Other books that might interest you

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  Giants of the Monsoon Forest -...

  Jacob Shell

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  A journey through the hidden world of elephants and their riders.
  
   
  High in the mountainous rain forests of Burma and India grow some of the world's last stands of mature, wild teak. For more than a thousand years, people here have worked with elephants to log these otherwise impassable forests and move people and goods (often illicitly) under cover of the forest canopy. In Giants of the Monsoon Forest, geographer Jacob Shell takes us deep into this strange elephant country to explore the lives of these extraordinarily intelligent creatures. 
  
   
  The relationship between elephant and rider is an intimate one that lasts for many decades. When an elephant is young, he or she is paired with a rider, who is called a mahout. The two might work together their entire lives. Though not bred to work with humans, these elephants can lift and carry logs, save people from mudslides, break logjams in raging rivers, and navigate dense mountain forests with passengers on their backs. 
  
   
  Visiting tiny logging villages and forest camps, Shell describes fascinating characters, both elephant and human - like a heroic elephant named Maggie who saves dozens of British and Burmese refugees during World War II, and an elephant named Pak Chan who sneaks away from the Ho Chi Minh Trail to mate with a partner in a passing herd. We encounter an eloquent colonel in a rebel army in Burma's Kachin State, whose expertise is smuggling arms and valuable jade via elephant convoy, and several particularly smart elephants, including one who discovers, all on his own, how to use a wood branch as a kind of safety lock when lifting heavy teak logs. 
  
   
  Giants of the Monsoon Forest offers a new perspective on animal intelligence and reveals an unexpected relationship between evolution in the natural world and political struggles in the human one. Shell examines why the complex tradition of working with elephants has endured with Asian elephants, but not with their counterparts in Africa. And he shows us how Asia's secret forest culture might offer a way to save the elephants. By performing rescues after major floods - as they did in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami - and helping sustainably log Asian forests, humans and elephants working together can help protect the fragile spaces they both need to survive.

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  Doctor Wore Petticoats - Women...

  Chris Enss

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  "NO WOMEN NEED APPLY."These four discouraging words of admonition often greeted female physicians looking for jobs in the frontier-era West. Despite the dire need for medical help, it seemed most trappers, miners, and emigrants would rather suffer and die than be treated by a female doctor. Nevertheless dozens of highly trained women headed West, where they endured hardship and prejudice as they set broken limbs, performed operations, delivered generations of babies—and solidified a place for women in the medical field.Susan La Flesche, the youngest daughter of an Omaha Indian Chief, felt called to medicine when at the age of twelve she saw a woman die because a government-paid doctor was too busy hunting prairie chickens to help. Destitute divorcee Bethenia Owens Adair traded in laundry work for a successful medical practice. Flora Hayward Stanford, the first female doctor in Deadwood, was known to patch up gunfight victims and to treat the likes of Buffalo Bill Cody and Calamity Jane. With a determination and strength of spirit that resonates even today, these incredible women and seven others profiled in The Doctor Wore Petticoats are sure to inspire.

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  The Tale of Benny Badger

  Arthur Scott Bailey

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  Mr. Bailey centered all his plots in the animal, bird and insect worlds, weaving natural history into the stories in a way that won educator's approval without arousing the suspicions of his young readers. He made it a habit to never 'write down' to children and frequently used words beyond the average juvenile vocabulary, believing that youngsters respond to the stimulus of the unfamiliar. (Summary – Wikipedia )

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  From Malin Head to Mizen Head -...

  Joanna Donnelly

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  Broadcast at 6 a.m. and midnight on RTÉ Radio 1, the Sea Area Forecast has come to occupy an almost sacrosanct place in the day for many. Its familiar (though often incomprehensible) language acts as a wake-up alarm for a proportion of the population and sends another swathe of them to bed at the end of the day.
  Yet few people truly understand its unique language and the significance of the romantic sounding headlands whose locations are central to revealing the incoming weather. From Mizen Head to Malin, Valentia to Loop Head, Carlingford Lough to Hook Head, rising or falling slowly, backing south-east to north-east or veering south-to-south-west – what does it all mean?
  Here, meteorologist Joanna Donnelly goes on a journey around Ireland's Sea Area Forecast. Visiting the places that are a familiar part of the daily broadcast and explaining the history, language and science associated with it, From Malin Head to Mizen Head fans our endless fascination with the weather while sweeping us away on a journey around Ireland's most remote headlands.

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  Birds & Blooms of the 50 States

  Press Dutch Door

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  A beautifully illustrated compendium of state birds and flowers, plus history and trivia. 
   
  This enchanting tour of America’s most cherished birds and flowers is an intimate collection of lovely images from the acclaimed letterpress studio Dutch Door Press. Each state’s emblematic flora and fauna are paired in winsome vintage-inspired compositions and accompanied by fascinating facts about the states, the plant and animal species, and how they came to symbolize their regions.  
   
  From the quail and poppy of California to the bluebird and rose of New York, every page of this volume offers a visual treat filled with charm and nostalgia.

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  Crash Test Girl - An Unlikely...

  Kari Byron

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  Kari Byron—former host of the wildly popular, iconic cult classic MythBusters—shows how to crash test your way through life, no lab coat required.  
  Kari Byron’s story hasn’t been a straight line. She started out as a broke artist living in San Francisco, writing poems on a crowded bus on the way to one of her three jobs. Many curve balls, unexpected twists, and yes, literal and figurative explosions later, and she’s one of the world’s most respected women in science entertainment, blowing stuff up on national television and getting paid for it! In Crash Test Girl, Kari reveals her fascinating life story on the set of MythBusters and beyond. With her signature gusto and roll-up-your-sleeves enthusiasm, she invites listeners behind the duct tape and the dynamite, to the unlikely friendships and low-budget sets that turned a crazy idea into a famously inventive show with a rabid fanbase. 
  The truth is, Mythbusters was never meant to be a science show. But attaching a rocket to a car, riding a motorcycle on water, or lighting 500 pounds of coffee creamer on fire requires a decent understanding of chemistry, physics, and engineering. Thus, the cast and crew brought in the scientific method to work through each problem: Question. Hypothesize. Analyze. Experiment. Conclude. And as Kari came to learn in her own life, not only is the scientific method the best approach for busting myths, it’s also the perfect tool for solving everyday issues, including: 
  Career · Love · Creativity · Setbacks · Money · Sexuality · Depression · Bravery 
  Crash Test Girl reminds us that science is for everyone, as long as you’re willing to strap in, put on your safety goggles, hit a few walls, and learn from the results. Using a combination of methodical experimentation and unconventional creativity, you’ll come to the most important conclusion of all: In life, sometimes you crash and burn, but you can always crash and learn.

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