The Earth: natural history: general interest Books

Book SynopsisThis guide describes and illustrates, in full color, the plants and animals that live in or near ponds, lakes, streams, and wetlands. It includes surface-dwelling creatures as well as those of open water, the bottom, and the shore and tells how various animals and plants live together in a community. Plus suggestions for:Where and when to lookObserving and collecting specimensMaking exciting discoveries

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Book SynopsisConcise and engaging visual guide to Earth's most devastating natural forces: earthquakes, volcanoes, and plate tectonicsOne in 20 people in the world live within range of an active volcano. On average, Magnitude 2 and smaller earthquakes occur several hundred times a day worldwide. Volcanoes and Earthquakes explores the massive natural forces from within the Earth that greatly affect its surface, often with dramatic and long-lasting consequences.Written in an accessible style, and fully illustrated with photographs, diagrams, and maps, the book explains the violence of earthquakes and volcanoes that impact humankind, and the gradual continental drift and mountain building that have transformed the Earth over the 4.5 billion years of its existence. It details the processes that have and continue to form, destroy, and move the Earth's surface.The authors describe how the Earth formed, from the beginnings of the solar system to the growth of the continents as they are today, and delve deep into the Earth's core to explore what drives the plates and feeds volcanoes. The last chapter examines the changes in the tectonic processes that link the Earth's mass, water, atmosphere, and life, including the effects on climate, sea-level, and the distribution of plant and animal species. Volcanoes and Earthquakes is a powerful reminder of the impact of natural forces on our everyday lives.

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Book SynopsisMeet the incredible animals that have disappeared due to competition, mass extinctions, hunting, and human activity.Lost Animals brings back to life some of the most charismatic creatures to inhabit the planet. It captures the imagination with more than 200 incredible photographs, artworks of fossils, and scientific drawings of charming creatures like dodos, paraceratherium (the largest land mammal), spinosaurus (the biggest carnivorous dinosaur), placeoderm fishes (the sharks of their day), and more! Lost Animals is a captivating documentation of evolution and extinction. Each chapter focuses on a specific time in Earth's history, from the Cambrian explosion (the most intense surge of evolution the world has ever experienced) to present times, with profiles of the key species that lived then. From long extinct animals to Lazarus species--animals that were thought to be extinct before being rediscovered--this book takes readers on a journey through Earth's natural history, highlighting the world's biggest animal losses and its moments of conservational hope.

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Book SynopsisAn eminent paleontologist with the soul and skill of a poet, Loren Eiseley (1907–1977) was among the twentieth century’s greatest inheritors of the literary tradition of Henry David Thoreau, Charles Darwin, and John Muir, and a precursor to such later writers as Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Carl Sagan. After decades of fieldwork and discovery as a “bone-hunter” and professor, Eiseley turned late in life to the personal essay, and beginning with the surprise million-copy seller The Immense Journey (1957) he produced an astonishing succession of books that won acclaim both as science and as art. Now for the first time, the Library of America presents his landmark essay collections in a definitive two-volume set.This second volume begins with The Invisible Pyramid (1970), a book of meditations on the origins and possible futures of humankind set against the backdrop of the Apollo 11 landings. As Western civilization attains new heights of scientific awareness and technological skill, is it also blind to its own limits, doomed to destroy itself like the lost civilizations of the ancients or other “spore-bearers” in our evolutionary past? Eiseley makes an urgent, environmentalist plea in these essays: we must protect the planet from which we emerged against our unchecked power to overpopulate and pollute and consume it. The essays in The Night Country (1971) look not to the stars but backward and inward: to the haunted spaces of Eiseley’s lonely Nebraska childhood and to those moments, often dark and unexpected, when chance observations disturb our ordinary understandings of the universe. The naturalist here seeks neither “salvation in facts” nor solace in wild places: encountering an old bone, or a nest of wasps, he recognizes what he calls “the ghostliness of myself,” his own mortality, and the paradoxes of the evolution of consciousness. Shortly before his death, Eiseley made plans for what would be his last book, published posthumously as The Star Thrower (1978). Here are late essays on the life and legacy of Henry David Thoreau, the writer to whom he turned more often than any other; thoughts on the “two cultures” he sought to bring together throughout his career; and on the relations between hard science and “awe before the universe.” Of particular interest are two early stories discovered among his papers, “The Dance of the Frogs” and “The Fifth Planet.” A companion volume gathers The Immense Journey (1957), The Firmament of Time (1960), The Unexpected Universe (1969), and a selection of Eiseley’s uncollected prose.LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.Trade Review“Loren Eiseley’s work changed my life.” —Ray Bradbury“As captivating as today’s best-known science writers might be, no one has ever managed to make the pursuit of knowledge feel more soulful or more immediate than Loren Eiseley did in the essays and books he published in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.” —Ben Cosgrove, The Daily Beast

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Book Synopsis"If you’re looking for a dose of wonder in your reading life, I recommend this beautiful book about the magic of fig trees."—Book Riot Over millions of years, fig trees have shaped our world, influenced our evolution, nourished our bodies and fed our imaginations. And as author and ecologist Mike Shanahan proclaims, “The best could be yet to come.” Gods, Wasps and Stranglers weaves together the mythology, history and ecology of one of the world’s most fascinating—and diverse—groups of plants, from their starring role in every major religion to their potential to restore rainforests, halt the loss of rare and endangered species and even limit climate change. In this lively and joyous book, Shanahan recounts the epic journeys of tiny fig wasps, whose eighty-million-year-old relationship with fig trees has helped them sustain more species of birds and mammals than any other trees; the curious habits of fig-dependent rhinoceros hornbills; figs’ connection to Krishna and Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad; and even their importance to Kenya’s struggle for independence. Ultimately, Gods, Wasps and Stranglers is a story about humanity’s relationship with nature, one that is as relevant to our future as it is to our past. Trade ReviewChoice Reviews- "Fig trees are found throughout the tropical world with over 800 species in the genus Ficus. Many figs have an elaborate pollination system in which tiny wasps mate inside of the fruit. This book considers the biology, ecology, natural history, and the historical/cultural importance of this interesting plant. An especially fascinating aspect of fig trees is that they are utilized in forest restoration efforts. For example, in Central America and Africa, scientists have planted mature fig tree branches to use as 'instant trees' in deforested areas. The fig trees attract animals and promote biodiversity in the immediate area. The author highlights how edible figs have been discovered in archaeological sites that date back to 13,000 years ago. The author also devotes several chapters to specific historical eras and notes that in the Bible, Adam and Eve used fig leaves to serve as clothing. The book contains many fine-quality line drawings to illustrate principles, such as how a wasp enters a fig and the natural variation in the morphology of figs. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers."Shelf Awareness, Starred Review- "Mike Shanahan's Gods, Wasps and Stranglers: The Secret History and Redemptive Future of Fig Trees is a deceptively brief account of the Ficus genus of trees in history, emphasizing but not limited to their relationship with humans. Shanahan brings the expertise of decades of ecological fieldwork and a bubbling enthusiasm to a topic clearly close to his heart. He makes a strong argument that his readers should be attuned to and excited about fig trees, too. The plant figures into the origin stories of cultures all over the world. Fig trees have provided food, shelter, medicine and materials to humans for as long as humans have existed: figs predate us by nearly 80 million years. Because of their contributions as keystone species in ecosystems around the world, figs offer distinctive services in reforestation efforts and the mitigation of climate change. They have contributed to the theory of evolution, the birth of agriculture and possibly humans' development of opposable thumbs. The story of the fig is inseparable from that of fig wasps, numerous tiny insect species that have evolved to pair respectively in symbiosis with individual species of fig. Shanahan relates all this and more in a joyous voice with occasional lyricism, as when 'the Buddhist monk's robe sang out loud saffron over the rainforest's muffled tones of brown and green and grey.’ Mythology, biology and hope for the future combine in this highly accessible story of the family of fig trees, with its profound ecological relevance. A joyful, celebratory world history of the fig tree and its ecological impact.”Booklist- "Fig trees, with their 'sinuous aerial roots,' hidden flowers, wondrous pollinators, and nourishing fruits, have sustained diverse ecosystems and civilizations for millennia. In this lively and mind-expanding mix of personal adventures, myth, religious history, and science, rain-forest ecologist and award-winning journalist Shanahan traces the intricate connection between humans and Ficus species. He cogently illuminates how fig trees were held sacred by various spiritual traditions around the world, including those of ancient Egypt and Greece, along with the fig tree’s place in the Buddha’s story and the Garden of Eden. He profiles intrepid fig-tree experts and vividly explains how tiny fig-wasps burrow into figs, lay eggs, and reemerge to distribute pollen, allowing the planet’s 750 Ficus species to thrive and feed 1,274 species of birds and mammals, including humans. Scientists now recognize that fig trees are “keystone resources” essential to sustaining life and foresee their playing a central role in forest restoration as we struggle with the consequences of environmental decimation and global warming. Shanahan’s spirited celebration of the fig tree as symbol and life force is richly entertaining and truly enlightening.”“In his insightful book, Gods, Wasps and Stranglers, Mike Shanahan combines poetry and science, history and humanity, to tell a story not only of the fig tree but of life on Earth in all its beautiful and astonishing complexity. In doing so, he reminds us of what a remarkable place we inhabit—and how much we should all want to protect and preserve it.”--Deborah Blum, director, Knight Science Journalism Program, MIT; author of The Poisoner’s Handbook“Surprising, engrossing, disturbing and promising, Gods, Wasps and Stranglers combines masterful storytelling and spellbinding science. This is a beautifully written and important book about trees that have shaped human destiny.”--Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus“The complex web of ecological connections between fig trees, tropical forest animals and plants, as well as people and human culture is nothing short of a marvel. Gods, Wasps and Stranglers is a page-turner and a revelation: You will never again think of a fig as just something to eat. There is no better way to introduce the complexity and wonder of nature—and our intricate relationship with it. A must read.”--Thomas E. Lovejoy, University Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University; fellow, National Geographic Society“This book concerns the stunningly versatile and ancient family of fig trees now being used as a framework species to restore damaged tropical forests. Figs are not only considered the keystone species in forests but are perhaps the world’s most perfect tree—they provide highly nutritious fruits with health-giving and medicinal qualities. They attract birds and animals. They grow very rapidly and produce abundant fruits in a few years. They make shade and shelter, their deep powerful roots can break up compacted soils, they draw up water, they prevent erosion, and they have important spiritual qualities. The tree in the Garden of Eden was very likely not an apple but a fig.”--Annie Proulx“In Gods, Wasps and Stranglers, rainforest ecologist Mike Shanahan charts a lifelong love affair with figs, one that has taken him from India to Kenya, through temples and rainforests, all in search of a deeper understanding of what he describes as ‘humanity’s relationship with nature.’ The fig becomes a tasty lens that reveals not only the fruit’s cultural and biological significance but our relationship to that which most deeply nourishes us.”--Simran Sethi, author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate“A real labour of love, concisely and elegantly told.”--Fred Pearce, author; environmental consultant for New Scientist

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Book SynopsisMatthew Dickerson’s well-crafted prose narrative takes readers from the headwaters of the Colorado River in Wyoming to the Crown of the Continent in Glacier National Park. In the midst of the lovingly described wild and scenic beauty of these places, readers will learn about the science, history, conservation, and restoration of an important native fish—cutthroat trout—and the habitats where they live, while enjoying stories of the pursuit of those fish with both a fly rod and a camera. The book is well-informed by science as well as careful observation, and conveys both the passion and knowledge of the author. The author, Matthew Dickerson, was a 2017 artist-in-residence at Glacier National Park, invited to that residence specifically to learn and write about cutthroat trout. Much of what he learned and observed is shared in this book, along with stories and knowledge gleaned from times in the national forests of Wyoming and interviews with USGS, U.S.Forest Service, and National Park Service biologists. It is well-informed by science, but doesn’t read like a scientific text.

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Book SynopsisField Notes From a Hidden City is set against the background of the austere, grey and beautiful northeast Scottish city of Aberdeen. In it, Esther Woolfson examines the elements—geographic, atmospheric and environmental—which bring diverse life forms to live in close proximity in cities. Using the circumstances of her own life, house, garden and city, she writes of the animals who live among us: the birds—gulls, starlings, pigeons, sparrows and others—the rats and squirrels, the cetaceans, the spiders and the insects.In beautiful, absorbing prose, Woolfson describes the seasons, the streets and the quiet places of her city over the course of a year, which begins with the exceptional cold and snow of 2010. Influenced by her own long experience of corvids, she considers prevailing attitudes towards the natural world, urban and non-urban wildlife, the values we place on the lives of individual species and the ways in which man and creature live together in cities.

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Book SynopsisLong heralded as a city treasure herself, expert “mudlarker” Lara Maiklem is uniquely trained in the art of seeking. Tirelessly trekking across miles of the Thames’ muddy shores, where others only see the detritus of city life, Maiklem unearths evidence of England’s captivating, if sometimes murky, history—with some objects dating back to 43 AD, when London was but an outpost of the Roman Empire. From medieval mail worn by warriors on English battlefields to nineteenth-century glass marbles mass-produced for the nation’s first soda bottles, Maiklem deduces the historical significance of these artifacts with the quirky enthusiasm and sharp-sightedness of a twenty-first century Sherlock Holmes. Seamlessly interweaving reflections from her own life with meditations on the art of wandering, Maiklem ultimately delivers—for Anglophiles and history lovers alike—a memorable treatise on the objects we leave in our wake, and the stories they can reveal if only we take a moment to look.Trade Review"Mudlark is [Maiklem’s] engrossing front-line report from 'a world of escapees and obsessives' who think nothing of scaling the perilous riverside ladders at odd hours, dressed in waterproofs and latex gloves, on the lookout for whatever traces of the past the river might spit up.... It’s a riveting crash course not only in the history of London from prehistoric times to the present, but also in urban geography and how to read a living environment from organic clues." -- Elizabeth Lowry, Wall Street Journal"Unexpectedly compelling. . . . On the surface, this book advances knowledge of an era, a time when the Thames was home to centuries of trash, bodies, various ‘oops,’ and whatever washed into it from the land. What Maiklem finds is mostly mundane, yet fascinating for the sheer unending quantity — thousands of pins and clay pipestems — but also for the glimpse of culture provided by a shard of pottery or a coin rubbed thin by too much commerce. . . . You’re left with the wonderful gift of knowing more than you did when you began the book, but also a yearning to wander one of Lake Superior’s beaches, looking for agates or rusty bolts or antlers or key chains or sea glass. Because as much as it’s fun to find something, the real satisfaction is in the getting away." -- Kim Ode - Minneapolis Star Tribune"Her expeditions and the objects they yield -- including hatpins, hand-blown glass bottles, buttons and the occasional precious stone -- provide a rambling, idiosyncratic, fascinating guide to the city's history.... Readers will learn much from one mudlark's generous offer of the knowledge she has picked up – a mosaic of different pieces, much like her treasures themselves. Those who live near tidal bodies of water, or even in London itself, may be inspired to do a bit of mudlarking on their own." -- Katie Noah Gibson, Shelf Awareness"This thoroughly fascinating look at treasure hunting along the banks of the Thames also serves as an astute history lesson." -- Publishers Weekly [starred review]"This engrossing memoir evokes the subculture of the ‘mudlarks,’ who scour the banks for fragments of London’s past. Their discoveries serve as entry points into the history of the river and its environs." -- The New Yorker"The sense of discovery, of finding forgotten objects, is captured superbly in Maiklem’s debut.... Maiklem positions the River Thames as a narrator, which only offers up some of its stories in a piecemeal fashion. The parts that are revealed, however, make for a captivating read." -- Brian Renvall, Library Journal"Throughout the narrative, Maiklem's imagination and infectious enthusiasm make for a lovely fantasy world where 'the tiniest of objects…tell the greatest stories.' Entertaining reading for British history buffs and budding archaeologists." -- Kirkus Reviews"A beautifully written memoir of one woman's relationship with the sacred Thames and the ghosts of its past. Lara Maiklem's book on mudlarking is as deep and as rich as the Thames and its treasures. Fascinating." -- Stanley Tucci"Driven by curiosity, freighted with mystery and tempered by chance, wonders gleam from every page." -- Melissa Harrison, author of All Among The Barley"Lara Maiklem reveals to us the fascinating and poignant micro-world of London's history; the fragments of life deposited on the tidal shores of the Thames. [Mudlark] is a flowing river of human stories; beautiful, wondrous and eternal." -- Hallie Rubenhold"[An] enthralling and evocative history of London and its people." -- Bookseller “Book of the Month”

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Book SynopsisThe definitive guide to getting ready for and staying safe after a major earthquake in the Pacific Northwest. FEMA recommends being prepared for two weeks of self-sufficiency after it occurs, and this handbook will show you how with clear, informative, and easy-to-implement steps.Recent seismic activity has made national headlines and underscored the fact that the Cascadia fault line off the coast of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Northern California is overdue for a major earthquake. And when it happens, living conditions could be akin to those in the mid-nineteenth century. This handbook covers the supplies you need to stay safely in place, including water, food (and food prep), first aid, sanitation, health and hygiene needs, shelter and bedding, and light/fire. It also includes lists of what to purchase and how to store it, as well as simple excercises to gain confidence in perfoming necessary tasks. Learn what to do during and immediately after an earthquake, how to develop a reunification plan, and how to communicate when basic infrastructure is down. It also addresses the particular concerns of those living in coastal areas (the tsunami zone) as well as those outside of the severe impact zone. It covers long-term ways to stay safe without modern conveniences and a crash course in survival techniques should the quake happen before all preparations are complete. Get Ready! presents information in clear, practical, and managable steps, equipping the reader with the skills to care for themselves and their loved ones should a major earthquake hit. And when it does, the internet will not be an option, making this reference handbook invaluable. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you need Get Ready!

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Book SynopsisA vibrant, family-friendly guide to the unexpected nature found in and around Miami. Miami may be a bustling city with a vibrant nightlife, but its wildlife is just as wild, if you know where to look. Wild Miami reveals the amazing ecology of this tropical metropolis. Equal parts natural history, field guide, and trip planner, Wild Miami has something for everyone. This handy yet extensive guide looks at the factors that shape local nature and profiles over 100 local species, from beautiful flowers and towering palm trees to manatees and green treefrogs, spotted sunfish, and great blue heron. Also included are descriptions of day trips that help you explore natural wonders on hiking trails and beaches, in public parks, and in your own backyard.

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Book SynopsisHandcrafted for caregivers who want to spark a love of nature, 50 Hikes with Kids: Colorado highlights the most kid-friendly hikes in the Centennial State. These hikes are perfect for little legs-they are all under five miles and have an elevation gain of 900 feet of less. Some are even accessible by stroller. Every entry includes the essential details: easy-to-read, trustworthy directions; a detailed map; hike length and elevation gain; natural history factoids to keep kids engaged. Full-colour photographs show scavenger hunt items kids are guaranteed to see along the trail.

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Book SynopsisPact Press brings you Changing Tides, the fourth anthology in a series designed to spark conversation, promote awareness, and generate funds to advance social and environmental justice and amplify the voices of the marginalized. The poems, essays, and personal reflections in Changing Tides detail moving accounts of the human impact on our ocean environment and demonstrate the heightened need for individual, community, and global action in addressing what has become a collective crisis for life on this blue planet. Pact Press is proud, through the sale of this anthology, to support the work of the Coral Restoration Foundation™, a 501 3 (c) non-profit organization that was founded in 2007 in response to the widespread loss of the dominant coral species on the Florida Reef Tract. Coral Restoration Foundation™ (CRF) now manages the largest coral restoration program in the world. The contributors include Jared Benjamin, Susan Bruce, Kersten Christianson, Lorraine Jeffrey, Olivia Kingery, Liberty Lawson, Jayne Marek, Anthony Panegyres, Gerard Sarnat, Christina Stefan, Franciszka Voeltz, Tonya Wiley, Juliet Wilson, Sheree Winslow, and Mandy-Suzanne Wong.

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Book SynopsisHere is a fine companion for any paddler, wanderer, or dreamer with a love for the wild. What you have here is not one more how-to manual for paddlers. These pages comprise a why-do volume exploring the spiritual core of paddle trip experience. Tim McDonnell writes with clarity, spirit, and self-effacing good humor, taking you along on several amazing wilderness journeys. Here you will share explorations into the wild that are fueled by something far more substantial than mere adrenaline and far more significant than mere ego. Wonder, playfulness, gratitude, and introspection are the key ingredients of this well-crafted book. Each of his essays flares a bit and then lingers with you, just as you would expect from a good fire.

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Book SynopsisMost of us have fond memories of collecting sea glass at the beach. The joy of discovery is timeless. The smooth, patinated surfaces of these jewels are a testament to the power of the sea. Man-made objects such as bottles are broken, rolled, and tumbled by the waves, transformed into new, almost natural treasures. Photographer Cindy Bilbao captures the natural beauty of this found art in a collectible volume essential for any sea glass lover.

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Book Synopsis“An extraordinary achievement in natural history and science. But it’s so artfully written you forget it’s a scientific treatise and find yourself reading it with sheer pleasure.” — Provincetown Advocate Dorothy Sterling explores the fascinating plants and animals that inhabit the peninsulas and islands of the East Coast known as the Outer Lands. With vibrant original drawings by Winifred Lubell and a new foreword by natural historian Robert Finch, The Outer Lands is a lively, lovingly observed biography of place.

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Book SynopsisCarved and scoured by catastrophic floods at the end of the most recent ice age, the Channeled Scablands of eastern Washington State dazzle with their harsh beauty and the diversity of their natural features, including great waterfalls, sprawling canyons, and cinematic palisades. In this pictorial love letter to the region, writer and photographer Timothy Connor expertly combines stunning images, engaging field notes, historical narrative, and a touching personal sojourn. His photography captures the sweeping horizons, braided wetlands, and vibrant wildlife, while his words examine the once-mystifying landmarks of the area through the story of J Harlen Bretz, the geologist who, in the 1920s, first suggested that massive floods formed the Scablands’ epic cataracts and inexplicably deep lakes. Incorporating the poignant story of Connor’s own journey of grief, Beautiful Wounds offers a moving, visual tribute to the enduring power of nature and the healing power of time.Trade Review"Tim Connor frames the raw skeleton of the Columbia Basin landscape between his own acute visual sense and human emotion. The result is a delicately shaded personal journey that reflects all the twists and turmoil of our signature geological event." -- Jack Nisbet, author of Ancient Places and The Dreamer and the Doctor

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Book SynopsisThe New Yorker's Best Book of 2023sorrowful, tender...beautiful. – The New York Times Book Review“...arresting and memorable….Masud both finds a way to comprehend her own story and establishes a strong voice that confirms her as a significant chronicler of personal and national experience.” – Financial Times Sharply, subtly, and very movingly, Masud thinks with places, seeking as she does to find a way back into, and then out of, the traumas of her early life. - Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland: A Deep Time Journey A surprising and lyrical journey—part memoir, part nature book—meditating on the meaning of flatness and its literary tradition to find ways to understand ourselves and our trauma in one of nature’s most undervalued wonders. For readers of Dr. Gabor Maté's The Myth of Normal, Robert Macfarlane, G. Sebald's Rings of Saturn, Amy Liptrot's The Outrun, and Richard Mabey's Nature CureDoes the concept of flat have an undeservedly bad rap? There are centuries’ worth of adoration for rolling hills and dramatic, mountainous landscapes. In contrast, flat landscapes are forgettable and seemingly unworthy of poetic or artistic attention. Noreen Masud suffers from complex post-traumatic stress disorder: the product of a profoundly disrupted and unstable childhood. It flattens her emotions, blanks out parts of her memory, and colours her world with anxiety. Undertaking a pilgrimage around Britain's flatlands, seeking solace and belonging, she weaves her impressions of the natural world with poetry, folklore and history, and with recollections of her own early life.Masud's British-Pakistani heritage makes her a partial outsider in these landscapes: both coloniser and colonised, inheritor and dispossessed. Here violence lies beneath the fantasy of pastoral innocence, and histories of harm are interwoven with nature's power to heal. Here, as in her own family history, are many stories that resist the telling. She pursues these paradoxes fearlessly across the flat, haunted spaces she loves, offering a startlingly strange, vivid and intimate account of the land beneath her feet.Masud combines memoir, nature writing, and literary reflection to explore what can be drawn from these powerful places, and to understand her own experience of complex trauma and post-traumatic stress, as well as grief and loss. A Flat Place is a book that drives to the heart of what it means to experience place — bodily and psychologically — and the healing properties of literature and landscape.

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Book SynopsisSouthern Africa is without equal in terms of geology, a treasure trove of valuable minerals with a geological history dating back some 3 600 million years. In addition, the evolution of plants and animals, especially mammals and dinosaurs, is well preserved in the region, which also has among the best records of the origin of modern man. The story of earth and life provides an insight into this remarkable history - how southern Africa's mineral deposits were formed, how its life evolved and how its landscape was shaped. Along the way readers will be enthralled by accounts of the Big Bang that marked the beginning of time and matter, by drifting and colliding continents, folding and fracturing rocks, meteors colliding with the Earth, volcanic eruptions, and the start of life. Other topics include why South Africa is so rich in minerals, how glacial deposits came to be found in the Karoo, why dinosaurs became extinct, how mammals developed from reptiles, and how closely humans are related to the apes. The answers to many such questions can be found in this title. Anyone interested in the landscape and ecosystems in which we live will be intrigued by this title.

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Book SynopsisPolly Pullar has had a passion for red squirrels since childhood. As a wildlife rehabilitator, she knows the squirrel on a profoundly personal level and has hand-reared numerous litters of orphan kits, eventually returning them to the wild. In this book she shares her experiences and love for the squirrel and explores how our perceptions have changed. Heavily persecuted until the 1960s, it has since become one of the nation’s most adored mammals. But we are now racing against time to ensure its long-term survival in an ever-changing world. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Polly’s Perthshire farm, where she works continuously to encourage wildlife great and small, she highlights how nature can, and indeed will, recover if only we give it a chance. In just two decades, her efforts have brought spectacular results, and numerous squirrels and other animals visit her wild farm every day.Trade Review'A Scurry of Squirrels is a delight. Part history, part natural history, and part memoir, and written in Polly Pullar's compelling and always readable style, it will appeal to anyone captivated by one of Britain's favourite wild creatures' -- Stephen Moss, author and naturalist'A charming, engrossing story of the many creatures Pullar has fostered over the years. It's a treat for animal lovers and a tribute to the healing power of nature' -- Alastair Mabbott * The Herald *'In A Scurry of Squirrels, Pullar shares her experiences and love for the red squirrel, and, with reference to history and natural history, explores how our perceptions of the animals have changed. The book highlights how nature can, and indeed will, recover if we give it a chance' * Dundee Courier *'Polly Pullar brings her lifetime's experience of Scottish nature into this compelling account set around the rehabilitation of orphaned and injured wild animals at her Perthshire home…. It's a very personal tale of paradise lost and hope that it can be regained' -- Sheena Harvey * BBC Countryfile *'Truly fascinating…accompanied by personal photographs and anecdotes, this book is. A good read for any wilderness enthusiasts or strong believers in the preservation of native animals' * Scottish Field *'This engaging book also reminds us that our life’s troubles are seen in clearer perspective when viewed in the context of the part we play in the living world' * Green Christian Magazine *'It’s the storytelling that really sings here... the squirrels in particular will capture your heart' * Rewilding Magazine *

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Book SynopsisFrank Buckland was an extraordinary man – surgeon, natural historian, popular lecturer, bestselling writer, museum curator, and a conservationist before the concept even existed. Eccentric, revolutionary, prolific, he was one of the nineteenth century’s most improbable geniuses. His lifelong passion was to discover new ways to feed the hungry. Rhinoceros, crocodile, puppy-dog, giraffe, kangaroo, bear and panther all had their chance to impress, but what finally - and, eventually, fatally - obsessed him was fish. Forgotten now, he was one of the most original, far-sighted and influential natural scientists of his time, held as high in public esteem as his great philosophical enemy, Charles Darwin.Trade ReviewHugely entertaining. * Jeremy Paxman *[A] tumultuously entertaining biography… [An] irresistibly engaging book. * Sunday Times *A rollicking ride through eccentric Victorian England. Frank Buckland is the most engaging of subjects...Girling's infectious enthusiasm for his subject shines through * The Times *Girling brings to rip-roaring life a fascinating Victorian figure of whom few have ever heard; I so wish I could invite Frank Buckland over for dinner. -- Dave Goulson, author of A Sting in the TaleAn irresistibly engaging account of the life of the David Attenborough of the Victorian era. * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisLaura Barwick is a natural history picture researcher and all-round animal lover. Having studied zoology and photography, she now works with the BBC's Natural History Unit as well as editorial and advertising clients, and internationally released movies. She could watch that video of someone telling an orang-utan a joke all day.

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Book SynopsisCurious about the previous inhabitants of the lake community where her family has vacationed for over one hundred years, author Shelley OCallaghan starts researching and writing about the area. But what begins as a personal journey of one womans relationship to the land and her desire to uncover the history of her familys remote cabin, soon turns into an exploration and questioning of our rights as settlers upon a land that was inhabited long before we came. OCallaghans research discovers a depth to the history of the Valley that runs as deep as the 1000 metre lake. She discovers her grandfathers intriguing connection with the First Nations chief whose ancestry goes back to the earliest recorded history at the lake, and her grandmothers attendance at a school where First Nations girls were taught servitude instead of knowledge. Through the summer of her research, she shares her discoveries with her six grandchildren as they set off on expeditions that make the past come alive. Together they find the headstone of an American scout with the 1858 International Boundary Commission Survey, a 1916 silver mine set up by Chief Sepass, and remnants of the original Indian Trail. They learn about trapper and prospector Charlie Lindeman, who introduced her grandfather to the lake in the early 1920s, and rescued her mother and grandmother from a fire that engulfed the lake in the 1930s. Together with her grandchildren they consider the impact of the legacy of white settlement in the areawhat is received from the past and what is given to the future. And as they reflect on the essence of a summer cabin, a place that brings family together and that nourishes the soul with its solitude and beauty, they gain a new perspective on the inevitable nature of change and privilege.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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