Download or read book Seeing Nature written by Paul Krafel and published by Chelsea Green Publishing Company. This book was released on 1999 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seeing Nature is a series of true stories or parables that offer tools for understanding relationships in the natural world. Many of the stories take the reader to wild landscapes, including canyons, tundra, and mountain ridges, while others contemplate the human-made world: water-diversion trenches and supermarket check-out lines. At one point, Krafel discovers a world in a one-inch-square patch of ordinary ground. Inspiring for parents and teachers seeking to encourage excitement about the positive role of people in nature, Krafel's work harkens to St. Exupery's The Little Prince, Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, and Jean Giono's The Man Who Planted Trees. As Barbara Damrosch has noted: [This book] is a gift.... With curiosity, wit, and a spare and graceful style, Krafel notes why birds in flocks land as they do, how islands can move upstream in a river, how kelp forests, swaying gently, break the force of the sea's power, how tundra plants create whole ecosystems on bare rock from mere specks of life. Yet there are no long-winded sermons about the woods, or cute anthropomorphizations of animals. The book's economical, unsentimental style is part of its originality. Paul Krafel's years as a park ranger afforded him time to walk and think--his job was to observe the world around him. He is now a teacher, creating a curriculum for young people that is built on a startlingly simple truth: The world around us is an extended conversation between "upward spirals"--nature in regenerative, procreative modes--and downward spirals toward entropy and disintegration. As nature refreshes and rebuilds, the downward spirals are overcome. Nature's process becomes the process of replenishing hope.
Download or read book Seeing the Light written by David R. Falk and published by Echo Point Books & Media. This book was released on 2019-01-28 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seeing the Light is the most accessible and comprehensive study of optics and light on the market. Each chapter is a self-contained lesson, making it easy to learn about specific optical concepts. Diagrams, photos, and illustrations help bring concepts to life, and sections at the ends of chapters explore the more advanced aspects of each topic.
Download or read book WATCHING NATURE PB written by Mark S. Garland and published by Smithsonian Books (DC). This book was released on 1997-04-17 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Watching Nature, naturalist Mark Garland takes readers on field trips among the plants and animals of the cool highlands of West Virginia, the forested ridges and valleys of western Maryland and central Pennsylvania, the gently rolling Piedmont region around Washington, D.C., and the flat coastal plain extending from southern New Jersey to Virginia Beach. Anecdotes from the author's own adventures - the nocturnal sighting of a rare bird, a feast of wild mountain blueberries, a winter afternoon at the shore - uncover the surprises that even the most familiar landscape can yield. Describing seasonal events such as Potomac valley wildflowers blooming in early spring, shorebirds converging on Delaware Bay mudflats in mid-May, and monarch butterflies migrating over mountain fields in early fall, the author also provides itineraries for visiting some of his favorite spots. Complete with black-and-white watercolor illustrations, maps, an extensive bibliography, and listings of resource organizations, Watching Nature emphasizes the accessibility of the natural world.
Download or read book Out of the Woods written by Julia Corbett and published by University of Nevada Press. This book was released on 2018-09-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2018 Reading the West Book Awards Nonfiction Winner Have you ever wondered about society’s desire to cultivate the perfect lawn, why we view some animals as “good” and some as “bad,” or even thought about the bits of nature inside everyday items–toothbrushes, cell phones, and coffee mugs? In this fresh and introspective collection of essays, Julia Corbett examines nature in our lives with all of its ironies and contradictions by seamlessly integrating personal narratives with morsels of highly digestible science and research. Each story delves into an overlooked aspect of our relationship with nature—insects, garbage, backyards, noise, open doors, animals, and language—and how we cover our tracks. With a keen sense of irony and humor and an awareness of the miraculous in the mundane, Julia recognizes the contradictions of contemporary life. She confronts the owner of a high-end market who insists on keeping his doors open in all temperatures. Takes us on a trip to a new mall with a replica of a trout stream that once flowed nearby. The phrase “out of the woods” guides us through layers of meaning to a contemplation of grief, remembrance, and resilience. Out of the Woods leads to surprising insights into the products, practices, and phrases we take for granted in our everyday encounters with nature and encourages us all to consider how we might re-value or reimagine our relationships with nature in our everyday lives.
Download or read book How to See Nature written by Paul Evans and published by Rizzoli Publications. This book was released on 2020-07-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Pack soup, cheese and a copy of How To See Nature by the Bard of Wenlock Edge and Guardian diarist." John Vidal With a title taken from the 1940 Batsford book, this is nature writing for the modern reader. Evans weaves historical, cultural and literary references into his writing, ranging from TS Eliot to Bridget Riley, from Hieronymus Bosch to Napoleon. It is a book both for those that live in the country and those that don't, but experience nature every day through brownfield edge lands, transport corridors, urban greenspace, industrialised agriculture and fragments of ancient countryside. The essays include the The Weedling Wild, on the wildlife of the wasteland: ragwort, rosebay willowherb, giant hogweed and the cinnabar moth; Gardens of Light, about the creatures to be found under moonlight: pipistrelle bats, lacewings and orb-weaver spider; The Flow, with tales from the riverbank, estuaries and seas, including kingfisher, minnow, otter and heron. The Commons looks at meadowland with a human footprint, with the Adonis blue butterfly, horseshoe vetch, skylark, black knapweed and the six-belted clearwing moth. The author also looks at the wildlife returned to Britain, such as wild boar and polecats, and finds nature in and around landscapes as varied as a domestic garden or a wild moor. The book ends with an alphabetical bestiary, an idiosyncratic selection of British wildlife based on the author's personal encounters.
Download or read book Super Vision written by Ivan Amato and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Super Vision" is a comprehensive showcase of 200 breathtaking scientific images that span the world of phenomena from subatomic particles to the incomprehensibly vast structure of the universe. The accompanying text tells readers what they are looking at and explains the underlying technology.
Download or read book Art and Representation written by John Willats and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Art and Representation, John Willats presents a radically new theory of pictures. To do this, he has developed a precise vocabulary for describing the representational systems in pictures: the ways in which artists, engineers, photographers, mapmakers, and children represent objects. His approach is derived from recent research in visual perception and artificial intelligence, and Willats begins by clarifying the key distinction between the marks in a picture and the features of the scene that these marks represent. The methods he uses are thus closer to those of a modern structural linguist or psycholinguist than to those of an art historian. Using over 150 illustrations, Willats analyzes the representational systems in pictures by artists from a wide variety of periods and cultures. He then relates these systems to the mental processes of picture production, and, displaying an impressive grasp of more than one scholarly discipline, shows how the Greek vase painters, Chinese painters, Giotto, icon painters, Picasso, Paul Klee, and David Hockney have put these systems to work. But this book is not only about what systems artists use but also about why artists from different periods and cultures have used such different systems, and why drawings by young children look so different from those by adults. Willats argues that the representational systems can serve many different functions beyond that of merely providing a convincing illusion. These include the use of anomalous pictorial devices such as inverted perspective, which may be used for expressive reasons or to distance the viewer from the depicted scene by drawing attention to the picture as a painted surface. Willats concludes that art historical changes, and the developmental changes in children's drawings, are not merely arbitrary, nor are they driven by evolutionary forces. Rather, they are determined by the different functions that the representational systems in pictures can serve. Like readers of Ernst Gombrich's famous Art and Illusion (still available from Princeton University Press), on which Art and Representation makes important theoretical advances, or Rudolf Arnheim's Art and Visual Perception, Willats's readers will find that they will never again return to their old ways of looking at pictures.
Download or read book Invisible Nature written by Kenneth Worthy and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2013-08-06 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revolutionary new understanding of the precarious modern human-nature relationship and a path to a healthier, more sustainable world. Amidst all the wondrous luxuries of the modern world—smartphones, fast intercontinental travel, Internet movies, fully stocked refrigerators—lies an unnerving fact that may be even more disturbing than all the environmental and social costs of our lifestyles. The fragmentations of our modern lives, our disconnections from nature and from the consequences of our actions, make it difficult to follow our own values and ethics, so we can no longer be truly ethical beings. When we buy a computer or a hamburger, our impacts ripple across the globe, and, dissociated from them, we can’t quite respond. Our personal and professional choices result in damages ranging from radioactive landscapes to disappearing rainforests, but we can’t quite see how. Environmental scholar Kenneth Worthy traces the broken pathways between consumers and clean-room worker illnesses, superfund sites in Silicon Valley, and massively contaminated landscapes in rural Asian villages. His groundbreaking, psychologically based explanation confirms that our disconnections make us more destructive and that we must bear witness to nature and our consequences. Invisible Nature shows the way forward: how we can create more involvement in our own food production, more education about how goods are produced and waste is disposed, more direct and deliberative democracy, and greater contact with the nature that sustains us.
Download or read book The Natural Navigator written by Tristan Gooley and published by The Experiment. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Secret World of Weather and The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs, learn to tap into nature and notice the hidden clues all around you Before GPS, before the compass, and even before cartography, humankind was navigating. Now this singular guide helps us rediscover what our ancestors long understood—that a windswept tree, the depth of a puddle, or a trill of birdsong can help us find our way, if we know what to look and listen for. Adventurer and navigation expert Tristan Gooley unlocks the directional clues hidden in the sun, moon, stars, clouds, weather patterns, lengthening shadows, changing tides, plant growth, and the habits of wildlife. Rich with navigational anecdotes collected across ages, continents, and cultures, The Natural Navigator will help keep you on course and open your eyes to the wonders, large and small, of the natural world.
Download or read book Keeping a Nature Journal written by Charles Edmund Roth and published by Storey Publishing. This book was released on 2003-07 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the day it was released in 2000, Keeping a Nature Journal has struck a profound chord among professional, casual, and occasional naturalists of all ages. In response to this groundswell of enthusiasm, we have revised KEEPING A NATURE JOURNAL, updated the interior design, and created a new cover. Undoubtedly the most exciting new element in this second edition is a portfolio of 32 illustrated pages from Clare Walker Leslie's most recent journals, reproduced in full color. What makes KEEPING A NATURE JOURNAL so popular? It is inspiring and easy to use. Clare and co-author Charles Chuck E. Roth offer simple techniques to give first-time journal-keepers the confidence to go outside, observe the natural world, and sketch and write about what they see. At the same time, they motivate long-time journal-keepers to hone their powers of observation as they immerse themselves in the mysteries of the natural world. Clare and Chuck stress that the journal is a personal record of daily experience and the world around us. Nature's beauty can be observed everywhere, whether in the city, suburbs, or country.
Download or read book The Object Stares Back written by James Elkins and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 1997 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study on how our eyes function with our brains examines the irrational elements of physical sight and concludes that human seeing transforms both the viewer and the object being viewed.
Download or read book Encounters with Nature written by Gianni Morelli and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the ice caves of Iceland to diving in Mexico's cenotes, this stunning book showcases some of the world's most glorious destinations and thrilling adventures. Leafing through the inviting images, real and armchair voyagers can admire Hawaii's incredible painted forest, Canada's Northern Lights, the gorillas of Rwanda, and nomadic life in Mongolia. Priceless travel advice, as well as in-depth cultural analysis and inspirational quotes, make this a dream book.
Download or read book The Book of Nature Connection written by Jacob Rodenburg and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2022-04-19 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unplug from technology and "plug in" to nature through the wonder of your senses. The Book of Nature Connection is packed with fun activities for using all our senses to engage with nature in a deep and nourishing way. From "extenda-ears" and acorn whistles to bird calls, camouflage games, and scent scavenger hunts, enjoy over 70 diverse, engaging, sensory activities for all ages that promote mindfulness and nature connection. With activities grouped by the main senses – hearing, sight, smell, touch, and taste – plus sensory walks and group games, The Book of Nature Connection is both a powerful learning tool kit and the cure for sensory anesthesia brought on by screen time and lives lived indoors. Whisper in birds, be dazzled by nature's kaleidoscope of colors, taste the freshness of each season, learn to savor the scented world of evergreens, hug a tree and feel the bark against your cheek. Spending time in nature with all senses tuned and primed helps us feel like we belong to the natural world – and in belonging, we come to feel more connected, nourished, and alive. Ideal for educators, camp and youth leaders, caregivers and parents, and anyone looking to reconnect and become a nature sommelier! AWARDS GOLD | 2023 Nautilus Book Awards | Special Honors: Educational Guidebooks SILVER | 2023 IPPY Awards: Nature SILVER | 35th IBPA Benjamin Franklin Book Awards: Nature & Environment
Download or read book How to See Nature written by Paul Evans and published by Batsford Books. This book was released on 2020-03-25 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Pack soup, cheese and a copy of How To See Nature by the Bard of Wenlock Edge and Guardian diarist." John Vidal With a title taken from the 1940 Batsford book, this is nature writing for the modern reader. Evans weaves historical, cultural and literary references into his writing, ranging from TS Eliot to Bridget Riley, from Hieronymus Bosch to Napoleon. It is a book both for those that live in the country and those that don't, but experience nature every day through brownfield edge lands, transport corridors, urban greenspace, industrialised agriculture and fragments of ancient countryside. The essays include the The Weedling Wild, on the wildlife of the wasteland: ragwort, rosebay willowherb, giant hogweed and the cinnabar moth; Gardens of Light, about the creatures to be found under moonlight: pipistrelle bats, lacewings and orb-weaver spider; The Flow, with tales from the riverbank, estuaries and seas, including kingfisher, minnow, otter and heron. The Commons looks at meadowland with a human footprint, with the Adonis blue butterfly, horseshoe vetch, skylark, black knapweed and the six-belted clearwing moth. The author also looks at the wildlife returned to Britain, such as wild boar and polecats, and finds nature in and around landscapes as varied as a domestic garden or a wild moor. The book ends with an alphabetical bestiary, an idiosyncratic selection of British wildlife based on the author's personal encounters.
Download or read book Beyond Vision written by Allan Jones and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2018-06-06 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this unique and exhilarating autobiography, Allan Jones – Canada’s first blind diplomat – vividly describes how an untreatable eye disease slowly decimated his visual world, most challengingly during his postings in Tokyo and New Delhi, and how he discovered and took to heart the revelatory Indian philosophy that changed his life. Advaita Vedanta, the most iconoclastic and liberating of the classical Indian philosophies, profoundly altered the author’s experience of self and world. He found that the true self, as distinct from the individual ego, far exceeds the boundaries of individuality. It lies beneath sightedness or blindness and is absolutely unaffected by the latter. This welcome shift of perspective was reinforced by startling discoveries in contemporary physics, evolutionary biology, and developmental psychology that are fully consistent with Advaitic metaphysics. As for the practical applications of metaphysics, this book demonstrates step by step how Advaitic insight and practice significantly reduce physical and psychological tension. The most telling examples have to do with adjustments compelled by extreme circumstances. Thus Jones describes how he drew upon Advaitic mindfulness techniques to maintain his white cane mobility skills in the teeth of permanent spinal, nerve, and muscle pain. The arc of Beyond Vision moves from the claustrophobically personal to the openness of the transpersonal. It begins in a dysfunctional family background, breaking out into a full life encompassing an adventurous foreign service career, spiritual exploration, and an unconventional kind of marital love.
Download or read book What Can I See in the Wild written by Annabel Griffin and published by Beetle Books. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A treasure-trove exploration of the sun-baked deserts, untamed rainforests, undersea worlds and the frozen polar regions. We share our delicately balanced planet with some awesome creatures and plant-life. Fascinating facts and an animal to find on every page engages and entertains. Beautifully illustrated and written, it takes you on a journey of diverse habitats and nature. It's sure to be a bookshelf favorite and is definitely a book for keeps!
Download or read book The Nature Fix Why Nature Makes Us Happier Healthier and More Creative written by Florence Williams and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Highly informative and remarkably entertaining." —Elle From forest trails in Korea, to islands in Finland, to eucalyptus groves in California, Florence Williams investigates the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain. Delving into brand-new research, she uncovers the powers of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and strengthen our relationships. As our modern lives shift dramatically indoors, these ideas—and the answers they yield—are more urgent than ever.
