The heroes of THE RAT AND THE RAVEN have returned to the University, but they are restless. They don’t fit in any more. Swart is told dreadful news by his father, and at the same time a petitioner comes on foot from far away, begging the wise people of the University for help against an enemy who wields lightning as a weapon. So it is time for Bran to gather his group again: the giant Mill the Hill, the dangerous twins Aethelflaed, the cowardly Dismas who can open any lock if he is scared enough, and Bran's beautiful, strange lover Scathe, a transmitting empath. They must find the Lightning Nest – a Tesla construct, and disable it. Harder things will also be asked of them before the end.
With compassion and an unswerving regard for the truth, veteran journalist Mark Seal lays bare the deeply moving, inspirational story of Joan Root, a dedicated environmentalist and Oscar-nominated wildlife filmmaker. He covers her early days in Kenya as a shy young woman with an almost uncanny ability to connect to animals; her whirlwind courtship with the dashing Alan Root, their marriage, and the twenty years of nonstop adventure and passionate romance that followed, both in Africa and around the world; the shattering disintegration of the marriage and partnership; and Joan’s triumphant struggle to reinvent herself as the protector of her lakeshore community’s fragile ecosystem—a struggle that would lead to her tragic death in January 2006. Joan Root dreamed of a bright future for Kenya, a country blessed with unmatched beauty but scarred by decades of colonization and a culture of corruption. She spent her life fighting to make that dream a reality. Her life ended too soon, but “thanks to Seal’s meticulous re-creation, her extraordinary life lives on.” (People, four-star review)
How to prevent electrical hazards in the workplace is the focus of this guide. It spells out proper design, maintenance, and operating procedures for minimizing the risks of electrical fires, accidents, and injuries on the job. Coverage of the latest electrical standards helps you comply with the current National Electrical Code (NEC)?? and OSHA requirements. NEC requirements and procedures are provided for grounding an electrical distribution system, selecting proper conductors, sizing the feeder, and effective branch circuit overcurrent protection. Safety considerations are explored for single and three-phase systems, fuses, plugs, and ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs). The guide also clarifies factors that influence soil resistivity, and it analyzes correction factors for special situations such as high ambient temperature environments. Human responses to electric shock are covered in detail. Among the important areas addressed are the approximate electrical impedance of the human body, thresholds of shock perception, let-go currents, asphyxia, ventricular fibrillation, and respiratory arrest. A bounty of solutions to help you solve electrical safety problems related to: * Hazardous locations -- Find out how to assess potential ignition sources, ventilation requirements, surface temperature conditions, and conduit and cable sealing requirements. * Current-carrying conductors in fire environments -- See how to evaluate insulation behavior, conductor melting temperatures, and the effects of nicks and broken strands, as well as how to make investigations at the scene of a fire. * Lightning protection -- Equip yourself to determine the probability of lightning strikes in specific locations, and mitigate the effects of a direct strike on buildings, equipment, and personnel. How to provide voltage surge protection is also discussed. * Static electricity -- Learn about the fundamentals of electrical charge induction and mechanisms for static charge ignition. Numerous case histories provide valuable insights into accident provention. In addition, the guide provides a review of electricity basics ranging from definitions of terms to the physics of the electric arc. It provides full-scope coverage of all electrical safety issues in the workplace. Electrical Hazards and Accidents: Their Cause and Prevention is an essential source for facility engineers, electrical engineers, plant engineers, plant managers, electricians, regulatory managers, and accident and insurance investigators.
From a New York Times bestselling nature writer comes a celebration of what goes on outside in the dark, from blooming moon gardens to nocturnal salamanders, from glowing foxfire and synchronous fireflies that blink in unison like an orchestra of light. In this glorious celebration of the night, New York Times bestselling nature writer Leigh Ann Henion invites us to leave our well-lit homes, step outside, and embrace the dark as a profoundly beautiful part of the world we inhabit. Because no matter where we live, we are surrounded by animals that rise with the moon, and blooms that reveal themselves as light fades. Henion explores her home region of Appalachia, where she attends a synchronous firefly event in Tennessee, a bat outing in Alabama, and a moth festival in Ohio. In North Carolina, she finds forests alight with bioluminescent mushrooms, neighborhood trees full of screech owls, and valleys teeming with migratory salamanders. Along the way, Henion encounters naturalists, biologists, primitive-skills experts, and others who’ve dedicated their lives to cultivating relationships with darkness. Every page of this lyrical book feels like an opportunity to ask: How did I not know about this before? For example, we learn that it can take hours, not minutes, for human eyes to reach full night vision capacity. And that there are thousands of firefly species on earth, many with flash patterns as unique as fingerprints. In an age of increasing artificial light, Night Magic focuses on the amazing biodiversity that still surrounds us after sunset. We do not need to stargaze into the distant cosmos or dive into the depths of oceans to find awe in the dark. There are dazzling wonders in our own backyards. And readers of World of Wonders, Entangled Life, and The Hidden Life of Trees will discover joy in Night Magic.
