The Hidden Habitat is the story of a young woman who ventures to Canada for the purpose of an in-depth study of the indigenous wildlife found in a particularly remote region. She finds herself both enthralled and mystified by a unique pair of young beavers that unexpectedly teach her about life and broaden her appreciation for the vast animal kingdom. She comes to an awareness of how all ecosystems and even life itself are interrelated.
Open The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities and you’ll find both a word and a day to remember, every day of the year. Each day has its own dedicated entry, on which a curious or notable event—and an equally curious or notable word—are explored. On the day on which flirting was banned in New York City, for instance, you’ll discover why to “sheep’s-eye” someone once meant to look at them amorously. On the day on which a disillusioned San Franciscan declared himself Emperor of the United States, you’ll find the word “mamamouchi,” a term for people who consider themselves more important than they truly are. And on the day on which George Frideric Handel completed his 259-page Messiah after twenty-four days of frenzied work, you’ll see why a French loanword, literally meaning “a small wooden barrow,” is used to refer to an intense period of work undertaken to meet a deadline. The English language is vast enough to supply us with a word for every occasion—and this linguistic “wunderkammer” is here to prove precisely that. So whatever date this book has found its way into your hands, there’s an entire year’s worth of linguistic curiosities waiting to be found.
The fifth order of the natural kingdom is made up of an estimated 1.5 million species of fungi, found in every habitat type worldwide. The Book of Fungi takes 600 of the most remarkable fleshy fungi from around the world and reproduces each at its actual size, in full colour, and accompanied by a scientific explanation of its distribution, habitat, association, abundance, growth form, spore colour and edibility. Location maps give at-a-glance indications of each species known global distribution, and specially commissioned engravings show different fruitbody forms and provide the vital statistics of height and diameter. Theres a place, too, for readers to discover the more bizarre habits of fungi from the predator that hunts its prey with lassos to the one that entices sows by releasing the pheromones of a wild boar. Mushrooms, morels, puffballs, toadstools, truffles, chanterelles fungi from habitats spanning the poles and the tropics, from the highest mountains to our own gardens are all on display in this definitive work.
There is a growing interest in creating gardens for wildlife, but this is often accompanied by a tendency to equate naturalness with messiness. The idea that wildlife gardens need to be untidy and unkempt persists. Understanding the needs of plants and how they interact establishes some parameters for design, stimulates ideas and reminds us of appropriate association of plants and materials. Far from limiting creativity, it reinforces a sense of place. Written by two experienced garden designers, this book uses the language of design to frame garden habitats, uniting design principles with an ecological perspective to create beautiful wildlife havens.
Forests and woodlands provide an enormous range of goods and services to society, from timber and firewood to medicinal plants, watershed protection, destinations for tourists and sacred sites. Only when these are understood and valued can forests and their resources be properly managed and conserved. This work shows how the complicated network of benefits can be untangled and sets out the different approaches needed to value them. It covers the analysis of plant-based markets, non-market valuation and decision frameworks such as cost-benefit analysis.
Opportunity is the hidden factor that explains why so many solutions proposed for today’s problems will fall far wide off the mark. Conventional and expensive proposals to solve many of the critical issues of our times, including ENERGY, CLIMATE CHANGE, COMMODITIZATION, THE DEMOGRAPHIC INVERSION (POPULATION), and CONFLICT will almost certainly go far astray if the element of OPPORTUNITY is disregarded. Conventional forecasts still take no account of what we know about opportunity, uncertainty, and risk. Changing circumstances inevitably create unforeseen opportunities. The error is compounded when policies lock societies into large commitments that fail to respect intrinsic uncertainty or unseen feedback effects. The author is an expert in the use of options theory and decision analysis in technology investment. These analytical tools are applied to the large issues of our times in this book: the desire for energy independence, halting climate change, the commoditization of industry, graying societies, and the resolution of human conflict. While disastrous policy prescriptions are hardly new to history, modern societies are doing far too little to use what they now know. Recognition of these basic errors will create competitive advantage for individual investors, businesses, and nations smart enough to avoid the pitfalls of the accepted wisdom. Dr. Boer’s Principles of Opportunity: 1. Keep the investment at risk low while the uncertainties are still high 2. The information needed to evaluate risk is the top priority 3. Things change–maintain your options and postpone large commitments 4. Break the investment process into a series of stages–each with an exit option 5. When risk is reasonable, large investments can be considered and options can be converted to assets.
In this work, Carl Anthony shares his perspectives as an African-American child in post-World War II Philadelphia; a student and civil rights activist in 1960s Harlem; a traveling student of West African architecture; and an architect, planner, and environmental justice advocate in Berkeley. He contextualizes this within American urbanism and human origins, making profoundly personal both African American and American urban histories as well as planetary origins and environmental issues, to not only bring a new worldview to people of color, but to set forth a truly inclusive vision of our shared planetary future. The Earth, the City, and the Hidden Narrative of Race connects the logics behind slavery, community disinvestment, and environmental exploitation to address the most pressing issues of our time in a cohesive and foundational manner. Most books dealing with these topics and periods silo issues apart from one another, but this book contextualizes the connections between social movements and issues, providing tremendous insight into successful movement building. Anthony's rich narrative describes both being at the mercy of racism, urban disinvestment, and environmental injustice as well as fighting against these forces with a variety of strategies. Because this work is both a personal memoir and an exposition of ideas, it will appeal to those who appreciate thoughtful and unique writing on issues of race, including individuals exploring their own African American identity, as well as progressive audiences of organizations and community leaders and professionals interested in democratizing power and advancing equitable policies for low-income communities and historically disenfranchised communities.
