Search results for ""Smithsonian Books""

Seasonally dry forests are the most widespread forest type remaining in South and Southeast Asia. For many endangered species, such as tigers, elephants, deer and primates, this unique habitat is central to their survival. These forests are also intimately linked to humans in the region, who have lived in and relied on them for centuries. Despite the importance of seasonally dry forests, little is known of their ecology. The essays in this volume draw the connections between forest communities, endangered species, and agricultural communities in the region. The contributors, many of whom are in-country researchers and managers who have spent years studying this ecosystem, provide an overview of the ecology of seasonally dry forests in Asia, descriptions of forest and agricultural communities within seasonally dry forests, case studies for the species dependent on these ecosystems, such as tigers, elephants, deer, banteng, and gibbons and discuss effective management and conservation of seasonally dry forests.

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The average American today consumes some 150 pounds of sugars, plus substantial amounts of artificial sweeteners, each year. How this came to be and how sweeteners have affected key aspects of the American experience is the story of Sweet Stuff. This book is the first detailed history on the subject. The narrative covers the major natural sweeteners, including sugar and molasses from cane, beet sugar, corn syrup, sorghum syrup, honey, and maple, as well as the artificial sweeteners saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, and sucralose. Sweet Stuff discusses sweeteners in the context of diet, science and technology, business and labor, politics, and popular culture. It looks at the ways that federal and state governments promoted some sweeteners and limited the distribution of others. It examines the times when newer and less costly sweeteners threatened the market dominance of older and more expensive ones. Finally, it explores such complex issues as food purity, food safety, and truth in advertising. Sweet Stuff will appeal to those interested in food culture, American culture, and American history.

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Capital Portraits: Treasures from Washington Private Collections presents little-known artistic treasures from important Washington area private collections. These portraits by major artists date from the mid-eighteenth century to the present, and they speak to the many reasons that paintings and sculpture continue to represent and capture human likenesses and personalities. Privately collected, commissioned, or inherited, they have seldom, if ever, been seen in a public setting. The catalogue, which accompanies an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from April 1 through September 5, 2011, illustrates the portraits and recounts their histories, including comments by living sitters about having their portraits made.

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