Download or read book Nature s Fading Chorus written by Gordon Miller and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2000-05 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Naturalists in every age have been intrigued by frogs, toads, and salamanders. They have seen these amphibians in a variety of guises -- as beings with magical powers or implicit moral lessons, as the products of spontaneous generation, as heralds of the seasons, as evidence of evolution or material for biological experiments, or, most recently, as ecological barometers for the biosphere.Nature's Fading Chorus presents an anthology of writings on amphibians drawn from the entire Western natural history tradition, beginning with Aristotle's Inquiry Concerning Animals written in the fourth century B.C.E., and continuing through recent scientific accounts of the relatively sudden -- and alarming -- global declines and deformities in amphibian species. The offerings not only reveal much about amphibian life, but also provide fascinating insight into the worldviews of the many writers, scientists, and naturalists who have delved into the subject.The book is divided into five sections. The first three offer selections from the most influential contributors to the Western canon of natural history writing, and contain classic texts that illustrate central themes in the changing understanding of amphibians and of the natural world. The fourth section offers engaging essays by leading twentieth-century nature writers that portray a variety of amphibians in diverse terrains. Part five covers the various aspects of, and research on, the problem of amphibian declines and deformities. Featured are more than thirty-five pieces, including works from Pliny the Elder, Gilbert White, William Bartram, Henry David Thoreau, Charles Darwin, T. H. Huxley, Loren Eiseley, Stephen Jay Gould, George Orwell, Annie Dillard, Terry Tempest Williams, and many others.Arranged chronologically, the writings provide an intriguing look at the ways in which humankind's understanding of its place in nature has changed through the course of Western history, and of the niche amphibians have occupied in that evolution.
Download or read book We Are Amphibians written by R. S. Deese and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2014-11-14 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We Are Amphibians tells the fascinating story of two brothers who changed the way we think about the future of our species. As a pioneering biologist and conservationist, Julian Huxley helped advance the Òmodern synthesisÓ in evolutionary biology and played a pivotal role in founding UNESCO and the World Wildlife Fund. His argument that we must accept responsibility for our future evolution as a species has attracted a growing number of scientists and intellectuals who embrace the concept of Transhumanism that he first outlined in the 1950s. Although Aldous Huxley is most widely known for his dystopian novel Brave New World, his writings on religion, ecology, and human consciousness were powerful catalysts for the environmental and human potential movements that grew rapidly in the second half of the twentieth century. While they often disagreed about the role of science and technology in human progress, Julian and Aldous Huxley both believed that the future of our species depends on a saner set of relations with each other and with our environment. Their common concern for ecology has given their ideas about the future of Homo sapiens an enduring resonance in the twenty-first century. The amphibian metaphor that both brothers used to describe humanity highlights not only the complexity and mutability of our species but also our ecologically precarious situation.
Download or read book Facing the Wild written by Chilla Bulbeck and published by Earthscan. This book was released on 2012 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What do wild animals mean to humans? Will they survive both rampant habitat loss and extinction caused by human encroachment and, as ecotourists, our enthusiasm for them? With ecotourism now the fastest growing segment of tourism, and encounters with wild animals - be it swimming with dolphins, going on safari or bird watching - ever more popular, these are critical questions. Yet until now little has been known about why people crave encounters with wild animals and the meaning for the ecotourism industry, conservation efforts and society at large. Facing the Wild is the first serious empirical examination of why people seek out animals in their natural environment, what the desire for this experience tells us about the meanings of animals, nature, authenticity and wilderness in contemporary industrialized societies, and whether visitors change their environmental perspectives and behaviour, as the custodians of wildlife parks would like them to. The book explores the contradictions and ambivalence that so many people experience in the presence of 'wild nature' - in loving it we may diminish it and in the act of wanting to see it we may destroy it. Ultimately the book makes a case for 'respectful stewardship' of a 'hybrid nature' and provides insight for both practitioners and ecotourists alike.
Download or read book Snakes written by Stephen J. Mullin and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-15 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Destruction of habitat due to urban sprawl, pollution, and deforestation has caused population declines or even extinction of many of the world's approximately 2,600 snake species. Furthermore, misconceptions about snakes have made them among the most persecuted of all animals, despite the fact that less than a quarter of all species are venomous and most species are beneficial because they control rodent pests. It has become increasingly urgent, therefore, to develop viable conservation strategies for snakes and to investigate their importance as monitors of ecosystem health and indicators of habitat sustainability. In the first book on snakes written with a focus on conservation, editors Stephen J. Mullin and Richard A. Seigel bring together leading herpetologists to review and synthesize the ecology, conservation, and management of snakes worldwide. These experts report on advances in current research and summarize the primary literature, presenting the most important concepts and techniques in snake ecology and conservation. The common thread of conservation unites the twelve chapters, each of which addresses a major subdiscipline within snake ecology. Applied topics such as methods and modeling and strategies such as captive rearing and translocation are also covered. Each chapter provides an essential framework and indicates specific directions for future research, making this a critical reference for anyone interested in vertebrate conservation generally or for anyone implementing conservation and management policies concerning snake populations.
Download or read book The Magic Ring written by Piero Mella and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a gradual path toward “educating” readers in understanding how Control Systems truly operate and in recognizing, simulating and improving them in all fields of activity. Starting from the hypothesis that knowledge of Control Systems is not only a technical fact but also represents a discipline – that is, “A discipline is a developmental path for acquiring certain skills or competencies. (...) To practice a discipline is to be a lifelong learner. You “never arrive”; you spend your life mastering disciplines.” (Senge, 2006, p. 10) – Piero Mella has set the objective of making Control Systems a topic that is, in a certain sense, simple and attractive by turning to the effective symbolism typical of Systems Thinking models and avoiding too technical and formal a treatment of the subject. Thus readers should know that this is not an engineering, physics, biology or economics text, nor a mathematics one either. Technical or mathematical tools are not necessary to construct Control Systems; instead the book adopts a highly simple and universal logic behind the notion itself of control process and the simple and universal action of the Control Systems that produce this process. The Magic Ring: Systems Thinking Approach to Control Systems is divided into 10 chapters. Chapter 1 seeks to review the basic language of Systems Thinking and the models it allows us to create, while Chapter 2 introduces the control process, presenting the theoretical structure of four simple Control Systems we all can observe and manage. In Chapter 3 a general typology of Control Systems is proposed with examples taken from observations of reality. The view of Control Systems is broadened in Chapter 4 by introducing two important generalizations: 1. multi lever Control Systems, with levers that are independent or dependent of each other; 2. multi-objective systems, with independent or interdependent objectives. Chapter 5 outlines the guidelines for recognizing, observing or designing Control Systems and presents the problems that arise regarding their logical realization, introducing the fundamental distinction between symptomatic and structural control. Chapters 6-9 undertake a “mental journey” through various “environments”, increasingly broader in scope, suggesting to the reader how to recognize therein Control Systems that, by their ubiquitous presence, make the world possible in all its manifestations. Finally Chapter 10 covers ideas about a Discipline of Control Systems and the human aspects of control.
Download or read book Legends and recollections of Mona with other poems from a family portfolio written by and published by Guernsey : H. Brouard. This book was released on 1849 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Natural Areas Journal written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Keeping Things Whole written by Joseph Coulson and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Book Review Index written by Dana Ferguson and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 558 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science written by Illinois State Academy of Science and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vol. 1 covers the organizational meeting, Springfield, Dec. 7, 1907, and the first regular meeting, Decatur, Feb. 22, 1908.
Download or read book The American Biology Teacher written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 754 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Choice written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Publishers Weekly written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 1244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Crossings How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet written by Ben Goldfarb and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2023-09-12 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shortlisted for the NYPL's 2024 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism A New York Times Notable Book of 2023 and an Editors' Choice • A Science News Favorite Book of 2023 • A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2023 • A Smithsonian Staff Favorite of 2023 • A New Yorker Best Book of 2023 • A Booklist Top 10 Book on the Environment & Sustainability for 2024 An eye-opening account of the global ecological transformations wrought by roads, from the award-winning author of Eager. Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, yet we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. While roads are so ubiquitous they’re practically invisible to us, wild animals experience them as entirely alien forces of death and disruption. In Crossings, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb travels throughout the United States and around the world to investigate how roads have transformed our planet. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the U.S. alone, but as the new science of road ecology shows, the harms of highways extend far beyond roadkill. Creatures from antelope to salmon are losing their ability to migrate in search of food and mates; invasive plants hitch rides in tire treads; road salt contaminates lakes and rivers; and the very noise of traffic chases songbirds from vast swaths of habitat. Yet road ecologists are also seeking to blunt the destruction through innovative solutions. Goldfarb meets with conservationists building bridges for California’s mountain lions and tunnels for English toads, engineers deconstructing the labyrinth of logging roads that web national forests, animal rehabbers caring for Tasmania’s car-orphaned wallabies, and community organizers working to undo the havoc highways have wreaked upon American cities. Today, as our planet’s road network continues to grow exponentially, the science of road ecology has become increasingly vital. Written with passion and curiosity, Crossings is a sweeping, spirited, and timely investigation into how humans have altered the natural world—and how we can create a better future for all living beings.
Download or read book Library Journal written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 1296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book L M Montgomery and the Matter of Nature s written by Rita Bode and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2018-04-30 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: L.M. Montgomery's writings are replete with enchanting yet subtle and fluid depictions of nature that convey her intense appreciation for the natural world. At a time of ecological crises, intensifying environmental anxiety, and burgeoning eco-critical perspectives, L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) repositions the Canadian author's relationship to nature in terms of current environmental criticism across several disciplines, introducing a fresh approach to her life and work. Drawing on a wide range of Montgomery's novels as well as her journals, this collection suggests that socio-ecological relationships encompass ideas of reciprocity, affiliation, autonomy, and the capacity for transformation in both the human and more-than-human worlds, and that these ideas are integral to Montgomery's vision and her literary legacy. Framed by the twin themes of materiality and interrelationships, essays by scholars of literature, law, animal studies, anthropology, and ecology examine place, embodiment, and difference in Montgomery's works and embrace the multiplicities embedded in the concept of nature. Through innovative critical approaches, L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) opens up conversations about humans' interactions with nature and the material environment.
Download or read book The Cottage Life written by Tiffany Francis-Baker and published by . This book was released on 2023-04-25 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cottage Life outlines the essential themes of the cottagecore aesthetic, showing how we can draw on them to live a fuller, more purposeful life.
