Science

Archetypal wild man Edward Abbey and proper, dedicated Wallace Stegner left their footprints all over the western landscape. Now, award-winning nature writer David Gessner follows the ghosts of these two remarkable writer-environmentalists from Stegner's birthplace in Saskatchewan to the site of Abbey's pilgrimages to Arches National Park in Utah, braiding their stories and asking how they speak to the lives of all those who care about the West.

These two great westerners had very different ideas about what it meant to love the land and try to care for it, and they did so in distinctly different styles. Boozy, lustful, and irascible, Abbey was best known as the author of the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang (and also of the classic nature memoir Desert Solitaire), famous for spawning the idea of guerrilla actions--known to admirers as monkeywrenching and to law enforcement as domestic terrorism--to disrupt commercial exploitation of western lands. By contrast, Stegner, a buttoned-down, disciplined, faithful family man and devoted professor of creative writing, dedicated himself to working through the system to protect western sites such as Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado.

In a region beset by droughts and fires, by fracking and drilling, and by an ever-growing population that seems to be in the process of loving the West to death, Gessner asks: how might these two farseeing environmental thinkers have responded to the crisis?

Gessner takes us on an inspiring, entertaining journey as he renews his own commitment to cultivating a meaningful relationship with the wild, confronting American overconsumption, and fighting environmental injustice--all while reawakening the thrill of the words of his two great heroes.

"A very warm, very engaging read. . . . The reader falls totally under his spell."
--"Associated Press "

The second volume in the multimillion copy bestselling series

Millions of readers have delighted in the wonderful storytelling and everyday miracles of James Herriot in the over thirty years since his delightful animal stories were first introduced to the world.

Now in a new edition for the first time in a decade, "All Things Bright and Beautiful" is the beloved sequel to Herriot's first collection, "All Creatures Great and Small," and picks up as Herriot, now newly married, journeys among the remote hillside farms and valley towns of the Yorkshire Dales, caring for their inhabitants---both two- and four-legged. Throughout, Herriot's deep compassion, humor, and love of life shine out as we laugh, cry, and delight in his portraits of his many, varied animal patients and their equally varied owners.

"Humor, realism, sensitivity, earthiness; animals comic and tragic; and people droll, pathetic, courageous, eccentric---all of whom he views with the same gentle compassion and a lively sense of the sad, the ridiculous, and the admirable."
--"Columbus Dispatch"

The third volume in the multimillion copy bestselling series

Readers adored James Herriot's tales of his life as a Yorkshire animal doctor in All Creatures Great and Small and All Things Bright and Beautiful. Now here's a third delightful volume of memoirs rich with Herriot's own brand of humor, insight, and wisdom.

In the midst of World War II, James is training for the Royal Air Force, while going home to Yorkshire whenever possible to see his very pregnant wife, Helen. Musing on past adventures through the dales, visiting with old friends, and introducing scores of new and amusing character--animal and human alike--Herriot enthralls with his uncanny ability to spin a most engaging and heartfelt yarn.

Millions of readers have delighted in the wonderful storytelling and everyday miracles of James Herriot in the over thirty years since his delightful animal stories were first introduced to the world.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Provocative and illuminating essays from women at the forefront of the climate movement who are harnessing truth, courage, and solutions to lead humanity forward.

"A powerful read that fills one with, dare I say . . . hope?"--The New York Times

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE

There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. While it's clear that women and girls are vital voices and agents of change for this planet, they are too often missing from the proverbial table. More than a problem of bias, it's a dynamic that sets us up for failure. To change everything, we need everyone.

All We Can Save illuminates the expertise and insights of dozens of diverse women leading on climate in the United States--scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, wonks, and designers, across generations, geographies, and race--and aims to advance a more representative, nuanced, and solution-oriented public conversation on the climate crisis. These women offer a spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can rapidly, radically reshape society.

Intermixing essays with poetry and art, this book is both a balm and a guide for knowing and holding what has been done to the world, while bolstering our resolve never to give up on one another or our collective future. We must summon truth, courage, and solutions to turn away from the brink and toward life-giving possibility. Curated by two climate leaders, the book is a collection and celebration of visionaries who are leading us on a path toward all we can save.

With essays and poems by:

Emily Atkin - Xiye Bastida - Ellen Bass - Colette Pichon Battle - Jainey K. Bavishi - Janine Benyus - adrienne maree brown - Régine Clément - Abigail Dillen - Camille T. Dungy - Rhiana Gunn-Wright - Joy Harjo - Katharine Hayhoe - Mary Annaïse Heglar - Jane Hirshfield - Mary Anne Hitt - Ailish Hopper - Tara Houska, Zhaabowekwe - Emily N. Johnston - Joan Naviyuk Kane - Naomi Klein - Kate Knuth - Ada Limón - Louise Maher-Johnson - Kate Marvel - Gina McCarthy - Anne Haven McDonnell - Sarah Miller - Sherri Mitchell, Weh'na Ha'mu Kwasset - Susanne C. Moser - Lynna Odel - Sharon Olds - Mary Oliver - Kate Orff - Jacqui Patterson - Leah Penniman - Catherine Pierce - Marge Piercy - Kendra Pierre-Louis - Varshini - Prakash - Janisse Ray - Christine E. Nieves Rodriguez - Favianna Rodriguez - Cameron Russell - Ash Sanders - Judith D. Schwartz - Patricia Smith - Emily Stengel - Sarah Stillman - Leah Cardamore Stokes - Amanda Sturgeon - Maggie Thomas - Heather McTeer Toney - Alexandria Villaseñor - Alice Walker - Amy Westervelt - Jane Zelikova

The captivating story of how a band of scientists has redrawn the genetic and behavioral lines that separate humans from our nearest cousins

In the fall of 2005, a band of researchers cracked the code of the chimpanzee genome and provided a startling new window into the differences between humans and our closest primate cousins. For the past several years, acclaimed "Science" reporter Jon Cohen has been following the DNA hunt, as well as eye-opening new studies in ape communication, human evolution, disease, diet, and more.

In "Almost Chimpanzee," Cohen invites us on a captivating scientific journey, taking us behind the scenes in cutting-edge genetics labs, rain forests in Uganda, sanctuaries in Iowa, experimental enclaves in Japan, even the Detroit Zoo. Along the way, he ferries fresh chimp sperm for a time-sensitive analysis, gets greeted by pant-hoots and chimp feces, and investigates an audacious attempt to breed a humanzee. Cohen offers a fresh and often frankly humorous insider's tour of the latest research, which promises to lead to everything from insights about the unique ways our bodies work to shedding light on stubborn human-only problems, ranging from infertility and asthma to speech disorders.

And in the end, Cohen explains why it's time to move on from Jane Goodall's plea that we focus on how the two species are alike and turns to examining why our differences matter in vital ways--for understanding humans and for increasing the chances to save the endangered chimpanzee.

This charming rediscovered gem in the tradition of All Creatures Great and Small tells the heartwarming tale of how a baby llama transformed a Welsh farming family forever.

Things llamas like:
Slurping up cherry brandy, Easter chocolate, and Dad's favorite magazine.
Curling up in ball on the rug by the fire.
Orbiting, helicoptering, and oompahing.
Locking unsuspecting victims in the bathroom.

Things llamas dislike:
Being adopted mother to an orphaned lamb.
Invitations to star on children's TV shows.
Dreadful British weather.
The dark.

Ruth Ruck's family live on a rural farm, tucked into the mountains of Wales, no strangers to cow pats on the carpet and nesting hens in the pantry. When dark days strike, they embark on a farming experiment to cheer them all up - but raising a baby llama proves more of an adventure than expected ...

Reissued with a new foreword by John Lewis-Stempel, Along Came a Llama is a delightful 1970s farming classic: a charming, witty portrait of country life that will warm the hearts of animal lovers everywhere.

Full of soul ... One departs this book a convinced llama-lover ... It is a guide to the future. To a good life. -- John Lewis-Stempel

Most of us are unaware of how much we depend on quantum mechanics on a day-to-day basis. Using illustrations and examples from science fiction pulp magazines and comic books, "The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics" explains the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics that underlie the world we live in.
Watch a Video

For many aquarists, information on their hobby is limited to goldfish and exotic tropical fishes commonly available in local pet stores. Existing guides ignore native American species simply because few people have collected, kept, and successfully propagated them, and reliable information is difficult to find. In American Aquarium Fishes, Robert J. Goldstein and other serious aquarists, applying their specialized expertise on North American fishes, have compiled a comprehensive guide to hundreds of native fishes suitable for the home aquarium. American Aquarium Fishes corrects misconceptions about minnows and suckers, pygmy sunfishes and dwarf catfishes, perches and their tiny relatives, the darters, and even the mysterious blind cave fishes. This first-of-its-kind guide provides step-by-step instructions on where to find, how to identify, how to catch, and how to keep and even breed myriad backyard fishes. Goldstein explains why fishes occur where they do and warns against putting fishes where they do not belong. He discusses protected species and offers guidance on the rules for collecting in each state. He also gives detailed instructions on how to transport and ship native fishes across the country and around the world.A chapter on aquarium plants by Richard Edwards, accompanied by 24 line drawings, provides details on collecting and propagating the most adaptable and beautiful aquatic plants likely to be encountered by fish collectors everywhere. The work is enhanced by over 350 spectacular photographs by Goldstein, William F. Roston, Richard Bryant, Fred C. Rohde, and Garold Sneegas, featuring vivid underwater images of spawners in full nuptial coloration. Goldstein has provided a unique tool for American naturalists and a new dimension to the international hobby of breeding aquarium fishes. Destined to become the standard guide for housing and breeding American fishes, American Aquarium Fishes will be equally useful both to aquarists and biologists.