Wildlife: general interest Books

Book SynopsisA captivating introduction to the physics of animal behavior.The principles of physics lie behind many of the ways animals go about their daily lives. Scientists have discovered that the way cats and dogs lap up liquids can be explained by the laws of surface tension, how ants navigate is due to polarized light, and why pistol shrimps can generate enough force to destroy aquarium glass using their elbows!Each of Furry Logic''s six chapters tackles a separate branch of physics and, through more than 30 animal case studies, examines each creature''s key features before describing the ways physics is at play in its life, how the connection between physics and animal behavior was discovered, and what remains to be found out. Science journalists Matin Durrani and Liz Kalaugher make the incredible interdisciplinary world of animals accessible to all, in an enthralling and entertaining read.Trade ReviewFurry Logic is an important book that is equally inspiring and humbling. * Science *An appealing mix of familiar animals ... and the life stories and weird research techniques of physicists and biologists, past and current, famous and unknown. * The Daily Telegraph *An enlightening and entertaining slant on two very different scientific disciplines, rendering a tricky subject accessible. * BBC Wildlife *A fun, informative chronicle of how myriad animals take advantage of the laws of physics. * Science News *Packed with insight and information. -- Jim Al-Khalili, physicist and broadcasterAn intriguing, funny and clever insight into the physics of the animal world. You'll never look at a wet dog or a bloody-thirsty mosquito in the same way. -- Fran Scott, science presenterWonderful, wild and witty. -- Ian Sample, science editor, GuardianIlluminating and intriguing. An entertaining book that provides fresh insight into how animals survive – providing food for thought whatever your level of scientific knowledge. -- Dame Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics and Master of Churchill College, University of CambridgeThere is nothing fuzzy about this book. With crisp prose and intuitive descriptions of physical processes, this book reveals how natural selection tunes the laws of physics to solve the myriad problems posed by nature ... a must read. -- Daniel Rubenstein, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton UniversityReaders don't need a background in physics to enjoy this engaging, educational title. Recommended for fans of popular science, including YA audiences. * School Library Journay *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Furry Physics Chapter 1: Heat: The Warm-up Chapter Chapter 2: Forces: The Big Push Chapter 3: Fluids: When Things Get Stickier Chapter 4: Sound: Good Vibrations Chapter 5: Electricity and Magnetism: Let the Sparks Fly Chapter 6: Light: A Final Physics Fandango Conclusion: Life, the Universe and Everything Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisErnest Hemingway is a writer we often associate with particular places and animals; Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Spain’s countryside, East Africa’s game reserves, Cuba’s blue water, and Idaho’s sage- brush all come to mind. We can easily visualize the iconic images of Hemingway with y rod bent by hefty trout, with bulls charging matadors, or of the famous author proudly posing with trophy lions, marlin, and a menagerie of Western American game animals.As Robert E. Fleming once put it—updating Gertrude Stein’s famous quip that Hemingway looked like a modern and smelled of museums—Hemingway “was also a hunter, sherman, and naturalist who smelled of libraries.” Hemingway indeed read widely in natural history and science, as well as the literature of eld sports. is lifelong interest in the natural world and its inhabitants manifests itself in Hemingway’s writing in myriad ways. From the trout Nick Adams care- fully releases to Santiago’s marlin and Robert Jordan’s “heart beating against the pine needle oor of the forest” to Colonel Cantwell’s beloved Italian duck marshes, and from African savannahs to the Gulf Stream, animals and environments are central to Hemingway’s work and life. While these representations often served as background for broader human centered matters in early scholarship, contemporary critics have opted to treat animals and environments directly. Teaching Hemingway and the Natural World marks a key entry in Hemingway studies, bringing the questions from the rapidly evolving eld of environmental literary studies to bear on Hemingway’s places, animals, and life. It not only advances scholarship on Hemingway’s relationship to the natural world, but it also facilitates bringing this understanding to the classroom. This latest volume in the Teaching Hemingway series explores how his writing sheds light on broader questions of the human relationship to the nonhuman world. Organized geographically, the 16 essays by leading scholars are divided into five sections about Hemingway’s favorite places. Each essay includes specific classroom advice as well as theoretically sophisticated close readings.

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Book SynopsisIt's amazing what we can learn from animals ... From summers at his grandparent's farm to serving the community through animal care as the local veterinarian, Dr. Keene spins heart­warming stories that do more than just entertain. These memoirs are rich with anecdotes and insights on how to care for your pets, for others, and yourself. God loves all creatures great and small, and surprisingly He can use the life and love of animals to teach and inspire us to become the best versions of ourselves possible. Take a journey through the colorful memories of Dr. Keene as he cared for all different types of animals, from pigs to parrots, cats, dogs, snakes, skunks, horses, cows, and everything in between.

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Book SynopsisThis comprehensive handbook covers all the rodents occurring in Southern, Central, East and West Africa, south of the Sahara. Genus and species accounts include diagnostic descriptions, systematics and taxonomy, biogeographical environment, fossil species, photographs of skull and mandible, illustrations of molar dentition, photographs of live animals, distribution maps and tables of standard museum measurements.

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive and heavily illustrated guide to every species of British wildlife, this book is the definitive photographic reference guide for nature enthusiasts.Collins Complete Guide to British Wildlife allows everyone to identify the wildlife found in Britain and Ireland. The book is illustrated with beautiful photographs throughout, featuring the mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates you are most likely to see, as well as all the common plants.By only covering Britain and Ireland, fewer species are included than in many broader European guides, making it quicker and easier for the reader to accurately identify what they have found.This is the essential photographic guide to the wildlife of Britain and Ireland.Trade Review'Wonderfully descriptive photographs'BBC Wildlife

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Book SynopsisThe story of invasive species is really the story of human history, and Eatherley tells it with great verve Fascinating' Daily TelegraphA unique history of plant and animal invaders of the British isles spanning thousands of years of arrivals and escapes, as well as defences mounted and a look to the future.As Brits we pride ourselves as stoic defenders, boasting a record of resistance dating back to 1066.Yet, even a cursory examination of the natural world reveals that while interlopers of the human variety may have been kept at bay, our islands have been invaded, conquered and settled by an endless succession of animals, plants, fungi and other alien lifeforms that apparently belong elsewhere. Indeed it's often hard to work out what actually is native, and what is foreign.From early settlement of our islands, through the Roman and mediaeval period, to the age of exploration and globalisation, today's complement of alien species tells a story about our past.Trade ReviewPraise for Invasive Aliens‘Fascinating … Eatherley has the unflagging curiosity of a Victorian explorer. The man seems to be indefatigable as he hacks away at Himalayan balsam (the pink, flowery weed that lines almost every riverbank in Britain) or goes on patrol for invasive signal crayfish in the River Barle. He’s not afraid to get wet, dirty or tired on his mission to get up close and personal with intruders of all shapes and sizes. It feels as if we are on the front line with him.’ The Times ‘[Eatherley’s] approach to his complex subject is open-minded, nuanced, and free-ranging to the point of wildness’ Sunday Telegraph ‘Fascinating … the story of “invasive species” is really the story of human history, and [Eatherley] tells it with great verve’ Daily Telegraph ‘Eatherley has an impressive grasp of history – both human and natural … [and] Invasive Aliens provides a well-researched overview of this complex and controversial topic. There is plenty here to surprise as well as enlighten’ Literary Review ‘A fascinating, comprehensive and thoughtful compendium of the flora and fauna that have reached our shores over the years … Invasive Aliens is full of extraordinary and often complex stories.’ Country Life ‘Eatherley’s thorough digest of a complex subject is engaging, informative and balanced. It is the first of these which most explains why Invasive Aliens has garnered such a sheaf of book awards. If the journalistic style puts off a few readers, it will please many more because the subject has been presented with verve and panache; I did not expect to be drawn in so comprehensively or to learn so much’ James Robertson, British Wildlife ‘[Dan Eatherley,] a talented naturalist writing with a genuine passion for the subject, has tackled the daunting task of charting the history of alien species in Britain with gusto. The result is an engrossing and utterly entertaining book’ British Deer Society

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Book Synopsis Established over a century ago, Fauna & Flora International (FFI) was the world’s first international conservation organisation. The pioneering work of its founders in Africa led to the creation of numerous protected areas, including Kruger and Serengeti National Parks. For the first time, the story of FFI’s history is told in its entirety.

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Book Synopsis**SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**One man''s quest to save the bumblebee...Dave Goulson has always been obsessed with wildlife, from his childhood menagerie of exotic pets and dabbling in experimental taxidermy to his groundbreaking research into the mysterious ways of the bumblebee and his mission to protect our rarest bees.Once commonly found in the marshes of Kent, the short-haired bumblebee is now extinct in the UK, but still exists in the wilds of New Zealand, descended from a few queen bees shipped over in the nineteenth century.A Sting in the Tale tells the story of Goulson''s passionate drive to reintroduce it to its native land and contains groundbreaking research into these curious creatures, history''s relationship with the bumblebee, the disastrous effects intensive farming has had on our bee populations and the potential dangers if we are to continue down this path.Trade Review[Goulson’s] book is not only enormously informative, but also hugely entertaining: its light touch and constant humour make cutting-edge research a pleasure to read about… For anyone interested in the natural world, this is essential reading. -- Michael McCarthy * Independent *Goulson reminds himself that he ‘began studying bumblebees not because they are important pollinators but because they are fascinating, because they behave in interesting and mysterious ways, and because they are rather loveable.’ It’s worth reading A Sting in the Tale for the same reasons. -- Hannah Rosefield * Literary Review *A worthy book of the year. -- Mary Beard * Observer *Goulson has plenty of wondrous biological stories to tell, as well as the tale of his own struggle to return the short-haired bumblebee to Britain. -- Patrick Barkham * Guardian *This isn’t one of those natural science books that simply tells you things – it admits how much we don’t know. -- Mark Mason * Spectator *

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