Download or read book The Sound of the Sea Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans written by Cynthia Barnett and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Science Friday Best Science Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year A Library Journal Best Science and Technology Book of the Year A Tampa Bay Times Best Book of the Year A stunning history of seashells and the animals that make them that "will have you marveling at nature…Barnett’s account remarkably spirals out, appropriately, to become a much larger story about the sea, about global history and about environmental crises and preservation" (John Williams, New York Times Book Review). Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature’s creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewelry before gems, art before canvas. In The Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiraling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable history of our world through an examination of the unassuming seashell. She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas. From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature’s wisdom—and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.
Download or read book Directions for the use of Shells for the Royal Navy written by Great Britain. Royal Navy and published by . This book was released on 1840 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Genera of Recent and Fossil Shells for the Use of Students in Conchology and Geology with Original Plates Conducted by George Brettingham Sowerby written by James Sowerby and published by . This book was released on 1830 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Beautiful Shells their nature structure and uses familiarly explained etc written by Henry Gardiner ADAMS and published by . This book was released on 1855 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Algorithmic Beauty of Sea Shells written by Hans Meinhardt and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2003-01-03 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fascinating patterns on the shells of tropical sea snails are not only compellingly beautiful but also tell a tale of biological development. The decorative patterns are records of their own genesis, which follows laws such as those of dune formation or the spread of a flu epidemic. Hans Meinhardt has analyzed the dynamical processes that form these patterns and has retraced them in computer simulations. His book is exciting not only for the astonishing scientific knowledge it reveals but also for its fascinating pictures. An accompanying CD-ROM with the corresponding algorithms allows the reader to simulate the natural pattern formation and growth processes.
Download or read book Shells on a Desert Shore written by Cathy Moser Marlett and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2014-06-12 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Mexico’s western Sonoran Desert along the Gulf of California is a place made extraordinary by the desert solitude, the dynamic sea, and the people who live there—the Seris. Central to the lives of these people are the sea and its shores. Shells on a Desert Shore describes the Seri knowledge of mollusks and includes names, folklore, history, uses, and much more. Cathy Moser Marlett’s research of several decades, conducted in the Seri language, builds on work begun in 1951 by her parents, Edward and Becky Moser. The language, spoken by fewer than a thousand people today, is considered endangered. Marlett presents what she has learned from Seri consultants over recent decades and also draws from her own childhood experiences while living in a Seri village. The information from the people who had lived as hunter-gatherers provides a window into a lifestyle no longer recalled from personal experience by most Seris today—and perhaps a window into the lives of other peoples who made the Gulf’s shores their home. The book offers a wealth of information about Seri history, as well as species accounts of more than 150 mollusks from the Seri area on the central Gulf coast. Chapters describe how the people ate mollusks or used them medicinally, how the mollusks were named, and how their shells were used. The author provides several hundred detailed drawings and photographs, many of them archival. Shells on a Desert Shore is a fresh, original presentation of a significant part of the Seri way of life. Unique because it is written from the perspective of a participant in the Seri culture, the book will stand as a definitive, irreplaceable work in ethnography, a time capsule of the Seri people and their connection to the sea.
Download or read book The Book of Shells written by M.G. Harasewych and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-12-10 with total page 658 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who among us hasn’t marveled at the diversity and beauty of shells? Or picked one up, held it to our ear, and then gazed in wonder at its shape and hue? Many a lifelong shell collector has cut teeth (and toes) on the beaches of the Jersey Shore, the Outer Banks, or the coasts of Sanibel Island. Some have even dived to the depths of the ocean. But most of us are not familiar with the biological origin of shells, their role in explaining evolutionary history, and the incredible variety of forms in which they come. Shells are the external skeletons of mollusks, an ancient and diverse phylum of invertebrates that are in the earliest fossil record of multicellular life over 500 million years ago. There are over 100,000 kinds of recorded mollusks, and some estimate that there are over amillion more that have yet to be discovered. Some breathe air, others live in fresh water, but most live in the ocean. They range in size from a grain of sand to a beach ball and in weight from a few grams to several hundred pounds. And in this lavishly illustrated volume, they finally get their full due. The Book of Shells offers a visually stunning and scientifically engaging guide to six hundred of the most intriguing mollusk shells, each chosen to convey the range of shapes and sizes that occur across a range of species. Each shell is reproduced here at its actual size, in full color, and is accompanied by an explanation of the shell’s range, distribution, abundance, habitat, and operculum—the piece that protects the mollusk when it’s in the shell. Brief scientific and historical accounts of each shell and related species include fun-filled facts and anecdotes that broaden its portrait. The Matchless Cone, for instance, or Conus cedonulli, was one of the rarest shells collected during the eighteenth century. So much so, in fact, that a specimen in 1796 was sold for more than six times as much as a painting by Vermeer at the same auction. But since the advent of scuba diving, this shell has become far more accessible to collectors—though not without certain risks. Some species of Conus produce venom that has caused more than thirty known human deaths. The Zebra Nerite, the Heart Cockle, the Indian Babylon, the Junonia, the Atlantic Thorny Oyster—shells from habitats spanning the poles and the tropics, from the highest mountains to the ocean’s deepest recesses, are all on display in this definitive work.
Download or read book Beautiful Shells written by Henry Gardiner Adams and published by . This book was released on 1856 with total page 107 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Shells and their uses A lecture written by Peter Lund Simmonds and published by . This book was released on 1856 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Natural History of Shells written by Geerat J. Vermeij and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1995-04-23 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From “one of the master naturalists of our time” (American Scientist), a fascinating exploration of what seashells reveal about biology, evolution, and the history of life Geerat Vermeij wrote this “celebration of shells” to share his enthusiasm for these supremely elegant creations and what they can teach us about nature. Most popular books on shells emphasize the identification of species, but Vermeij uses shells as a way to explore major ideas in biology. How are shells built? How do they work? And how did they evolve? With lucidity and charm, the MacArthur-winning evolutionary biologist reveals how shells give us insights into the lives of animals today and in the distant geological past.
Download or read book Spirals in Time written by Helen Scales and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-05-07 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The beautifully written story of shells and their makers, and our relationships with them. Seashells are the sculpted homes of a remarkable group of animals: the molluscs. These are some of the most ancient and successful animals on the planet. But watch out. Some molluscs can kill you if you eat them. Some will kill you if you stand too close. That hasn't stopped people using shells in many ways over thousands of years. They became the first jewelry and oldest currencies; they've been used as potent symbols of sex and death, prestige and war, not to mention a nutritious (and tasty) source of food. Spirals in Time is an exuberant aquatic romp, revealing amazing tales of these undersea marvels. Helen Scales leads us on a journey into their realm, as she goes in search of everything from snails that 'fly' underwater on tiny wings to octopuses accused of stealing shells and giant mussels with golden beards that were supposedly the source of Jason's golden fleece, and learns how shells have been exchanged for human lives, tapped for mind-bending drugs and inspired advances in medical technology. Weaving through these stories are the remarkable animals that build them, creatures with fascinating tales to tell, a myriad of spiralling shells following just a few simple rules of mathematics and evolution. Shells are also bellwethers of our impact on the natural world. Some species have been overfished, others poisoned by polluted seas; perhaps most worryingly of all, molluscs are expected to fall victim to ocean acidification, a side-effect of climate change that may soon cause shells to simply melt away. But rather than dwelling on what we risk losing, Spirals in Time urges you to ponder how seashells can reconnect us with nature, and heal the rift between ourselves and the living world.
Download or read book Shells written by DK and published by Dorling Kindersley Ltd. This book was released on 2022-03-03 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The clearest and sharpest recognition guide to over 500 species of seashell from around the world Authoritative text, crystal-clear photography, and a systematic approach make this the most comprehensive and concise e-guide to seashells of the world. Includes more than 600 full-colour photographs of over 500 species of seashells, this handy reference ebook is designed to cut through the complex process of identification and make it accessible to the average reader. Expertly written and thoroughly vetted, each species entry combines a precise description with annotated photographs to highlight each shell's characteristics and distinguishing features. The entry always includes a distribution map, showing the geographical range of the species, as well as at-a-glance key facts. Includes detailed information on the shape of each genus, differences between the major classes, and more, this is the clearest identification e-guide to seashells for beginners and established enthusiasts alike.
Download or read book Cowrie Shells and Cowrie Money written by Bin Yang and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originating in the sea, especially in the waters surrounding the low-lying islands of the Maldives, Cypraea moneta (sometimes confused with Cypraea annulus) was transported to various parts of Afro-Eurasia in the prehistoric era, and in many cases, it was gradually transformed into a form of money in various societies for a long span of time. Yang provides a global examination of cowrie money within and beyond Afro-Eurasia from the archaeological period to the early twentieth century. By focusing on cowrie money in Indian, Chinese, Southeast Asian and West African societies and shell money in Pacific and North American societies, Yang synthsises and illustrates the economic and cultural connections, networks and interactions over a longue durée and in a cross-regional context. Analysing locally varied experiences of cowrie money from a global perspective, Yang argued that cowrie money was the first global money that shaped Afro-Eurasian societies both individually and collectively. He proposes a paradigm of the cowrie money world that engages local, regional, transregional and global themes.
Download or read book The Behavior of Shells Composed of Isotropic and Composite Materials written by Jack R. Vinson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1992-01-31 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shell structures are used in all phases of structures, from space vehicles to deep submergence hulls, from nuclear reactors to domes on sport arenas and civic buildings. With new materials and manufacturing methods, curved thin walled structures are being used increasingly. This text is a graduate course in the theory of shells. It covers shells of isotropic materials, such as metal alloys and plastics, and shells of composite materials, such as fibre reinforced polymer, metal or ceramic matrix materials. It provides the essential information for an understanding of the underlying theory, and solution of some of the basic problems. It also provides a basis to study the voluminous shell literature. Beyond being primarily a textbook, it is intended also for self study by practising engineers who would like to learn more about the behaviour of shells. The book has two parts: Part I deals with shells of isotropic materials. In this part the mathematical formulations are introduced involving curvilinear coordinates. The techniques of solutions and resulting behavior is compared to planar thin walled isotropic structures such as plates and beams. Part II then treats the behavior of shells, involving anisotropic composite materials, so widely used today. The analysis involves the complications due to the many elastic constants, effects of transverse shear deformation, thermal thickening and offer effects arising from the properties of composite materials.
Download or read book Shells on a Desert Shore written by Cathy Moser Marlett and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2014-06-12 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shells on a Desert Shore is a fresh, original look at an indigenous culture of North America having a deep and intimate knowledge of the Gulf of California. Cathy Moser Marlett offers a richly illustrated ethnographic work, describing the Seri knowledge of mollusks and their cultural importance.
Download or read book Wampum and Shell Articles Used by the New York Indians written by William Martin Beauchamp and published by . This book was released on 1901 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book My Way of Shelling written by Amanda Collett and published by . This book was released on 2019-12-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
