Books, Outdoors & Nature, Ecology

Page 1 of 11756 | next

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
by HarperAudio (CD) (Release Date: 2005-10-18)

The heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family in the making and thewondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same. Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound streamroller of a Labrador retriever, a dog like no other. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, flung drool on guests, stole women's undergarments, and ate nearly everything he could get his mouth around, including couches and fine jewelry. Obedience school did no good Marley was expelled. Neither did the tranquilizers the veterinarian prescribed for him with the admonishment, "Don't hesitate to use these." And yet Marley's heart was pure. Just as he joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were ...

Michael Pollan
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by Penguin Audio (CD)

The bestselling author of The Botany of Desire explores the ecology of eating to unveil why we consume what we consume in the twenty-first century. Unabridged CDs -11 CDs, 13 hours

Irene M. Pepperberg
Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process
by Collins (Hardcover) (Release Date: 2008-10-28)

On September 6, 2007, an African Grey parrot named Alex died prematurely at age thirty-one. His last words to his owner, Irene Pepperberg, were "You be good. I love you." What would normally be a quiet, very private event was, in Alex's case, headline news. Over the thirty years they had worked together, Alex and Irene had become famous—two pioneers who opened an unprecedented window into the hidden yet vast world of animal minds. Alex's brain was the size of a shelled walnut, and when Irene and Alex first met, birds were not believed to possess any potential for language, consciousness, or anything remotely comparable to human intelligence. Yet, over the years, Alex proved many things. He could add. He could sound out words. He understood concepts like bigger, smaller, more, fewer, and none. He was capable of thought and intention. Together, Alex and Irene uncovered a startling reality: We live in a world populated by thinking, conscious creatures. The fame that resulted was ...

Matthew Stein
When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance & Planetary Survival
by Clear Light Books (Paperback)

When Technology Fails is a practical "how to" manual that helps people to prepare for and deal with disruptions in the normal course of life. In today's world of terrorist acts and super storms, it is an invaluable reference covering a wide variety of subjects such as emergency preparedness, survival, first aid, renewable energy, alternative healing, sustainable agriculture, green-building technologies, and low-tech methods for providing the basics for yourself if deprived of access to the comforts of modern living. Each chapter also includes a "Whole Earth Catalog" style reference guide to the best books, organizations and web sites relevant to that chapter's topic. In today's world of terrorism, global warming, super-storms, record breaking floods, severe droughts, antiquated and overloaded electrical distribution systems, it is likely that most of us will see significant disruptions in the flow of electricity and goods at some point in our lives. An old Chinese! saying asks, ...

Stacey O'Brien
Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl
by Free Press (Hardcover)

On Valentine's Day 1985, biologist Stacey O'Brien first met a four-day-old baby barn owl -- a fateful encounter that would turn into an astonishing 19-year saga. With nerve damage in one wing, the owlet's ability to fly was forever compromised, and he had no hope of surviving on his own in the wild. O'Brien, a young assistant in the owl laboratory at Caltech, was immediately smitten, promising to care for the helpless owlet and give him a permanent home. Wesley the Owl is the funny, poignant story of their dramatic two decades together.With both a tender heart and a scientist's eye, O'Brien studied Wesley's strange habits intensively and first-hand -- and provided a mice-only diet that required her to buy the rodents in bulk (28,000 over the owl's lifetime). As Wesley grew, she snapped photos of him at every stage like any proud parent, recording his life from a helpless ball of fuzz to a playful, clumsy adolescent to a gorgeous, gold-and-white, macho adult owl with a ...

Miyoko Chu, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Birdscapes: A Pop-Up Celebration of Bird Songs in Stereo Sound
by Chronicle Books (Hardcover)

Product Description Get ready for the most groundbreaking entry to date in the bestselling Birdsongs series (more than 400,000 copies sold!). Birdscapes delivers an immersive birding experience never before seen--or heard--in any book. For the eyes: seven elaborately engineered full-color pop-ups portraying dozens of bird species in diverse North American habitats from the Alaskan Tundra to a Southeast swamp. For the ears: extended recordings of the birds' calls and songs in stereo from the collection of the world-renowned Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. For the serious birder: scientifically accurate illustrations of the birds and moving text about their fragile ecosystems. This beautifully crafted volume is a visual and audio delight! "Pop-up books aren't just for kids anymore! This multimedia experience transports you to seven natural habitats in North America and immerses you in the birds and their songs. --Greg Butcher, director ...

Bert Holldobler
The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies
by W.W. Norton & Co. (Hardcover)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of The Ants render the extraordinary lives of the social insects in this visually spectacular volume. The Superorganism promises to be one of the most important scientific works published in this decade. Coming eighteen years after the publication of The Ants, this new volume expands our knowledge of the social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and is based on remarkable research conducted mostly within the last two decades. These superorganisms—a tightly knit colony of individuals, formed by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of labor—represent one of the basic stages of biological organization, midway between the organism and the entire species. The study of the superorganism, as the authors demonstrate, has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life as a whole has progressed from simple ...

National Audubon Society
Audubon Nature Calendar 2009 (Wall Calendars)
by Artisan (Calendar)

Deep in the Grand Canyon, a misty waterfall splashes into an aquamarine pool. An orange and red sunset glows against the rippled dunes of White Sands National Monument. Wispy clouds cloak Washington's rugged, snow-dusted Mount Shuksan. Dramatic, pristine, and grand in scale, each of these full-color images is an impressive tribute to the power of North America's wilderness.

Steven Rinella
American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon
by Spiegel & Grau (Hardcover) (Release Date: 2008-12-02)

Shreve Stockton
The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming
by Simon & Schuster (Hardcover)

When photographer and writer Shreve Stockton decided to move back to her beloved New York from San Francisco, she decided to take her time and make the trip on her Vespa. When she reached Wyoming, Shreve was captivated by the red dirt, the Bighorn Mountains, and the wide-open spaces. Unable to shake the spell of the "cowboy state," she soon found herself trading her New York City apartment for a house in Ten Sleep, Wyoming -- population 300.Shreve threw away her cell phone and took to the rules of the land, adjusting to a lifestyle that was a near antithesis to that of the urban jungle. Time is of a different essence, nature is both livelihood and enemy, deer and coyote mark the dawn and dusk. After she met a local cowboy by chance on the side of the road, first a friendship and then a romance blossomed between them.When Shreve was unexpectedly presented with a ten-day-old coyote pup whose parents had been shot for killing sheep, she had a choice to make. Despite her reservations ...

Page 1 of 11756 | next