nature work? When one looks closely at the enormously complex web of life, it is impossible not to be caught by the wonder of how all living things - including rocks and crystals - are interconnected. Just as there is thought behind action, so there is energy behind matter. Schauberger is able to demonstrate how Nature works because he has been able to observe and describe how its energies manifest and produce the material world.

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Book SynopsisFind out why oceans are important, how they're under threat and what we can do to protect them. With bright, bold illustrations and simple text, Eco Baby: Oceans is perfect for little ones... because we're never too young to start caring about the planet.Eco Baby is a series of bright, bold board books introducing the very youngest of children to environmental issues.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for The Curse of Oak Island: “Sullivan writes with open-minded balance, rendering the Oak Island story into a weirdly fascinating mystery.” —Booklist “The Curse of Oak Island is a definitive read for fans of the History Channel television show. Sullivan delves deeper into the history, personalities, and theories presented only briefly on the show. His approach is mostly unbiased, though he does tell the reader his thoughts on some of the theories and the theorists that he thoroughly researches and debunks. The book is incredibly well researched and the presentation . . . is very readable. If you’ve watched The Curse of Oak Island and were frustrated that snippets and possibilities were left tantalizingly unexplored, this is the book for you.” —Heather Cover, Homewood Library (Birmingham, Alabama) “Sullivan isn’t writing about Oak Island the TV show; his subject is Oak Island the place, largely as seen and imagined by the show’s viewers. So, if you’ve ever been more entranced by the show’s long trips into history and theoretical island encounters across history, Sullivan’s book probably needs to be on your Christmas list.” —Starcasm Praise for Randall Sullivan: “Compelling . . . No single source presents so complete or damning a record as LAbyrinth.” —Entertainment Weekly on LAbyrinth “As a forceful author, Sullivan does a masterly job of juggling the dense thicket of facts and navigating the crowded chronology of the case.” —Salon.com on LAbryinth “Sullivan’s reportage is extraordinary, his narrative enthralling.” —Rolling Stone on The Price of Experience “Sullivan’s riveting tale is amazingly detailed and artfully presented. . . You can hardly turn the page fast enough . . . Contiporary history, brilliantly written.” —Playboy on The Price of Experience “[An] engrossing, damning tale . . . Exhaustively researched, the book methodically weaves a disturbing story of corruption, intimidation, and murder.” —Boston Globe on LAbyrinth “Worthy of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sullivan captures the essence of the world in which Hunt and the BBC operated.” —Chicago Tribune on The Price of Experience “A stunning mix of the personal and the historic, interviews and experiences, with Sullivan incredibly nimble at making the worlds overlap.” —Booklist (starred review) on The Miracle Detective “Well-told and expertly researched.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Miracle Detective

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Book SynopsisFrom brilliant young polymath Andrew Rader – an MIT-credentialled scientist, popular podcast host and SpaceX mission manager – an illuminating chronicle of exploration that spotlights humans’ insatiable desire to continually push into new and uncharted territory, from civilisation’s earliest days to current planning for interstellar travel. For the first time in history, the human species has the technology to destroy itself. But having developed that power, humans are also able to leave Earth and voyage into the vastness of space. After millions of years of evolution, we’ve arrived at the point where we can settle other worlds and begin the process of becoming multi-planetary. How did we get here? What does the future hold for us? Divided into four accessible sections, Beyond the Known examines major periods of discovery and rediscovery, from Classical Times, when Phoenicia

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Book SynopsisThroughout the ages, people have experienced the life-giving and healing forces in water. Water is integral to life, and surrounds us in nature and in our own bodies. But not all water is the same. Water can carry good energies, and bad energies. How can we understand water enough to know the difference?Theodor Schwenk, the renowned author of Sensitive Chaos, founded an institute for water research in the Black Forest in Germany. He developed the Drop Picture Method, which displays the characteristics of water clearly for the non-specialist. Today, the Institute continues his work and here presents momentous findings about the quality of our drinking water, groundwater, spring water and river water.Stunningly illustrated in colour, this book offers a unique insight into the world of water.Trade Review'Many of the photographs are beautiful...any book which brings a greater public awareness of the questions surrounding water and our relationship with it is to be welcomed.'--Robert Schuck, Light magazine, Winter 2006'This book makes a wonderful present! It presents in a clear way the nature of water and revealed out of the work of Theodor Schwenk. It is simply and richly laid out with colour, black and white photos and drawings of water phenomena. For me, the piece de resistance of the book are the wonderfully photographed images of time sequences stages of water dropping into still water.'-- Richard Swann, Star and Furrow, Winter 2005'A clear description of the drop picture method ... the book is beautifully illustrated throughout with fine photographs of water and studies of drop formations. It serves as a very valuable introduction to water's properties. For anyone who wants to understand water's life and formative power and something of its mysterious nature, the book is an excellent beginning.'-- Margaret Jonas, New View, December 2005'This book puts water and its patterns in perspective, concluding that we must understand the true nature of water as part of an effort to comprehend the cyclical workings of nature. In an age dominated by linear thinking and manipulation of nature, the significance of this lesson cannot be overstressed. This beautifully illustrated book will engage the reader both scientifically and aesthetically.'-- Scientific & Medical Network Review, December 2005Table of ContentsForeword 7Introduction 91. Water in Different Realms 112. Water Phenomena 253. The Drop Picture Method 454. Research Results Using the Drop Picture Method 635. Basic Research: Drop Phenomena 80Conclusion 93Appendix: The Institute of Flow Sciences, Herrischried 95Glossary 101Photograph acknowledgments 103References 103Bibliography 104Index 107

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Book SynopsisWe all need to understand the story behind our food. This is the strongest and most articulate case for understanding the central importance of grazing livestock in sustainable food systems that I’ve read. Patrick Holden, founder and chief executive, Sustainable Food Trust With more public awareness of the connection between health and diet, food, climate and farming, Defending Beef – a modern classic on sustainable food culture – has never been more timely. As the meat industry – from small-scale ranchers and butchers to sprawling slaughterhouse operators – respond to climate threats, a pandemic and the rise of plant-based and lab-produced meats, environmental lawyer turned cattle farmer Nicolette Hahn Niman delivers a passionate argument for responsible grassfed, meat production and consumption in this updated and expanded new edition of her bestselling Defending Beef. Hahn Niman dispels popular myths about how eating beef is bad for our bodies and the planet. The impact of grazing can be either negative or positive, depending on how livestock are managed. In fact, with proper oversight, livestock can play an essential role in maintaining grassland ecosystems by performing the same functions as the natural herbivores that once roamed and grazed there.Grounded in empirical scientific data and citing examples of regenerative agriculture from around the world, she illustrates how cattle can help build carbon-sequestering soils to mitigate climate change, enhance biodiversity, prevent desertification and provide essential nutrition.Trade Review“Defending Beef is a no-nonsense, scientific yet holistic look at the important role well-raised meat has in our food system and in ecosystem function. Nicolette Hahn Niman intelligently busts the common misperceptions about cattle and explains how, when managed properly, they can have a positive impact on the environment.”—Diana Rodgers, registered dietitian, filmmaker and coauthor of Sacred Cow: The Case for (Better) Meat“With all the rhetoric we are hearing today about how cows are destroying the planet, it is enlightening to hear the truth. Nicolette Hahn Niman delves deep into the science and sets the record straight: ‘It’s not the cow, it’s the how’! Now, consumers can enjoy the health benefits of nutrient-dense beef while healing our ecosystems! A must-read for consumers, ranchers, and policymakers.”—Gabe Brown, regenerative rancher and author of Dirt to Soil“The original edition of Defending Beef offered a compendium of everything a person should know about the role of beef cattle on the landscape and in our diets. This brand-new edition is more like a meta-analysis, chock-full of references, that dismantles almost every argument made against the ecological and nutritional importance of beef. While Nicolette Hahn Niman decries the industrial beef model, she makes a clear and compelling case why well-managed cattle grazing is a critical tool for capturing carbon and turning nonedible plant material into protein, as well as for supporting regenerative farming methods. This book should be on the shelf of anyone who cares about our climate and food system.”—Rebecca Thistlethwaite, coauthor of The New Livestock Farmer“In this exhaustive and well-documented treatise, Nicolette Hahn Niman manages to be both informative and engaging from cover to cover. I especially appreciate the long myth-busting section that debunks many oft-cited anti-beef studies. This is the perfect book to have at your fingertips when you’re in a dispute with someone who thinks meatless lab burgers are a great way to go.”—Ridge Shinn, founding CEO, Big Picture Beef“In this remarkable book, Nicolette Hahn Niman proves herself to be a true environmentalist—one who is willing to dig deeply, challenge orthodoxies, and get to the truth. You should read Defending Beef not only for the compelling case she makes for sustainable meat production, but also as an example of critical thinking at its finest.”—Bo Burlingham, editor-at-large of Inc. magazine and author of Small Giants and Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top“I have traveled to every state in the U.S. during both summer and winter and have seen the land in extensive rural areas. There are huge land areas in this country that cannot be used for crops. The only way to grow food on these lands is by grazing animals. Grazing done properly will improve the land. Defending Beef shows clearly that beef cattle are an important part of sustainable agriculture.”—Temple Grandin, author of Animals Make Us Human and professor of animal science, Colorado State University“Anyone hesitating to eat beef due to environmental or nutritional concerns needs to learn the other side of the story. Defending Beef is both scientifically accurate and highly readable. Kudos to Nicolette Hahn Niman for successfully engaging in one of the biggest environmental tensions of our day.”—Joel Salatin, farmer and author“Creating healthful, delicious food in ecological balance is among humanity’s greatest challenges. In this insightful book, Nicolette Hahn Niman shows why cattle on grass are an essential element. Every chef in America should read this book.”—Alice Waters, founder/owner, Chez Panisse, and author of We Are What We Eat“Anyone who doubts that beef can be part of a sustainable food system and healthy diet should read this book. Defending Beef proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that we can feel good about eating beef that’s raised the right way.”—Steve Ells, founder and CEO, Chipotle Mexican Grill“Nicolette Hahn Niman just became beef’s most articulate advocate. In Defending Beef, she pivots gracefully between the personal and the scientific, the impassioned and the evenhanded. It’s a deeply compelling and delicious vision for the future of food.”—Dan Barber, author of The Third Plate“Defending Beef is a brave, clear-headed, and necessary addition to the discussion about sustainable food systems. Using hard data and solid scientific research, Nicolette Hahn Niman, a lawyer turned rancher, presents a convincing case that everything we thought we knew about the environmental and human health damage caused by beef is just plain wrong.”—Barry Estabrook, author of Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit“The prosecution will never rest after the case presented here by this unusually well-armed defense lawyer. Exactly how much and in what ways cattle benefit our world—whether or not we eat beef—have never been more thoroughly explained. Cattle are lucky to have such a remarkable rancher gal come to their aid on our behalf.”—Betty Fussell, author of Raising Steaks: The Life and Times of American Beef“Nicolette Hahn Niman’s Defending Beef is as timely as it is necessary. With patience and passion she separates truth from fiction in the emotional debate about the role of beef in our lives and the effect of its production on our planet. Far from being a bogeyman of climate change and other environmental concerns, she argues, cattle, when properly managed, can play an important role in local food systems, land health, and carbon sequestration. The key is treating cattle as an ally, not an enemy, and exploring opportunities instead of simply pointing fingers. In this exploration, Defending Beef leads the way!”—Courtney White, founder, Quivira Coalition, and author of Grass, Soil, Hope“In our collective confusion and desperation about the environment, many zero in on cattle as an unlikely culprit for everything from water pollution to climate change. In Defending Beef, author, rancher, and environmental lawyer Nicolette Hahn Niman takes a nuanced look at the impact of livestock on land, water, the atmosphere, and human health. With clarity and eloquence, she puts research in context and shows that the raising of cattle can be destructive or restorative, depending on how the animals are managed. Cattle—and common sense—have found their champion.”—Judith D. Schwartz, author of Cows Save the Planet“Issues related to the long-term health effects of red meat, saturated fat, sugar, and grains are complex and I see the jury as still out on many of them. While waiting for the science to be resolved, Hahn Niman’s book is well worth reading for its forceful defense of the role of ruminant animals in sustainable food systems.”—Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University and author of What to Eat“I hope this book, which is more about the future of humanity, will be read by every citizen—not just those who feel the need to defend their meat-eating preferences. Biologist, environmental lawyer, and mother Nicolette Hahn Niman has provided a balanced report on the effects of cattle production on our environment, health, and climate change. Openly accepting the damage done by modern-day cattle production—on the land and in factory feedlots—she effectively argues that cattle themselves are not the problem; it is the way they are being managed that is endangering our health, environment, and economy. We can do something about that, and we must for the sake of our children and grandchildren. Key to our success will be an informed citizenry—for whom this book will be an invaluable tool.”—Allan Savory, founder and president, the Savory Institute“Defending Beef is an important book. Nicolette Hahn Niman had me at the chapter ‘All Food Is Grass,’ where she unpacks the complex clash of views over animal rights, ecology, and the legacy of human impact upon bioregions. The more I read, the more I came to value the passion and insight of someone who (like me) does not herself consume meat but recognizes that it rests at the center of what’s troubling with our food system and how we might set it right. "At Slow Food, we believe that better, less meat should become a rallying cry for a shift in our relationship to animals and each other. Scale, biodiversity, and rural economies get ample attention in this comprehensive yet easy-to-digest manifesto. If we ever hope to challenge the prevailing culture of confinement that defines the industrial meat system today, then we need to make this book required reading for butchers, bakers, and policymakers.”—Richard McCarthy, executive director emeritus, Slow Food USA “Defending Beef clearly and unequivocally connects the dots for us on how vitally important raising pastured beef is to humanity. From increasing the glomalin in soil that helps create healthy grass, to sequestering carbon, battling desertification, enhancing the water supply, mitigating climate change, and promoting biodiversity, Nicolette Hahn Niman carefully draws a constellation for understanding just how our food production systems affect people, culture, and our ecosystem—for good or ill. The case is airtight and the jury is in: Cattle on pasture are an integral part of the solution.”—Mary R. Cleaver, former owner/executive chef, The Cleaver Company and The Green Table“A breakthrough book that reclaims our relationship with farm animals and nutritious food. Comprehensive and insightful, Defending Beef delivers a compelling description of a food system that works with nature and wildlife, supports humane animal husbandry, and builds strong local economies. With a keen mind and passionate love of life, Nicolette Hahn Niman provides an insightful solution to feeding our growing world population and shows us a way of life that is both beautiful and sustaining.”—Judy Wicks, founder of White Dog Café and the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies and author of Good Morning, Beautiful Business“It is so important that we free our minds of conventional beef wisdom and open up to the solution set that uses nature’s wisdom as well as the smart agricultural practices of the future. In Defending Beef, Nicolette Hahn Niman gives us an exacting and compelling defense of land management that solves for environmental resiliency, human health, climate change mitigation, and prosperity. How could we not listen?”—Kat Taylor, CEO and cofounder, Beneficial State Bank; cofounder and director, Tomkat Ranch Educational Foundation“As a chef, I am concerned with not just the flavor of my ingredients, but also their ecological, economic, social, biodiversity, and health implications. In Defending Beef, Nicolette Hahn Niman delves deeply into the many impacts of beef production. Through both scholarly research and her own personal journey, she shows how, again and again, the ‘conventional wisdom’ has missed the mark, while making an extremely convincing case for well-raised cattle having a necessary place in our global agriculture system and on our plates. Simply put, this book doesn’t just make me a better chef, but also a better person."—Michael Leviton, food activist and former chair, Chefs Collaborative“Nicolette Hahn Niman, a lawyer, long-time vegetarian, and cattle rancher, serves up a well-argued defense of an American icon: the hamburger. Passionate and persuasive, Hahn Niman delivers a tough-minded critique of industrial animal operations along with an eloquent case on behalf of pasture-raised beef. The good news? It's safe to eat steak again—so long as you know where it comes from.”—Marc Gunther, editor-at-large, Guardian Sustainable Business US

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Book SynopsisExplains how the poor find solutions to their everyday financial problems by conducting year-long interviews with impoverished villagers and slum dwellers in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa - records that track penny by penny how specific households manage their money.Trade Review"A fascinating discussion of the finances of the world's poor."--Nicholas Kristof, NYTimes.com "Ten years ago, the authors of this unusual study began collecting detailed yearlong 'financial diaries' from households in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa... The diarists did things that might seem irrational--borrowing in order to save; paying interest on savings--but that made sense given their unpredictable incomes and limited options. While the authors do offer prescriptions for how to expand those options, it's their scrupulous attention to actual behavior that makes this book invaluable."--New Yorker "The book's methodology and conclusions are fascinating."--Publishers Weekly "The authors of Portfolios of the Poor found that a 'triple whammy' characterizes the financial lives of the poor. Incomes are not only low; they are also irregular and unpredictable... The authors' account suggests much that can be done to ease the financial conditions of poor people."--Anirudh Krishna, Science "A refreshingly distinct path. Portfolios of the Poor ... avoid[s] the big picture and zoom[s] in on the basics of daily poverty, exploring how poor families manage their money... The diaries reveal a 'real, ongoing, and substantial demand' for better financial services, which poor families need to provide better health care and schooling for their children... Rather than waiting for the world to debate and accept their ideas, these authors have taken them up on their own. In the war against global poverty, that feels like one small battle won."--Carlos Lozada, Washington Post "The research provides evidence of the sophistication with which poor people think about their finances."--The Economist "I recommend this book to anyone who has interest in improving the lives of the poor."--Melinda Gates, Co-chair, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Huffington Post "This is a very interesting book, which examines the quite sophisticated financial system developed by poor households to adjust their spending relative to their income."--Choice "A masterly assessment of the financial needs of people on very low incomes ... stuffed full of interesting and surprising insights, and should be read by anyone concerned with economic development and poverty reduction. I can't praise it highly enough. This is a model of the careful collection of evidence with important practical consequences."--Diane Coyle, The Enlightened Economist "A good overview of how the world's poor intersect with financial institutions at the micro level."--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "This book is a major contribution to the understanding of the situation of the poor in developing countries and should be a 'must reading' for both academics and policymakers concerned with ways of improving developmental policies."--Werner Baer, Enterprise and Society "[A] fascinating and humanizing insight into the economic lives of the global poor, and a valuable resource for attempting to improve those lives."--Ethics & International Affairs "The book is written in a non-technical style accessible to the lay reader... [I]t makes a compelling case about the desperation of poverty, as well as the ingenuity of the people who live under conditions of poverty."--Sajeda Amin, Population and Development Review "Portfolios of the Poor should be read by anyone interested in microfinance, but also who interested in poverty more generally and in how the poor manage their day-to-day lives."--Isabelle Guerin, Enterprise, Development and Microfinance "[T]his is a great book. It remains an excellent survey of the poors' realities, certainly a 'must-have' for all researchers interested in the financial practices of the poor and microfinance."--Marek Hudon, Development and Change "[T]he book is enlightening, methodologically credible and accessible; it is recommended."--Roger MacGinty, Round Table "[W]e learn much about how the poor manage whatever little money they have. On that ground alone I highly recommend the book."--Rolf A.E. Muller, Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture "As Collins, Morduch, Rutherford, and Ruthven summarize their argument, 'Not having enough money is bad enough. Not being able to manage whatever money you have is worse.' Their book is a detailed effort to understand how poor people manage--and, frequently, mismanage--the meager resources at their disposal. They draw on more than 250 financial diaries collected in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa that tracked how money was earned and spent, along with interviews with the diarists. The result is a unique window onto what poverty means for these households."--Timothy Besley, Foreign Affairs "The authors of Portfolios of the Poor ... make a convincing case both for the importance of finance in the lives of the extremely poor and for there being room to improve the provision of financial services to them."--Danny Reviews "One of my favourite books. It gathers new evidence about the financial services people on very low incomes need--and the answers are sometimes surprising. Should be read by anyone with views on microcredit and/or payday loans."--Enlightened Economist "A terrific book."--Diane Coyle, Enlightened EconomistTable of ContentsList of Tables vii List of Figures ix Chapter One: The Portfolios of the Poor 1 Chapter Two: The Daily Grind 28 Chapter Three: Dealing with Risk 65 Chapter Four: Building Blocks: Creating Usefully Large Sums 95 Chapter Five: The Price of Money 132 Chapter Six: Rethinking Microfinance: The Grameen II Diaries 154 Chapter Seven: Better Portfolios 174 Appendix 1: The Story behind the Portfolios 185 Appendix 2: A Selection of Portfolios 211 Acknowledgments 243 Notes 247 Bibliography 265 Index 273

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Book SynopsisJohn King Fairbank was the West's doyen on China, and this book is the full and final expression of his lifelong engagement with this vast ancient civilization. The distinguished historian Merle Goldman brings the book up to date and provides an epilogue discussing the changes in contemporary China that will shape the nation in the years to come.Trade ReviewManages to tell its sprawling, turbulent, 4,000-year story in a single volume without either losing clarity or oversimplifying its subject...Rich and fascinating. -- Arnold R. Isaacs * San Francisco Chronicle *Will serve for decades to come as a standard reference and textbook. -- Robert L. Worden * Washington Post Book World *

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Book SynopsisArtivism, is becoming a common way of denouncing conflicts, of being a megaphone of the unfairness, demanding more public space or pushing political agendas; in short, to highlight what does not work well. Artivists use art as a weapon of public and social exigency charged with particular doses of shrewdness, inventiveness, imagination, sense of humour and, above all, social impact, either throughout impressive pieces or the most subtle and invisible actions. Navigating through the curiosity, emotion and concern of the new artivists; We walk the paths of a creativity committed to reflection, criticism and the eternal pursuit of social justice.

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Book SynopsisFreedom Climbers is the multi award-winning book by Bernadette McDonald, now available in the UK and Ireland thanks to Vertebrate Publishing. Freedom Climbers tells the story of the extraordinary Polish adventurers who emerged from under the blanket of oppression following the Second World War to become the world's leading Himalayan climbers. Although they lived in a war-ravaged landscape, with seemingly no hope of creating a meaningful life, these curious, motivated and skilled mountaineers built their own free-market economy under the very noses of their Communist bosses and climbed their way to liberation. At a time when Polish citizens were locked behind the Iron Curtain, these intrepid explorers found a way to travel the world in search of extreme adventure - to Alaska, South America and Europe, but mostly to the highest and most inspiring mountains of the world. To this end, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Nepal became their second homes as they evolved into the toughest Himalayan climbers the world has ever known. In her most engaging book to date, renowned and award-winning author Bernadette McDonald weaves a passionate and literary tale of adventure, politics, suffering, death and - ultimately - inspiration.Trade ReviewOne of the most important mountaineering books to be written for many years. – Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain LiteratureClimbers everywhere have much to l learn from this bold, tragic, ultimately magnificent story. – Grand Prize Winner, Banff Mountain Book FestivalA brilliantly crafted tale of mountain and political adventure that reveals a golden era in Himalayan climbing that was as glorious as it was tragic. – Sir Chris BoningtonThis important volume documents a defining chapter of Himalayan climbing history. – Reinhold MessnerPainstakingly researched and well crafted, this remarkable book acknowledges the significance of Polish mountaineers during the golden age of Himalayan exploration. Fascinating. – Andy Cave, author of Learning to BreatheMcDonald deserves special praise for bringing to light the stories of these remarkable men and women, and doing so in a manner that does honour to their memory. – Wade Davis, author of Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of EverestA gripping read, bound to become a classic of mountain literature. – Maria Coffey, author of Explorers of the InfiniteTakes the reader from deep within Communist-controlled Poland and into the lonely, dramatic landscapes of the world's most formidable mountain ranges. – Jim Curran, author of High Achiever: The Life and Climbs of Chris BoningtonFreedom Climbers is a very enlightening and captivating look at the Polish climbing superstars. – Ed Viesturs, author of No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks

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Book SynopsisFor 150 million years, the skies didn't belong to birds--they belonged to the pterosaurs. These flying reptiles, which include the pterodactyls, shared the world with the nonavian dinosaurs until their extinction 65 million years ago. Some pterosaurs, such as the giant azhdarchids, were the largest flying animals of all time, with wingspans exceediTrade Review"A comprehensive introduction... Witton manages to make this an attractive book for the layperson and bring these flying fossils to life."--Natural History "Witton's new tribute to pterosaurs gives these fantastic fossil creatures a much-needed makeover in two crucial ways. Not only does the book bring the science of pterosaurs up to date--at long last following-up other classics such as David Unwin's The Pterosaurs and Peter Wellenhofer's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs--but Witton is a highly-skilled and imaginative artist who ably reconstructs the bones of the animals and brings them back to life in startling poses. Witton's pterosaurs are fantastical creatures deserving their own time in the spotlight... Witton's combination of style and substance makes Pterosaurs a true treasure and an absolute must for anyone curious about the extinct flyers."--Brian Switek, National Geographic.com "This really is the ultimate guide to pterosaurs, providing us with a richer view of pterosaur diversity and behaviour than allowed in the two previous great volumes on the group (Wellnhofer 1991, Unwin 2005) and containing a substantial amount of review and analysis of pterosaur ecology and functional morphology."--Darren Naish, Scientific American "A solid review of the whole of the Pterosauria that'll be genuinely useful for researchers for many years. I'm sure I'll be typing 'Witton, (2013) stated ...' quite a lot in the future and that, if anything, should be a good measure of how I rate this as a scientific text. Now go buy a copy and read it, it really is very good."--Dave Hone, Pterosaur.Net "[Witton] presents the uncertainties of science but never shies away from making his opinion clear. [He] respects the complexities [of scientific writing] without allowing them to clump up the text... I can wholeheartedly recommend the book already."--David Mass, DRIP "Pterosaurs would make an excellent addition to any reference collection and especially that of an advanced (adult or young adult) lay-reader."--Greg Leitich Smith, GSL Blog "I can tell you that it is not only a fascinating bit of text, its illustrations will leave you gaping in awestruck amazement."--John E. Riutta, Well-read Naturalist "[Witton] combines his deep knowledge of the subject as a palaeontologist at the University of Portsmouth (U.K.) with his skills as an artist, and he has a flair for informal but accurate writing. His 292-page book is the most comprehensive and authoritative book to come along since Peter Wellnhofer's classic Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs back in 1991."--James Gurney, artist and author of the Dinotopia book series "The joy of Pterosaurs is how it brings long extinct animals to life."--Jeff Hecht, New Scientist "Learn all about flying reptiles in this artfully illustrated overview of pterosaur research."--Science News "Highly recommended."--EverythingDinosaur.com "Once dragons flew through Mesozoic skies! They were pterosaurs, and Witton offers a rich and extensive account of what science knows about these extinct creatures... For those who want an introduction to flying reptiles or the craft of scientific research, this title is a great choice."--Eileen H. Kramer, Library Journal "Beautifully laid out, clearly written, loaded with handsome illustrations, Witton's book invites you to dip in for delicious tidbits or hunker down for the equivalent of a superb lecture series."--Wilson's Bookmarks, Christianity Today "This is a book of impeccable scholarship, but it is also very readable for the non-scholar and amateur pterosaurophile... A wonderful book!"--Rabbi Dr Charles H Middleburgh, Middleburgh Blog "Though the writing style clearly targets the book to nonexperts, it does not dilute its realized value for professional paleontologists or teachers of paleontology. This is a very skillful presentation: a brief introductory paragraph or two leads quickly into an advanced discussion. The illustrations are excellent, including nice reconstructions by the author and very high-quality photographic reproductions of original key fossils. Overall, this is a very well-done book that belongs in any library with a vertebrate paleontology collection."--Choice "Although the text is mostly technical, directed at an informed audience, it is written with a humorous slant. Everyone will get something out of reading this book... This is a fantastic book!"--Randy Lauff, Canadian Field Naturalist "Witton's Pterosaurs is a remarkable visual feast, packed full of novel art as well as excellent photographs that the author clearly worked hard to obtain. There are, in fact, illustrations of some sort on virtually every single page--you will never get bored of looking at this book... If you like or are even vaguely interested in pterosaurs, you really need this book."--Darren Naish, Historical BiologyTable of Contentsix Preface xi Acknowledgments 1.Leathery-Winged Harpies 1 2.Understanding the Flying Reptiles 4 3.Pterosaur Beginnings 12 4.The Pterosaur Skeleton 23 5.Soft Bits 39 6.Flying Reptiles 56 7.Down from the Skies 64 8.The Private Lives of Pterosaurs 74 9.The Diversity of Pterosaurs 90 10.Early Pterosaurs and Dimorphodontidae 95 11.Anurognathidae 104 12."Campylognathoidids" 113 13.Rhamphorhynchidae 123 14.Wukongopteridae 135 15.Istiodactylidae 143 16.Ornithocheiridae 152 17.Boreopteridae 164 18.Pteranodontia 170 19.Ctenochasmatoidea 183 20.Dsungaripteroidea 201 21.Lonchodectidae 211 22.Tapejaridae 216 23.Chaoyangopteridae 228 24.Thalassodromidae 234 25.Azhdarchidae 244 26.The Rise and Fall of the Pterosaur Empire 259 References 265 Index 283

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Book SynopsisHighlights the larger meaning of what is happening to the author's subjects with an imagery that testifies to the fundamental dignity of all humanity while simultaneously protesting its violation by war, poverty, and other injustices.Trade Review"While art should speak for itself, Salgado's photography is first and foremost a documentary way of bearing witness to something else. His work is both an anguished cri de coeur and, although he professes not to be religions, something of a votive offering presented in the hopes of getting the attention of a world that sometimes seems to have fallen asleep." - Orville Schell, from the Foreword"Table of ContentsForeword Sahel: Man in Distress / Orville Schell Introduction Twenty Years Ago, and Later / Fred Ritchin Photographs Captions Afterword Salgado / Eduardo Galeano Biographical Note Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisGeodesign, Urban Digital Twins, and Futures explores systems, processes, and novel technologies for planning, mapping, and designing our built environment. In a period of advancing urban infrastructure, technological autonomy in cities, and high-performance geographic systems, new capabilities, novel techniques, and streamlined procedures have emerged concurrently with climatic challenges, pandemics, and increasing global urbanisation. Chapters cover a range of topics such as urban digital twins, GeoBIM, geodesign and collaborative tools, immersive environments, gamification, and future methods. This book features over 100 international projects and workflows, five detailed case studies, and a companion website. In addition, this book examines geodesign as an agent for collaboration alongside futuring methods for imagining and understanding our future world.The companion website for this book can be accessed at http://geodesigndigitaltwins.com.

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Book SynopsisOn Thursday, July 13, 1995, Chicagoans awoke to a blistering day on which the temperature would eventually climb to 106 degrees. This book reveals how in coming decades the effects of climate change will intensify the social and environmental pressures in urban areas around the world.Trade Review"Klinenberg draws the lines of culpability in dozens of directions, drawing a dense and subtle portrait of exactly what happened." (Malcolm Gladwell) "Revelatory." (Chicago) "Should be required reading for all public officials." (Choice)

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Book SynopsisOn this blue planet, long before pterodactyls took to the skies and tyrannosaurs prowled the continents, tiny green organisms populated the ancient oceans. The author traces the history of these verdant organisms, which many would call plants, from their ancient beginnings to the diversity of green life that inhabits the Earth today.

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Book Synopsis"[T]he genius of Hanson's fascinating, inspiring, and entertaining book stems from the fact that it is not about how all kinds of things grow from seeds it is about the seeds themselves."-Mark Kurlansky, New York Times Book ReviewTrade Review"For the past fifty seven years I have relied on seeds for food and, throughout much of my horticultural career for earning a living. This new book has re excited my fascination for these wonderful living structures... [I]nformative, yet readable... [A] fascinating book." --Chris Allen, The Gardening Times (UK) "In The Triumph of Seeds, Thor Hanson offers the reader a smorgasbord of the science and lore of seeds... Hanson, following the recipe developed in his acclaimed book Feathers, breathes life into the sometimes dry topic of seed biology by weaving a colorful tapestry of stories that entertain as well as inform... The Triumph of Seeds is eminently readable. Hanson is a great story teller and writes in a conversational style, so reading the book is like having an extended conversation with an entertaining friend... The Triumph of Seeds is a thoroughly fun read, perfect for anyone wanting an introduction to seeds or for those who enjoy lively natural history." --Douglasia (Washington Native Plants Society journal) "Hanson's highly readable The Triumph of Seeds is replete with fascinating facts, including the development of caffeine in coffee beans." --Texas Gardener's Seeds "Thor Hanson has taken the history and science of these little marvels and drawn out a fascinating account of seed culture. We should not forget the importance of seeds in the liquor cabinet, as well. From rye whiskey, to wheat vodka, to barley beer, it would be a lot harder to get drunk without our friends in the grain world." --Home Wet Bar blog "[Hanson's] luck for finding then writing about the magic in something common continues with The Triumph of Seeds." --Seattle Times "Lest you get the impression that Hanson's book is all academic grit and gruel, be advised that he has thoroughly leavened his narrative with odd facts and fascinating digressions." --Natural History "This is a charming book, inspired by Hanson's forays into seed identification and dispersal with his young, seed-obsessed son... Hanson's twist of looking at human interactions with plants in their embryonic stage is new... The Triumph of Seeds will engender thoughtful consideration of our joint future." --Nature "Hanson's writing is lively, inquisitive, and knowledgeable. He draws on his own knowledge and that of a wide field of experts, writing a clear, comprehensible book that covers a wide range of topics." --Fangirl Nation "[Hanson is] jocular and entertaining in his dispensing of remarkable facts about these little vessels of life-to-be... From high-tech, high-security seed banks bracing for climate change to the story of the gum extracted from guar seeds that is used in everything from ice cream to fracking, this upbeat and mind-expanding celebration of the might of seeds is popular science writing at its finest." --Booklist, starred review "[A] delightful account of the origins, physiologies and human uses of a vast variety of objects that plants employ to make more plants... A fine addition to the single-issue science genre." --Kirkus Reviews "Hanson writes in that breezy, enthused, confident way of good American science writers, scattering stories and analogies like dandelion seed-puffs... [The Triumph of Seeds] is a good example of extrovert nature writing, weaving together biology, human history and 'juicy seed lore'." --British Wildlife (UK) "Who knew that seeds could be so thrilling and dangerous? Thor Hanson is a lively storyteller, a lyrical writer, and a quick wit. The Triumph of Seeds is more than an engrossing work of natural history. It's a compelling and highly entertaining journey, populated by scientists and historians, criminals and explorers, aviators and futurists. Following Hanson's global voyage is the best sort of armchair travel, because it is filled with wonder, poetry, and discovery." --Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks, a New York Times Bestseller "This beautifully written book is a magnificent read. Every page is full of surprises and illuminating insights, illustrating the fascinating evolution of seeds, and their extraordinary impact on humans, past and present. A master storyteller, Hanson has created a first-rate natural history. When you reach the end of this page-turner, you will wish there were more ... and you will never look at seeds in the same way." --Eric Jay Dolin, author of Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America and When America Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail "Written in an engaging style, the book flows nicely; each chapter leads into the next, so the book is hard to put down." --Choice "Hanson's cinematic accounts of his own research and his interactions with the experts behind his stories set this apart from other era-hopping historical narratives." --The American Gardener "Hanson does his job well. And in the end becomes one of my favorite kind of writers -- the kind who can take something so seemingly (and perhaps deceptively) simple and so oven overlooked and make it not only relevant, but fun... People who want to get students more interested in science would do well to read The Triumph of Seeds and take note: tell stories, combine science and technology with pop culture, art, and literature, have a sense of humor, be enthusiastic." --Catherine Ramsdell, Pop Matters "A beautifully written story of seeds. The author has a gift for explaining science in an engaging manner. Despite this lightness of touch, the book is deeply researched and explores a breadth of horticulture, history and ecology."--Garden News "[The Triumph of Seeds] successfully blends natural history, personal anecdotes, and 'proper' science and ties them all together seamlessly with lovely writing. Although often over-used, I think Seeds can be summed up appropriately in one word: Charming."--Nigel Chaffey, Annals of Biology blog "[A]n intriguing look at the acorns that grow into oaks, the orchid beans that flavor vanilla extract, and other ordinary seeds that affect the world, often in extraordinary ways... [The Triumph of Seeds] is a mix of lively stories, adventure, natural history, botany and ecology... Hanson's book isn't a 'how-to,' but it is a 'don't miss' for naturalists, from amateurs to experts, or for anyone who enjoys growing plants from seeds." --HGTVGardens.com "How do you summarize a book that traverses every continent, plumbs the depths of human and paleontological history and skims both the ocean waves and the dead silence of outer space? The Triumph of Seeds does just that, tracing the journey of seeds and making a case that he world as we know it is saturated with, and impossible without, seeds." --Deseret News "[A] delight. Composed in charming and lively prose, the book introduces readers to a variety of quirky figures -- biologists, farmers, archaeologists and everyday gardeners -- who have something profound to say about a seemingly mundane topic: those little kernels that, against tremendous odds, have managed to take root all around us... The Triumph of Seeds is a remarkable, gentle and refreshing piece of work that draws readers further into the wide arms of the world and makes them grateful for it." --BookPage "Conservation biologist Hanson's new book showcases an even more approachable style than his 2011 Feathers. Using a personalized viewpoint derived from his backyard lab and dissertation research in Costa Rica with the almendro tree, as well as visits with specialists worldwide, he describes how seeds nourish, unite, endure, defend, and travel." --Library Journal "[F]ast and fascinating prose... Hanson, who has also chronicled feathers and gorillas, is a conservation biologist and Guggenheim fellow, and an ace dot-connector: He can draw a line between all the grain panics and crises and the tiny, miraculous structure of the seeds themselves, because he dives deeply into botany, economy and history. Also, he's just plain fun." --Denver Post "[A] rip-roaring read." --Robert Krulwich, National Geographic's Curiously Krulwich blog "With light, engaging prose Hanson shows how the little spheroids we tip out of a packet are in fact supremely elegant genetic time capsules. The Triumph of Seeds takes you past the casing into the extraordinary inner workings of objects without which our landscapes, dinner plates, and gardens would be unrecognisable. You will never be able to look at an orange pip or a sunflower seed in the same way again." --New Scientist "[An] engaging book... What makes The Triumph of Seeds more than a routine pop botany book is the way Mr. Hanson teases out the resonances between the ways that plants and humans use seeds... [A] lively and intelligent book." --Richard Mabey, Wall Street Journal "[T]he genius of Hanson's fascinating, inspiring and entertaining book stems from the fact that it is not about how all kinds of things grow from seeds; it is about the seeds themselves. Hanson...takes one of the least-impressive-looking natural objects and reveals a life of elegance and wonder... Although he is a storyteller by nature, he also charms us with an infectious enthusiasm. The reader feels that Hanson cannot wait to tell us what comes next... Like all good writers, he understands narrative -- that a book, at its best, is a story, and that this one is built by spinning stories within stories. They are fun, sometimes they are funny, and they are always fascinating and readable... [An] engaging book." --Mark Kurlansky, New York Times Book Review "Hanson delivers botanical information with wit and imagination. How seeds nurture themselves with starch, proteins, and oils may be a prosaic affair, but Hanson enlivens the explanation of their diverse nourishment strategies by examining the components of an Almond Joy candy bar: coconut palm, cacao beans, almond, corn." --Orion "Hanson, a wide-ranging naturalist and writer, explores, chapter by chapter, the many faceted aspects of seeds... And throughout, he weaves his own tales from his gardening. I loved this book and learned a lot." --Carol Savonen, Statesman Journal PRAISE FOR THE HARDCOVER EDITION Winner of the 2016 PNBA Book Award A finalist for the 2016 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books, Young Adult Science Book category "This is the kind of accessible science writing that keeps readers engrossed, never realizing how much knowledge they're picking up along the way. Who knew that seeds could be so fascinating? Hanson's narrative voice and personal anecdotes make for easy and enjoyable reading--and learning." --Judges' citation, 2016 PNBA Book Award "San Juan Island conservation biologist Hanson explores the easily-overlooked but fascinating key to much of life on Earth, from coffee beans and the nut in Almond Joys to ancient grasses and sticky burdock seeds, which inspired Velcro" --Seattle Times, Best Books of 2015 "Combining personal anecdotes with rich historical examples, conservation biologist Thor Hanson delves into the origins and evolution of seeds, explains their unique ability to equip new plants with the nutrients they need to gain purchase in their respective ecosystems, and describes their host of formidable defenses. Drawing connections between, for example, coffee beans and the Enlightenment and wheat shortages and the Arab Spring, Hanson deftly shows how seeds have also played an important role in human history." --Science PRAISE FOR THE PAPERBACK EDITION "[Seeds'] ubiquity has often meant that their evolutionary solutions are overlooked, but the author appraises them with a keen and appreciative eye." --New York Times Book Review, Paperback Row "Biologist Thor Hanson sows the ultimate celebration of seeds and how they conquered the earth." --Nature "[The Triumph of Seeds] explores the importance of seeds, with scientific explanations, humorous first-person accounts and historical anecdotes." --Alaska Beyond "Hanson's style is that of a well-honed raconteur... For every point he makes, there's a tale (or two) that illustrates, and connects, and invites us explore the idea further. We begin to realize the amazing impact seeds have had on development of civilizations." --Connie Bennett, KLCC-FM (Eugene, OR) "A delightful work of natural history by San Juan Islands writer Hanson, about seeds, their role in nature's life cycle and in our lives." --Seattle Times "Imbued with open-eyed, childlike passion for his subject, conservation biologist Thor Hanson celebrates the triumph of seeds... Hanson is a genial and poetic guide, cleverly weaving together biology and culture." --Galapagos Matters (UK)Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Fierce Energy Seeds Nourish 1. Seed for a Day 2. The Staff of Life 3. Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut Seeds Unite 4. What the Spike Moss Knows 5. Mendel's Spores Seeds Endure 6. Methuselah 7. Take It to the Bank Seeds Defend 8. By Tooth, Beak, and Gnaw 9. The Riches of Taste 10 The Cheeriest Beans 11. Death by Umbrella Seeds Travel 12. Irresistible Flesh 13. By Wind and Wave Conclusion: The Future of Seeds

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Book SynopsisPresents the commonly needed techniques for working with population statistics, irrespective of the reader's mathematical background. This book provides concepts and strategies needed in the interpretation of demographic indices and data. It includes a CD-ROM containing integrated learning modules and applications facilitating demographic studies.Trade Review'A key feature of the text is a diskette that contains Microsoft Excel-based programs for illustrating and doing fundamental demographic calculations (life tables, growth rates, standardization, and so forth)...The book is a very good compendium of basic demography that clearly is based on the author's practical teaching experience. It has re-opened for me the possibility of successfully teaching demographic methods to students not primarily interested in population studies. I look forward to using it'. Population Studies, Vol.58, No.2, 2004, pp255-256.'Demographic Methods and Concepts is likely to have such a broader readership, since it is designed to serve also as a self-contained introduction and instructional manual on its subject. It is well written (enlivened with apt quotations from Graunt) and requires little mathematical backround. The graphics are excellent. Fully up-tp-date in terms of 'desktop demography, it has bibliographies that cater to the internet generation as well as to old-style page turners, numerous spreadsheet exercises, and an attached CD-ROM containing excel modules linked to the text'. Population and Development Review 2003.Table of ContentsEACH CHAPTER CONTAINS STUDY RESOURCES INCLUDING GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS, FURTHER READING, INTERNET RESOURCES, EXERCISES, AND SPREADSHEET EXERCISES; SECTION 1. POPULATION DYNAMICS; SECTION 2. ANALYTICAL APPROACHES; SECTION 3. VITAL PROCESSES; SECTION 4. DEMOGRAPHIC MODELS; SECTION 5. SPATIAL PATTERNS AND PROCESSES; SECTION 6. APPLIED DEMOGRAPHY; APPENDICES; A: BASIC MATHS; B: USING THE EXCEL MODULES; C: INTRODUCTION TO EXCEL; D: ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

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Book SynopsisCarl T. Dahlman earned degrees in sociology, music, and urban affairs before receiving his Ph.D. in geography from the University of Kentucky in 2001. He is the Director of the International Studies Program at Miami University, where his teaching focuses on political geography, migration and mobility, and globalization. His current research includes the role of European integration in the geopolitics of Southeastern Europe, and he has published a book on the subject, Bosnia Remade: Ethnic Cleansing and Its Reversal(Oxford University Press, with Gearóid Tuathail). He is a co-author of Pearson's Introduction to Contemporary Geography, with James M. Rubenstein and William H. Renwick. William H. Renwick earned a B.A. from Rhode Island College in 1973 and a Ph.D. in geography from Clark University in 1979. He has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Rutgers University, and is currently Associate Professor of GTable of Contents1. Introduction to Geography Part 1: Environment and Resources 2. Landforms 3. Weather, Climate & Climate Change 4. Biosphere 5. Earth’s Resources and Environmental Protection Part 2: Culture 6. Population and Migration 7. Cultural Geography 8. Languages and Religions 9. Food and Agriculture Part 3: Development of Modern Society 10. Cities and Urbanization 11. A World of States 12. Economy and Development

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a detailed description of how Python can be used to give insight into the flow of groundwater based on analytic solutions. Starting with simple problems to illustrate the basic principles, complexity is added step by step to show how one-dimensional and two-dimensional models of one or two aquifers can be implemented. Steady and transient flow problems are discussed in confined, semi-confined, and unconfined aquifers that may include wells, rivers, and areal recharge. Special consideration is given to coastal aquifers, including the effect of tides and the simulation of interface flow.Application of Python allows for compact and readable code, and quick visualization of the solutions. Python scripts are provided to reproduce all results. The scripts are also available online so that they can be altered to meet site-specific conditions. This book is intended both as training material for the next generation of university students and as a useful resource forTrade Review 'This is a fantastic addition to the analytical solutions and analytic element modeling canon with a modern approach to programming with Python. I hope readers will use it to learn and explore groundwater theory, and to up their game on making simple reality checks of complex systems to improve all groundwater modeling.''The authors do an excellent job of describing practically important calculations, like determining the critical flowrate at which a pumped well starts to induce flow from a nearby river.'- Michael Fienen, Groundwater - NGWA, Book Review, 7 September 2022'This is a fantastic addition to the analytical solutions and analytic element modeling canon with a modern approach to programming with Python. I hope readers will use it to learn and explore groundwater theory, and to up their game on making simple reality checks of complex systems to improve all groundwater modeling.''The authors do an excellent job of describing practically important calculations, like determining the critical flowrate at which a pumped well starts to induce flow from a nearby river.'- Michael Fienen, Groundwater - NGWA, Book Review, 7 September 2022Table of Contents0. Basics of Groundwater Flow. 1. Steady One-dimensional Flow with Constant Transmissivity. 2. Steady One-dimensional Semi-confined Flow. 3. Steady One-dimensional Unconfined Flow with Variable Saturated Thickness. 4. Steady One-dimensional Flow in Coastal Aquifers. 5. Transient One-dimensional Flow. 6. Steady Two-dimensional Flow to Wells. 7. Steady Two-dimensional Flow to Wells in Uniform Background Flow. 8. Analytic Element Modeling of Steady Two-dimensional Flow. 9. Transient Two-dimensional Flow. 10. Steady Two-dimensional Flow in the Vertical Plane. 11. Appendix - Python Primer

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Book SynopsisDinosaurs are fascinating creatures and their popularity seems never ending, fuelled by films such as Jurassic Park and documentaries such as Walking with Dinosaurs. Yet dinosaurs (or more precisely non-avian dinosaurs) last trod the Earth 65 million years ago. All we know of them today are their fossilised bones, the tracks and traces that they left behind and, in very rare instances, some of the soft tissues or even traces of their chemistry. In many respects dinosaurs present us with one of the ultimate forensic challenges: they comprise the fragmentary remains of creatures that died many tens of millions of years ago, rather than just recently, or a few tens of years ago, which is the problem usually faced by forensic pathologists. How much do we really know about them, and to what extent can their remains inform us about ancient worlds, and indeed about the history of our planet?In this Very Short Introduction David Norman discusses how dinosaurs were first discovered and interpreTrade ReviewDinosaurs: A Very Short Introduction is anything but. Instead, Dave Norman's book is a tour de force on the latest research on these terribly great reptiles, much of it by himself. An excellent read!! * David B. Weishampel, Senior Editor, The Dinosauria *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; REFERENCES; FURTHER READING; INDEX

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Book SynopsisAn updated and revised third edition of this popular and well established text, designed for the AS/A-level specifications.This title covers:1. Fieldwork projectsPart A: Collecting the information2. Sampling3. Geology, landforms and slopes4. Hydrology5. River channels6. Coasts7. Ecology and pollution8. Local climate9. Primary data sources in human geography10. Secondary sources in human geography11. Urban and rural studies12. Using the InternetPart B: Processing the information13. Cartography14. Statistical methods15. Spatial analysisPart C: Presenting the information16. Presentation and layout

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Book SynopsisAn awe-inspiring journey through the eons and across the globe in search of visible traces of evolution in the living creatures that have survived from earlier times.In this groundbreaking book, prize-winning science writer Richard Fortey chronicles life's history not through the fossil record, but through the stories of organisms that have survived, almost unchanged, through geological time.Fortey takes us on a journey to ancient worlds: on a moonlit beach in Delaware where the horseshoe crab shuffles its way through a violent romance, we catch a glimpse of life 450 million years ago. Along a stretch of Australian coastline, we bear witness to the sights and sounds that would have greeted a Precambrian dawn. And, in the dense rainforests of New Zealand, where the secretive velvet worm burrows into the rotting timber of the jungle floor, we marvel at a living fossil which has survived unchanged since before the break-up of Gondwana, the ancient supercontinent, over 150 million years agTrade Review‘I was thrilled by Survivors…. Reading Richard Fortey is always pure pleasure.’ Bill Bryson ‘Fortey has a unique way with the most humble of lifeforms and an infectious curiosity that can slide into near rapture’ Evening Standard ‘An epic, globe-circling scientific adventure story … intriguing. Entertaining, accessible and intensely stimulating – and highly recommended’ Sunday Times ‘A great story, and no one is better equipped than Fortey to tell it. Excellent natural history’ Guardian ‘Unequivocally my book of the year, a happy mix of global travel, high art and very low life’ Tim Radford, Books of the Year, Guardian ‘An elegant celebration’ TLS

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Book SynopsisJames Lovelock''s The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning is a prophetic message for mankind from one of the most influential scientists of our age. James Lovelock''s Gaia theory, the idea that our planet is a living, self-regulating system, has transformed the way we see our planet and what is now happening to it. In this book he distils a lifetime''s wisdom and observation of the Earth to reveal the rate at which our climate is altering, how conventional ''green'' measures are not working, and how life as we know it is going to change forever. Only Gaia, he shows, can help us fully understand this, and prepare us for the future. ''The most influential scientist and writer since Charles Darwin''   Irish Times ''Supremely life-affirming ... The definitive statement of the Gaia theory and its implications for the future''   John Gray, Literary Review ''Exhilarating ... Lovelo

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Book SynopsisIn the age of climate change, psychology and design have been employed through impromptu collaborations to validate solutions and future scenarios.Introduction to Design Psychology contests this approach by proposing an ideological framework for an intentional, joint endeavour between psychology and design. Intentional design psychology is presented as a critical proposal grounded in unpredictability, nominating ways to activate new production, consumption, and habitation patterns. It unfolds through chapters exploring urban environments, technology, and consumer culture, making evident the need for new definitions of social resilience and adaptation. As part of this process, adaptive designs that enable resilient psychologies are revealed. By challenging the disciplinary status quo of psychology and design, this book aims to activate a new field of knowledge.Introduction to Design Psychology is essential for psychologists, designers, and urban planners,

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