Showing 1–12 of 858 results
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Learning from Agri-Environment Schemes in Australia: Investing in Biodiversity and other Ecosystem Services on Farms
Artist/Author: Ansell, Dean, Fiona Gibson, David Salt (Editors)$55.00 Add to cartLearning from Agri-Environment Schemes in Australia is a book about the birds and the beef — more specifically it is about the billions of dollars that governments pay farmers around the world each year to protect and restore biodiversity. After more than two decades of these schemes in Australia, what have we learnt? Are we getting the most out of these investments, and how should we do things differently in the future? Involving contributions from ecologists, economists, social scientists, restoration practitioners and policymakers, this book provides short, engaging chapters that cover a wide spectrum of environmental, agricultural and social issues involved in agri-environment schemes.
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Into the Heart of Tasmania: A Search For Human Antiquity
Artist/Author: Taylor, Rebe$35.00 Add to cartThis book is a winner of multiple literary awards.
In 1908 English gentleman, Ernest Westlake, packed a tent, a bicycle and forty tins of food and sailed to Tasmania. On mountains, beaches and in sheep paddocks he collected over 13,000 Aboriginal stone tools. Westlake believed he had found the remnants of an extinct race whose culture was akin to the most ancient Stone Age Europeans. But in the remotest corners of the island Westlake encountered living Indigenous communities.
Into the Heart of Tasmania tells a story of discovery and realisation. One man’s ambition to rewrite the history of human culture inspires an exploration of the controversy stirred by Tasmanian Aboriginal history. It brings to life how Australian and British national identities have been fashioned by shame and triumph over the supposed destruction of an entire race. To reveal the beating heart of Aboriginal Tasmania is to be confronted with a history that has never ended.
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More Great Properties of Country Victoria: The Western District’s Golden Age
Artist/Author: Allen, Richard, Kimbal Baker$60.00 Add to cartReturn to the great mansions of the Western District with this book of remarkable histories and stunning photographyEnglish novelist Anthony Trollope described the Western District squatters in the 1870s as ‘plentiful, proud, prejudiced, given to hospitality, impatient of contradiction … thoughtful on the future, and above all, conscious—perhaps a little too conscious—of their own importance … forty thousand sheep cannot be shorn without a piano; twenty thousand is the lowest number that renders napkins at dinner imperative’.
But these squatters were also speculators and investors, whose entrepreneuship built great wealth and elaborate mansions. Around their Georgian and Victorian homes they created an antipodean England, employing the best-known landscape architects of the day. The Western District today retains most of the renowned homesteads and gardens that date from these times.
This fascinating and beautiful book—sequel to the bestselling Great Properties of Country Victoria—takes us into the private world of thirteen more notable properties. Through their histories we follow their fortunes—extraordinary tales of risk and reward—and through the photographs see the splendour of great homes that have been lovingly maintained and carefully restored. It is a tribute to the past and present owners who have so painstakingly preserved their properties’ heritage.
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Islands and Snakes: Isolation and Adaptive Evolution
Artist/Author: Lillywhite, Harvey B, Marcio Martins (Editors)$185.00 Add to cartIslands and Snakes contains 13 chapters describing ecological systems with foci on snakes and their ecological roles on islands around the world. Each chapter is written by one or more authors who is an authority on that particular system. Summaries of research on the various islands are written in a narrative manner that includes science as well as personal insights in easily understood language. These varied vignettes of science feature islands around the world, and in all cases, fantastic species of snakes and their roles in the community of insular organisms in which they occur. Both challenges and opportunities associated with island life are discussed, as well as the unique attributes of snakes and their conservation as unique and important parts of nature. Chapters include colorful photographs and illustrations, and collectively they convey information on topics that include ecology, behavior, biogeography, physiology, adaptation, and evolutionary biology. An introductory chapter presents a review and perspective on the historical importance of island ecology and how snakes have contributed to our understanding of evolution and adaptation. The other chapters focus on snakes inhabiting islands associated with Asia, Australia, South America, North America, the Caribbean, and Europe. The final chapter features the unique “table top islands” or tepuis of South America as examples of ecological islands where elements of biota have become isolated by geographic features of landscape similarly to oceanic islands.
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Underwater Sydney
Artist/Author: Falkner, Inke, John Turnbull$40.00 Add to cartAdmired all over the world and loved by locals for its natural beauty, Sydney Harbour is enjoyed by thousands of people every day. But rarely do we look below the surface where, beneath all the hustle and bustle, lively communities go about their business. With underwater forests and gardens, hundreds of species of fish and thousands of invertebrates, Sydney is as colourful and diverse below the water as it is above!
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World Heritage Sites of Australia
Artist/Author: Valentine, Peter, Foreword by Peter Garrett$50.00 Add to cartVisitors to Australia marvel when they see the places recognised by the United Nations as World Heritage. From the ancient, pristine temperate rainforests in the south to the massive escarpments and tropical wetlands in the north, they are dazzling in their ecological complexity and the record they offer of life on this planet and the human experience in Australia.
Peter Valentine presents Australia’s 19 World Heritage sites in a magnificent tribute to natural and cultural history. The outstanding qualities of each site are described and illustrated in exquisite detail, along with an account of how the site came to be on the World Heritage List. In many cases, the path towards listing was not straightforward, with the Australian Government having to exercise its constitutional powers against other parties with vested interests in using sites for other purposes, including forestry and mining.
Rainforests that show the connections of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. Rock art that points to a history of human settlement reaching over 60,000 years into the past. Sandstone remnants of eighty years of convict labour and imprisonment. A marvel of twentieth-century architecture. This is Australia’s world heritage.
In a thoughtful foreword, former minister for the environment, heritage and the arts and Midnight Oil lead singer Peter Garrett describes his own experience of these wonders and concern for their continued existence.
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Waitangi: A Living Treaty
Artist/Author: Wright, Matthew$52.00 Add to cartAcclaimed historian Matthew Wright explores the evolution of New Zealand’s most historically significant document, the Treaty of Waitangi, from its origins to its place in the present day.
From the early cultural collisions between Maori and Pakeha that led to this landmark agreement, to the many reinterpretations that have followed, Waitangi: A Living Treaty brings the story and concepts of the Treaty to life in this revealing and thought-provoking read.
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A Short History of New Zealand
Artist/Author: McLauchlan, Gordon$42.00 Add to cartA new edition of the bestselling Short History on New Zealand, updated to include the Helen Clark years, the rise of John Key, the Christchurch earthquakes and the 2011 Rugby World Cup! A lively and accessible history written by one of New Zealand’a most well-known commentators on matters past and present. Succinct and well referenced, this book is the most accessible introduction to New Zealand history currently in print. Originally published in 2004, this updated and redesigned new edition features new photographs, and now includes a selected further reading list.
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Aotea Great Barrier: Land and People
Artist/Author: Morton, Chris, Peter Malcouronne$82.00 Add to cartIf New Zealand has everything imaginable within a day’s drive, then Great Barrier Island has pretty much everything within an hour. Rugged basalt bays on the west side, a mountainous interior and white-sand beaches on the east coast, serene one moment, savage the next – it’s not for nothing the island is called Great Barrier.
The book consists of five chapters – sea, beach, land, bush and the mountains. Each of these landscapes is explored through the eyes of 12 different locals, who describe a favourite part of the island and explain why it has special meaning for them. In the process, they capture the essence of a community that is unlike any other. Perhaps more than anywhere else in New Zealand, there is a determination to retain what it is that makes the Barrier special, and discovering, defining what that is, is the theme of this book.
Created around Chris Morton’s spectacular and evocative photographs, and a thoughtful and authentic text from Peter Malcouronne, this is a unique and special book, a tribute to this ruggedly beautiful island and the community that love it.
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Ghosts of Gondwana: The History of Life in New Zealand (Revised Edition)
Artist/Author: Gibbs, George$76.00 Add to cartHave you ever wondered why New Zealand’s plants and animals are so different from those in other countries? Why kakapo is the only parrot in the world that cannot fly, or why the kiwi lives there and nowhere else? New Zealand is an extraordinary place, unique on earth, and the remarkable story of how and why life evolved there is the subject of Ghosts of Gondwana. The challenge of explaining New Zealand’s natural origins is picked up in this fully revised edition of the popular award-winning book. It presents the latest scientific research in highly readable form, highlighting studies that reveal the deep historical background of the landscapes, fauna and flora – from ancient frogs and moa to delicate insects and the magnificent southern beech forests. It introduces the latest discoveries and resolves past issues like the ‘Oligocene drowning’ hypothesis.
Exciting fossil discoveries are revealed and new scientific technologies and approaches to the discipline of historical biogeography are discussed – approaches that range from undersea geology to molecular clocks – and it inevitably draws attention to the debates and conflicts that distinguish different schools of opinion in this holistic branch of theoretical science. This revision incorporates the results of 10 years of intensive scientific research and includes four entirely new chapters to: focus on ‘yesterday’s maps’ to draw attention to the ephemeral islands in New Zealand’s history that have possibly acted as stepping stones for terrestrial animals and plants but today have sunk into the sea; incorporate the author’s own special interest in an ancient group of ‘jaw-moths’, unknown and unnoticed by most people but with a strong message that New Zealand is part of the world when it comes to explaining where the fauna have come from; present recent research findings on our huge flightless birds, the ratites; and include New Zealand’s terrestrial molluscs into the story.
Ghosts of Gondwana identifies New Zealand as one of the most challenging places on earth to explain, but it’s readable, engaging style and revised illustrations render this often-controversial discipline of science into a format that is accessible to any reader with an interest in natural history and the unique environment of New Zealand.
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Spaceflight: A Concise History
Artist/Author: Neufeld, Michael J$35.00 Add to cartA concise history of spaceflight, from military rocketry through Sputnik, Apollo, robots in space, space culture, and human spaceflight today.
Spaceflight is one of the greatest human achievements of the twentieth century. The Soviets launched Sputnik, the first satellite, in 1957; less than twelve years later, the American Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon. In this volume of the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Michael Neufeld offers a concise history of spaceflight, mapping the full spectrum of activities that humans have developed in space.
Neufeld explains that “the space program” should not be equated only with human spaceflight. Since the 1960s, unmanned military and commercial spacecraft have been orbiting near the Earth, and robotic deep-space explorers have sent back stunning images of faraway planets. Neufeld begins with the origins of space ideas and the discovery that rocketry could be used for spaceflight. He then discusses the Soviet-U.S. Cold War space race and reminds us that NASA resisted adding female astronauts even after the Soviets sent the first female cosmonaut into orbit. He analyzes the two rationales for the Apollo program: prestige and scientific discovery (this last something of an afterthought). He describes the internationalization and privatization of human spaceflight after the Cold War, the cultural influence of space science fiction, including Star Trek and Star Wars, space tourism for the ultra-rich, and the popular desire to go into space. Whether we become a multiplanet species, as some predict, or continue to call Earth home, this book offers a useful primer.
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What We Know About Climate Change (Updated Edition)
Artist/Author: Emanuel, Kerry$35.00 Add to cartAn updated edition of a guide to the basic science of climate change, and a call to action.
The vast majority of scientists agree that human activity has significantly increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere – most dramatically since the 1970s. Yet global warming skeptics and ill-informed elected officials continue to dismiss this broad scientific consensus. In this updated edition of his authoritative book, MIT atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel outlines the basic science of global warming and how the current consensus has emerged. Although it is impossible to predict exactly when the most dramatic effects of global warming will be felt, he argues, we can be confident that we face real dangers. Emanuel warns that global warming will contribute to an increase in the intensity and power of hurricanes and flooding and more rapidly advancing deserts. But just as our actions have created the looming crisis, so too might they avert it. Emanuel calls for urgent action to reduce greenhouse gases and criticizes the media for downplaying the dangers of global warming (and, in search of “balance”, quoting extremists who deny its existence).
This edition has been updated to include the latest climate data, a discussion of the earth’s carbon cycle, the warming hiatus of the first decade of this century, the 2017 hurricanes, advanced energy options, the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, and more. It offers a new foreword by former U.S. Representative Bob Inglis (R-SC), who now works on climate action through his organization RepublicEN.
