Nature and the natural world: general interest Books
American Traveler Press Country Journal
Book SynopsisYour own personal diary with excerpts from Grayson''s writing and lots of space for your own reflections.
£9.89
Island Press The Wilderness Condition: Essays On Environment
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£50.35
Island Press Statewide Wetlands Strategies
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£36.10
Island Press These American Lands: Parks, Wilderness, and the
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£30.40
Island Press How to Save a River: A Handbook For Citizen
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£32.30
Island Press More Tree Talk: The People, Politics, and
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£38.00
Island Press The Clean Water Act 20 Years Later
Book Synopsis This volume explores the issues associated with the complex subject of water quality protection in an assessment of the successes and failures of the Clean Water Act over the past twenty years. In addition to examining traditional indicators of water quality, the authors consider how health concerns of the public have been addressed, and present a detailed examination of the ecological health of our waters. Taken together, these measures present a far more complete and balanced picture than raw water quality data alone. As well as reviewing past effectiveness, the book includes specific recommendations for the reauthorization of the Act, which is to be considered by Congress in 1995. This balanced and insightful account will surely shape the debate among legislative and policy experts and citizen activists at all levels who are concerned with issues of water quality.
£32.30
Island Press Reinventing Nature?: Responses To Postmodern
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£27.55
Island Press Nature's Services: Societal Dependence On Natural
Book SynopsisAn overview of the benefits and services that nature offers to people. The contributors present a detailed synthesis of our current understanding of a suite of ecosystem services and a preliminary assessment of their economic value.
£32.30
Island Press The Rain Forests of Home: Profile Of A North
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£42.75
Island Press Which World Scenarios for the 21st Century
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£27.90
Island Press Jaguar: One Man's Struggle to Establish the
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£27.83
Northword Press,U.S. Tree
Book SynopsisThrough the help of die-cut pages which get longer as the subject grows bigger, another title in an innovative series describes the physical characteristics of an apple tree as it grows from a seed to a sapling to a full-grown, fruiting tree.
£12.34
Farcountry Press The Field Guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton
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£22.46
Farcountry Press Wild River Pioneers (2nd Ed): Adventures in the
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£20.66
Rowman & Littlefield Nevada Wildlife Viewing Guide
Book SynopsisFifty-five viewing sites.
£6.82
Rowman & Littlefield The Trees of Florida
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£25.00
Rowman & Littlefield The Trees of Florida
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£21.80
Rowman & Littlefield Living Beaches of Georgia and the Carolinas
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£22.97
Rowman & Littlefield Botanical Keys to Florida's Trees, Shrubs, and
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£13.49
Rowman & Littlefield Shark Tooth Hunting on the Carolina Coast
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£14.09
Rowman & Littlefield The Biohistory of Florida
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£14.20
Rowman & Littlefield Barrier Islands of the Florida Gulf Coast
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£14.95
Rowman & Littlefield Florida's Living Beaches: A Guide for the Curious
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£21.63
Workman Publishing The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements
Book Synopsis"You know a book is good when you actually welcome one of those howling days of wind and sleet that makes going out next to impossible." —The New York Times In The Earth Moved, Amy Stewart takes us on a journey through the underground world and introduces us to one of its most amazing denizens. The earthworm may be small, spineless, and blind, but its impact on the ecosystem is profound. It ploughs the soil, fights plant diseases, cleans up pollution, and turns ordinary dirt into fertile land. Who knew? In her witty, offbeat style, Stewart shows that much depends on the actions of the lowly worm. Charles Darwin devoted his last years to the meticulous study of these creatures, praising their remarkable abilities. With the august scientist as her inspiration, Stewart investigates the worm's subterranean realm, talks to oligochaetologists—the unsung heroes of earthworm science—who have devoted their lives to unearthing the complex life beneath our feet, and observes the thousands of worms in her own garden. From the legendary giant Australian worm that stretches to ten feet in length to the modest nightcrawler that wormed its way into the heart of Darwin's last book to the energetic red wigglers in Stewart's compost bin, The Earth Moved gives worms their due and exposes their hidden and extraordinary universe. This book is for all of us who appreciate Mother Nature's creatures, no matter how humble.
£13.15
Algonquin Books Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Childern from
Book SynopsisLouv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists to find ways for children to experience the natural world more deeply.
£15.28
Crystal Clarity,U.S. Listening to Nature: How to Deepen Your Awareness
Book SynopsisLISTENING TO NATURE will help you experience more fully the serenity and mystery of the natural world.Joseph Cornell, author of the bestselling Sharing Nature with Children, offers a sensitive yet lively guidebook to a deeper awareness of nature. You will learn how to get the feel of nature through inspiring quotations from famous naturalists, stunning photography and Cornell''s ever-popular nature awareness activities-simple, enjoyable exercises that give you a direct, personal experience of the wonder and joy of nature.You do not have to be in the wilderness to do these activities. In fact, you can do many of them while driving or walking to work. As you use these activities, more and more, your receptivity will increase and you''ll begin to see beauty in the most common things. Use this book and its gentle encouragement for personal meditation or as an aid for teaching nature awareness to children and adults. Through this book you will learn to be still and silent, to absorb the wonder of your natural surroundings. You will feel and appreciate-and become one with-the great outdoors: its woodlands, mountains, streams and fields. Let this book transport your spirit to the heart of crystal clear springs and ancient forests-and to your own still centre, deep within.
£18.04
Temple University Press,U.S. People And The Planet: Holism and Humanism in
Book SynopsisA new environmental ethic calls for the protection of the Earth while recognizing the special nature of humansTable of ContentsForeword --Holmes Rolston, III Introduction 1. Changing Perspectives on Nature 2. Holistic Philosophy and Ethics 3. Holism and Individuals 4. Anthropocentrism in Environmental Ethics 5. Knowledge of the Good and the Bad 6. Deciding What We Should Do 7. The Status of Values in Nature 8. Contextual Environmental Ethics 9. Moral Pluralism 10. Moral Disagreement 11. The Moral Adequacy of Humanistic Holism Notes Bibliography Index
£64.80
Temple University Press,U.S. Nature's Keeper
Book SynopsisIn the West, humans tend to separate themselves from nature, valuing nature only as a means of meeting their own needs and happiness. This domination of nature often fosters human oppression instead of freedom and progress, as those who ignore abuses of nature tend to disregard human injustice as well. Peter S. Wenz argues that this oppression involves such destructive forces as sexism, ethnic strife, and political repression, including repression of the nuclear power industry's victims. Catastrophes like the Holocaust and the Gulf War are the result. In contrast to the destructive "separate from nature" attitude, Wenz looks to various indigenous peoples as an example of societies where human beings revere nature for itself - societies where human beings flourish as individuals, in families, and in communities. Unlike societies dependent on commerce and industry, many indigenous peoples consider themselves part of a circle of life, reaping benefits far greater than the technological advances of the West. Wenz considers how to adopt the perspective of some indigenous cultures and how to make it work in our fast-food world. Additionally, he uses a trip to the World Uranium Hearings in Salzburg as a vehicle for understanding complex philosophical issues from consumerism to anthropocentrism. Author note: Peter S. Wenz, Professor of Philosophy and Legal Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield, is the author of Environmental Justice, Abortion Rights as Religious Freedom (Temple), and co-editor with Laura Westra of Faces of Environmental Racism.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Flying on Faith * A Call to Hear * People against Nature * An Indigenous Perspective * The Paradoxical Thesis * The Intellectual Journey 1. Our Christian Heritage Plague and Passion Play * Anthropocentrism and Original Sin * Insecurity Breeds Concentration of Power * Medieval Repression of People * Secularizing Jeopardy and Power * The Separation of Mind from Body 2. Commercialism The Five-Part Pattern in Commercialism * Comparative Advantage and the Promised Future 3. Industrialism Standardization and Centralization * Industrialism and Commercialism * The Industrial Revolution, Colonialism, and Slavery * Faith in Progress * Class Stratification * Skepticism about Darwin's Theory * The Industrial Evolutionary Theory * Social Darwinism's Justification of Inequality * Sociobiology and the Subordination of Women * Suppressing Individuality 4. Nationalism, Bureaucracy, and the Holocaust The Importance of Government * The Importance of Nationalism * Dachau and Anti-Semitism * The Inadequacy of Hate * The Nature of Bureaucracy * The Importance of Bureaucracy * Moral Progress * Departure 5. Nuclear Power and Radiation Exposure The Hearing Begins * Dangers of Radiation * Uranium Miners * Uranium Mining as a Radiation Pump * Impact on Indigenous Communities * Creating Radioactivity * International Conspiracy * The Politics of Nuclear Waste * Unjust Distribution of Risks 6. Nuclear Power and Human Oppression Government Subsidies and Financial Failures * Borrowing from Future Generations * The Scarcity of Uranium * Plutonium as a Military Threat * The Global Warming Rationale * The Gulf War * Rejecting Responsibility 7. Indigenous Peace and Prosperity Why Discuss Indigenous Cultures? * Stateless, Egalitarian Indigenous People * Statelessness and Violence * Food Abundance and Population Control * Poverty and Exchange * Industrial Poverty 8. Indigenous World Views Natural Sufficiency and Cyclical Time * Meaning, Security, and Individualism * Rootedness and the Expansion of Society * The Noncommercial and Sacred * Indigenous World Views Are Nature-Friendly 9. Implications Promoting Change * Family Values * Crime, Pornography, Drug Abuse, and the Work Ethic * Creating Jeopardy Is Good Business * Rejecting Utopian Thinking * Invention Is the Mother of Necessity * New Faith and Values 10. Practical Suggestions An Alternative Politics * Agriculture * International Trade * Transportation * Energy, Equity, and Population Control * Living with Nature The Flight Home Smoke in the Cabin * Choosing What to Believe * Denial Sources Index
£72.90
Temple University Press,U.S. Nature's Keeper
Book SynopsisIn the West, humans tend to separate themselves from nature, valuing nature only as a means of meeting their own needs and happiness. This domination of nature often fosters human oppression instead of freedom and progress, as those who ignore abuses of nature tend to disregard human injustice as well. Peter S. Wenz argues that this oppression involves such destructive forces as sexism, ethnic strife, and political repression, including repression of the nuclear power industry's victims. Catastrophes like the Holocaust and the Gulf War are the result. In contrast to the destructive "separate from nature" attitude, Wenz looks to various indigenous peoples as an example of societies where human beings revere nature for itself - societies where human beings flourish as individuals, in families, and in communities.Unlike societies dependent on commerce and industry, many indigenous peoples consider themselves part of a circle of life, reaping benefits far greater than the technological advances of the West. Wenz considers how to adopt the perspective of some indigenous cultures and how to make it work in our fast-food world. Additionally, he uses a trip to the World Uranium Hearings in Salzburg as a vehicle for understanding complex philosophical issues from consumerism to anthropocentrism. Peter S. Wenz, Professor of Philosophy and Legal Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield, is the author of "Environmental Justice", "Abortion Rights as Religious Freedom" (Temple), and co-editor with Laura Westra of "Faces of Environmental Racism".Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Flying on Faith A Call to Hear People against Nature An Indigenous Perspective The Paradoxical Thesis The Intellectual Journey 1. Our Christian Heritage Plague and Passion Play Anthropocentrism and Original Sin Insecurity Breeds Concentration of Power Medieval Repression of People Secularizing Jeopardy and Power The Separation of Mind from Body 2. Commercialism The Five-Part Pattern in Commercialism Comparative Advantage and the Promised Future 3. Industrialism Standardization and Centralization Industrialism and Commercialism The Industrial Revolution, Colonialism, and Slavery Faith in Progress Class Stratification Skepticism about Darwin's Theory The Industrial Evolutionary Theory Social Darwinism's Justification of Inequality Sociobiology and the Subordination of Women Suppressing Individuality 4. Nationalism, Bureaucracy, and the Holocaust The Importance of Government The Importance of Nationalism Dachau and Anti-Semitism The Inadequacy of Hate The Nature of Bureaucracy The Importance of Bureaucracy Moral Progress Departure 5. Nuclear Power and Radiation Exposure The Hearing Begins Dangers of Radiation Uranium Miners Uranium Mining as a Radiation Pump Impact on Indigenous Communities Creating Radioactivity International Conspiracy The Politics of Nuclear Waste Unjust Distribution of Risks 6. Nuclear Power and Human Oppression Government Subsidies and Financial Failures Borrowing from Future Generations The Scarcity of Uranium Plutonium as a Military Threat The Global Warming Rationale The Gulf War Rejecting Responsibility 7. Indigenous Peace and Prosperity Why Discuss Indigenous Cultures? Stateless, Egalitarian Indigenous People Statelessness and Violence Food Abundance and Population Control Poverty and Exchange Industrial Poverty 8. Indigenous World Views Natural Sufficiency and Cyclical Time Meaning, Security, and Individualism Rootedness and the Expansion of Society The Noncommercial and Sacred Indigenous World Views Are Nature-Friendly 9. Implications Promoting Change Family Values Crime, Pornography, Drug Abuse, and the Work Ethic Creating Jeopardy Is Good Business Rejecting Utopian Thinking Invention Is the Mother of Necessity New Faith and Values 10. Practical Suggestions An Alternative Politics Agriculture International Trade Transportation Energy, Equity, and Population Control Living with Nature The Flight Home Smoke in the Cabin Choosing What to Believe Denial Sources Index
£25.19
Temple University Press,U.S. Hikes Around Philadelphia
Book SynopsisWant to walk for a leisurely hour or two with the kids? Take them to the Churchville Nature Center, with its re-created Lenape Indian village and children's exhibits. Or would you prefer a more strenuous all-day hike? Try the rocky woods trail at Bake Oven Knob, Bear Rocks, and The Cliffs. Or if you're interested in wildlife, hike Green Lane Reservoir where 260 species of birds have been sighted. Perhaps you'd simply like to hike from Pennsylvania to Delaware and back again. Then White Clay Creek Preserve is for you. These are only five of the forty hiking trails described in Hikes Around Philadelphia. All are within an hour and a half's drive of the city. Ranging from 1.0 to 12.6 miles in length, they will take you through dense forests or wide-open meadows, past early farmsteads or a ringing boulder field from the last ice age. You can break your hike with a visit to a restored home or leave civilization behind on an isolated mountain ridge. Some of the trails are gravel or paved, or are canal towpaths, and are quite suitable for young children, older adults, or wheelchair hikers. Others are longer and more challenging, including rugged sections of the Appalachian Trail and the Horseshoe Trail. For each hike Boyd Newman and Linda Newman provide a detailed write-up, a trail map showing the hike route on a USGS survey map, and directions to the trailhead. They also include information on distance, elevation, probable time, surface, interesting features, facililities, disability access, whether hunting is allowed in the vicinity, and availability to public transportation. This format allows you to browse through the book and easily locate the particular hike that appeals to you today. In a concise introduction, the authors not only explain how to get the most out of the book but also give some hints on hiking safety and appropriate clothing and equipment. This handy reference offers: *a detailed write-up of each hike *easy-to-read trail maps *directions to the trail heads *information that are accessible by public transportation *details about handicap accessibility *lots of other pointers that make planned or last-minute hikes fun and easy for everyoneTable of ContentsLocator Map Introduction Hikes 1. Heinz Wildlife Refuge 2. Scott Arboretum 3. Springfield Trail 4. Leiper-Smedley Trail 5. Tyler Arboretum 6. Ridley Creek 7. Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education 8. Andorra natural Area 9. Wissahickon Gorge 10. Lorimer Park 11. Pennypack Wilderness 12. Neshaminy Park 13. Delhaas Woods and Silver Lake 14. Churchville Nature Center 15. Five-Mile Woods Preserve 16. Tyler State Park 17. Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary 18. Skippack Creek 19. Betzville Railroad Grade-Schuylkill River Trail 20. Valley Forge 21. Struble Trail 22. White Clay Creek Preserve 23. Nottingham Serpentine Barrens 24. French Creek 25. Hopewell Village and Baptism Creek 26. Nolde Forest 27. Daniel Boone Homestead 28. Green Lane Reservoir 29. Peace Valley 30. Bowman's Hill State Wildflower Preserve 31. Tohickon Valley 32. Lake Nockamixon 33. Old Dry Road Farm 34. Ringing Rocks 35. Delaware Canal Towpath 36. Jacobsburg Settlement 37. Bake Oven Knob, Bear Rocks, and the Cliffs 38. The Pinnacle and Pulpit Rock 39. Blue Mountain and Phillips Canyon 40. Sand Spring-Tom Lowe Trail Appendices A. Hikes by Length B. Hikes by Disability Access C. Hike Map Index D. Hikes Near Public Transportation
£18.89
Temple University Press,U.S. Philadelphia Area Weather Book
Book SynopsisThe Philadelphia Area Weather Book answers all of our questions about the region's weather and climate, from the Poconos and Philadelphia to southern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore to Delaware. The snowiest winter? The hottest summer? The strongest tornado? Signs of global warming? Why can't computers give reliable two-week forecasts? The answers are all here in this new paperback.Offering a little-known history of the region's pivotal role in the development of weather science as far back as colonial times, The Philadelphia Area Weather Book gives a lively account of what forecasters actually do on a daily basis.Features include: * "Stories from the Trenches": inside stories of forecasting the big storms; a look back with Philadelphia's television pioneers Wally Kinnan, Dr. Francis Davis, and Herb Clarke; and a glimpse at the possibilities for the future climate of our area *More than 150 illustrations (including 60 photographs, 54 maps, dozens of diagrams, and a 16-page color section): ranging from the first photographic image of lightning to local residents' photos of the Blizzard of '96 and Hurricane Floyd; from the dynamics of air masses to eroding shore lines and global warming trends * Weather tables: statistics for every day of the year, monthly averages as well as temperature and precipitation extremes for Philadelphia, Wilmington, Allentown, and Atlantic City * Lists of web resources organized by topic so that readers can follow current weather events using the same sites as the experts do.Trade Review"When it comes to Philadelphia weather, Jon Nese and Glenn 'Hurricane' Schwartz know what's going on. Now, you can get the best of their knowledge about your weather in a clear, concise, fun book."—Al Roker, NBC's Today Show"Jon Nese and Glenn Schwartz have put together extensive information regarding weather in the Philadelphia area. Rather than just compiling a book of statistics, they have crafted a fascinating book full of stories going far beyond the seasonal variations in the local weather. Their book is sure to be of interest to Philadelphia residents and will serve as an invaluable source of reference material for teachers, the media, emergency managers, and others with an interest in the history of meteorology."—Dr. Greg Forbes, Severe Weather Expert, The Weather Channel"It offers readers insight into the region's seasonal, and quite changeable, weather conditions, the history of weather observation in the area and a slew of fun facts."—Bucks County Courier Times"That synergy between science and entertainment is evident throughout the book. Structured with the rich details of a meteorology primer and the thumbnail sketches of an almanac, this compulsively readable volume also functions as a cultural history of the forecasters and storms embedded in our memories."—Mayfair News"...an outstanding job describing and explaining, in layman's terms, the wide variety of weather phenomenon that affect the city of Philadelphia and its environs."—The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, November 2004"[A] great reference tool for any weather-crazed Philadelphian."—The Philadelphia Evening BulletinTable of ContentsForeword – Edward G. RendellPrefaceAcknowledgments1. History of Weather Science and Observing in the Philadelphia AreaObservations: It all Starts Here • The Modern National Weather Service2. Basics of Weather and Weather ForecastingFrom Folklore to Fundamentals • Basic Building Blocks of Weather and Climate • General Climate Features of the Philadelphia Area • Weather Forecasting3. Winter: December–January–FebruaryTough Forecasting on the Edge • Winter Cold • Winter Snow • Historical Winters4. Spring: March–April–MayFrom Winter to Spring • Nor'easters • Thunderstorms • Tornadoes • River Flooding • Looking Ahead: glimpses of Summer in Spring5. Summer: June–July–AugustHeat and Humidity • Summer Precipitation: Drenching Ran and Drought • Air Pollution • The Shore6. Autumn: September–October–NovemberAutumn: Season of Stability • Hurricanes: The Greatest Storms on Earth • Hurricane Dangers • Hurricane Forecasting • Philadelphia and Coastal Vulnerability • Historical Delaware Valley and Shore Hurricanes • A Philadelphia-area Nightmare Hurricane Scenario • Looking Ahead: Signs of What Is to Come7. Philadelphia's Future ClimateFuture Climate: Months and Season; Future Climate: Years and Decades (and Longer)EpilogueAppendix A: Philadelphia Daily and Monthly Climate DataAppendix B: Climate Data for Wilmington, Delaware; Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Atlantic City, New JerseyNotesBibliographyAdditional Web ResourcesList of IllustrationsList of TablesIndex
£43.70
Interlink Books Southern Mexico (Traveller's Wildlife Guides):
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£25.16
Ivan R Dee, Inc Back from the Land: How Young Americans Went to
Book SynopsisWhen Eleanor Agnew, her husband, and two young children moved to the Maine woods in 1975, the back-to-the-land movement had already attracted untold numbers of converts who had grown increasingly estranged from mainstream American society. Visionaries by the millions were moving into woods, mountains, orchards, and farmlands in order to disconnect from the supposedly deleterious influences of modern life. Fed up with capitalism, TV, Washington politics, and 9-to-5 jobs, they took up residence in log cabins, A-frames, tents, old schoolhouses, and run-down farmhouses; grew their own crops; hauled water from wells; avoided doctors in favor of natural cures; and renounced energy-guzzling appliances. This is their story, in all its glories and agonies, its triumphs and disasters (many of them richly amusing), told by a woman who experienced the simple life firsthand but has also read widely and interviewed scores of people who went back to the land. Ms. Agnew tells how they found joy and camaraderie, studied their issues of Mother Earth News, coped with frozen laundry and grinding poverty, and persevered or gave up. Most of them, it turns out, came back from freedom and self-sufficiency, either by returning to urban life or by dressing up their primitive rural existence—but they held onto the values they gained during their back-to-the-land experience. Back from the Land is filled with juicy details and inspired with a naïve idealism, but the attraction of the life it describes is undeniable. Here is a book to delight those who remember how it was, those who still kick themselves for not taking the chance, and those of a new generation who are just now thinking about it.Trade ReviewInteresting for anyone who has fantasized about country life. * Baltimore City Paper *Back from the Land . . . details these visionaries and their movement. . . . Provides an excellent survey. * Midwest Book Review *Agnew offers a balanced, critical view that conveys both the profound rewards as well as the stresses that the 'simple life' brought. * Booklist *Eleanor Agnew's lovely memoir of this movement of primal innocence is at once honest and hilarious. . . . She recaptures the period with unerring skill. -- Christopher Hitchens * The New York Times *If you’ve ever indulged fantasies of . . . living off the land, Agnew’s new book . . . might make you regain an appreciation for your Maytag. * E-The Environmental Magazine *Agnew . . . understands these well-meaning people, and never patronizes them. . . . Charmingly told. -- Jim Motavalli * Dragonfly Review *A valuable personal and historical pilgrimage through one of US society’s countercultures. . . . For nostalgic reading as well as for the scholarship of culture. -- J. H. Smith * CHOICE *A balanced, perceptive portrait of the [back-to-the-land] movement. -- Leonard Quart * Berkshire Eagle *Agnew has managed to recreate a compelling chapter of American history. -- Christine Mangan * Whole Life Review *Her work reflects her gift for storytelling . . . a compelling read. * Encyclopedia Of Chicago *In Back from the Land, Eleanor Agnew weaves together an intriguing mix of her own first-person experiences and those of like-minded idealists. . . . Its value resides in its insights into the painful struggles individuals and families are forced to go through as they attempt to break away from the materialism of a consumer society in order to leave a lighter, sustainable, footprint on this earth. -- Jeffrey Jacob, University of Calgary, author of New PioneersEleanor Agnew has captured the excitement and idealism of the back-to-the-landers of the 1970s and has followed their countercultural dream full cycle. . . . Agnew’s mixing of her personal history with the stories of others gives this book extraordinary warmth and vitality. -- Tim Miller, Department of Religious Studies, University of KansasInformative account . . . intriguing. . . . Some of the best writing is from Agnew's own memories. * Publishers Weekly *
£12.34
Ivan R Dee, Inc Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo: Migratory Birds and
Book SynopsisThe return of migrant birds from their wintering grounds in the tropics is one of the delights of America's spring, as anyone will testify whose heart has leapt in April or May at the first liquid song of the woodthrush, or the first black-and-orange flash of the Baltimore oriole. But in recent years concern has grown that migrant birds may be declining, perhaps because of deforestation at their winter quarters in the Caribbean and in Central and South America. Now comes the first evidence that such declines are indeed happening to migrant birds. They pour into the Northern Hemisphere each year in a multi-colored, singing cascade: cuckoos, swallows, martins, swifts, turtle doves, warblers, wagtails, wheatears, chats, nightingales, nightjars, thrushes, pipits, and flycatchers. The vanishing of these Old World birds would be not just an environmental loss but a cultural disaster of enormous magnitude, as many of these species have resonated through literature, legends, and folklore for thousands of years. The turtle dove's arrival is announced in the Bible's Song of Solomon; the nightingale sings from Latin poetry to John Keats to a 1940s hit in London's Berkeley Square; the European cuckoo, with its double note that is a perfect musical interval-a minor third-is the source of proverbs in every country of the continent. In Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo, Michael McCarthy highlights for the first time the disappearance of these birds which, he points out, are a part of Europe's distinctive cultural furniture, "as much as cathedrals, Latin, olive oil, or wine." He shows how their loss would do devastating damage to the cultural inheritance of us all. With 13 woodcuts.Trade ReviewIn luminous prose, British writer McCarthy addresses the cultural significance of migratory songbirds, from nightingales to turtle doves to the European Cuckoo, on the heart and soul. . . . A stunning and profound book that will make readers realize how very much these amazing winged creatures matter. * Booklist *Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo is a terribly moving book . . . about the vast numbers of vanishing spring birds. -- Kristina Chetcuti * Times Of Malta *An elegiac book about migration. -- Charles Clover * Times Online *'What would it mean to us if the spring-bringers stopped arriving?' Would it be like losing rainbows? Michael McCarthy wonders, or roses or hope or music? It's a new tactic—asking us to imagine our world without the species, sounds and smells we take for granted. And it works. A sense of wonder is replaced with a strange hollow feeling—one part guilt, one part regret and one part denial. * Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2010 *Vivid . . . especially affecting. . . . A passionate primer on loss. * Times Literary Supplement *This is the most important book I have read for a long time. * BBC Countryfile Magazine *A beautiful and important book. -- Simon Barnes, author of How to Be a Bad BirdwatcherMcCarthy (environmental editor, The Independent, UK) writes eloquently about the losses of European 'spring bringers,' migratory birds which have historically been an important part of the folklore, literature, and culture of people in Europe and North America. Focusing on the 'miraculous aerial river' of birds 'flow[ing] out of Africa into Europe,' the author discusses the radical environmental changes which have been adversely affecting their numbers. Many species are fast disappearing, suggesting the unthinkable: future silent springs. The numbers of different migrant species that failed to return to Britain in the 13 years leading up to 2007 ranged from 37 to 67 percent. Disruptions affecting these birds include climate change, which is also affecting the cycles of plant and insect life on which birds depend; forest losses in the developing world; and human population growth—particularly in Africa. Intensified agricultural practices, such as Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), have taken a further toll. From the early 1960s until 2004, when major revisions were made, this policy featured ecologically unsound use of pesticides and fertilizers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. * CHOICE, September 2010 *A plea to pay attention to winged creatures before it's too late. * The Washington Post *Michael McCarthy details the environmental challenges faced by European cuckoo and other songbirds in England. McCarthy's book is worth reading because many of the problems experienced by these birds also face our own backyard birds here in the United States. * The Advocate *The mix of discovery of the real bird with myth, poetry, and legend is simply exquisite. . . . I recommend this book for everyone even remotely interested in birds. I also recommend it for students in ornithology classes or classes where 'sustainability' is a theme, for the book contains a wealth of scientific information melded beautifully with what spring-bringers mean to us. * Journal Of Field Ornithology *Michael McCarthy’s Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo combines an exploration of the crisis that temperate-zone migrant birds are now facing with a celebration of Europe’s birds—their beauty, their haunts, their symbolic and cultural value in our civilization and traditions. . . . [His] descriptions are glorious.Table of ContentsPreface 1 Spring-Bringers 2 Out of Africa 3 A Sense of Wonder 4 Unlocking the Soundscape 5 The Spirit of the Place 6 A Promise of Lazy Days 7 What’s So Special About Swallows? 8 Understatement on a Fence Post 9 The Wildness Within 10 The Wandering Voice 11 Warnings from the New World 12 Vanishings 13 A Loss of a Different Order Acknowledgments Index
£18.99
Coffee House Press At the Lightning Field
Book SynopsisWalter De Maria's "Lightning Field" is 400 stainless steel poles, positioned 220 feet apart, in the desert of central New Mexico. Over the course of several visits, it becomes, for Raicovich, a site for confounding and revealing perceptions of time, space, duration, and light; how changeable they are, while staying the same. From At the Lightning Field:Chaos and coincidences of history: Edward Lorenz was a meteorologist at MIT in the early 1960s. Looking for a devil in the detail of meteorological data, he was trying to forecast global weather patterns (creating forecasting models that would later be applied to economics and financial analysis). Complicated sets of equations, sometimes arbitrary webs of information, measurements of "initial conditions" churned through a primitive computer. The machine was named the Royal McBee. Laura Raicovich works as President and Executive Director of The Queens Museum. She is the author of A Diary of Mysterious Difficulties, a book based on Viagra and Cialis spam (Publication Studio) and is an editor of Assuming Boycott: Resistance, Agency, and Cultural Production (O/R Books).Trade Review"[Raicovich] combines her intimate, studied observations with the writings of a vast array of mathematicians and thinkers, including Benoit Mandelbrot and Gertrude Stein. Attempting to answer the question "How reliable is memory?," the essay is a beautifully chaotic map of thought and experience that both mirrors the experience of a work of art and probes its essence."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "A detailed observation of what it means to make a detailed observation."--Kirkus "Make a pilgrimage to The Lightning Field by walking the lines of this book and building something beautiful in your mind's eye with the author, who will take you there and many places besides."--Rebecca Solnit "A slim but powerful primer on viewership, At the Lightning Field is as enlightening as it is pleasurable to read. Laura Raicovich is in the business of complicating what it means to engage with a work of art, and as she describes her exploration of The Lightning Field she draws on the wide-ranging influences that informed her experience, situating the work within a rich matrix of natural, scientific, and cultural activators. Generous and nimbly wrought, At the Lightning Field is a model for what rigorous engagement with art should entail."--Katharine Solheim, Unabridged Bookstore "Laura Raicovich's At the Lightning Field is a beautiful and striking meditative essay on art, memory, time, and space. The lines on the page dance and, just as the lightning poles on that plateau in New Mexico do, vary in length in order to create an even plane in both space and mind. The rhythm that this pattern instills in the reader fosters an almost mystical quality in the writing that leaves an indelible impact on the mind. This repetitive pattern will urge you to, no, demand that you devour this essay at once. She says, 'Permanence: Begin with permanence (a slippery concept--despite its will to be otherwise--and inextricably tied to time). Permanence makes me look more closely, notice details, large and small, that define moments as they accumulate.' That is beautiful. This was a truly pleasurable read."--Matt Keliher, Subtext Books "Laura Raicovich's hauntingly evocative At the Lightning Field is not so much a work of criticism or art history as a veritably Rilkean exercise in co-presence, lyrically resonating, that is, off of the Rilke who spoke of 'that love that consists in this, that two solitudes meet and touch and shelter one another.'"--Lawrence Weschler, author of Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees "Laura Raicovich is a sensitive and eloquent witness to contemporary art's strangeness; she renders the tempo and atmosphere of her pilgrimages to Walter De Maria's The Lightning Field with an admirable severity, delicacy, and lyricism. Her beautifully distilled and rigorously experimental book will inspire anyone wanting to learn how to take alert notes on an aesthetic experience and then how to transform those notes into complex verbal art."--Wayne Koestenbaum
£9.49
David R. Godine Publisher Inc On Cape Cod
Book SynopsisOver one hundred color photographs capture scenes of sea and shore — a beautiful photographic tribute to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Representing all fifteen of the Cape’s towns.Loosely chronicling the arc of a summer day, and ranging from formal nature studies to breezy journalistic images, these photographs offer a rich visual immersion into the essence of the varied and scenic peninsula that is Cape Cod.
£20.89
David R. Godine Publisher Inc On Cape Cod Greeting Cards
Book SynopsisDrop friends a note with these Cape Cod notecards—featuring the photography of Don Krohn. The outside of each card features one of six different photographs (each duplicated once for a total of 12 cards with matching envelopes) that have captured the Cape during summer, its most cherished season. The inside of each card is blank—ready for your message.
£12.53
Derrydale Press Big December Canvasbacks, Revised
Book SynopsisBig December Canvasbacks is an almost poetic celebration of the beautiful waterfowl of the northwest United States and the captivating places they inhabit. Mathewson, whose writing has regularly appeared in such publications as Field and Stream, has an uncanny ability to take us to the heart of what motivates us to pursue these beautiful animals. The book is lavishly illustrated with line art and will make the perfect gift for any waterfowler.Trade ReviewWith this book Mathewson emerges as one of our finest duck hunting writers. * Gray's Sporting Journal *
£13.49
Marlowe & Co Dancing with Your Dark Horse: How Horse Sense
Book SynopsisIn Dancing with Your Dark Horse, Chris Irwin, world-renowned as one of the most successful horse whisperers in North America, further explores the intriguing spiritual connection he has discovered between human and equine nature. Based on his more than twenty years of working with, training, and observing horses, Irwin explains how the characteristics necessary to building good relationships with horses can in turn be used to establish a positive balance between mind, body, and spirit in our own lives.Dancing with Your Dark Horse will help readers see that horses have a great deal to teach us about how to live happier, healthier, and more balanced lives.
£14.39
Chicago Review Press Feral Cities: Adventures with Animals in the
Book SynopsisWe tend to think of cities as a realm apart, somehow separate from nature, but nothing could be further from the truth. In Feral Cities, Tristan Donovan digsbelow the urban gloss to uncover the wild creatures that we share our streets and homes with, and profiles the brave and fascinating people who try to manage them. Along the way readers will meet the wall-eating snails that are invading Miami, the boars that roam Berlin, and the monkey gangs of Cape Town. From feral chickens and carpet-roaming bugs to coyotes hanging out in sandwich shops and birds crashing into skyscrapers, Feral Cities takes readers on a journey through streets and neighborhoods that are far more alive than we often realize, shows how animals are adjusting to urban living, and asks what messages the wildlife in our metropolises have for us.Trade Review"An entertaining jaunt through city wildlife." Kirkus Reviews"Donovan not only shows readers how territorial boundaries between humans and wild animals constantly shift, but also how such encounters with birds, coyotes, and snakes should come as no great surprise." Publishers Weekly"Surprising, entertaining, sometimes frightening, Donovan's worldwide exploration of urban wildlife will be enjoyed by all types of readers including young adults, animal lovers, and those interested in ecology." Library Journal"In Feral Cities , journalist Tristan Donovan explores the conflict zone of cities and wild animals, and he seems to have a good time doing it." Science News"Donovan entertainingly exposes ecological experiments gone hopelessly awry and offers thoughtful input on how such tipping points can be avoided in the future." Booklist"Even those of us who have intensely studied urban wildlife for decades can learn a bit from some of Donovan's many sources, and Donovan can be praised for drawing out nuggets of information and perspective from sources who by reputation tend to be reticent." Animals 24-7" This interdisciplinary understanding of the issue is certainly apparent in the excellent Feral Cities . Although not an analytical, scientific text, the book provides a unique look into the lives of both urban wildlife and its human counterpart. For anyone interested in any of the many aspects of urban wildlife, Feral Cities will be a vastly entertaining read." The Nature of Cities"Wild creatures are having a people problem these days, and Donovan takes us on a global frolic to find all sorts of untamed critters and de-natured people cohabiting badly." Jim Sterba, author of Nature Wars and Frankie's Place
£14.20
University of South Carolina Press Ramblings of a Lowcountry Game Warden: A Memoir
Book SynopsisThis title features the career-spanning tales of a coastal crimefighter, ranging from the dangerous to the hilarious.Moise served with distinction as a South Carolina game warden for nearly a quarter century, patrolling the coastal woods and waters of the Palmetto State. In this colorful memoir, the cigar-chomping, ticket-writing scourge of lowcountry fish and game law violators chronicles grueling stakeouts, complex trials, hair-raising adventures, and daily interactions with a host of outrageous personalities. Along the way he paints a vivid and fluid portrait of evolving attitudes and changing regulations governing coastal conservation.In briskly paced accounts of episodes ranging from dangerous to humorous, he introduces a lively cast of watermen, lawyers, country judges, hunters, and poachers who animate the coastal environs and whose quirky personalities and foibles are the game warden's daily stock in trade. Moise's narrative highlights the working lives of commercial crabbers and shrimpers, the antics of overly enthusiastic fishermen, and the great lengths to which hunters will go in their quests for doves, ducks, and marsh hens. Moise also describes encounters with displaced ""urban wildlife,"" the coastal marijuana smuggling business, and his fellow game wardens.The memoir also features a foreword by Lloyd Newberry, celebrated hunter and senior editor of ""Sporting Classics Magazine"".
£35.98
Book Publishing Company Orcapedia: A Guide to the Victims of the
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£18.40
Book Publishing Company Death of a Whale: The Challenge of Anti-Whaling
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£15.29
Charlesbridge Publishing,U.S. Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machines
Book SynopsisHovering, gliding, diving -- how do birds do it? BIRDS: NATURE''S MAGNIFICENT FLYING MACHINES looks at how feathers, body structure, and wings vary from bird to bird. Readers will learn the mechanics of bird flight from takeoff to landing and discover how wing types meet the survival needs of each species. Popular science writer Caroline Arnold infuses this informative look at avian flight with her love of birds. Patricia J. Wynne''s exquisitely detailed illustrations show these amazing creatures in action.
£7.59
Roberts Rinehart Publishers Vanishing Colorado: Rediscovering a Western
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£14.99
Roberts Rinehart Publishers The Beast That Walks Like Man: The Story of the
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£13.49
Roberts Rinehart Publishers The Spirit of Yellowstone
Book SynopsisYellowstone National Park''s famous geysers, exotic landscape, and beautiful wildlife partially explain its enormous popularity, but there is something more to the Yellowstone experiencea powerful spirit to the place that is more than the sum of its parts. This fascinating history of America''s favorite national park shows how that spirit has endured over Yellowstone''s 127-year existence. Meyer shows that Yellowstone has consistently evoked awe in different generations of Americans, even as our attitudes toward nature have changed over the years. That awe is also captured in photographer Vance Howard''s evocative images, which, alongside historic photographs and other early artistic interpretations of the Park''s wonders, support Meyer''s view that Yellowstone''s unique sense of place makes it worth preserving not only for its ecological value but for its lasting importance in American culture.
£14.99
