Of a Feather

Of a Feather

Author: Scott Weidensaul

Publisher: HMH

Published: 2008-09-15

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 0156035189

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Beyond Audubon: A quirky, “lively and illuminating” account of bird-watching’s history, including “rivalries, controversies, [and] bad behavior” (The Washington Post Book World). From the moment Europeans arrived in North America, they were awestruck by a continent awash with birds—great flocks of wild pigeons, prairies teeming with grouse, woodlands alive with brilliantly colored songbirds. Of a Feather traces the colorful origins of American birding: the frontier ornithologists who collected eggs between border skirmishes; the society matrons who organized the first effective conservation movement; and the luminaries with checkered pasts, such as Alexander Wilson (a convicted blackmailer) and the endlessly self-mythologizing John James Audubon. Naturalist Scott Weidensaul also recounts the explosive growth of modern birding that began when an awkward schoolteacher named Roger Tory Peterson published A Field Guide to the Birds in 1934. Today, birding counts iPod-wearing teens and obsessive “listers” among its tens of millions of participants, making what was once an eccentric hobby into something so completely mainstream it’s now (almost) cool. This compulsively readable popular history will surely find a roost on every birder’s shelf. “Weidensaul is a charming guide. . . . You don’t have to be a birder to enjoy this look at one of today’s fastest-growing (and increasingly competitive) hobbies.” —The Arizona Republic


Ecology

Ecology

Author: Charles J. Krebs

Publisher: Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 695

ISBN-13: 9780321068798

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This best-selling majors ecology book continues to present ecology as a series of problems for readers to critically analyze. No other text presents analytical, quantitative, and statistical ecological information in an equally accessible style. Reflecting the way ecologists actually practice, the book emphasizes the role of experiments in testing ecological ideas and discusses many contemporary and controversial problems related to distribution and abundance. Throughout the book, Krebs thoroughly explains the application of mathematical concepts in ecology while reinforcing these concepts with research references, examples, and interesting end-of-chapter review questions. Thoroughly updated with new examples and references, the book now features a new full-color design and is accompanied by an art CD-ROM for instructors. The field package also includes The Ecology Action Guide, a guide that encourages readers to be environmentally responsible citizens, and a subscription to The Ecology Place (www.ecologyplace.com), a web site and CD-ROM that enables users to become virtual field ecologists by performing experiments such as estimating the number of mice on an imaginary island or restoring prairie land in Iowa. For college instructors and students.


Birds of the Lake Erie Region

Birds of the Lake Erie Region

Author: Carolyn V. Platt

Publisher: Kent, Ohio : Kent State University Press

Published: 2001-01

Total Pages: 127

ISBN-13: 0873386906

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Expert or novice, birders and nature lovers will be moved by Platt's celebration of these birds and their habitat and by Meszaros's impressive photographs of the delicate beauty of these exquisite creatures."--BOOK JACKET.


Pale Blue Dot

Pale Blue Dot

Author: Carl Sagan

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Published: 2011-07-06

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0307801012

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“Fascinating . . . memorable . . . revealing . . . perhaps the best of Carl Sagan’s books.”—The Washington Post Book World (front page review) In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time. Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier—space. In Pale Blue Dot, Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race. “Takes readers far beyond Cosmos . . . Sagan sees humanity’s future in the stars.”—Chicago Tribune


The Darker Side of Western Modernity

The Darker Side of Western Modernity

Author: Walter Mignolo

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2011-12-16

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 0822350785

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

DIVA new and more concrete understanding of the inseparability of colonialism and modernity that also explores how the rhetoric of modernity disguises the logic of coloniality and how this rhetoric has been instrumental in establishing capitalism as the econ/div


Jungle Peace

Jungle Peace

Author: William Beebe

Publisher: DigiCat

Published: 2022-08-01

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In 'Jungle Peace,' William Beebe invites readers into the verdant embrace of the tropics, capturing the multiplicity of life within its dense canopy with an ecologist's keen eye and a poet's linguistically rich palette. Beebe's narrative traverses both the experiential and the theoretical, oscillating between vivid descriptions of his encounters with the jungle's inhabitants and reflective musings on the ecological interconnectivity of such a complex biome. The book's enduring relevance in the canon of naturalist literature is marked by its detailed observational methodology and its precursor role to modern ecological writing, showcasing a pioneering voice in biodiversity's impact narrative. Beebe's style, both accessible and empirically thorough, situates 'Jungle Peace' within a pivotal literary context, resonating with scholars and lay readers alike who seek a deep and nuanced understanding of the natural world. William Beebe was not only an accomplished author but also a revered naturalist and ornithologist, whose passion for nature was paralleled by an extensive background in scientific exploration. This profound connection to the wilderness informed his writing, allowing him to elucidate the intricacies of jungle ecosystems with authenticity and expertise. The genesis of 'Jungle Peace' can be attributed to Beebe's expeditions and direct observations, making his work an invaluable resource and an intimate record of the ecological conditions of his time. His literary contributions thus reflect a life dedicated to examination, conservation, and the celebration of nature's unparalleled beauty. Revealing the enchanting complexity of the jungle with scientific fervor and literary grace, 'Jungle Peace' beckons the discerning reader. It is recommended not only to those enchanted by natural history and environmental science but also to readers who appreciate the profound symbiosis between literary art and empirical observations. Engaging and enlightening, Beebe's work offers a time-capsule into early 20th-century ecological thought, and his perspective is as impactful now as it was upon the book's initial publication. 'Jungle Peace' is a tribute to the natural world, an invitation to explore and preserve the myriad voices within it.


The Silver Canvas

The Silver Canvas

Author: Bates Lowry

Publisher: Getty Publications

Published: 2000-02-03

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0892365366

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the most common method of photography was the daguerreotype—Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre’s miraculous invention that captured in a camera visual images on a highly polished silver surface through exposure to light. In this book are presented nearly eighty masterpieces—many never previously published—from the J. Paul Getty Museum’s extensive daguerreotype collection.


Caribbean Discourse

Caribbean Discourse

Author: Édouard Glissant

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 9780813913735

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Selected essays from the rich and complex collection of Edouard Glissant, one of the most prominent writers and intellectuals of the Caribbean, examine the psychological, sociological, and philosophical implications of cultural dependency.