A gorgeously illustrated collection of all sorts of seashells, complete with interesting facts, history, and more.. Celebrate the amazing mollusk - and the timeless joy of walking along the seashore and picking up a treasure of a shell. A personal, passionate pocket field guide, infused with the spirit of an artist in love with her subject, Searching for Seashells is a perfect beachgoer's companion. Every page captures that feeling of finding something unexpected, with beautifully hand-painted images of shells interspersed with poems, interesting history, and surprising facts (did you know that limpet teeth are the strongest organic substance in the world?) . It's the gift of nature's endless beauty.
Workman Publishing Company
|
9781523523450
|
Hardcover
Entangled Life
By Sheldrake, Merlin
A mind-bending journey into the hidden world of fungi that will change your understanding of life on earth "A dazzling, vibrant, vision-changing book . . . I ended it wonderstruck at the fungal world--the secrets of which modern science is only now beginning to fathom." - Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.In Entangled Life, the brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective.
Random House
|
9780525510314
|
Hardcover
Rising
By Rush, Elizabeth
Harvey. Maria. Irma. Sandy. Katrina. We live in a time of unprecedented hurricanes and catastrophic weather events, a time when it is increasingly clear that climate change is neither imagined nor distant -- and that rising seas are transforming the coastline of the United States in irrevocable ways. In this highly original work of lyrical reportage, Elizabeth Rush guides readers through some of the places where this change has been most dramatic, from the Gulf Coast to Miami, and from New York City to the Bay Area. For many of the plants, animals, and humans in these places, the options are stark: retreat or perish in place. Weaving firsthand accounts from those facing this choice -- a Staten Islander who lost her father during Sandy, the remaining holdouts of a Native American community on a drowning Isle de Jean Charles, a neighborhood in Pensacola settled by escaped slaves hundreds of years ago -- with profiles of wildlife biologists, activists, and other members of the communities both currently at risk and already displaced, Rising privileges the voices of those usually kept at the margins. At once polyphonic and precise, Rising is a shimmering meditation on vulnerability and on vulnerable communities, both human and more than human, and on how to let go of the places we love.
Milkweed Editions
|
9781571313676
|
Hardcover
Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America
By Pieplow, Nathan
The first comprehensive guide to the sounds of eastern North American birds, featuring an innovative visual index that allows readers to quickly look up unfamiliar sounds in the field. Bird songs and calls are just as important as visual field marks in identifying birds. But until now, the only way to learn them was by memorization. With this groundbreaking book, it's possible to visually distinguish bird sounds and identify birds using a field guide format. At the core of this guide is the spectrogram, a visual graph of sound. With a brief introduction to five key aspects - speed, repetition, pauses, pitch pattern, and tone quality - readers can learn to visualize sounds, without any musical training or auditory memorization. Picturing sounds makes it possible to search this book visually for a bird song heard in the field. The Sound Index groups similar songs together, narrowing the identification choices quickly to a brief list of birds that sound alike. Readers can then turn to the species account for more information and/or listen to the accompanying audio tracks available online, through Cornell's Lab of Ornithology. Identifying birds by sound is arguably the most challenging and important skill in birding. This book makes it vastly easier to master than ever before.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
|
9780547905587
|
Paperback
The Ice at the End of the World
By Gertner, Jon
A riveting, urgent account of the explorers and scientists racing to understand the rapidly melting ice sheet in Greenland, a dramatic harbinger of climate change Greenland: a remote, mysterious island five times the size of California but with a population of just 56,000. The ice sheet that covers it is 700 miles wide and 1,500 miles long, and is composed of nearly three quadrillion tons of ice. For the last 150 years, explorers and scientists have sought to understand Greenland - at first hoping that it would serve as a gateway to the North Pole, and later coming to realize it contained essential information about our climate. Locked within this vast and frozen white desert are some of the most profound secrets about our planet and its future. Greenland's ice doesn't just tell us where we've been. More urgently, it tells us where we're headed. In The Ice at the End of the World, Jon Gertner explains how Greenland has evolved from one of earth's last frontiers to its largest scientific laboratory. The history of Greenland's ice begins with the explorers who arrived here at the turn of the twentieth century - first on foot, then on skis, then on crude, motorized sleds - and embarked on grueling expeditions that took as long as a year and often ended in frostbitten tragedy. Their original goal was simple: to conquer Greenland's seemingly infinite interior. Yet their efforts eventually gave way to scientists who built lonely encampments out on the ice and began drilling - one mile, two miles down. Their aim was to pull up ice cores that could reveal the deepest mysteries of earth's past, going back hundreds of thousands of years. Today, scientists from all over the world are deploying every technological tool available to uncover the secrets of this frozen island before it's too late. As Greenland's ice melts and runs off into the sea, it not only threatens to affect hundreds of millions of people who live in coastal areas. It will also have drastic effects on ocean currents, weather systems, economies, and migration patterns. Gertner chronicles the unfathomable hardships, amazing discoveries, and scientific achievements of the Arctic's explorers and researchers with a transporting, deeply intelligent style - and a keen sense of what this work means for the rest of us. The melting ice sheet in Greenland is, in a way, an analog for time. It contains the past. It reflects the present. It can also tell us how much time we might have left.
Random House
|
9780812996623
|
Hardcover
The Cat's Meow
By Losos, Jonathan B.
The past, present, and future of the world's most popular and beloved pet, from a leading evolutionary biologist and great cat lover.. The domestic cat - your cat - has, from its evolutionary origins in Africa, been transformed in comparatively little time into one of the most successful and diverse species on the planet. Jonathan Losos, writing as both a scientist and a cat lover, explores how researchers today are unraveling the secrets of the cat, past and present, using all the tools of modern technology, from GPS tracking (you'd be amazed where those backyard cats roam) and genomics (what is your so-called Siamese cat . . . really?) to forensic archaeology. In addition to solving the mysteries of your cat's past, it gives us a cat's-eye view of today's habitats, including meeting wild cousins around the world whose habits your sweet house cat sometimes eerily parallels.
Viking
|
9781984878700
|
Hardcover
Insects of North America
By Phillips, David M., Phd
Insects of North America presents over 300 insect species of North America, including dominant species and insects most likely noticed. With information about distinguishing less common species from those that are more widespread, this guide is sure to please entomologists and more serious insect enthusiasts. Including many of the rare insects that make North America unique, this is a must-have for any insect lover.Look inside to find:Detailed yet user-friendly descriptions and full-color photos of over 300 insects Information on breeding season and interesting facts about each insectNatural history information for North America, broken out by region, including geography, geology, and climateInformation on conservation and threats to insect speciesInsects arranged by familyA glossary of entomological terms.
Falcon Guides
|
9781493039234
|
Paperback
Happily Ever Esther
By Jenkins, Steve
Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter, had their lives turned upside down when they adopted their pig-daughter Esther--the so-called micro pig who turned out to be a full-sized commercial pig growing to a whopping 600 pounds--as they describe in their bestselling memoir Esther the Wonder Pig. The book ends with them moving to a new farm, and starting a new wonderful life where they will live on the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary to care for other animals and just live happily ever after... Or so they thought. People often think about giving it all up and just moving to a farm. In theory it sure does sound great. But as Derek and Steve quickly realized, the realities of being a farmer--especially when you have never lived on a farm let alone outside of the city--can be frantic, crazy, and even insane. Not only are they adjusting to farm life and dutifully taking care of their pig-daughter Esther (who by the way lives in the master bedroom of their house) , but before they knew it their sanctuary grew to as many as 42 animals, including: pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, chickens, cows, roosters, a peacock, a duck, a horse, a donkey, and a barn cat named Willma Ferrell. Written with joy and humor, and filled with delicious Esther-approved recipes dispersed throughout the book, this charming memoir captures an emotional journey of one little family advocating for animals everywhere.
Grand Central Publishing
|
9781538728147
|
Hardcover
The Guinea Pig Handbook
By Dvm, Sharon Lynn Vanderlip
Barron's Pet Handbooks are written, designed, and illustrated in much the same attractive style as Barron's best-selling Complete Pet Owner's Manuals. However, Handbooks have a larger page count and with it, more extensive and detailed coverage of each title's subject pet. This updated edition for guinea pig owners provides a wealth of information on the animal's anatomy and life cycle, plus advice on caging, feeding, and health care.
Barron's Educational Series
|
9781438005096
|
Paperback
What a Fish Knows
By Balcombe, Jonathan
Do fishes think? Do they really have three-second memories? And can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? In "What a Fish Knows, " the myth-busting ethologist Jonathan Balcombe addresses these questions and more, taking us under the sea, through streams and estuaries, and to the other side of the aquarium glass to reveal the surprising capabilities of fishes. Although there are more than thirty thousand species of fish more than all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians combined we rarely consider how individual fishes think, feel, and behave. Balcombe upends our assumptions about fishes, portraying them not as unfeeling, dead-eyed feeding machines but as sentient, aware, social, and even Machiavellian in other words, much like us. " What a Fish Knows" draws on the latest science to present a fresh look at these remarkable creatures in all their breathtaking diversity and beauty. Fishes conduct elaborate courtship rituals and develop lifelong bonds with shoalmates. They also plan, hunt cooperatively, use tools, curry favor, deceive one another, and punish wrongdoers. We may imagine that fishes lead simple, fleeting lives a mode of existence that boils down to a place on the food chain, rote spawning, and lots of aimless swimming. But, as Balcombe demonstrates, the truth is far richer and more complex, worthy of the grandest social novel. Highlighting breakthrough discoveries from fish enthusiasts and scientists around the world and pondering his own encounters with fishes, Balcombe examines the fascinating means by which fishes gain knowledge of the places they inhabit, from shallow tide pools to the deepest reaches of the ocean. Teeming with insights and exciting discoveries, "What a Fish Knows" offers a thoughtful appraisal of our relationships with fishes and inspires us to take a more enlightened view of the planet s increasingly imperiled marine life. "What a Fish Knows" will forever change how we see our aquatic cousins the pet goldfish included. "
Searching for Seashells
By Regunberg, Jessie King
A gorgeously illustrated collection of all sorts of seashells, complete with interesting facts, history, and more.. Celebrate the amazing mollusk - and the timeless joy of walking along the seashore and picking up a treasure of a shell. A personal, passionate pocket field guide, infused with the spirit of an artist in love with her subject, Searching for Seashells is a perfect beachgoer's companion. Every page captures that feeling of finding something unexpected, with beautifully hand-painted images of shells interspersed with poems, interesting history, and surprising facts (did you know that limpet teeth are the strongest organic substance in the world?) . It's the gift of nature's endless beauty.
Entangled Life
By Sheldrake, Merlin
A mind-bending journey into the hidden world of fungi that will change your understanding of life on earth "A dazzling, vibrant, vision-changing book . . . I ended it wonderstruck at the fungal world--the secrets of which modern science is only now beginning to fathom." - Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.In Entangled Life, the brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective.
Rising
By Rush, Elizabeth
Harvey. Maria. Irma. Sandy. Katrina. We live in a time of unprecedented hurricanes and catastrophic weather events, a time when it is increasingly clear that climate change is neither imagined nor distant -- and that rising seas are transforming the coastline of the United States in irrevocable ways. In this highly original work of lyrical reportage, Elizabeth Rush guides readers through some of the places where this change has been most dramatic, from the Gulf Coast to Miami, and from New York City to the Bay Area. For many of the plants, animals, and humans in these places, the options are stark: retreat or perish in place. Weaving firsthand accounts from those facing this choice -- a Staten Islander who lost her father during Sandy, the remaining holdouts of a Native American community on a drowning Isle de Jean Charles, a neighborhood in Pensacola settled by escaped slaves hundreds of years ago -- with profiles of wildlife biologists, activists, and other members of the communities both currently at risk and already displaced, Rising privileges the voices of those usually kept at the margins. At once polyphonic and precise, Rising is a shimmering meditation on vulnerability and on vulnerable communities, both human and more than human, and on how to let go of the places we love.
Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America
By Pieplow, Nathan
The first comprehensive guide to the sounds of eastern North American birds, featuring an innovative visual index that allows readers to quickly look up unfamiliar sounds in the field. Bird songs and calls are just as important as visual field marks in identifying birds. But until now, the only way to learn them was by memorization. With this groundbreaking book, it's possible to visually distinguish bird sounds and identify birds using a field guide format. At the core of this guide is the spectrogram, a visual graph of sound. With a brief introduction to five key aspects - speed, repetition, pauses, pitch pattern, and tone quality - readers can learn to visualize sounds, without any musical training or auditory memorization. Picturing sounds makes it possible to search this book visually for a bird song heard in the field. The Sound Index groups similar songs together, narrowing the identification choices quickly to a brief list of birds that sound alike. Readers can then turn to the species account for more information and/or listen to the accompanying audio tracks available online, through Cornell's Lab of Ornithology. Identifying birds by sound is arguably the most challenging and important skill in birding. This book makes it vastly easier to master than ever before.
The Ice at the End of the World
By Gertner, Jon
A riveting, urgent account of the explorers and scientists racing to understand the rapidly melting ice sheet in Greenland, a dramatic harbinger of climate change Greenland: a remote, mysterious island five times the size of California but with a population of just 56,000. The ice sheet that covers it is 700 miles wide and 1,500 miles long, and is composed of nearly three quadrillion tons of ice. For the last 150 years, explorers and scientists have sought to understand Greenland - at first hoping that it would serve as a gateway to the North Pole, and later coming to realize it contained essential information about our climate. Locked within this vast and frozen white desert are some of the most profound secrets about our planet and its future. Greenland's ice doesn't just tell us where we've been. More urgently, it tells us where we're headed. In The Ice at the End of the World, Jon Gertner explains how Greenland has evolved from one of earth's last frontiers to its largest scientific laboratory. The history of Greenland's ice begins with the explorers who arrived here at the turn of the twentieth century - first on foot, then on skis, then on crude, motorized sleds - and embarked on grueling expeditions that took as long as a year and often ended in frostbitten tragedy. Their original goal was simple: to conquer Greenland's seemingly infinite interior. Yet their efforts eventually gave way to scientists who built lonely encampments out on the ice and began drilling - one mile, two miles down. Their aim was to pull up ice cores that could reveal the deepest mysteries of earth's past, going back hundreds of thousands of years. Today, scientists from all over the world are deploying every technological tool available to uncover the secrets of this frozen island before it's too late. As Greenland's ice melts and runs off into the sea, it not only threatens to affect hundreds of millions of people who live in coastal areas. It will also have drastic effects on ocean currents, weather systems, economies, and migration patterns. Gertner chronicles the unfathomable hardships, amazing discoveries, and scientific achievements of the Arctic's explorers and researchers with a transporting, deeply intelligent style - and a keen sense of what this work means for the rest of us. The melting ice sheet in Greenland is, in a way, an analog for time. It contains the past. It reflects the present. It can also tell us how much time we might have left.
The Cat's Meow
By Losos, Jonathan B.
The past, present, and future of the world's most popular and beloved pet, from a leading evolutionary biologist and great cat lover.. The domestic cat - your cat - has, from its evolutionary origins in Africa, been transformed in comparatively little time into one of the most successful and diverse species on the planet. Jonathan Losos, writing as both a scientist and a cat lover, explores how researchers today are unraveling the secrets of the cat, past and present, using all the tools of modern technology, from GPS tracking (you'd be amazed where those backyard cats roam) and genomics (what is your so-called Siamese cat . . . really?) to forensic archaeology. In addition to solving the mysteries of your cat's past, it gives us a cat's-eye view of today's habitats, including meeting wild cousins around the world whose habits your sweet house cat sometimes eerily parallels.
Insects of North America
By Phillips, David M., Phd
Insects of North America presents over 300 insect species of North America, including dominant species and insects most likely noticed. With information about distinguishing less common species from those that are more widespread, this guide is sure to please entomologists and more serious insect enthusiasts. Including many of the rare insects that make North America unique, this is a must-have for any insect lover.Look inside to find:Detailed yet user-friendly descriptions and full-color photos of over 300 insects Information on breeding season and interesting facts about each insectNatural history information for North America, broken out by region, including geography, geology, and climateInformation on conservation and threats to insect speciesInsects arranged by familyA glossary of entomological terms.
Happily Ever Esther
By Jenkins, Steve
Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter, had their lives turned upside down when they adopted their pig-daughter Esther--the so-called micro pig who turned out to be a full-sized commercial pig growing to a whopping 600 pounds--as they describe in their bestselling memoir Esther the Wonder Pig. The book ends with them moving to a new farm, and starting a new wonderful life where they will live on the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary to care for other animals and just live happily ever after... Or so they thought. People often think about giving it all up and just moving to a farm. In theory it sure does sound great. But as Derek and Steve quickly realized, the realities of being a farmer--especially when you have never lived on a farm let alone outside of the city--can be frantic, crazy, and even insane. Not only are they adjusting to farm life and dutifully taking care of their pig-daughter Esther (who by the way lives in the master bedroom of their house) , but before they knew it their sanctuary grew to as many as 42 animals, including: pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, chickens, cows, roosters, a peacock, a duck, a horse, a donkey, and a barn cat named Willma Ferrell. Written with joy and humor, and filled with delicious Esther-approved recipes dispersed throughout the book, this charming memoir captures an emotional journey of one little family advocating for animals everywhere.
The Guinea Pig Handbook
By Dvm, Sharon Lynn Vanderlip
Barron's Pet Handbooks are written, designed, and illustrated in much the same attractive style as Barron's best-selling Complete Pet Owner's Manuals. However, Handbooks have a larger page count and with it, more extensive and detailed coverage of each title's subject pet. This updated edition for guinea pig owners provides a wealth of information on the animal's anatomy and life cycle, plus advice on caging, feeding, and health care.
What a Fish Knows
By Balcombe, Jonathan
Do fishes think? Do they really have three-second memories? And can they recognize the humans who peer back at them from above the surface of the water? In "What a Fish Knows, " the myth-busting ethologist Jonathan Balcombe addresses these questions and more, taking us under the sea, through streams and estuaries, and to the other side of the aquarium glass to reveal the surprising capabilities of fishes. Although there are more than thirty thousand species of fish more than all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians combined we rarely consider how individual fishes think, feel, and behave. Balcombe upends our assumptions about fishes, portraying them not as unfeeling, dead-eyed feeding machines but as sentient, aware, social, and even Machiavellian in other words, much like us. " What a Fish Knows" draws on the latest science to present a fresh look at these remarkable creatures in all their breathtaking diversity and beauty. Fishes conduct elaborate courtship rituals and develop lifelong bonds with shoalmates. They also plan, hunt cooperatively, use tools, curry favor, deceive one another, and punish wrongdoers. We may imagine that fishes lead simple, fleeting lives a mode of existence that boils down to a place on the food chain, rote spawning, and lots of aimless swimming. But, as Balcombe demonstrates, the truth is far richer and more complex, worthy of the grandest social novel. Highlighting breakthrough discoveries from fish enthusiasts and scientists around the world and pondering his own encounters with fishes, Balcombe examines the fascinating means by which fishes gain knowledge of the places they inhabit, from shallow tide pools to the deepest reaches of the ocean. Teeming with insights and exciting discoveries, "What a Fish Knows" offers a thoughtful appraisal of our relationships with fishes and inspires us to take a more enlightened view of the planet s increasingly imperiled marine life. "What a Fish Knows" will forever change how we see our aquatic cousins the pet goldfish included. "