Other books that might interest you

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  Geophysics - A Very Short...

  William Lowrie

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  In this Very Short Introduction, William Lowrie describes the internal and external processes that affect the planet, as well as the principles and methods of geophysics used to investigate them. He explains how analysis of the seismic waves produced in earthquakes reveals the internal structure of the Earth. Geophysicists have established that the greatest source of energy powering geological processes is the Earth's internal heat. Deep inside the Earth, the temperature is high enough to produce a fluid outer core of molten iron. It is the motion in this molten iron layer that produces the Earth's magnetic field, which shields the planet against harmful radiation from the Sun and outer space, and thus makes the planet habitable. Lowrie describes how the magnetic field also magnetizes rocks during their formation, leaving a permanent record of the ancient field and its direction that geophysicists have learned to use to interpret past motions of the continents and tectonic plates. 
  From analyses of Earth's deepest interior to measurements made from Earth-orbiting satellites, Lowrie shows how geophysical exploration is vitally important in the search for mineral resources, and emphasizes our need to understand the history of our planet and the processes that govern its continuing evolution.

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  The Creature Garden - An...

  Harry Goldhawk, Zanna Goldhawk

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  An illustrator’s step-by-step sourcebook for drawing and painting fifty real and imagined creatures in a whimsical folk-art style.  
   
  Husband-and-wife illustrator team Harry and Zanna Goldhawk, founders of Papio Press, teach you how to make vibrant drawings and paintings of these beautiful beasts and fictional fauna:Mammals, including big cats, wolves, sloths, and red pandasMarine life, including whales, sea dragons, narwhals, and giant Pacific octopiBirds, including peacocks, cranes, owls, and flamingosInsects, including butterflies, moths, bumblebees, and damselfliesMythical creatures, including mermaids, unicorns, dragons, phoenixes, centaurs, and hippogriffsand more! 
   
  The Creature Garden begins with the basics, first instructing you on which tools to use, how to create patterns, the importance of keeping a sketchbook, and even avoiding comparison with other artists. The book then navigates through each illustration in a step-by-step manner that is manageable and easy to understand. Each project carefully guides you through each phase of the artistic process, from creating an outline to adding a realistic animal pattern. 
   
  You’ll also learn how to draw botanical patterns from different environments—the garden, forest, jungle, and ocean—that enable you to surround your animal drawings with a natural environment. Full of lush warmth and fairy-tale wonder, The Creature Garden is a wonderful addition to the repertoire of both seasoned artists and novices alike.

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  The Last Bookseller - A Life in...

  Gary Goodman

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  When Gary Goodman wandered into a run-down, used-book shop that was going out of business in East St. Paul in 1982, he had no idea the visit would change his life. He walked in as a psychiatric counselor and walked out as the store's new owner. In The Last Bookseller Goodman describes his sometimes desperate, sometimes hilarious career as a used and rare book dealer in Minnesota. Here we meet the infamous St. Paul Book Bandit, Stephen Blumberg, who stole 24,000 rare books worth more than fifty million dollars; John Jenkins, the Texas rare book dealer who (probably) was murdered while standing in the middle of the Colorado River; and the eccentric Melvin McCosh, who filled his dilapidated mansion with half a million books. In 1990, with a couple of partners, Goodman opened St. Croix Antiquarian Books in Stillwater, one of the Twin Cities region's most venerable bookshops until it closed in 2017.The internet changed the book business forever, and Goodman details how, after 2000, the internet made stores like his obsolete. In the 1990s, the Twin Cities had nearly fifty secondhand bookshops; today, there are fewer than ten. As both a memoir and a history of booksellers and book scouts, criminals and collectors, The Last Bookseller offers an ultimately poignant account of the used and rare book business during its final Golden Age.

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  Religion Spirituality and the...

  Malcolm Teasdale

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  This book details my once-in-a life experience in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and Myanmar. In an effort to become more educated about the way of life of its peoples, I discovered that religion is such an important part of their everyday lives. Also, as the lands become more integrated into the mountains, the feeling of something spiritual becomes noticeable. Maybe it is the solitude, the peacefulness, or could it be that the Himalayas possess a certain mystique. My travels took me into the cities and congested streets where I mingled with the locals and learnt about their culture, the historical and important sacred temples that support the regions' religions, and the near isolation in the mountains. These Himalayan regions possess a certain magic that one cannot encounter or experience elsewhere in the World, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity I have been given to venture into these lands. Become enlightened. Chapters include: Kathmandu - Religion, Temples, Bars, Chaos and Pollution; Soul Searching and Trekking in Nepal, an unforeseen relationship; Keeping it sacred in Bhutan; The Road to Tibet; Like a Sudden Hope in the Dark Night of the Soul; Connecting the Dots

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  A Thirsty Land - The Fight for...

  Seamus McGraw

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  “An important story not just about [Texas’s] water history, but also about its social, economic, and political identity” (Western Historical Quarterly). 
   
  As a changing climate threatens the whole country with deeper droughts and more furious floods that put ever more people and property at risk, Texas has become a bellwether state for water debates. Will there be enough water for everyone? Is there the will to take the steps necessary to defend ourselves against the sea? Is it in the nature of Americans to adapt to nature in flux? 
   
  The most comprehensive—and comprehensible—book on contemporary water issues, A Thirsty Land delves deep into the challenges faced not just by Texas but also by the nation, as we struggle to find a way to balance the changing forces of nature with our own ever-expanding needs. Part history, part science, part adventure story, and part travelogue, this book puts a human face on the struggle to master that most precious and capricious of resources, water. Seamus McGraw goes to the taproots, talking to farmers, ranchers, businesspeople, and citizen activists, as well as to politicians and government employees. Their stories provide chilling evidence that Texas—and indeed the nation—is not ready for the next devastating drought, the next catastrophic flood. Ultimately, however, A Thirsty Land delivers hope. This deep dive into one of the most vexing challenges facing Texas and the nation offers glimpses of the way forward in the untapped opportunities that water also presents. 
   
  “A hard look at a hard problem: finding sufficient water to live in a place without much of it. . . . McGraw’s fine book serves as a useful guide. Observers of Western waterways will want to have this on their shelves alongside the likes of Marc Reisner and Charles Bowden.” —Kirkus Reviews 
   
  “In stark prose that often gleams like a bone pile bleached in the sun, McGraw travels back and forth across Texas to give a free-ranging but deadeye view of the crisis on the horizon.” —Texas Monthly 
   
  “It’s hard to write about the slow creep of environmental crises like drought without resorting to shock tactics or getting lost in the weeds . . . [McGraw] draws out the conflicts in compelling ways by drilling into the plight of individual water users. Even if you feel no connection to Texas, these stories are relevant to every part of the country.” —Outside 
   
  “Interviewing both scientific experts and everyday water users, [McGraw] clearly delineates the competing interests, describes political and geological reality, and makes a compelling argument for statewide water policy that utilizes modern technology and fairly weighs parochial needs against the good of the whole.” —Arizona Daily Star, Southwest Books of the Year

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  The Trail to Kanjiroba -...

  William deBuys

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  A revitalizing new perspective on Earthcare from Pulitzer Prize finalist William deBuys.In 2016 and 2018 acclaimed author and conservationist William deBuys joined extended medical expeditions into Upper Dolpo, a remote, ethnically Tibetan region of northwestern Nepal, to provide basic medical services to the residents of the region. Having written about climate change and species extinction, deBuys went on those journeys seeking solace. He needed to find a constructive way of living with the discouraging implications of what he had learned about the diminishing chances of reversing the damage humans have done to Earth; he sought a way of holding onto hope in the face of devastating loss. As deBuys describes these journeys through one of Earth's remotest regions, his writing celebrates the land's staggering natural beauty, and treats his listeners to deep dives into two scientific discoveries—the theories of natural selection and plate tectonics—that forever changed human understanding of our planet. Written in a vivid and nuanced style evocative of John McPhee or Peter Matthiessen, The Trail to Kanjiroba offers a surprising and revitalizing new way to think about Earthcare, one that may enable us to continue the difficult work that lies ahead.

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