Natural History Books

Book Synopsis Fall under the spell of Florida's natural environmentIn this captivating collection, Florida's most notable authors, poets, and environmentalists take readers on a journey through the natural wonders of the state. Continuing in the legacy of the beloved classic The Wild Heart of Florida, this book features thirty-four pieces by a new slate of well-known and emerging writers.In these pages, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Groff describes the beauty of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. Environmental writer Cynthia Barnett listens to seashells on Sanibel Island. Legendary journalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas records the sights and sounds of the Everglades in the 1920s. Miccosukee elder Buffalo Tiger relates traditional stories of his community's deep relationship with the land. Presidential inaugural poet Richard Blanco muses on the shifting vista of the ocean in "Some Days the Sea."These writers and many others recount memories of how their lives have been enriched by the state's varied and brilliant landscapes. Some tell of encounters with alligators, pythons, manatees, turtles, and otters, while others marvel at the unique character of flowing springs and piney scrub. Together, they highlight the need to protect pristine ecosystems and restore ones that have been damaged due to development. The Wilder Heart of Florida will inspire readers to explore and celebrate the Florida wilderness.Table of Contents Foreword Introduction —Jack E. Davis and Leslie K. Poole Part I. Beckonings Seduction in Key West — Susan Lilley The Story under the Story — Lauren Groff Our Land — Buffalo Tiger Soldier's Creek Trail — Terry Ann Thaxton Part II. Revelations Innocence Found — Bill Maxwell The Seine — Jack E. Davis My First Audubon Trip Hasn't Ended Yet . . . — Charles Lee Florida Boy — David McCally The River That Raised Me — Gabbie Buendia The Breathers, St. Mark's Lighthouse — Rick Campbell Part III. Animals Birds and Refuge — Frederick R. Davis The Quiet Song of Sanibel Island — Cynthia Barnett The Habits of Alligators — Loren G. "Totch" Brown Gator! — Lee Irby Feast of Pythons (Homage to Harry Crews) — Isaac Eger One Manatee, Two Nations — Anmari Alvarez-Alemán Woodpeckers and Wildness: The Disney Wilderness Preserve — Leslie K. Poole Sighting by the St. Johns — Russ Kesler Part IV. Water Up the Okalawaha: A Sail into Fairy-Land — Harriet Beecher Stowe Musings — Margaret Ross Tolbert The Pulse of Paynes Prairie — Lars Andersen From Springs Heartland to Wasteland . . . and Back? — Lucinda Faulkner Merritt Wilderness from the Water — Claire Strom The Rhythms of the Lagoon — Clay Henderson Raw Water — Gianna Russo Part V. Terra Firma Excerpts from The Galley — Marjory Stoneman Douglas The Natural Aesthetic of the Naked God — Bruce Stephenson Don't Mourn the Orange — Mark Jerome Walters Seasons of Love — Erika Henderson Biscayne National Monument: Preserving Our Precious Bays — Nathaniel Pryor ReedPart VI. At the Heart Some Day the Sea — Richard Blanco From A Seminole Legend: The Life of Betty Mae Tiger Jumper — Betty Mae Tiger Jumper and Patsy West A Plea for Wider Justice — Marjory Stoneman Douglas Florida Is a Pretty Girl —Frances Susanna Nevill Acknowledgments Contributors Credits

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Book SynopsisPeople's Parks - The Design and Development of Public Parks in Britain' identifies the principal national and international influences on park development from the nineteenth century until the present, including their historical and cultural significance. Municipal parks made an important contribution to our urban environment, and they developed within a social, economic and political context which affected people's attitudes to recreation - what became known as 'rational recreation'. The promoters of parks wanted to encourage education and particular forms of recreation, and parks reflected this in their design, buildings, statues, bandstands and planting. This book is a thorough update and re-evaluation on Hazel Conway's influential book, published in 1991, adding and evaluating an extra 100 years of history, through the Victorian era, to the war years, the impact of the Garden Cities movement, and the great decline of parks from the 1970s onwards. The impact of the Heritage Lottery Fund's urban parks programme from the 1990s is covered, along with that of austerity and the Covid pandemic. The book concludes by evaluating the role of parks today and potential for the future.Trade ReviewThis very handsome, well-designed, and superbly illustrated volume gives us a pretty good and comprehensive flavour of the Victorian public park, with its often splendid buildings. * The Critic *Table of ContentsIntroduction - Hazel Conway and Paul Rabbitts 1)Public parks and municipal parks 2)The need for parks 3)Pioneering parks development 4)The park movement 5)Design and designers 6)Lodges, bandstands and the cultivation of virtue 7)Local pride and patriotism 8)Plants and park maintenance 9)Permitted pastimes 10)Recreation grounds, parks and the urban environment 11)Public parks 1885 -1914 12)Later municipal park designers 13)Garden cities and the new towns movement 14)Sport, physical activity and recreation in public parks in the inter-war years 15)Parks management - a changing perspective 16)Decline, revival and renewal - the role of parks in 21st century Britain Appendix A Summary of main legislation promoting early park development Appendix B Chronology of main municipal and public park developments between 1800 and 1885 Bibliography About the authors Notes Acknowledgement of subscribers and supporters Index

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Book SynopsisSince 1961, our country has launched men and women into the hostile vacuum of space. For the adventures on which they were about to embark, astronauts, associates and designers commemorated each mission by creating a unique insignia that the crew could wear with pride on their spacesuits. Space Mission Art collects every one of these iconic designs, plus sticker sheets, to celebrate the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs. They are presented in full colour and glorious detail alongside the stories behind their design. There are also crew photos, mission facts and trivia that reveal the human face of space exploration, capturing the comedy, tragedy, bravery and beauty of these extraordinary adventures into the unknown.

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Book SynopsisLlamas and alpacas are a globally expanding area of interest in the farming world, and in the UK alone now number over 50,000. As such, there is an urgent need to provide up-to-date, specific information on these animals. Kept as pets, stud animals, livestock guardians, and farmed for fibre and meat, national herds continue to grow and are an increasingly frequent presentation for large animal vets. This book provides practical, everyday veterinary advice on common conditions and surgical procedures. This new edition:- Covers basic husbandry, nutrition, examination, vaccines, analgesia, anaesthesia, dermatology, and poisons;- Expands on previous zoonotic disease coverage, as well as other key issues such as biosecurity, handling, and management of these animals;- Updates advice throughout, including changes to legislation and advances in new treatments, surgical techniques, and medicines.With medical and surgical options arranged by body system for easy reference, this book is an important tool for any veterinarian to have at their disposal. It also provides an approachable and practical resource for students of veterinary medicine and animal production.

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Book Synopsis'Jones’ Icones' is a stunning six-volume manuscript containing paintings of some of the most important butterfly and moth collections at the end of the eighteenth century. It is the work of William Jones (1745-1818), a wealthy wine merchant from Chelsea who, on retirement, devoted the rest of his life to studying and painting butterflies and moths. Held in the archives of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the volumes contain over 1,500 ink and gouache paintings representing 760 species from around the world. Work continues to this day to determine whether all the original specimens depicted still survive. This set of three A5, softback notebooks with high quality ruled paper makes an exquisite gift for nature-lovers and writers alike.

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Book Synopsis‘High from the earth I heard a bird’ - Emily Dickinson Eric Fitch Daglish (1892-1966) was a wood engraver, writer and illustrator. His book 'Woodcuts of British Birds' was published in 1925. Daglish learnt the art of wood engraving from Paul Nash and became known for his illustrations of the natural world. He illustrated an edition of Gilbert White’s 'Natural History of Selborne' and he both wrote and illustrated several books on natural history, including 'Birds of the British Isles', 1948. Beautifully produced in hardback with lined paper and ribbon marker, this makes a perfect gift for bird watchers and nature lovers.

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Book SynopsisWatching and recording the gradual dismantling of life, beauty and diversity in our oceans is a tortuous experience for scientists. Our oceans function as earth’s organs and our survival depends on their health. Yet in the last fifty years half of coral reefs have disappeared, only 10% of large fish remain and many species are at the brink of collapse. Unsustainable fishing practices, pollution – including 20 million tonnes of plastic entering the oceans yearly – and rising temperatures are continued threats. Even as the sense of urgency to save our oceans continues to grow, at the time we publish this book, an estimate of only 2% of all global philanthropic and charitable donations go to protecting the environment. Of this, only a tiny fraction go toward supporting and safeguarding our oceans. Brimming with spectacular, full-page photography of underwater scenes from the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic oceans and many seas, Call of the Blue tells the stories of positive, focused people who are working to save our oceans. The first book of its kind, Call of the Blue unites more than 100 modern-day explorers, sailors, free divers, film-makers, lawmakers and conservationists who talk about their lives, passions and exploits on, in or under the water. Call of the Blue demonstrates how the efforts of individuals and communities can inspire and drive change. Notable contributors include United States Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; explorer and BBC presenter Paul Rose; Danish environmentalist and Director General of the IUCN Inger Andersen; French photojournalist and UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Yann Arthus-Bertrand; and American marine biologist Edith Widder (to name only a few). Contributors include hardworking men and women from around the world including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, France, India, Mozambique, Mauritius, Ecuador and more. Alongside these passionate and necessary voices, Philip Hamilton’s mesmerising images – of reefs, blue whales, salt water crocodiles, manatees, sea lions, sailfish, penguin, mantas, jellyfish, turtles, sharks, pygmy sea horses and more – provide readers a glimpse of some of the world’s most stunning underwater locations, bringing into sharp focus all we are at risk to lose.

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Book SynopsisHumans everywhere have always been fascinated by octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish, known biologically as cephalopods. They evolved hundreds of millions of years ago and are related to molluscs such as mussels and snails. They can grow to an enormous size with eyes as big as footballs, but they still live for only a couple of years. They mate once in their lifetime and die shortly after. They have blue blood and three hearts and they can shoot out jet-black ink. They have a brain and have behaviours that could be interpreted as signs of intelligence, even though more than half of their brain is distributed in their arms. They are colour blind, but they can change the colour of their skin in a flash. They are masters of disguise and are able to alter the texture of their skin and the patterns displayed on it at lighting speed. They can also ‘taste’ using the suckers on their arms. They can move extremely fast thanks to a jet-propulsion system built into their body cavity. Although they are soft-bodied and look vulnerable, cephalopods are formidable predators. Octopuses have arms that are so strong that they can exert a force equal to hundreds of times their own body weight. Squid and cuttlefish can shoot out a tentacle to capture prey at the speed of a javelin thrown by an expert athlete. Cephalopods are, however, so much more than just fascinating creatures with strange physical characteristics. They are a nutritious, delicious protein source that has found a place for thousands of years in many food cultures around the world. As squid, cuttlefish, and octopuses are native to virtually all parts of the ocean, they are an excellent and available alternative to meat from terrestrial animals. This book is written to promote the overall place of cephalopods in home kitchens and to inspire the uninitiated to add them to their diet. It describes the many facets of their anatomy that play a central role in their potential use as healthy, diverse, and interesting food sources, with a particular emphasis on their taste and texture. By way of an assortment of recipes, the authors hope to dispel the myth that it is difficult to prepare delicious dishes using squid, cuttlefish, and octopuses. In addition, there are contributions to the on-going discussions about how marine resources can be exploited more responsibly in a sustainable manner. Ole G. Mouritsen is a professor of gastrophysics and culinary food innovation at the University of Copenhagen,president of the Danish Gastronomical Academy, and director of the Danish national research and communication centre Taste for Life. Klavs Styrbæk is a chef and leader of the gastronomic enterprise STYRBÆKS, which includes a gourmet restaurant, a cooking school, a catering service, and a product development branch. Table of ContentsIntroductionPart I. Strange beings from the depths of the sea Mythological sea monsters Cephalopods in art, literature, and iconography And they continue to fascinate usPart II. Such abundance, so much diversity A few words about their classification ‘Head-feet’ that have no feet When did the cephalopods appear on the scene? Where and how do they live?Part III. An overview of cephalopod anatomy The mantle Heart, nerves, and intelligence Consciousness of another kind Eyes Mouth and beak Arms and tentacles Suckers, which have a sense of taste Blue blood and three hearts Muscles Siphon Ink Innards A master of disguises Luminescence Skin as a sense receptor Octopuses in NaplesPart IV. Cephalopod fisheries The global catch Harvesting cephalopods in the MediterraneanPart V. Taste and nutritional value Nutrients in cephalopods How do they taste? Are marine-borne toxins a problem?Part VI. Sourcing, storing, and preparing cephalopods Where to purchase cephalopods How to clean and store them Making them tender Fermenting cephalopods and using them as fermentation agents Cooking with their inkPart VII. Cephalopods in the kitchen In culinary traditions around the world Raw or almost raw Eating the perfect cuttlefish sashimi in London Shopping for octopus and cuttlefish at an Italian street market Marinating cephalopods Dehydrated cephalopods Octopus stock and the ‘foie gras of the sea’ Grilled cephalopods Deep-fried cephalopods Pescaito frito made with squids The evolution of pescado frito Steamed and cooked cephalopods Cooking them in a wok Stuffed cephalopods Using the ink in dishes and snacks A take on The Compleat Angler using giant squid Cephalopods in Vietnam and CambodiaPart VIII. The Nordic Food Lab’s “Squid Squad” The Nordic Food Lab, gastronomy, and gastrophysics Squids of the North A surprising discovery Featuring cephalopods at Taste for Life A marine ‘field trip’ to Sardinia with an expert chefPart IX. The seafood of the future? Food from the oceans for a hungry planet Is cephalopod aquaculture an option? Discovering the life cycle of the cuttlefish in Brittany Like ‘weeds of the sea,’ the cephalopods are multiplying Eat the cephalopods!Part X. Technical and scientific details The genealogy of cephalopods List of cephalopods mentioned in this book Glossary Culinary terms Bibliography Illustrations Acknowledgements The people behind the book_______RecipesCleaning and storing cephalopodsIko no shiokaraCuttlefish in their own ink (calamari en su tinto)Ika sashimi with avocado and lumpfish roeSquid ink fettucine with lobster, roe, and dried limeSepia tartare with pistachios, lime, and avocadoSquid royale with Jerusalem artichokes in sepia inkOctopus saladPeruvian squid cevicheGrilled, partially dehydrated squids (ika no ichiya-boshi)Glazed octopus arms with lentils and mushrooms‘Foie gras of the sea’Grilled or seared cuttlefishMarinated grilled cuttlefish siphons on lemongrassCephalopod mouths and beaks in white beans with tomatoes and dried shrimpFried calamari with octopus chips and mayonnaiseExtra crisp squid rings and stripsPulpo à la GallegoCalamar à la mar del NorteCooked squid with spinach, roe, and cream sauceSalt and pepper wok-fried squidSquid ‘cobs’ with snow peasStuffed squids‘Santa hats’—squids baked in piquillo peppers with capersBlack potato gnocchi with squidsBlack pasta with squidsBlack hot dog buns with seaweed onion jamCrisp spaghetti with soy-roasted pumpkin seedsPasta fritta with cuttlefish inkSweet azuki beans in cuttlefish inkGiant squid, roasted in the manner of The Compleat AnglerJapanese flying squids at their bestCambodian squid curryKroeung spice mixture for Kmer amokSilky squid confitBlack sauce made from squid ink and squid liversSardinian-inspired squid biscuits

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Book SynopsisAstrophysics is often –with some justification – regarded as incomprehensible without the use of higher mathematics. Consequently, many amateur astronomers miss out on some of the most fascinating aspects of the subject. Astrophysics Is Easy! cuts through the difficult mathematics and explains the basics of astrophysics in accessible terms. Using nothing more than plain arithmetic and simple examples, the workings of the universe are outlined in a straightforward yet detailed and easy-to-grasp manner. Following on the success of the first and second editions, this fully updated third edition covers the significant changes in astrophysics theories and research that have occurred in the last five years, including new material on: exomoons, exocomets and exoasteroids; Special and General Relativity; gravitational waves, their origins and detection; telescope optics; black hole astrophysics; and more. For each topic under discussion, an observing list is included so that observers can actually see for themselves the concepts presented – stars of the spectral sequence, nebulae, galaxies, even black holes. The book also features in-text, nonmathematical questions and end-of-chapter problems – all with their accompanying solutions – to help readers discuss and digest the material.Table of ContentsCh 1. Tools of the trade1. New Section - Telescope Basics a. Basic formulae to explain magnification, resolution, field-of-view, light-grasp, etc.. b. Use of internet for star-maps, planetariums, etc.. 2. Distancesa. The Nearest Stars To Us3. Brightness and Luminosity4. Magnitudesa. The Brightest Stars5. Coloura. Coloured Stars6. Size and Massa. The Biggest Stars7. Star Constituents8. Spectra and Spectroscopy9. Stellar Classificationa. The Spectral Sequence10. The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram11. The H-R diagram and Stellar Radius12. The H-R diagram and Stellar Luminosity13. The H-R diagram and Stellar MassCh 2. The Solar System 1 The Scientific Method 2 Early Historyi. The Ancient Greeksii. Copernicusiii. Tychoiv. Keplerv. Galileovi. Newton3 The Motions of the Planetsb. Kepler’s Three Lawsc. Newton & Gravityd. Newton’s Laws of Motione. Newton’s Law Of Gravitational Attractionf. The Tides2. New Section - The Greenhouse Effect3. Observing the PlanetsCh 3. The Interstellar Medium1. Introduction2. Nebulæ3. Emission Nebulæa. Brightest Emission Nebulæ4. Dark Nebulæa. Famous Dark Nebulæ5. Reflection Nebulæa. Brightest Reflection Nebulae6. Molecular Clouds7. Protostars8. The Jeans CriterionCh 4. Star Birth1. The Birth of a Star2. Pre-Main Sequence Evolution and the Effect of Mass3. Mass Loss and Mass Gain a. T Tauri Starsb. Discs and Winds4. Clusters and Groups of Starsa. Galactic Star Clustersi. Bright Star Clusters5. Stellar Associations and Streamsa. Bright Stellar Associations and Streams6. Star Formation TriggersCh 5. The Sun and Stars1. The Sun – The Nearest Stara. From the Core to the Surfaceb. The Proton-Proton Chainc. Energy Transport from the Core to the Surfaced. New Section – Sunspotse. New Section – The Solar Cycle2. Binary Stars and Stellar Mass3. Binary Starsa. Visual Binary Stars4. The Masses of Orbiting Stars5. Lifetimes of Main-Sequence Stars6. Red Giant Starsa. Bright Red Giant Stars7. Helium Burning and the Helium Flasha. Helium Burningb. The Helium Flash8. Star Clusters, Red Giants and the H-R Diagram9. Post Main-Sequence Star clusters: The Globular Clusters.a. Bright Globular Clustersb. New Section – Are Globulars galaxy corpses?10. Pulsating Starsa. Why do Stars Pulsate?b. Cepheid Variables and the Period-Luminosity Relationc. Cepheid’s: Temperature and Massd. RR Lyrae and Long-Period Variable Starse. Bright Cepheid Variablesf. Bright RR Lyrae VariablesCh 6. The Death of Stars1. The Asymptotic Giant Branch2. Dredge-Ups3. Mass Loss and Stellar Winds4. Infrared Stars5. The End Of An AGB Star’s Lifea. Bright Carbon Stars6. Planetary Nebulaea. Bright Planetary Nebulae7. White Dwarf Starsa. Electron Degeneracyb. The Chandrasekhar Limitc. New Section – Is the Chandrasekhar Limit correct?d. White Dwarf Evolutione. White Dwarf Originsf. Bright White Dwarfs8. High Mass Stars and Nuclear Burninga. Bright Supergiant Stars9. Iron, Supernovæ and the Formation of the Elementsa. Supernovæ Remnantsb. Supernovæ Typesc. New Section - Hypernovae10. The End Result of High Mass Star Evolution: Neutron Stars, Pulsars, and Black Holesa. Neutron Starsb. PulsarsNEW Chapter - Special Relativity a. The Speed of Lightb. The Lorentz Equations.c. Paradox’s. NEW Chapter - General Relativitya. Warped Space and Timeb. Why is Gravity so weak?c. General relativity in the solar system.d. Gravitational Wavese. 2018 – First contactNEW Chapter – Black Holes a. The Singularityb. Time Travelc. Kerr Black Holesd. Rotating and non-symmetrical Black Holese. Imaging the Event HorizonCh 7. Exoplanets 2. A new sciencea. Methods of Detectionb. Bright Exoplanetsc. New Section – Exo-moons, exo-comets, exo-asteroidsCh 8. Galaxies1. Introduction2. Galaxy Types3. Galaxy Structure4. Stellar Populations5. Hubble Classification of Galaxies6. New section - Other types of galaxy classification7. Observing Galaxiesa. Spiral Galaxiesb. Barred Spiral Galaxiesc. Elliptical Galaxiesd. Lenticular Galaxiese. Irregular GalaxiesCh 9. Active Galaxies1. The Active Galactic Zoo2. The structure and evolution of AGN’sa. Brightest Active GalaxiesCh 10. Cosmology 1 Gravitational Lensing2 Redshift, Distance and the Hubble Law3 Quasar Redshift Problem4 Clusters of Galaxiesa. Groups and Clusters of Galaxies5 The Beginning of the Universe6 The End of the Universe7 Other Cosmologies8 Amateur Observational Cosmology?New Chapter – the Speculative Universea. Beyond the Multiverseb. Infinite Universec. Inflation, then the Big Bang.d. Filamentary nature of Dark Matter.e. MOND – The elephant in the roomf. Endnote

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Book Synopsis"This book tells the story of a spoonbill we have called Sinagote, a female bird born on the island of Vlieland, in the Netherlands. In her name, she carries the words ?Sina?, the Breton name of the village in Britanny she returns to every autumn, and ?gote? which means ?girl from?. This story is about more spoonbills than just Sinagote. It?s even about much more than spoonbills and the connections between them. It?s also about the connections between countries in Europe and Africa, between the people who live and work there, who have an affection for spoonbills and work for their well-being. Part love story, part success story, Sinagote, The Biography of a Spoonbill describes the importance of looking beyond our national borders in the protection of migratory birds."--Back cover.

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Book Synopsis36 new illustrations from the now legendary anarchist illustrator, together with an introduction from the writer Richard Boston.

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Book SynopsisWith its mixed terrain of desert, savanna, salt pan and river delta, Botswana is home to a wide variety of wildlife, making it a prime destination for nature and wildlife enthusiasts. Wildlife of Botswana is an easy-to-use, all-in-one guide to the country's most conspicuous and interesting mammals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates and plants.

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Book SynopsisFor more than 50 years, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition has championed honest and ethical wildlife photography, while pushing the boundaries of artistic freedom, technical skill, and narrative excellence. This powerful collection of pictures features all the winning photographs from the 2018 competition. The collection represents the work of many international photographers, both professionals and amateurs. The photographs are chosen by an international jury for their artistic merit and originality, from categories that represent a diversity of natural subjects. The range of styles is diverse, as is the genre of photography, including action, macro, underwater, landscape, or environmental reportage. Each photograph is accompanied by an extended caption and there is an introduction by one of the world's most respected nature photographers.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis“Get your head into the clouds with Aerial Geology.” —The New York Times Book ReviewAerial Geology is an up-in-the-sky exploration of North America’s 100 most spectacular geological formations. Crisscrossing the continent from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska to the Great Salt Lake in Utah, Mary Caperton Morton brings you on a fantastic tour, sharing aerial and satellite photography, explanations on how each site was formed, and details on what makes each landform noteworthy. Maps and diagrams help illustrate the geological processes and help clarify scientific concepts. Fact-filled, curious, and way more fun than the geology you remember from grade school, Aerial Geology is a must-have for the insatiably curious, armchair geologists, million-mile travelers, and anyone who has stared out the window of a plane and wondered what was below.

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Book Synopsis‘Each time we lay down together, I thought of pounding fetlocks, the flex of tendons, the press of horse shoe against my chest, the ring of purple flesh it would leave on my stomach, his galloping, galloping into me … Each night, after, I filled the space we’d made with the whine and later the voice of the violin, my voice, coming quicker and quicker, my fingers finding the notes through his hair, quicker and quicker through my bow arm sweeping across the strings, down the flutes of muscle on his back. It came mellow and low then quicker and harder and pizzicato and striking each note, forcing it from the wood and into the still sycamores, pin oaks, maples. Always, the violin called between the spaces.’ In this stunning fictional début Kelly Sullivan explores of the inner life of Grace: mother, wife, and talented violinist. Finding release only in her music, Grace exists in a state of profound emotional paralysis, until the storm. 18 August 1969 – Hurricane Camille ravages all that lies in her path; at a party in Mississippi drunken revellers eagerly await her arrival. As they sway to the sound of a stereo hi-fi, outside ‘the trees whip by and the rain whips down’. Twenty-four people die inside the beachfront building when it’s razed ‘flatter than a winter bayou’. Speeding over drifting sand, Grace, her husband and his newly acquired lover make a last-minute dash to safety. In the days that follow, Grace surveys the destruction wrought by the tempest. Like the wood of her beloved violin, her fractured ego risks crumpling under the pressure: ‘Too much moisture and you’re gonna warp her, but too little and you’ll have more cracks,’ the violin repairman had warned. In Winter Bayou, Grace journeys through the past, from the heady rush of teenage love to a marriage ‘ripped apart too … shredded and pushed beyond our boundaries’ – her meditations forming a perfectly poised novella as lyrically tender as it is viscerally sensuous.

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Book SynopsisDuring 1933–1936, Dorothy Hartley was commissioned by the Daily Sketch newspaper to write articles describing the English countryside, old English crafts and customs, country foods and country ways (with the odd excursion to Wales, Scotland and Ireland). She did her research in the British Museum (she had by then written several books of social history) and on the ground, travelling around the country on her sturdy bicycle, staying with her subjects, or under a hedgebank if no other choice. These articles were to form her knowledge-bank which she used in several books that came out during the 1930s and beyond (particularly Here’s England, 1935), but they have never been seen as they were first written. We offer a selection, with a foreword by Lucy Worsley (who is presenting the BBC TV documentary on Hartley to be transmitted in November) and introduced by the writer Adrian Bailey (who befriended Dorothy Hartley in her later life). The 65 articles are illustrated with some of Hartley’s own snapshots which she kept as notes for future reference. The subjects range widely over matters as various as thatching, clog-making, eels, the country chemist, marram grass, sand shoes, crabs, sheep shearing, spring-cleaning, country kitchens, ploughing, weather lore, and elevenses.

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Book SynopsisWalking South Yorkshire is a collection of 30 circular walks, between 2 and 8 miles (3 and 13 km) in length, that explore the ancient woodland and rural visitor attractions around Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley.Attractions visited include: Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wentworth Castle Gardens, Stainborough Park, Cannon Hall Museum, Old Moor RSPB Reserve, Monk Bretton Priory, Elsecar Heritage Centre, Worsbrough Mill, Rockley Blast Furnace, Wentworth Woodhouse, the Waterloo Pottery Kiln, Catcliffe Glass Cone, Graves Park Animal Farm, Roche Abbey and the Chesterfield Canal.Written by local walker, Rob Haslam, each walk features detailed route directions, combined with a thorough insight into the county's rich, yet little-known, heritage of ancient woodland. All walks can be reached by public transport from Sheffield, Meadowhall, Rotherham and Barnsley, feature Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps and information on public transport, car parking, history, refreshments and terrain.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction What is Ancient Woodland? Types of Ancient Woodland History of Woodland Management Restoration Archaeological and Historical Features Improved Paths Transport Grid References Area Map and Key Sheffield1 Wincobank Hill2 Prior Royd & Birkin Royd3 Woolley Wood & Concord Park4 Ecclesall Wood5 Shirtcliffe Wood from Flockton Park6 The Chapeltown Woods7 Eckington Woods8 Glen Howe Park & More Hall Reservoir9 New Hall Wood & Whitwell Moor10 Wheata Wood & Birley Edge11 The Gleadless Valley Woods12 The Upper Moss Valley13 Bowden Housteads & Tinsley Park WoodsRotherham14 Canklow Wood Heritage Trail15 Ravenfield Park16 Herringthorpe Valley & Brecks Plantation17 Wath Wood & Roman Ridge18 Grange Park Woodlands19 Anston Stones & the Chesterfield Canal20 Scholes Coppice & Wentworth Woodhouse21 Treeton Woods22 Roche AbbeyBarnsley23 Old Moor RSPB Reserve24 Cannon Hall25 Dearne Valley Park & Monk Bretton Priory26 Elsecar Heritage Centre27 Wombwell Ings & Gypsy Marsh28 Yorkshire Sculpture Park29 Worsbrough Mill & Wentworth Castle30 The Upper Don ValleyAppendix

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Book SynopsisExploring everything from giant squid to sea birds, sharks to sperm whales, this epic voyage with scholar and seafarer Richard J. King provides a new way of approaching Melville's classic sea-yarn: as a book about nature itself.Trade Review"A unique take on Melville...The book is unquestionably well researched: King blends library research with personal experience and draws on interviews with contemporary 'oceanic' professionals, including maritime-historian colleagues, ocean scientists, and sailors. He also provides scores of photographs and other pertinent illustrations. Anyone interested in Melville will find this rich and insightful study fascinating--but those readers curious enough to see Moby-Dick as an oceanographic encyclopedia will benefit most."--J. W. Miller, Gonzaga University "Choice" "An exquisitely detailed and gorgeously written book that reminds us of the wonder of Melville's novel and of the natural world in which it takes place. Fascinating accounts and descriptions of whales, swordfish, sharks, giant squid, ambergris, etc., and of the sea itself: then and now. And informed by a writer who has spent years at sea, is now a professor of maritime literature and history at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. King gives an original, loving rereading of Melville's novel. He is himself a master storyteller whose handsomely illustrated book is deeply informed and full of delightful surprises."--Jay Neugeboren "Ploughshares" "King's book ballasts one's appreciation for Melville's vision with rich freights of lore, observation, scientific data, and history of ideas. It is an admirable companion to the novel and the mind bold enough to bring it into the world."-- "The Nautilus" "Tired of binge-watching those mind-numbing programs and movies? During this pandemic, we've been warned to exercise regularly and that includes our brain. With extra time for nonessential activities, it's an opportunity to read a few good books--especially venturing into unfamiliar territory. . . . This book is excellent. Even if you haven't read Melville's classic of sea literature, you will be amazed at his command of the environmental world that is its setting. . . . What King says will entertain, inform, amuse and sadden you."--JoAnne Fuerst "The Ellsworth American" "King gives us natural history done Melville-style, looking over a ship's rail, and this ingenious focus neatly weds field science and literary history, yielding a study that is fresh, provocative, and welcome."--William Howarth "American Scholar" "Ultimately, answering these questions involves poetry more than science. Melville has combined the rational, objective, Darwinian perspective with the emotional, poetic, Emersonian perspective, pushing the reader to see nature as both dangerous and damaged. Here is King's main point: that Melville's novel can now be read as an introduction to environmental issues of the twenty-first century."--John P. Loonam "Washington Independent Review of Books" "Richard J King's Ahab's Rolling Sea: A Natural History of Moby-Dick is both a brilliant reading of the novel and an elegy for the wonders of the sea that we humans are destroying."-- "New Statesman" "Employing Melville's maritime setting as a base camp for this ambitious excursion into our present-day relationship with the ocean and its denizens, Ahab's Rolling Sea is that rarest of scholarly books: one that delights as it informs. . . . Key to the book's success is King's skill as a writer. He weaves impressive research--much of it archival--with his own insightful and enthusiastic prose. Topping it off, the book is filled with a rich assemblage of illustrations, maps, and photographs. King writes, 'Like the industry of whaling itself, Melville reveled in the chance to show how the ugly, dirty deep revealed both man's hypocrisies and nature's treasures.' The same can be said of Ahab's Rolling Sea, a book that, like Melville's novel and like the wonders of the ocean, manages to thrill, to educate, and to inspire."--Matthew Wynn Sivils "Isis" "The chance that someone could write something new and fresh about such a book seems as unlikely as a big haul from our over-fished oceans, yet King achieves this. . . He has produced a powerful ecocritical analysis of Moby-Dick, reinforcing the novel as essential reading for all who sail, paddle, wander or simply ponder on the sea."--Mandy Haggith, Inverness College, University of the Highlands and Islands "Green Letters" "Ahab's Rolling Sea is a wide-ranging, highly personal, richly eclectic, and extremely well-researched book whose style and humor, combined with its rigor, suggest the potential for popularity even beyond the fascinations of this self-confessed whalehead. Who could not warm to a chapter titled 'Gulls, Sea-Ravens, and Albatrosses' or 'Sword-Fish and Lively Grounds, ' or be intrigued by 'Phosphorescence'? There's a Melvillean romance here, and it sits especially well with King's love and empathy for human as well as natural history. A contemporary, witty, almost postmodern field guide."--Philip Hoare, author of RISINGTIDEFALLINGSTAR, The Sea Inside, The Whale, and Leviathan "Anyone who loves Moby-Dick should read this book."--Nathaniel Philbrick, author of the National Book Award-winning In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex and Why Read 'Moby-Dick'? "Are you? a Moby-Dickhead? If so, are you enough of a Moby-Dickhead to have visited the Phallological Museum in Iceland to inspect a sperm whale's penis? This is one of the many intrepid expeditions undertaken by King in the course of researching Ahab's Rolling Sea. His book, like Moby-Dick itself, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about whales but were too ashamed to ask. The fact that the sperm whale's penis, or 'grandissimus', is four and a half feet long is just one of its juicier details. . . . It turns out that, with due allowance for the state of knowledge in the 1850s, Melville got a surprising amount right about whales: their size, their bone structure, their mass, even their emotional lives. . . . Anyone who isn't completely turned off by sea creatures will enjoy surfing the waves of information that roll genially from this book. Ahab's Rolling Sea also has a big thesis. King argues that Moby-Dick offers a 'proto-Darwinian decentring of the human and the elevation of the whale.' . . . It would be hard to fault either the motives or the facts underlying King's ecological zeal."-- "London Review of Books" "Depending on who you are, reading Moby-Dick, first published in 1851, could be a sleep-inducing slog or a stellar sea yarn of man versus whale. But the book has (sea) legs, and since its release has proved to be one of the most enduring books of American fiction. Its literary merits have been discussed and debated, but King, a professor of maritime literature and history, examines the book as a work of nature writing . . . He does extensive reporting, delving into everything from the rigging of whaleships to the diet of sperm whales."-- "Hakai Magazine" "Herman Melville's sprawling masterpiece Moby-Dick is a fictional feat studded with empirical evidence, reveals maritime historian King in this invigorating study. King traces references to ethology, meteorology, marine microbiota and the oceans to Melville's sailing experience in the Pacific and wranglings with the works of scientists William Scoresby, Louis Agassiz and others. Moby-Dick, King boldly avers, is a 'proto-Darwinian fable'--and its beleaguered narrator, Ishmael, an early environmentalist."-- "Nature" "It took me decades to appreciate that Melville's messy, uncontainable, surging Moby-Dick is perhaps the greatest book ever written about the sea, and about the human relationship with the living world, and perhaps the only book sufficiently un-jaded by mercantilism and modernity to be worthy of the actual ocean itself in all its raw, uncontrollable, surging majesty. But if you don't want to wait decades for Melville's magnificence to be revealed, you can cheat and read King's book. Ahab's Rolling Sea is a marvelous guide to the magic and mystery that was Melville's gift to us, for King reveals the deep, deep backstory of the making of Moby-Dick, the vast pots of experience and information that Melville simmered down, and even the missing ingredients of his age, that made Moby-Dick the richest bouillabaisse in all of literature. Oh, and about Melville's missing ingredients--they're here, in King's terrific book."--Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean: Encounters Along the World's Coasts and Beneath the Seas and Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace "King decisively settles any lingering questions about Moby-Dick, nineteenth-century whales and whaling, and all lore and literature of the sea. More than establishing a factual basis for Ishmael's fiction-making, King writes passionately on climate change, economic pressures on sea creatures, and the future Melville confronts in his marvelous encounter with the 'wonder-world' of whaling. King's deep knowledge grounds lively storytelling, keen observations drawn from years of sailing, and an eye for details that will make Melville's book come alive. But even if you haven't read Moby-Dick, you will revel in this storehouse of fascinating tales and arcana, from Ambergris to Zeuglodon. A treasure for library, classroom, or bedside table."--Wyn Kelley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, author of Melville's City: Literary and Urban Form in Nineteenth-Century New York and Herman Melville: An Introduction "King dissects the language and information available to Melville, including books found within Melville's library, and identifies how edited versions of what was understood at the time were twisted to serve the story. The reader comes to appreciate Melville's thorough natural history research, especially in light of the fact that Moby-Dick was written at a time when it was not yet decided whether whales were fish or mammals, and when scientific knowledge was shoehorned into a religious worldview...I thoroughly enjoyed King's well-researched analysis of the classic tale which 'offers a benchmark for how Americans understood the ocean in the mid-nineteenth century' and in doing so, compares and contrasts this with our perceptions of the ocean today."-- "The Niche" "King reflects on what we have learned and lost from the oceans since Melville's time. He answers questions many readers surely ponder. . . . Naturally, the book is full of spoilers. Read Moby-Dick, read this, then read Moby-Dick again."-- "BBC Wildlife" "King, a visiting associate professor of maritime literature and history (what a fascinating title this is!), runs after the Leviathan of literary semantics in the most imaginative way: testing what Melville and people of his era knew about their natural environment, maritime ecosystems, birds, cetaceans, and whales before he published Moby-Dick in 1851. . . . King does his best not to be another Ahab seeing his 'White Whale' escaping. And he actually makes it: from the detailed research of the marine fauna to the possible influences of Emerson, Thoreau, Darwin, Bowditch on Melville. This is the retelling of Moby-Dick from an imaginative point of view: from the Pequod towards the cosmos surrounding us in the era of new environmentalism."--Dimitris Doulgeridis "TA NEA (Greece)" "Simply breathtaking, in that it takes one's breath away and refills the lungs with a gust of salty sea breeze...Ahab's Rolling Sea collects accounts from literary criticism, theory, climate activism, and natural history for a deep dive into one of the most popular maritime novels around--Herman Melville's Moby-Dick...The relatability and readability of Ahab's Rolling Sea, at a time when the sea has much receded from daily life, is a testament to King's pedagogical, sailorly, and descriptive mastery. King invites us to stand aloft with him and Ishmael, and look out toward the wonderful, ever-rolling sea. Maybe, if we look close enough, we will even get to see a whale."--Alison Maas "H-Environment" "This examination of Moby-Dick as nature writing could be a sneaky way to get the English majors on your shopping list to read about science."-- "American Scientist" (12/11/2019 12:00:00 AM) "This is a superb work of popular scholarship that rivals the best books of maritime nonfiction currently in print. For any teacher, reader, or aficionado of Melville's magnum opus the present work will be a joy to read; for anyone curious about the current state of the marine environment, this book will be eye-opening."--Dan Brayton, Middlebury College, author of "Shakespeare's Ocean: An Ecocritical Exploration" "Ahab's Rolling Sea highlights our destructiveness as it teases fact from fiction in Moby-Dick, the obsessive hunt for a great white whale. . . . Rigorous. . . . Original."--Chris Simms "New Scientist" "A rather schematic structure--Ahab's Rolling Sea could be used as a reference book, a zoological concordance to Moby-Dick--is combined with a genuinely gripping retelling of the tale."--Brian Morton "Times Literary Supplement" (1/17/2020 12:00:00 AM) "A treasure trove. King situates Melville as a person of his time, writing amid a quickening pace of discoveries about the natural world but, pre-On the Origin of Species, inclined to couch them as further disclosures of God's design."--Stephen Phillips "Spectator" "I'm an easy mark for books like Ahab's Rolling Sea: A Natural History of 'Moby-Dick, ' which I've read a perhaps unhealthy number of times, in light of Annie Dillard's opinion that Melville's baggy masterpiece is the 'best book ever written about nature.' Focusing on nineteenth century oceanography, natural history, and, of course, the whalers' understanding of his prey's remarkable intelligence, King's book is a fascinating and rare thing: a vital addition to Melville studies."--Stephen Sparks "LitHub, 12 Books You Should Read This October" "King uses modern sources and historical texts to take a fresh look at Melville's book--published in the same decade as Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species--with the well-defined brief of assessing its natural history content. The result is a lighthearted and incredibly enjoyable read that manages somehow, at the right moments, to be both broad and narrow in scope. It should be required reading for anyone attempting Moby-Dick. . . . No captive of the library, King is an experienced seaman and an open-minded and intrepid guide. A visiting associate professor of maritime literature and history at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, he is willing to pull on his old Sou'wester and sail into the watery part of the world. . . . King writes ably and in scholarly detail about albatrosses, ambergris, baleen, barnacles, seals, sharks, sperm whale behavior and language, swordfish, typhoons, and all sorts of marine and cetological marginalia. . . . [A] talented and clear-eyed . . . writer."--Christopher J. Kemp "Science"Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Herman Melville: Whaleman, Author, Natural Philosopher 2. Numerous Fish Documents 3. Cetology and Evolution 4. White Whales and Natural Theology 5. Whale Migration 6. Wind 7. Gulls, Sea-Ravens, and Albatrosses 8. Small Harmless Fish 9. Phosphorescence 10. Sword-Fish and Lively Grounds 11. Brit and Baleen 12. Giant Squid 13. Sharks 14. Fresh Fare 15. Barnacles and Sea Candies 16. Practical Cetology: Spout, Senses, and the Dissection of Heads 17. Whale and Human Intelligence 18. Ambergris 19. Coral Insects 20. Grandissimus 21. Whale Skeletons and Fossils 22. Does the Whale Diminish? 23. Mother Carey’s Chickens 24. Typhoons and Corpusants 25. Navigation 26. Seals 27. The Feminine Air 28. Noiseless Nautilus 29. Sperm Whale Behavior 30. Sky-Hawk 31. Ishmael: Blue Environmentalist and Climate Refugee Acknowledgments Notes Selected Bibliography Figure Credits and Notes Index

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Book SynopsisA lavishly illustrated celebration of each of the world's sixty-eight currently recognized eagle species in all their magnificence and beguiling diversityTrade Review“The Empire of the Eagle is an impressive, comprehensive volume that deserves a place on the bookshelf of any nature lover.” —Outdoor Photography (Book of The Month)“The term Eagle brings with it a certain majesty and respect, an allure that the authors have captured through amazing pictures and illustrative anecdotes and historical reverence…It brings to light the need for awareness and education if we hope to continue to appreciate the species we have.”—Brett Ewald, Program Director, Cape May Bird Observatory“A delightful book, full of amazing photographs and interesting new information on taxonomy and behavior”—Stephen Bodio, author of An Eternity of Eagles: The Human History of the Most Fascinating Bird in the World“A singular effort. Unwin and Tipling have assembled a spectacular account of the eagles of the world. The vitality and beauty of these species are powerfully conveyed in the photographs with narrative accounts celebrating their irreplaceable presence throughout the natural world.”—Tony Angell, author of The House of Owls and co-author of In the Company of Crows and Ravens

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Book SynopsisIn China, the weather has changed. Decades of reform have been shadowed by a changing meteorological normal: seasonal dust storms and spectacular episodes of air pollution have reworked physical and political relations between land and air in China and downwind. Continent in Dust offers an anthropology of strange weather, focusing on intersections among statecraft, landscape, atmosphere, and society. Traveling from state engineering programs that attempt to choreograph the movement of mobile dunes in the interior, to newly reconfigured bodies and airspaces in Beijing, and beyond, this book explores contemporary China as a weather system in the making: what would it mean to understand the rise of China literally, as the country itself rises into the air? Trade Review"Continent in Dust is a timely and critical intervention in the roles and relationships of China and Asia in weather-world-systems. . . . It is a welcome contribution to a growing conversation about how material, ecological and meteorological phenomena are mutually implicated with practices, knowledges and experiences of sovereignty, ethics, and sociality." * International Journal of Asian Studies *"Continent in Dust is a literary adventure." * Anthropology and Humanism *"Continent in Dust is an ambitious and intriguing book. A delightful read which should be widely utilized in teaching and discussions on contemporary China and planetary health and change." * The China Quarterly *"More than anything, Continent in Dust is an essential intervention into recent writings about the arts of living amid planetary uncertainty, precarity and ruin. Reading this book is like seeing the blue sky emerge from a dust storm’s haze. Jerry Zee shows us how to reorient our senses and conceptual toolkits to see onto other possible worlds." * Inner Asia *"The book reframes how we think and write about practical action and responses in the face of climate emergency." * Publics Books *"A groundbreaking book on the management of dust storm and air quality in China. . . . Zee’s book is an enduring meditation on the consequences of China’s modernisation." * China Perspectives *Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Apparatus A. Nightwind Introduction: Earthly Interphases Part I Wind-Sand Apparatus B. The Wind Tunnel 1. Machine Sky Apparatus C. A Sheet of Loose Sand 2. Groundwork Apparatus D. Five Thousand Years 3. Holding Patterns Part II Fine Particulate Matter 4. Particulate Exposures Apparatus E. Wildfires 5. City of Chambers Part III Continent in Dust Apparatus F. A Sinocene 6. Downwinds Apparatus G. Monsters Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisOne of Smithsonian Magazine's Favorite Books of 2022With wildlife thriving in cities, we have the opportunity to create vibrant urban ecosystems that serve both people and animals. The Accidental Ecosystem tells the story of how cities across the United States went from having little wildlife to filling, dramatically and unexpectedly, with wild creatures. Today, many of these cities have more large and charismatic wild animals living in them than at any time in at least the past 150 years. Why have so many citiesthe most artificial and human-dominated of all Earth's ecosystemsgrown rich with wildlife, even as wildlife has declined in most of the rest of the world? And what does this paradox mean for people, wildlife, and nature on our increasingly urban planet? The Accidental Ecosystem is the first book to explain this phenomenon from a deep historical perspective, and its focus includes a broad range of species and cities. Cities covered include New York City, Los Angeles, San FrancTrade Review"Historian Alagona skillfully demonstrates how America’s cities have become ‘weird wildlife refuges,’ in this hopeful account. He sets the stage by describing animal life in cities in times past: many metropolises were founded on sites of biological richness, but as cities grew, wildlife populations declined. But in the past few decades, that’s changed, and cities have become places with rich ecosystems that have fostered an ‘explosion of wildlife’. . . . Alagona argues that people must learn to live with wildlife." * Publishers Weekly *“Alagona shows that wildlife in urban areas can be a blessing, a curse, or both. Ultimately, he sees a golden opportunity to redefine our relationship with wildlife and perhaps with each other as we share urban ecosystems.” * Natural Resource Management Today *"Highly readable and relevant." * Forbes *"This book is equal parts history and science lessons, both of which are delivered in an accessible and engaging manner." * The Quarterly Review of Biology *"A marvelous history of the present. . . . an eminently teachable book." * California History *"The Accidental Ecosystem by Peter Alagona, explains why urban neighborhoods like yours and mine, are being slowly repopulated by wild animals. Repopulation is the key, because the locations of early cities were originally chosen for their access to water, forests, and surrounding agricultural resources." * Triangle Gardener *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction: Where the Wild Things Are, Now 1: Hot Spots 2: The Urban Barnyard 3: Nurturing Nature 4: Bambi Boom 5: Room to Roam 6: Out of the Shadows 7: Close Encounters 8: Home to Roost 9: Hide and Seek 10: Creature Discomforts 11: Catch and Release 12: Damage Control 13: Fast-Forward 14: Embracing the Urban Wild Coda: Lost and Found Notes Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisNeutron stars, the ultra-dense remnants of exploded stellar giants, are among the most fascinating objects in the cosmos. Katia Moskvitch introduces readers to their astonishing qualities and follows the scientists who are discovering what neutron stars can tell us about the mysteries of dark matter, black holes, and general relativity.Trade ReviewTaking us behind the scenes of scientific exploration, Katia Moskvitch introduces the people responsible for advancing our understanding of neutron stars and communicates the feeling of amazement that accompanies unexpected discovery. -- Jocelyn Bell Burnell, codiscoverer of pulsarsNeutron stars, super-dense balls of nuclear matter at the end-points of stellar evolution, are detectable from Earth through their emission of radio and gravitational waves. Katia Moskvitch provides a fascinating tour of the world’s most sensitive detectors for such radiation, the prediction and discovery of neutron stars, their place in the grand cosmic scheme, and up-close views of many of the gifted astrophysicists behind these discoveries. -- Joseph H. Taylor, Jr., winner of the Nobel Prize in PhysicsMoskvitch offers riveting explanations of what astronomers have learned so far using radio telescopes, starting with Jocelyn Bell’s discovery in 1967 of the first pulsar, and what puzzles remain in the tantrums as well as quiet murmur of neutron stars. -- Priyamvada Natarajan * New York Review of Books *Enthralling…Moskvitch skillfully explicates these bizarre celestial objects, memorably dubbing them ‘cosmic zombies’ for the way they send radio waves, gamma rays, and x-rays after the ‘death’ of the stars from which they originate…Carl Sagan devotees will relish this portrayal of a new frontier in science. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Fantastic…Not only are there great insights into the physics that underpin these zombie stars, but they are often explained using anecdotes from scientists all over the globe…Moskvitch has written a beautiful book of personal stories, entwined with an exploration of these exotic stellar objects. -- Amber Hornsby * BBC Sky at Night *For astronomers, neutron stars are the gift that keeps on giving. For more than fifty years, a crescendo of discoveries has amazed us and led us to probe the laws of physics to the breaking point. Katia Moskvitch recounts the key advances and clearly explains the underlying science. And she has the journalistic skills to offer readers a real feel for what it's like to be part of the international community of astronomers—experiencing triumphs and disappointments in the quest to discover exotic cosmic phenomena. -- Martin Rees, author of On the FutureIf watching Tom Cruise in Top Gun made some want to be navy pilots, this book will make many young scientists want to become detectives of the universe. Katia Moskvitch takes us through the history of our understanding of the enigmatic neutron stars in a book that is punctuated with human stories, crazy ideas, novel instrumentation, and profound discoveries. This rich tale is an inspiring account of the process of science. -- France A. Córdova, former Director of the National Science FoundationA remarkable encounter with remote radio observatories, mind-boggling theories, and the most bizarre objects in the universe. Packed with information but accessible throughout, this fast-paced book is a wonderful introduction to the most exciting topics in current astronomy. -- Govert Schilling, author of Ripples in SpacetimeAn extraordinary blending of scales and disciplines, from astrophysics to particle physics, Neutron Stars faithfully describes one of the most active frontiers of science today, and introduces the exciting new field of multi-messenger astronomy. -- Stavros Katsanevas, Director of the European Gravitational ObservatoryKatia Moskvitch takes the reader on a breakneck tour of the last century of thought and observation into neutron stars. Her research is impeccable, with complicated concepts presented in an easily understood manner. I highly recommend Neutron Stars to anyone who wants to learn not only about the history of neutron star research, but also the current race to understand fast radio bursts, magnetars, and colliding neutron stars. -- Stephen R. Taylor, Vanderbilt UniversityWith journalistic flair, unlimited enthusiasm, and enviable travel funds, Moskvitch has visited radio telescopes on five continents, spoken to many of the key researchers including Jocelyn Bell, and managed to connect a surprising number of dots to give a big picture view of the Universe. -- Michael Gross * Chemistry & Industry *A detailed overview of what we know, and have yet to find out, about neutron stars and their place in the universe…Engaging. -- Jeff Foust * Space Review *An enjoyable read about an area of science in which remarkable advances-in-insight have been made in recent years—and where much promising work looks to be possible. * Complete Review *

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Book SynopsisOcean Biogeochemical Dynamics provides a broad theoretical framework upon which graduate students and upper-level undergraduates can formulate an understanding of the processes that control the mean concentration and distribution of biologically utilized elements and compounds in the ocean. Though it is written as a textbook, it will also be of interest to more advanced scientists as a wide-ranging synthesis of our present understanding of ocean biogeochemical processes. The first two chapters of the book provide an introductory overview of biogeochemical and physical oceanography. The next four chapters concentrate on processes at the air-sea interface, the production of organic matter in the upper ocean, the remineralization of organic matter in the water column, and the processing of organic matter in the sediments. The focus of these chapters is on analyzing the cycles of organic carbon, oxygen, and nutrients. The next three chapters round out the authors'' coverage of ocean biogeochemical cycles with discussions of silica, dissolved inorganic carbon and alkalinity, and CaCO3. The final chapter discusses applications of ocean biogeochemistry to our understanding of the role of the ocean carbon cycle in interannual to decadal variability, paleoclimatology, and the anthropogenic carbon budget. The problem sets included at the end of each chapter encourage students to ask critical questions in this exciting new field. While much of the approach is mathematical, the math is at a level that should be accessible to students with a year or two of college level mathematics and/or physics.Trade Review"This textbook is a monumental and masterful achievement, and the authors should be congratulated both for taking on this important task and for the end result... Every serious student and post-doc in this discipline, and all senior practitioners, should purchase or borrow a copy of this book and read it from cover to cover."--David M. Karl, Bulletin of the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography "Readers of Environmental Conservation with an interest in marine biogeochemistry and earth system science are encouraged to purchase or borrow this book. It is a comprehensive text on a complex and timely topic, and is one that will enlighten students and professionals alike. The authors are to be congratulated on their tour-de-force."--Peter Burkill, Environmental ConservationTable of ContentsPreface xi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Chemical Composition of the Ocean 1 1.2 Distribution of Chemicals in the Ocean 7 1.3 Chapter Conclusion and Outline of Book 15 Problems 16 Chapter 2: Tracer Conservation and Ocean Transport 19 2.1 Tracer Conservation Equation 19 Advection and Diffusion Components 19 Application to Box Models 22 2.2 Wind-Driven Circulation 23 Equations of Motion 27 Ekman Transport 28 Gyre Circulation 30 2.3 Wind-Driven Circulation in the Stratified Ocean 33 Basic Concepts 34 Ocean Stratification 34 Geostrophic Equations 37 Gyre Circulation with Stratification 37 Insights from the Potential Vorticity Distribution 38 Insights from Tracers 39 Insights from the Thermal Wind Relationship 42 2.4 Deep Ocean Circulation 46 Observations 46 Models 52 Summary of Deep Ocean Circulation 57 2.5 Time-Varying Flows 59 Mesoscale Variability 60 Interannual to Decadal Variability 61 Tropical Variability 61 Extratropical Variability 66 Problems 69 Chapter 3: Air-Sea Interface 73 3.1 Introduction 73 3.2 Gas Solubilities 75 3.3 Gas Exchange 80 Stagnant Film Model 81 Laboratory Studies 83 Field Studies 86 Gas Transfer Velocity Models 89 3.4 Applications 95 Problems 100 Chapter 4: Organic Matter Production 102 4.1 Introduction 102 Nutrient Supply 105 Light 111 Efficiency of the Biological Pump 111 Outline 114 4.2 Ecosystem Processes 115 Nutrients 115 Composition of Organic Matter 115 Limiting Nutrient 117 Paradigm of Surface Ocean Nitrogen Cycling 117 Phytoplankton 123 Classification of Organisms 123 Phytoplankton Distribution and Productivity 128 Modeling Photosynthesis 131 Zooplankton 135 Bacteria 137 4.3 Analysis of Ecosystem Behavior 138 Role of Light Supply 139 Classical Ecosystem Models 142 N-P Model--Bottom-up Limitation 142 N-P-Z Model--Top-Down Limitation 144 Adding the Microbial Loop 146 Multiple Size Class Ecosystem Models 147 The Model 147 Influence of Micronutrients 149 Applications 150 North Pacific versus North Atlantic 152 Oligotrophic Region 155 4.4 A Synthesis 157 The Regeneration Loop 158 The Export Pathway 158 The Role of Iron 160 Conclusions 162 Problems 168 Chapter 5: Organic Matter Export and Remineralization 173 5.1 Introduction 173 Nutrient and Oxygen Distributions 173 Remineralizaton Reactions 178 Preformed and Remineralized Components 179 Dissolved and Particulate Organic Matter 180 Outline 181 5.2 Oxygen 181 Separation of Preformed and Remineralized Components 181 Deep Ocean Oxygen Utilization Rates 182 Thermocline Oxygen Utilization Rates 183 5.3 Nitrogen and Phosphorus 186 Stoichiometric Ratios 186 Phosphate 188 The Nitrogen Cycle 189 N* as a Tracer of Denitrification 189 N* as a Tracer of N2 Fixation 195 The Oceanic Nitrogen Budget 196 Nitrous Oxide 197 5.4 Organic Matter Cycling 200 Particulate Organic Matter 200 Overview 200 Particle Flux 203 The Role of Ballast 206 Particle Remineralization 207 Models of Particle Interactions 209 Dissolved Organic Matter 211 5.5 Models 215 Model Development 215 Sensitivity Studies 217 Applications: Control of Oceanic Oxygen 221 Problems 222 Chapter 6: Remineralization and Burial in the Sediments 227 6.1 Introduction 227 Observations 227 Sediment Properties and Processes 229 Remineralization Reactions 233 6.2 Sediment Diagenesis Models 236 Pore Waters 237 Solids 241 6.3 Remineralization 245 Oxic Sediments 246 Anoxic Sediments 250 Dissolved Organic Carbon 253 6.4 Burial 255 The Substrate 255 The Oxidant 256 Protection by Mineral Adsorption 257 Synthesis 258 6.5 Organic Matter Budget 260 Problems 267 Chapter 7: Silicate Cycle 270 7.1 Introduction 270 Water Column Observations 271 Sediment Observations 271 Outline 278 7.2 Euphotic Zone 278 Diatoms 278 Opal Production and Export 280 7.3 Water Column 285 Opal 286 Silicic Acid 288 7.4 Sediments 295 Opal Dissolution and Burial 295 Opal Chemistry 299 7.5 Conclusion 308 Overview 308 Marine Si Budget 309 Long-Term Homeostasis 311 Problems 313 Chapter 8: Carbon Cycle 318 8.1 Introduction 319 8.2 Inorganic Carbon Chemistry 322 8.3 The Surface Ocean 327 Annual Mean Distribution 327 Physical Processes 328 Biological Processes 331 Vector Diagrams 334 Seasonal Variability 335 Subtropical Gyres 337 North Atlantic 340 North Pacific 341 8.4 Water Column 342 Outline 342 Pump Components 342 The Biological Pumps 345 The Gas Exchange Pump 347 Global Mean 347 Atlantic versus Pacific 349 8.5 Carbon Pumps and Surface Fluxes 352 Problems 355 Chapter 9: Calcium Carbonate Cycle 359 9.1 Introduction 359 9.2 Production 362 Organisms 362 Export Estimates 363 Inorganic-to-Organic Carbon Export Ratio 363 9.3 Water Column Processes 365 CaCO3 Solubility 365 Variations in Saturation State 368 Carbonate Ion Distribution 368 Water Column Dissolution 371 9.4 Diagenesis 374 CaCO3 Dissolution in Sediments 374 Modeling CaCO3 Diagenesis 379 Model Applications 379 Concluding Remarks 384 9.5 Calcium Carbonate Compensation 384 CaCO3 Homeostat 384 CaCO3 Compensation 386 Problems 389 Chapter 10: Carbon Cycle, CO2, and Climate 392 10.1 Introduction 392 Greenhouse Effect 394 Global Warming 396 Outline 398 10.2 The Anthropogenic Perturbation 399 Capacity Constraints 400 Buffering by Dissolved Carbonate 400 Buffering by Sediment CaCO3 401 Buffering by Weathering 402 Kinetic Constraints 402 Atmospheric Pulse Response 402 Ocean Uptake and Buffering with Dissolved Carbonate 403 Buffering by Sediment CaCO3 405 Anthropogenic CO2 Uptake 405 Direct Estimation 406 Reconstruction of Anthropogenic CO2 Inventory 408 The Atmospheric Oxygen Method 413 The Role of Biology 414 Future CO2 Uptake 415 10.3 Interannual to Decadal Timescale Variability 417 Tropical Variability 419 Extratropical Variability 423 10.4 Glacial-Interglacial Atmospheric CO2 Changes 429 Setting the Scene 431 Terrestrial Biosphere Carbon Loss 431 Salinity Changes 432 Temperature Changes 434 Fundamental Mechanisms 435 Southern Ocean Dominance 435 Equilibration of Low-Latitude Changes 436 Closing the Southern Ocean Window 440 Physical Mechanisms 442 Biological Mechanisms 443 Observational Constraints 444 A Role for the Regions outside the Southern Ocean? 446 Circulation Scenarios 447 Soft-Tissue Pump Scenarios 447 Alkalinity and Carbonate Pump Scenarios 449 A Synthesis Scenario 452 Problems 454 Appendix 459 References 461 Index 495

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Book SynopsisLooks at how ancient microorganisms in primordial oceans transformed the chemistry of the planet over billions of years, eventually allowing the development of more complex forms of life, and how they continue to make life on earth possible.Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2015 "[Life's Engines] is full of surprises ... [I]mmensely rewarding."--Tim Flannery, New York Review of Books "Entertaining, easy-to-read and historically rich."--Adrian Wolfson, Nature "Personal stories, hard facts, and illuminative illustrations each contribute to this engaging examination of our microbial overlords ... Paul Falkowski's decades of study in various earth and life sciences fuel this excellent addition... Falkowski effectively uses analogies to convey abstract and complicated ideas."--Rachel Jagareski, Foreword Reviews "Falkowski's loving examination sets out, life on this planet is organized by and for bacteria--the rest of us are just along for the ride."--Brian Bethune, Macleans "Falkowski brings a formidable breadth of scientific understanding to the task of explaining this, having worked as a biologist, an oceanographer and an astrobiologist. He moves easily between biological and earth sciences to help us understand the steps microscopic single-celled organisms took to make the planet habitable."--Cosmos "[The] wonderful and awe-inspiring universe of the microbes, unseen creatures that have shaped the planet such that we may live in it, is engagingly presented by Paul Falkowski in a remarkable text entitled Life's Engines... The book's success is its utter simplicity. It tells the story of the history of life on our planet from a very personal perspective... I was so enthralled by this book from the get-go that I invite you to have a short taste of it."--Roberto Kolter, Cell "A pleasure to read, the book touches on virtually every topic covered in a college biology curriculum by seamlessly weaving concepts with personal anecdotes and analogies. Presenting scientific facts and the fascinating history of their discovery, Falkowski (Rutgers Univ.) intersperses evolutionary theory with biochemistry, ecology, microbiology, molecular biology, anatomy, and even anthropology and economics. He also presents a fact-based, nonpolitical vision for the future of biotechnology... This reviewer came away inspired to learn more. Easily understood by anyone with a passing knowledge of science, this volume poses innumerable questions for further investigation."--Choice "What is known about the hidden world of the microbes and their fundamental roles in sustaining planetary habitability is insightfully revealed by Paul Falkowski in this authoritative, comprehensive, and delightful book. The author is uniquely qualified, perhaps singularly so, to cover topics ranging over broad time and space scales with a scholarly, transdisciplinary perspective that ranges from fundamental physics and chemistry, to Earth and ocean sciences. I cannot think of any other scientist who would accept such a challenge... He is a gifted scientist and writer, and legendary storyteller."--David M. Karl, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin "Not a microbial biologist, I approached this book with a bit of trepidation, imaging lengthy discussions of biochemistry. Instead, I was immediately engaged by Falkowski's conversational, fluid writing, personal anecdotes, and interesting choice of topics... Life's Engines [is] easily accessible to the lay reader but engaging for the scientist as well."--American Biology Teacher "An outstanding attempt to popularize the role of microbes, especially bacteria and archaea, in making multicellular eukaryotic life possible... A superb introduction to the broader consequences of life and its study."--Elof Axel Carlson, Quarterly Review of BiologyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Prologue 1 CHAPTER 1 The Missing Microbes 9 CHAPTER 2 Meet the Microbes 23 CHAPTER 3 The World before Time 40 CHAPTER 4 Life's Little Engines 47 CHAPTER 5 Supercharging the Engines 68 CHAPTER 6 Protecting the Core Genes 91 CHAPTER 7 Cell Mates 108 CHAPTER 8 Supersizing in Wonderland 124 CHAPTER 9 The Fragile Species 145 CHAPTER 10 The Tinkerers 161 CHAPTER 11 Microbes on Mars and Butterflies on Venus? 173 Further Readings 187 Index 191

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Book SynopsisEdward Lear, known as an author of nonsense verse, was also an artist and natural history illustrator.Trade Review"As Robert McCracken Peck shows us in his The Natural History of Edward Lear, when it comes to realistic animal portraiture, Lear could have run circles around any of his successors. He simply chose not to."---Emily Donaldson, Globe and Mail"This book is much recommended and indeed an essential reference for this rather under-researched part of Lear’s artistic life."---Clemency Fisher, Archives of Natural History"An engaging history of the remarkable 19th century artist, Edward Lear. . . . The Natural History of Edward Lear is an important and insightful description of the artist’s career with convincing evidence that his unique contributions continue to influence our artistic and literary culture."---Tony Angell, Wilson Journal of Ornithology

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[An] excellent book. . . . If you have been indifferent to seaweeds and other algae before reading this book, I guarantee you that you will henceforth see them in a totally different light. You will learn, you will appreciate, you will marvel, and you will yearn to know more."---David Gascoigne, Travels with Birds"Dip into this book and the chances are that you’ll start noticing and appreciating underwater plant life in an entirely new way."---Steve Weinman, Divernet"A highly informative, profusely illustrated book."---Anthony Payne, Glasgow Naturalist Society

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Be sure to place this book on your wish list for birthdays or other special occaisons."---David Gascoigne, Travels with Birds"[This book] lavishly illustrates a dazzling array of beetles."---Frances McKim, Pest Magazine"I find this book amazing."---P. Kozel, European Journal of Entomology"[This book] provides enough detail to excite almost any reader - including insect haters!"---Geoff Carpentier, North Durham Nature"[An] interesting and well-written book on beetles."---D.A. Brass, Choice""A perfect introduction to the incredible world of beetles. It’s simply a beautiful crafted, stimulating educational book and well worth every penny.""---Roy Stewart, British Naturalists Association"Well written and nicely illustrated with a selection of numerous full-color photographs that highlight the rich variety of beetles worldwide."---D.A. Brass, Choice

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Book SynopsisFrom "Mother Earth" to "Mother Nature," women have for centuries been associated with nature. Feminists, troubled by the way in which such representations show women controlled by powerful natural forces and confined to domestic space, have sought to...Trade ReviewUndomesticated Ground explores a dazzling array of feminist texts that endeavour to inhabit and transform nature as a place of feminist possibility. Throughout, Alaimo remains sensitive to the pitfalls of any alliance between women and nature. The texts are grouped chronologically and thematically, and each is carefully considered in relation to its social and historical moment. -- Meredith Criglington * Canadian Literature *Stacy Alaimo challenges essentialized conceptions of nature in Undomesticated Ground, calling for nature's reclamation as feminist space.... Alaimo persuasively asserts that feminism will benefit from a more complex understanding of nature's multiple and, at times, contradictory representations.... Her work importantly lays the groundwork by which we can articulate essentialized notions of nature, disrupt them, and then question the framework of dualisms that guides our inquiry. -- Maureen McKnight, University of Wisconsin * ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment *Undomesticated Ground is an important and informative book, and it should set the stage for an enlivened discussion of nature and feminism. * Choice *Alaimo's Undmesticated Ground: Recasting Nature as Feminist Space ... takes on the important work of dismantling nature–culture dualisms in which culture is viewed as dynamic and nature as static.... Alaimo offers feminists an alternative path in which boundaries between human and nonhuman nature are permeable but not completely collapsed. -- Shannon Sullivan * Hypatia *Students of nature writing, women's literature, and more familiar forms of imaginary domesticity will find rich insights in Undomesticated Ground. -- Barbara Ryan, University of Missouri * American Literature *Throughout the book, Alaimo shows that women have made subversive use of the particular literary, political, and gender conventions around them to create spaces for and threads of women's liberation that do not rest on a separation from nature.... These insights are complex and generative, and I found Alaimo's analysis to be rich and thought-provoking.... In both form and content, then, this is an important book for ecological scholars of all traditions. Read it with pleasure. -- Catriona Sandilands, York University * Environmental Ethics *

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Book SynopsisThrow it in your backpack, hop on the subway, and explore.Trade ReviewDr. Day... A sort of Julia Child of nature. -- Ellen Pall New York Times 2007 This little gem fills you in on everything finned, furred, feathered, or leafed, and how to find it, in all five boroughs. House and Garden 2007 Provides historic facts, photographs and maps to give a snapshot of the city's natural resources and to remind hard-charging New Yorkers of the unchanging parts of their environment. -- Sally Goldenberg Staten Island Advance 2007 A complete guide for the urban naturalist. -- Greg Rienzi Gazette 2007 Describes how to find and explore some of the greener parts of the concrete jungle. -- Walter Dawkins The Record 2007 This book should be in every New Yorker's library as both reference and inspiration for low-carbon-impact journeys to places of unexpected beauty and tranquility. Crawford-Doyle Booksellers Newsletter 2007 You may well wonder why I am reviewing a book about New York city when we preach 'local, local, local' throughout these pages. I'll tell you, because this beautifully illustrated handbook is a wonderful example of exploring the bucolic city... All illustrated with gorgeous watercolors by Klingler. We should have one of these. But in the meantime, you will find many of the same species in our fair cities., so why not pick up a copy for inspiration? Minneapolis Observer Quarterly 2007 A guidebook to nature in the Big Apple would range from slim to empty, one might think. Try again. Painted turtles, American eels, dwarf centipedes, Eastern spotted newts, black-crowned night herons and Manhattan schist rocks are among the highlights of Leslie Day's Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City. -- Robin Lloyd www.livescience.com 2007 Leslie Day ('a child of Manhattan') reveals hidden depths of this urban behemoth... A wonderful guide to the green side of the Big Apple. -- PDSmith Guardian 2008 This guide is useful for students and anyone interested in locating and identifying the flora and fauna of New York City. -- Denise A. Garofalo American Reference Books Annual 2008 Wonderfuly written and well organized... In short, this useful book is, quite simply, beautiful. Living the Scientific Life 2008 This is a unique an excellent beginner's guide... Highly recommended. International Hawkwatcher 2008 Useful for students and anyone interested in locating and identifying the flora and fauna of New York City. -- Denise Garofalo ARBA Online 2008 The scientific detail is appropriate for all levels, and additional readings are referenced in a selected bibliography. Highly recommended. Choice 2008Table of ContentsForeword, by Michael R. BloombergAcknowledgments1. The Natural History of New York City2. The ParksThe BronxBrooklynManhattanQueensStaten Island3. Forever Wild4. AnimalsINVERTEBRATESAnnelidEarthwormArachnidsHorseshoe CrabDaddy LonglegsGoldenrod SpiderRabid Wolf SpiderMyriopodsHoffman's Dwarf CentipedeGarden CentipedeGarden MillipedeInsectsPyralis FireflyTwo-Spotted Ladybug BeetleHoneybeeEastern Carpenter BeeYellow JacketCommon Green Darner DragonflyEastern Amberwing DragonflyEastern Forktail DamselflyPolyphemus MothEastern Tent MothCabbage White ButterflyMourning Cloak ButterflyEastern Tiger Swallowtail ButterflyEastern Black Swallowtail ButterflyMonarch ButterflyCrustaceansPillbugSowbugBlue CrabNorthern Rock BarnacleSpiny Cheek CrayfishVERTEBRATESFishAmerican EelStriped BassPumpkinseed SunfishBluegillLargemouth BassAmphibiansAmerican BullfrogFowler's ToadRed-Backed SalamanderEastern Spotted NewtReptilesCommon Snapping TurtleDiamondback TerrapinEastern Painted TurtleEastern Garter SnakeBirdsDouble-Crested CormorantMute SwanCanada GooseBrant GooseAmerican Black DuckMallard DuckWood DuckCanvasback DuckBufflehead DuckRed-Breasted MerganserHooded MerganserGreat Blue HeronBlack-Crowned Night HeronRed-Tailed HawkOspreyPeregrine FalconBarn OwlMonk ParakeetRuby-Throated HummingbirdRed-Bullied WoodpeckerBlue JayBlack-Capped ChickadeeTufted TitmouseWhite-Breasted NuthatchGray CatbirdNorthern MockingbirdAmerican RobinBlack-and-White WarblerCommon YellowthroatYellow WarblerRed-Winged BlackbirdEuropean StarlingBaltimore OrioleScarlet TanagerHouse SparrowDark-Eyed JuncoNorthern CardinalHouse FinchAmerican GoldfinchWhite-Throated SparrowMAMMALSEastern Red BatLittle Brown BatBig Brown BatCommon RaccoonEastern ChipmunkEastern Gray SquirrelOpossumRed Fox5. PlantsAQUATIC PLANTSCommon CattailCommon ReedWILDFLOWERSRed and White CloverCommon MilkweedCommon MulleinDandelionBlack-Eyed SusanTREESEastern White PineAustrian PineBald CypressAilanthusAmerican ElmAmerican HornbeamGinkgoHorsechestnut TreeLindensHoney LocustBlack LocustSugar MapleRed MapleNorway MapleWhite Mulberry TreeRed Mulberry TreeEastern White OakNorthern Red OakPin OakOsage OrangeEastern RedbudSweetgumLondon PlaneAmerican SycamoreTulip TreeWeeping WillowWild CherryNATIVE SHRUBSSpicebushCommon ElderberryArrowwood ViburnumNONNATIVE SHRUBSButterfly RushRugosa Rose6. MushroomsArtist's ConkChicken Mushroom, or Chicken-of-the-WoodsTurkey Tail7. GeologyFordham GneissInwood MarbleManhattan SchistSerpenteniteHartland FormationOrganizationsBibliographyIndexCredits

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Book SynopsisPiecing together evidence from both molecular biology and the fossil record, Archibald shows how science is edging closer to understanding exactly what happened during the mass extinctions near the K/T boundary and the radiation that followed.Trade ReviewHighly recommended. Choice A learned essay, written clearly and attractively for students and the public. -- Michael J. Benton Cambridge Archaeological Journal What makes Archibald's book a highly recommendable example of the scientific process is that the author carefully lays out all the paleontological evidence available to him and uses that evidence to evaluate the many possible explanations of the extinction, discussing the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of each explanation in the process. Reports of the National Center for Science Education This is a learned essay, written clearly and attractively for students and the public. -- Michael J. Benton Geological Magazine An excellent compendium of the current state of paleontological knowledge about the contemporaneous histories of these two groups. -- Mark A. McPeek Quarterly Review of Biology A highly recommendable example of the scientific process is that the author carefully lays out all the paleontological evidence available to him and uses that evidence to evaluate the many possible explanations of the extinction. -- P David Polly Reports of the National Center for Science Education The book itself is a handsome quarto volume illustrated by good drawings and graphs. It will be most useful to paleontologists, evolutionary biologists and biogeographers. It will stand as a good example of what can be accomplished in academia. Priscum, Newsletter of the Paleontological Society Books like Extinction and Radiation enable interested members of the general public to share in the excitement of the arugment. -- Nicholas Gould International Zoo News This volume is logically organized, easily readable, and a noteworthy synthesis of the current state of our knowledge of the disappearance of nonavian dinosaurs and mammalian radiation. It is a useful reference from an acknowledged authority in the field and valuable for students, teachers, scientists, and all people interested in the evolution and fate of our planet and its biodiversity. Journal of MammalogyTable of ContentsPreface1. The Late Cretaceous Nonavian Dinosaur Record2. In the Shadow of Nonavian Dinosaurs3. In Search of Our Most Ancient Eutherian Ancestors4. Patterns of Extinction at the K/ T Boundary5. Causes of Extinction at the K/ T Boundary6. After the Impact: Modern Mammals, When and WhenceEpilogueNotesReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisDe-centering the human, the essays collected in Elemental Ecocriticism provide important correctives to the idea of the material world as mere resource. A renewed intimacy with the elemental holds the potential for a more dynamic environmental ethics and the possibility of a reinvigorated materialism.Trade Review"The mixture here is rich, exhilarat- ing, and while the processes of creating this collection were evidently equally so for the contributors, and while the result is illuminating and at times almost heady for the reader, it behoves us to bear in mind the toxic within such intoxication and seek a little grit amongst the mud."—Green LettersTable of ContentsContentsIntroduction: Eleven Principles of the ElementsJeffrey Jerome Cohen and Lowell Duckert1. Pyromena: Fire’s DoingAnne Harris2. PhlogistonSteve Mentz3. Airy SomethingValerie Allen4. The Sea AboveJeffrey Jerome Cohen5. Muddy ThinkingSharon O'Dair6. The Quintessence of WitChris Barrett7. Wet?Julian Yates8. Creeping Things: Spontaneous Generation and Material CreativityKarl Steel9. Earth’s ProspectsLowell DuckertLove and Strife: Response EssaysElementalityTimothy MortonElemental Relations at the EdgeCary WolfeElemental Love in the AnthropoceneStacy AlaimoCoda: Wandering Elements and Natures to ComeSerpil Oppermann and Serenella IovinoAcknowledgmentsContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisHis compelling, occasionally controversial, revelations-accompanied by spectacular illustrations-are a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in the evolution of the feathered dinosaurs, from vertebrate paleontologists and ornithologists to naturalists and birders.Trade ReviewChatterjee takes us to where long-hidden bird fossils dwell. His compelling, occasionally controversial, revelations-accompanied by spectacular illustrations-are a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in the evolution of 'the feathered dinosaurs,' from vertebrate paleontologists and ornithologists to naturalists and birders... A must have for anyone with a serious interest in fossil birds. Birdbooker Report A beautifully written and illustrated volume on the origin and evolution of birds. -- Michael Hutchins The Rostrum ... An easy read and can and should be read and understood by anyone interested in the subject. British Trust for OrnithologyTable of ContentsPreface to the Second EditionPreface to the First Edition1. Mesozoic Pompeii2. The Evolution of an Airframe3. The Origin of Birds4. Archaeopteryx5. Protoavis6. Basal Avialans7. Pygostylia8. Enantiornithes9. Ornithuromorphs10. The End- Cretaceous Mass Extinction11. The Avian Revolution Begins12. The Origin of Flight13. Eggs, Embryos, and Heterochrony14. Feathers and Footprints15. The Feeding Mechanism and Cranial Kinesis16. Birds and HumansBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewSport Fishing's Fish Facts expert on pelagic species, John Graves, has co-authored—with Bruce Collette—a new and definitive resource, Tunas and Billfishes of the World. With impressively detailed, precise color illustrations by Val Kells, the 352-page volume describes 61 species of mackerels, tunas, swordfish, sailfishes and marlins. The book is certain to become an essential addition to the library of any angler who is serious about bluewater gamefish.—Doug Olander, Sport FishingTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionOrganizationAnatomy and MeasurementsKey to SpeciesFamily ScombridaeFamily XiphiidaeFamily IstiophoridaeGlossary of Terms and AcronymsSelect BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisA call for wildlife conservationists to transcend the boundaries of locality, share best practices, and unite with a common voice to influence global policy. Habitat loss, disease management, predator-human conflict, illegal tradethese are among the many conservation challenges faced by wildlife experts around the world. But how wildlife professionals approach these issues has historically been geographically fragmented. By providing a broad perspective on issues faced by wildlife on an international scale, the authors of International Wildlife Management make vital connections, drawing attention to underlying causes and strategies for mitigation that may look surprisingly similar from Montana to Zimbabwe. Bringing together wildlife professionals from around the globe to discuss shared challenges, International Wildlife Management examines widespread patterns of wildlife loss covers key conservation strategies, including species reintroduction, community engagement, and wildlife commTrade ReviewAs one who often finds himself reading news reports, commentary, and other material on a wide range of wildlife conservation issues, many of which seem mind-bogglingly perplexing in their complexity and – from an amateur's perspective – wholly beyond human capability to solve, I am very excited to see such a book as this now available that can provide not only an insight into how wildlife management professionals approach such challenges, but also that potential solutions are not only possible but are in fact already being tested and implemented in the field.—Johannes E. Riutta, The Well-Read NaturalistInternational Wildlife Management is an excellent book containing 16 chapters, including a 6 page index.—John A. Bissonette, Department of Wildland Resources, Quinney College of Natural Resources, Utah State University, Journal of Wildlife ManagementTable of ContentsList of ContributorsPrefaceAcknowledgments1. International Wildlife: A Global PerspectiveJohn L. Koprowski, Paul R. Krausman, Dun Wang2. Culture, Values, and Governance: Foundations to Systems of Global Wildlife ConservationRonald J. Regan, Shane P. Mahoney, Basile van Havre, Colman O Criodain, Deborah M. Hahn3. Invasive Species: The Challenges of Nonnative Species Establishment and Spread to Native Wildlife PopulationsSandro Bertolino, Lucas A. Wauters, Adriano Martinoli4. Appreciation, Encouragement, and Rating of Wildlife and Nature Conservation on Private LandsDelwin E. Benson, Wouter van Hoven, Yves Lecocq, Bob van den Brink5. Habitat Loss and FragmentationHsiang Ling Chen, Gabrielle Beca, Mauro Galetti, Chiachun Tsai, Wei Hua Xu, Jing Jing Zhang, Patrick Zollner6. Consequences of Climate Change for Wildlife Marta A. Jarzyna, Victoria L. Atkin Dahm, Benjamin Zuckerberg, William F. Porter7. Global Energy Sprawl: Scale and SolutionsJoseph M. Kiesecker, David E. Naugle8. Wildlife Disease Management in the Global ContextSamantha M. Wisely9. The Effects of Wildlife-Based EcotourismWalt Anderson, Marissa C. G. Altmann10. Carnivores, Coexistence, and Conservation in the AnthropoceneDavid Christianson, Menna Jones11. Moving Animals in the Right Direction: Making Conservation Translocation an Effective ToolRonald R. Swaisgood, Carlos Ruiz-Miranda12. Poaching, Illegal Wildlife Trade, and Bushmeat Hunting in India and South AsiaShekhar K. Niraj, Shreya Sethi, S. P. Goyal, Amar N. Choudhary13. Management of Migratory Wildlife and Others Influenced by BorderlandsAndrea Santangeli, Shambhu Paudel14. International Organizations and Programs for Wildlife ConservationJohn F. Organ, Gonzalo Medina-Vogel, Tsuyoshi Yoshida15. Local Approaches and Community-Based ConservationJohn L. Koprowski, José F. González-Maya, Diego A. Zárrate-Charry, Uday R. Sharma, Craig Spencer16. Getting Involved: Advice for Students and Wildlife ProfessionalsRobert A. McCleery, Julie T. Shapiro, Karen Bailey, Thomas K. FrazerIndex

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Book SynopsisA look at how wildlife professionals can modernize their approaches to habitat and population management with a fresh take on animal ecology. How can we maximize the probability that a species of wild animal will persist into the future? This audacious book proposes that advancing animal ecologyand conservation itselfdemands that we reenvision our basic understanding of how animals interact with their environments and with each other. Synthesizing where we are and where we need to go with our studies of animals and their environs, Foundations for Advancing Animal Ecology asserts that studies of animal ecology should begin with a focus on the behaviors and characteristics of individual organisms. The book examines the limitations of classic approaches to the study of animal ecology how organisms organize into collections, such as breeding pairs, flocks, and herds how the broader biotic and abiotic environment shapes animal populations, communities, and ecosystems factors underlying thTable of ContentsPreface About the Authors Chapter 1. Operating Concepts for Animal Ecology Chapter 2. The Study of Habitat: A Historical and Philosophical Perspective Chapter 3. Heterogeneity and Disturbance Chapter 4. The Evolutionary Perspective: Linking Habitat to Population Chapter 5. Species Occurrence in Time and Space: Synthesis and Advancement Chapter 6. Managing Wild Animal Populations and Habitats in an Evolutionary and Ecosystem Context Chapter 7. Putting Concepts into Practice: Guidelines for Developing Study Plans Index

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Book SynopsisHow the 1970s energy crisis facilitated a neoliberal shift in US political culture. In Energizing Neoliberalism, Caleb Wellum offers a provocative account of how the 1970s energy crisis helped to recreate postwar America. Rather than think of the crisis as the obvious outcome of the decade's oil shocks, Wellum unpacks the cultural construction of a crisis of energy across different sectors of society, from presidents, policy experts, and environmentalists to filmmakers, economists, and oil futures traders. He shows how the dominant meanings ascribed to the 1970s energy crisis helped to energize neoliberal visions of renewed abundance and power through free market values and approaches to energy. Deeply researched in federal archives, expert discourse, and popular culture, Energizing Neoliberalism demonstrates the central role that energy crisis narratives played in America's neoliberal turn. Wellum traces the roots of the crisis to the consumption practices and cultural narratives spTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction. Energy in CrisisChapter 1. "Is America Running Out of Gas?": Assembling the Energy CrisisChapter 2. "A Time to Choose": Interpreting the Energy CrisisChapter 3. "A Vibrant National Preoccupation": The Energy Conservation Ethic and Market ForcesChapter 4. "Put Your Foot on the Pedal": Contesting Conservation in Seventies Car CinemaChapter 5. "Markets Born of Shocks": NYMEX Oil Futures, Financialization, and Neoliberal NarrativesEpilogue. Enduring CrisisNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisBats of the West Indies is a concise guide to the sixty-one bat species found across the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the Lesser Antilles. Edited by Allen Kurta and Armando Rodríguez-Durán, this volume synthesizes the expertise of twenty-nine accomplished chiropterologists to present up-to-date information on the natural history, ecology, and behavior of these fascinating creatures.Bats represent an evolutionarily distinctive and ecologically significant part of biological diversity in the West Indies. Opening chapters introduce readers to the unique biology of bats, factors influencing their distribution, and conservation concerns. Family and species accounts detail anatomical traits, natural history, and conservation status. With over a one hundred illustrations, a glossary, and other useful identification tools, Bats of the West Indies is an authoritative yet accessible reference for bat enthusiasts and experts alike.

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Book SynopsisHow afforestation reveals the often-concealed politics between humans and plantsIn Plant Life, Rosetta S. Elkin explores the procedures of afforestation, the large-scale planting of trees in otherwise treeless environments, including grasslands, prairies, and drylands. Elkin reveals that planting a tree can either be one of the ultimate offerings to thriving on this planet, or one of the most extreme perversions of human agency over it. Using three supracontinental case studies—scientific forestry in the American prairies, colonial control in Africa’s Sahelian grasslands, and Chinese efforts to control and administer territory—Elkin explores the political implications of plant life as a tool of environmentalism. By exposing the human tendency to fix or solve environmental matters by exploiting other organisms, this work exposes the relationship between human and plant life, revealing that afforestation is not an ecological act: rather, it is deliberately political and distressingly social. Plant Life ultimately reveals that afforestation cannot offset deforestation, an important distinction that sheds light on current environmental trends that suggest we can plant our way out of climate change. By radicalizing what conservation protects and by framing plants in their total aliveness, Elkin shows that there are many kinds of life—not just our own—to consider when advancing environmental policy. Trade Review "In Plant Life, the misadventures of tree planting campaigns around the world expose a fundamental failure to understand things that are alive. Human cultivation—a blunt apparatus often focused only on an above-ground outcropping—usually manages to kill plants. Rosetta S. Elkin’s lush and stringent narratives travel instead within the roots and ramifying relationships that huge forests and grasslands generate when they are simply allowed to grow—a live rhizosphere in the crust of the earth."—Keller Easterling, Yale University "With climate change comes a recognition that we are part of a global landscape and that we need to think at this scale. However, even as we need to ‘think global, act local,’ what Rosetta S. Elkin shows in her in her deep and multi-faceted reading of afforestation projects is that in doing so we must really ‘think local, act global.’"—Julian Raxworthy, University of Canberra "Tightly argued and rigorously researched, Plant Life draws on history, geography, political ecology, botany, landscape ecology, and climate science to present a powerful critique of afforestation. "—Landscape Architecture Magazine "Delving into philosophical treatises, colonial archives, and botanical manuals that span such themes as soil science, plant morphology, and taxonomy, Elkin convincingly argues that planting is a social—not ecological—act that radically reshapes landscapes based on models of standardization and replicability."—H-Net Reviews Table of ContentsContentsPrefaceAbbreviationsIntroductionArtifact1. The Problem of Parts2. Great Green Wall3. Genus FaidherbiaIndex4. Confronting Treelessness5. Prairie States Forestry Project6. Ulmus pumilaL.Trace7. Contextual Indifference8. Three Norths Shelter System9. Species PopulusEpilogueNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisExamining the appearance of nonhuman animals laboring alongside humans in humanitarian operations Both critical and mainstream scholarly work on humanitarianism have largely been framed from anthropocentric perspectives highlighting humanity as the rationale for providing care to others. In Nonhuman Humanitarians, Benjamin Meiches explores the role of animals laboring alongside humans in humanitarian operations, generating new ethical possibilities of care in humanitarian practice.Nonhuman Humanitarians examines how these animals not only improve specific practices of humanitarian aid but have started to transform the basic tenets of humanitarianism. Analyzing case studies of mine-clearance dogs, milk-producing cows and goats, and disease-identifying rats, Nonhuman Humanitarians ultimately argues that nonhuman animal contributions problematize foundational assumptions about the emotional and rational capacities of humanitarian actors as well as the ethical focus on human suffering that defines humanitarianism.Meiches reveals that by integrating nonhuman animals into humanitarian practice, several humanitarian organizations have effectively demonstrated that care, compassion, and creativity are creaturely rather than human and that responses to suffering and injustice do not—and cannot—stop at the boundaries of the human.Trade Review "In this incisive exploration of the ethical and political implications of nonhuman labor in humanitarian work, Benjamin Meiches raises important questions about how humanitarian practices of care and generosity may be expanded beyond the constraints of anthropocentric reason to serve a global multispecies community facing the simultaneous and intensifying threats of climate change, ecological collapse, mass extinction, and violent conflict."—Elan Abrell, author of Saving Animals: Multispecies Ecologies of Rescue and Care "For those that would dispute the relevance of the more-than-human in the study of international relations, Nonhuman Humanitarians constitutes a significant rejoinder. Benjamin Meiches’s book examines the intersection between humanitarian practice and the small, though growing, literature on the role of our fellow species in conflict situations. It has much to teach about human–nonhuman relations, the practice of humanitarianism, and the ethics of both."—Stephen Hobden, coauthor of The Emancipatory Project of Posthumanism

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Book SynopsisLife on Earth is facing a mass extinction event of our own making. Human activity is changing the biology and the meaning of extinction. What Is Extinction? examines several key moments that have come to define the terms of extinction over the past two centuries, exploring instances of animal and human finitude and the cultural forms used to document and interpret these events. Offering a critical theory for the critically endangered, Joshua Schuster proposes that different discourses of limits and lastness appear in specific extinction events over time as a response to changing attitudes toward species frailty. Understanding these extinction events also involves examining what happens when the conceptual and cultural forms used to account for species finitude are pressed to their limits as well. Schuster provides close readings of several case studies of extinction that bring together environmental humanities and multispecies methods with media-specific analyses at the terminus of life. What Is Extinction? delves into the development of last animal photography, the anthropological and psychoanalytic fascination with human origins and ends, the invention of new literary genres of last fictions, the rise of new extreme biopolitics in the Third Reich that attempted to change the meaning of extinction, and the current pursuit of de-extinction technologies. Schuster offers timely interpretations of how definitions and visions of extinction have changed in the past and continue to change in the present.Table of ContentsIntroduction | 1 Part I 1 Photographing the Last Animal | 43 2 Indigeneity and Anthropology in Last Worlds | 69 Part II 3 Literary Extinctions and the Existentiality of Reading | 109 4 Concepts of Extinction in the Holocaust | 134 Part III 5 Critical Theory for the Critically Endangered | 167 6 What Is De-Extinction? | 198 Conclusion | 231 Acknowledgments | 247 Notes | 251 Index | 279

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Book SynopsisMy One-Eyed, Three-Legged Therapist: How My Cat Clio Saved Me is the story of how an adorable, spunky, gray-and-white kitten helped the author regain the courage to face life's challenges and realize that none of us is truly alone. Born into poverty, losing her dad at age seven, and targeted by bullies, Kathy turned to pets for unconditional love and acceptance. A difficult childhood led to an abusive marriage, but things changed on her fortieth birthday when her staff at the organization where she worked gave her an extraordinary cat named Clio. The runt of the litter, a two-time cancer survivor, and a special needs cat, Clio nevertheless had an incredible will to live full tilt. This intrepid feline knew no fear and displayed unlimited self-confidence. She overcame not one, but two, disabilities. By watching Clio thrive despite what life threw at her, Kathy was able to put her own life in perspective by learning to accept the past, embrace the present, and look forward to the future.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines how World War II is portrayed in school history textbooks from various nations. It highlights the differing narratives used to instill national pride and collective memory, analyzing how textbooks serve as tools for socialization and propaganda, shaped by ideological and sociopolitical forces.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisEnrich your next sea vacation with this fun how-to guide to observing and doing astrophotography on water. Collecting together the author’s five decades of astrophotography and teaching experience, this book shares all the practical information you will need to start on your own astronomy adventure.Part I is full of practical advice on what to pack, the best ways to enjoy the night sky from your cruise ship observatory, specific astronomical objects and events to look out for, and myriad other useful tips. Part II gives you a crash course on astrophotography at sea, teaching you the nitty-gritty details of taking pictures of the night sky. Proof that it can be done is provided by the many amazing color astrophotographs taken by the author while following the steps laid out in this book.Trade Review“I think this is quite an interesting book and I would recommend it to someone who is about to try the cruising experience for the first time and wants to capture the beauty of a total eclipse of the Sun or the night sky at sea. It is inexpensive and can be fairly described as a go-to resource for the cruise-boat astrophotographer.” (Steve Bell, The Observatory, Vol. 139 (1272), October, 2019)Table of ContentsDedication.- Acknowledgements.- - Author's Note.- Preface.- Part 1:Cruise Ship Astronomy.- Chapter 1: Cruise Considerations and What To Pack Astronomy-Wise.- Chapter 2: Big Bang to Homo Erectus to Multi-Messenger Astronomy.- Chapter 3: Using Your Ship-Observatory at Sea.- Chapter 4: The Sky - Location, Location, Location.- Chapter 5: The Sun, Sunsets, Sunrises and Other Sun Stuff.- Chapter 6: The Stars.- Chapter 7: The Milky Way and Other Galaxies.- Chapter 8: The Planets.- Chapter 9: The Moon.- Chapter 10: Eclipses.- Chapter 11: Spotting the International Space Station and Satellites.- Chapter 12: Asteroids and Comets, Meteor Showers and Falling Stars, Fireballs and Bolides.- Chapter 13: Auroras and Other Glows in the Sea and Sky.- Part II: Astrophotography At Sea.- Chapter 14: Yes, It Can Be Done and What You Will Need to Do So.- Chapter 15: Redfern’s Rules of Astrophotography At Sea.- Chapter 16: About Your Photo Studio - Ship Tips.- Chapter 17: Taking What the Sea, Sky and Ship Will Give You.- Chapter 18: Process, Post and Print.- Chapter 19: Moving the Astrophotography Bug Ashore.- Appendix: Suggested Reading and Internet Sites.- About the Author.- Index.

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