Working with Nature

Working with Nature

Author: Jeremy Purseglove

Publisher: Profile Books

Published: 2019-04-25

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1782834966

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From cocoa farming in Ghana to the orchards of Kent and the desert badlands of Pakistan, taking a practical approach to sustaining the landscape can mean the difference between prosperity and ruin. Working with Nature is the story of a lifetime of work, often in extreme environments, to harvest nature and protect it - in effect, gardening on a global scale. It is also a memoir of encounters with larger-than-life characters such as William Bunting, the gun-toting saviour of Yorkshire's peatlands and the aristocratic gardener Vita Sackville-West, examining their idiosyncratic approaches to conservation. Jeremy Purseglove explains clearly and convincingly why it's not a good idea to extract as many resources as possible, whether it's the demand for palm oil currently denuding the forests of Borneo, cottonfield irrigation draining the Aral Sea, or monocrops spreading across Britain. The pioneer of engineering projects to preserve nature and landscape, first in Britain and then around the world, he offers fresh insights and solutions at each step.


Born Wild

Born Wild

Author: Tony Fitzjohn

Publisher: Crown

Published: 2011-03-22

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0307716058

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Tony Fitzjohn, part missionary, part madman, has been called “one of the world’s most endangered creatures.” An internationally renowned field expert on African wildlife, he is best known for the eighteen years he spent helping Born Free’s George Adamson return more than forty leopards and lions—including the celebrated Christian—to the wild in central Kenya. Born Wild is the memoir of Fitzjohn’s extraordinary life. It shows how a man driven by an impossibly restless spirit can do almost anything, from being a bouncer in a brothel, to surviving a vicious lion attack, to fighting with the Tanzanian government, to being appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen. A notorious hell-raiser given to scrapes with bandits, evil policemen, and wicked politicians, who has been shot at by poachers and chewed up by lions, Fitzjohn is also a wonderful raconteur. Shenanigans aside, he belongs to that rare species of humans who have sought refuge and meaning in a life truly dedicated to the restoration of the animal kingdom. Many times Tony Fitzjohn has put his life on the line for the cause in which he believes. Born Wild is the story of that passion.


The Old Pro Turkey Hunter

The Old Pro Turkey Hunter

Author: Gene Nunnery

Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published: 2018-10-15

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1496820002

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During his life, Gene Nunnery was recognized as a master turkey hunter and an artisan who crafted unique, almost irresistible turkey calls. In The Old Pro Turkey Hunter, the vaunted sportsman shares over fifty years of personal experience in Mississippi and surrounding states, along with the decades-old wisdom of the huntsmen who taught him. Throughout the book, his stories make clear that turkey hunting is more than just killing the bird--it is about matching wits with a wild and savvy adversary. As Nunnery explains, "To me that's what it's all about: finding a wise old gobbler who will test your skill as a turkey hunter." Through his stories, Nunnery reveals that the true reward for successful turkey hunting lies in winning the contest, not necessarily exterminating the foe. Real sportsmen know that every now and then the turkey should and will elude the hunter. As Nunnery looks back on his extensive career, he analyzes vast differences in practice, old and new. The shift, he decides, came during his last twenty years on the hunt, and that difference has only increased in the decades since this book was originally published. Michael O. Giles, Bass Pro staff team member, master turkey hunter, and award-winning outdoors writer and author of Passion of the Wild, writes a new foreword that brings the practice of turkey hunting into the present day. Filled with a tested mixture of common sense and specific examples of how master turkey hunters honor their harvest and heritage, The Old Pro Turkey Hunter is the perfect companion for the novice or the adept.


Natural Selection in the Wild. (MPB-21), Volume 21

Natural Selection in the Wild. (MPB-21), Volume 21

Author: John A. Endler

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-03-31

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0691209510

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Natural selection is an immense and important subject, yet there have been few attempts to summarize its effects on natural populations, and fewer still which discuss the problems of working with natural selection in the wild. These are the purposes of John Endler's book. In it, he discusses the methods and problems involved in the demonstration and measurement of natural selection, presents the critical evidence for its existence, and places it in an evolutionary perspective. Professor Endler finds that there are a remarkable number of direct demonstrations of selection in a wide variety of animals and plants. The distribution of observed magnitudes of selection in natural populations is surprisingly broad, and it overlaps extensively the range of values found in artificial selection. He argues that the common assumption that selection is usually weak in natural populations is no longer tenable, but that natural selection is only one component of the process of evolution; natural selection can explain the change of frequencies of variants, but not their origins.


The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot

Author: Peter Brown

Publisher:

Published: 2020-04-07

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9781536435078

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Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there, and her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island's hostile inhabitants.


Wild Souls

Wild Souls

Author: Emma Marris

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2021-06-29

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 163557496X

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Winner of the 2022 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award * Winner of the 2022 Science in Society Journalism Award (Books) * Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize “Thoughtful, insightful, and wise, Wild Souls is a landmark work.”--Ed Yong, author of An Immense World "Fascinating . . . hands-on philosophy, put to test in the real world . . . Marris believes that our idea of wildness--our obsession with purity--is misguided. No animal remains untouched by human hands . . . the science isn't the hard part. The real challenge is the ethics, the act of imagining our appropriate place in that world." --Outside Magazine From an acclaimed environmental writer, a groundbreaking and provocative new vision for our relationships with--and responsibilities toward--the planet's wild animals. Protecting wild animals and preserving the environment are two ideals so seemingly compatible as to be almost inseparable. But in fact, between animal welfare and conservation science there exists a space of underexamined and unresolved tension: wildness itself. When is it right to capture or feed wild animals for the good of their species? How do we balance the rights of introduced species with those already established within an ecosystem? Can hunting be ecological? Are any animals truly wild on a planet that humans have so thoroughly changed? No clear guidelines yet exist to help us resolve such questions. Transporting readers into the field with scientists tackling these profound challenges, Emma Marris tells the affecting and inspiring stories of animals around the globe--from Peruvian monkeys to Australian bilbies, rare Hawai'ian birds to majestic Oregon wolves. And she offers a companionable tour of the philosophical ideas that may steer our search for sustainability and justice in the non-human world. Revealing just how intertwined animal life and human life really are, Wild Souls will change the way we think about nature-and our place within it.


The Only Rule Is It Has to Work

The Only Rule Is It Has to Work

Author: Ben Lindbergh

Publisher: Macmillan + ORM

Published: 2016-05-03

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 1627795650

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The New York Times bestseller about what would happen if two statistics-minded outsiders were allowed to run a professional baseball team. It’s the ultimate in fantasy baseball: You get to pick the roster, set the lineup, and decide on strategies -- with real players, in a real ballpark, in a real playoff race. That’s what baseball analysts Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller got to do when an independent minor-league team in California, the Sonoma Stompers, offered them the chance to run its baseball operations according to the most advanced statistics. Their story in The Only Rule is it Has to Work is unlike any other baseball tale you've ever read. We tag along as Lindbergh and Miller apply their number-crunching insights to all aspects of assembling and running a team, following one cardinal rule for judging each innovation they try: it has to work. We meet colorful figures like general manager Theo Fightmaster and boundary-breakers like the first openly gay player in professional baseball. Even José Canseco makes a cameo appearance. Will their knowledge of numbers help Lindbergh and Miller bring the Stompers a championship, or will they fall on their faces? Will the team have a competitive advantage or is the sport’s folk wisdom true after all? Will the players attract the attention of big-league scouts, or are they on a fast track to oblivion? It’s a wild ride, by turns provocative and absurd, as Lindbergh and Miller tell a story that will speak to numbers geeks and traditionalists alike. And they prove that you don’t need a bat or a glove to make a genuine contribution to the game.


Animal Teams

Animal Teams

Author: Charlotte Milner

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2022-03-15

Total Pages: 34

ISBN-13: 0744063744

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This non-fiction children’s book explains how animals work together to survive and thrive in the wild. It teaches children how important teamwork is, no matter how big or small a creature you are. Charlotte Milner's stunning illustrations blend with photographs to create engaging animal scenes that children will love to pore over again and again. Discover why teamwork is so important for different groups of animals in the wild. Inside this animal book for children, you’ll find: • A stunning picture book that introduces children to a range of different animal groups, including a pack of wolves, flock of birds and school of fish • A range of habitats, including mountains, coral reefs and the Amazon rainforest • Stunning illustrations by award-winning author and illustrator Charlotte Milner, who wrote and illustrated The Bee Book series • Engaging text introduces children to different types of animal groups and how they work together in the wild Have you ever asked why birds swoop and soar in a flock? Or wondered where an army of ants is marching? This beautiful animal book takes young readers through a range of habitats, from snowy mountains to colorful coral reefs, to discover different groups of animals and how they work together to survive in their environments. Children will learn fascinating fun facts along the way. For example, did you know that a group of monkeys is called a troop? Or that flying in flocks means birds can sleep as they fly? Combined with gentle learning and simple, lyrical text, Animal Teams is perfect for reading aloud which presents many early learning benefits including language development. This exquisite children’s educational book is unique in its ability to educate little ones about the animal kingdom while also teaching them about the importance of teamwork in their own lives.


Hog Wild

Hog Wild

Author: Lynn Waltz

Publisher: University of Iowa Press

Published: 2018-05-15

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1609385853

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The story of Joe Luter and Smithfield -- Cheap labor built on a legacy of slavery -- Lots of pigs, lots of poop, lots of politics, lots of pollution -- The plant opens, the work is beastly, the union fight heats up -- The first union vote -- The plant changes southeastern North Carolina -- The company woman -- The second union vote, 1997 -- The trial : Buffkin and Luter testify -- The judge rules -- Organizing on the road -- Gene Bruskin rides into town -- The union campaign, Harris Teeter -- Ludlum is back : Immigration enforcement tightens -- Workers walk off the job -- The stockholders, secret talks, stalemate -- Rico, the settlement, the third union vote, the end


The Wild Edge of Sorrow

The Wild Edge of Sorrow

Author: Francis Weller

Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Published: 2015-09-15

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1583949763

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The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and be stretched large by them. As seen on All There Is with Anderson Cooper Noted psychotherapist Francis Weller provides an essential guide for navigating the deep waters of sorrow and loss in this lyrical yet practical handbook for mastering the art of grieving. Describing how Western patterns of amnesia and anesthesia affect our capacity to cope with personal and collective sorrows, Weller reveals the new vitality we may encounter when we welcome, rather than fear, the pain of loss. Through moving personal stories, poetry, and insightful reflections he leads us into the central energy of sorrow, and to the profound healing and heightened communion with each other and our planet that reside alongside it. The Wild Edge of Sorrow explains that grief has always been communal and illustrates how we need the healing touch of others, an atmosphere of compassion, and the comfort of ritual in order to fully metabolize our grief. Weller describes how we often hide our pain from the world, wrapping it in a secret mantle of shame. This causes sorrow to linger unexpressed in our bodies, weighing us down and pulling us into the territory of depression and death. We have come to fear grief and feel too alone to face an encounter with the powerful energies of sorrow. Those who work with people in grief, who have experienced the loss of a loved one, who mourn the ongoing destruction of our planet, or who suffer the accumulated traumas of a lifetime will appreciate the discussion of obstacles to successful grief work such as privatized pain, lack of communal rituals, a pervasive feeling of fear, and a culturally restrictive range of emotion. Weller highlights the intimate bond between grief and gratitude, sorrow and intimacy. In addition to showing us that the greatest gifts are often hidden in the things we avoid, he offers powerful tools and rituals and a list of resources to help us transform grief into a force that allows us to live and love more fully.