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Suggested Resources
Evidence of within-species specialization by soil microbes and the implications for plant community diversity by Eck, Jenalle L.; et. al. (Available in General Science Collection)
Tending cultural landscapes and food citizenship in Toronto's community gardens by Lauren E. Baker (Available in General Science Collection)
Species-level and community-level responses to disturbance: a cross-community analysis by Supp, Sarah R., et. al. (Available in Environmental Science Database)
Who Framed Climate Change? Identifying the How and Why of Iowa Corn Farmers' Framing of Climate Change by Houser, Matthew (Available in Environmental Science Database)
The Snow Leopard by
An unforgettable spiritual journey through the Himalayas by renowned writer Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014), the National Book Award-winning author of the new novel In Paradise In 1973, Peter Matthiessen and field biologist George Schaller traveled high into the remote mountains of Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and possibly glimpse the rare and beautiful snow leopard. Matthiessen, a student of Zen Buddhism, was also on a spiritual quest to find the Lama of Shey at the ancient shrine on Crystal Mountain. As the climb proceeds, Matthiessen charts his inner path as well as his outer one, with a deepening Buddhist understanding of reality, suffering, impermanence, and beauty. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by acclaimed travel writer and novelist Pico Iyer. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Other Suns. Other Worlds? The Search for Extra Solar Planetary Systems by
Two scientists provide a popular account of the search for planetary systems outside our own solar system, detailing the technology and scientific techniques that make such searches possible and the discoveries that have been made.
Cheating Monkeys and Citizen Bees by
Here biologist Lee Dugatkin outlines four paths to cooperation shared by humans and other animals: family dynamics, reciprocal transactions (or "tit for tat"), so-called selfish teamwork, and group altruism. He draws on a wealth of examples--from babysitting among mongooses and food sharing among vampire bats to cooperation in Hutterite communities and on kibbutzim--to show not only that cooperation exists throughout the animal kingdom, but how an understanding of the natural history of altruism might foster our own best instincts toward our fellow humans.
The Tree Where Man Was Born by
A finalist for the National Book Award when it was released in 1972, this vivid portrait of East Africa remains as fresh and revelatory now as on the day it was first published. Peter Matthiessen exquisitely combines nature and travel writing to portray the sights, scenes, and people he observed firsthand in several trips over the course of a dozen years. From the daily lives of wild herdsmen and the drama of predator kills to the field biologists investigating wild creatures and the anthropologists seeking humanity's origins in the rift valley, The Tree Where Man Was Born is a classic of journalistic observation. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction by groundbreaking British primatologist Jane Goodall.
The Variety of Life by
Here, between the covers of one capacious book, is an illustrated summary of all the creatures that have ever lived, a vast compendium of earth's current and former inhabitants in all their dazzling and infinite diversity.
Colin Tudge argues that we are entering a new phase of biology in which, for the first time, biologists are achieving profound insight into life's true diversity and developing the tools to keep track of it. The Variety of Life heralds this new phase. The first part of the book describes why biologists now feel that there could have been as many as 4,000 billion species on Earth since life began. It then discusses the need for classification, beginning with the most basic principles--the strictly practical classification of fishmongers and foresters, who speak of "shellfish" and differentiate "hardwood" from "softwood"--and moves on to explore the intriguing deliberations of the modern "transformed cladists" and the novel contributions of molecular genetics. Part II describes the creatures themselves. It is divided into 24 sections, each describing a different group, illustrated by nearly 50 double-page spreads which present genealogical "trees" that summarize the evolutionary relationships between the creatures in each group. Some sections describe large, comprehensive groups such as the kingdoms of the Animals or the Plants. Others treat similar sub-groups in more detail, such as the Mammals, a class, or the Hominids, a family. In lively and accessible prose, all the significant groups of creatures--both alive and extinct--are described and their relationships clarified.
For general readers and serious biologists alike, The Variety of Life offers an unprecedented storehouse of knowledge of life on earth.
Earthborn: In Celebration of Wild Places by
Gathering 80 color photographs with an accompanying text by nature photographer and mountain climber Beatty, this book captures Scotland's diverse Hebridean islands; rock-climbing in the U.S. and Europe; a 400-mile trek Beatty and five companions took across the frozen wastes of Greenland; the remote inner gorges of the Grand Canyon; and Beatty's geological research trip to Antarctica. The photographer's strong emotional ties to the various locales is evinced through pictures infused with strength and beauty, the views carefully and wisely observed. Many sites--rocky or freezing or both--are lonely and overwhelming by human standards, yet Beatty and his camera manage to connect with them, while still respecting, and revealing, their powerful isolation. The short chapter introductions and photo captions talk nobly of human ties to nature and the abiding obligation to preserve our planet. The message is admirable, although the writing is often flowery and a bit preachy; the photographs speak with more grace and ease.