Author: Thomas Pakenham
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 1474614434
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
Thomas Pakenham's beautifully illustrated, bestselling book of tree portraits. With this astonishing collection, Thomas Pakenham produced a new kind of tree book. The arrangement owes little to conventional botany. The sixty trees are grouped according to their own strong personalities: Natives, Travellers, Shrines, Fantasies and Survivors. From the ancient native trees, many of which are huge and immeasurably old, to the exotic newcomers from Europe, the East and North America, MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE TREES captures the history and beauty of these entrancing living structures. Common to all these trees is their power to inspire awe and wonder. This is a lovingly researched book, beautifully illustrated with colour photographs, engravings and maps - a moving testimonial to the Earth`s largest and oldest living structures.
Meetings With Remarkable Trees
Author: Thomas Pakenham
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 1474614434
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
Thomas Pakenham's beautifully illustrated, bestselling book of tree portraits. With this astonishing collection, Thomas Pakenham produced a new kind of tree book. The arrangement owes little to conventional botany. The sixty trees are grouped according to their own strong personalities: Natives, Travellers, Shrines, Fantasies and Survivors. From the ancient native trees, many of which are huge and immeasurably old, to the exotic newcomers from Europe, the East and North America, MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE TREES captures the history and beauty of these entrancing living structures. Common to all these trees is their power to inspire awe and wonder. This is a lovingly researched book, beautifully illustrated with colour photographs, engravings and maps - a moving testimonial to the Earth`s largest and oldest living structures.
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 1474614434
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 368
Book Description
Thomas Pakenham's beautifully illustrated, bestselling book of tree portraits. With this astonishing collection, Thomas Pakenham produced a new kind of tree book. The arrangement owes little to conventional botany. The sixty trees are grouped according to their own strong personalities: Natives, Travellers, Shrines, Fantasies and Survivors. From the ancient native trees, many of which are huge and immeasurably old, to the exotic newcomers from Europe, the East and North America, MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE TREES captures the history and beauty of these entrancing living structures. Common to all these trees is their power to inspire awe and wonder. This is a lovingly researched book, beautifully illustrated with colour photographs, engravings and maps - a moving testimonial to the Earth`s largest and oldest living structures.
Remarkable Trees of the World
Author:
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393049116
Category : Arbres
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
A landmark volume celebrating the most remarkable trees on the planet, Pakenham takes readers on a voyage across four continents and introduces them to arbors of all shapes and sizes--dwarfs, giants, aliens, and monuments. Full-color photos.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393049116
Category : Arbres
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
A landmark volume celebrating the most remarkable trees on the planet, Pakenham takes readers on a voyage across four continents and introduces them to arbors of all shapes and sizes--dwarfs, giants, aliens, and monuments. Full-color photos.
Meetings With Remarkable Men
Author: George Ivanovich Gurdjieff
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465505911
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 486
Book Description
EXACTLY A MONTH HAS ELAPSED since I finished the first series of my writings—just that period of the flow of time which I intended to devote exclusively to resting the parts of my common presence subordinate to my pure reason. As I wrote in the last chapter of the first series, I had given myself my word that during the whole of this time I would do no writing whatsoever, but would only, for the well-being of the most deserving of these subordinate parts, slowly and gently drink down all the bottles of old calvados now at my disposal by the will of fate in the wine-cellar of the Prieuré, and specially provided the century before last by people who understood the true sense of life. Today I have decided, and now I wish—without forcing myself at all, but on the contrary with great pleasure—to set to work at my writing again, of course with the help of all the corresponding forces and also, this time, with the help of the law-conformable cosmic results flowing in from all sides upon my person from the good wishes of the readers of the first series. I now propose to give a form understandable for everyone to everything I have written down for the second series, in the hope that these ideas may serve as preparatory constructive material for setting up in the consciousness of creatures similar to myself a new world—a world in my opinion real, or at least one that can be perceived as real by all degrees of human thinking without the All and Everything: Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, p. 1236 slightest impulse of doubt, instead of the illusory world which contemporary people picture to themselves. And indeed, the mind of contemporary man, of whatever level of intellectuality, is only able to take cognizance of the world by means of data which, whenever accidentally or intentionally activated, arouse in him all sorts of fantastic impulses. And these impulses, by constantly affecting the tempo of all the associations flowing in him, gradually disharmonize the whole of his functioning, with such sorrowful results that it is impossible for any man, if he is able to isolate himself even a little from the influences of the established abnormal conditions of our ordinary life and is willing to think about it seriously, not to be terrified—as, for example, by the shortening of our life with each decade. First of all, for the ‘swing of thought’, that is, for establishing a corresponding rhythm for my thinking and also for yours, I wish to follow somewhat the example of the Great Beelzebub and imitate the form of thinking of one highly respected by him and by me, and perhaps already, brave reader of my writings, by you, if of course you have had the daring to read through to the end all of the first series. That is to say, I wish to introduce at the very beginning of this writing of mine what our dear-to-all Mullah Nassr Eddin1 would call a ‘subtly philosophical question.’ I wish to do this at the very beginning because I intend to use freely, both here and in my later expositions, the wisdom of this sage, who is now recognized almost everywhere and upon whom, it is rumoured, the title of ‘The One and Only’ is soon to be officially conferred by the proper person. And this subtly philosophical question may already be sensed in that sort of perplexity which is bound to arise in the consciousness of every reader of even the very first paragraph of this chapter, if he compares the many data on which his firm convictions about medical matters are based with the fact that I, the author of Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, after the accident which nearly cost me my life, with the functioning of my organism not yet fully re-established owing to the incessant active effort Mullah Nassr Eddin, a legendary figure in numerous countries of the Near East, is an embodiment of popular wisdom.
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465505911
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 486
Book Description
EXACTLY A MONTH HAS ELAPSED since I finished the first series of my writings—just that period of the flow of time which I intended to devote exclusively to resting the parts of my common presence subordinate to my pure reason. As I wrote in the last chapter of the first series, I had given myself my word that during the whole of this time I would do no writing whatsoever, but would only, for the well-being of the most deserving of these subordinate parts, slowly and gently drink down all the bottles of old calvados now at my disposal by the will of fate in the wine-cellar of the Prieuré, and specially provided the century before last by people who understood the true sense of life. Today I have decided, and now I wish—without forcing myself at all, but on the contrary with great pleasure—to set to work at my writing again, of course with the help of all the corresponding forces and also, this time, with the help of the law-conformable cosmic results flowing in from all sides upon my person from the good wishes of the readers of the first series. I now propose to give a form understandable for everyone to everything I have written down for the second series, in the hope that these ideas may serve as preparatory constructive material for setting up in the consciousness of creatures similar to myself a new world—a world in my opinion real, or at least one that can be perceived as real by all degrees of human thinking without the All and Everything: Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, p. 1236 slightest impulse of doubt, instead of the illusory world which contemporary people picture to themselves. And indeed, the mind of contemporary man, of whatever level of intellectuality, is only able to take cognizance of the world by means of data which, whenever accidentally or intentionally activated, arouse in him all sorts of fantastic impulses. And these impulses, by constantly affecting the tempo of all the associations flowing in him, gradually disharmonize the whole of his functioning, with such sorrowful results that it is impossible for any man, if he is able to isolate himself even a little from the influences of the established abnormal conditions of our ordinary life and is willing to think about it seriously, not to be terrified—as, for example, by the shortening of our life with each decade. First of all, for the ‘swing of thought’, that is, for establishing a corresponding rhythm for my thinking and also for yours, I wish to follow somewhat the example of the Great Beelzebub and imitate the form of thinking of one highly respected by him and by me, and perhaps already, brave reader of my writings, by you, if of course you have had the daring to read through to the end all of the first series. That is to say, I wish to introduce at the very beginning of this writing of mine what our dear-to-all Mullah Nassr Eddin1 would call a ‘subtly philosophical question.’ I wish to do this at the very beginning because I intend to use freely, both here and in my later expositions, the wisdom of this sage, who is now recognized almost everywhere and upon whom, it is rumoured, the title of ‘The One and Only’ is soon to be officially conferred by the proper person. And this subtly philosophical question may already be sensed in that sort of perplexity which is bound to arise in the consciousness of every reader of even the very first paragraph of this chapter, if he compares the many data on which his firm convictions about medical matters are based with the fact that I, the author of Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, after the accident which nearly cost me my life, with the functioning of my organism not yet fully re-established owing to the incessant active effort Mullah Nassr Eddin, a legendary figure in numerous countries of the Near East, is an embodiment of popular wisdom.
Meetings Matter
Author: Paul Axtell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780943097145
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 360
Book Description
This book will change your mind forever about that "useless" meeting you are forced to attend. Paul Axtell emphasizes that meetings are vital to the work of successful organizations--we need to master the skill sets for designing, leading, and participating in meetings. A consultant with more than 30 years in the business, Axtell outlines 8 strategies with a host of compelling ideas you can put into action immediately. This is a book for the manager who recognizes that meetings are at the core of the work you do, the supervisor who wants to be wonderful to work for, the employee who wants to contribute as much as possible, the project leader who wants every team meeting to add velocity to the project. Meetings are essential. So let's make them work.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780943097145
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 360
Book Description
This book will change your mind forever about that "useless" meeting you are forced to attend. Paul Axtell emphasizes that meetings are vital to the work of successful organizations--we need to master the skill sets for designing, leading, and participating in meetings. A consultant with more than 30 years in the business, Axtell outlines 8 strategies with a host of compelling ideas you can put into action immediately. This is a book for the manager who recognizes that meetings are at the core of the work you do, the supervisor who wants to be wonderful to work for, the employee who wants to contribute as much as possible, the project leader who wants every team meeting to add velocity to the project. Meetings are essential. So let's make them work.
The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees: The Ash in Human Culture and History
Author: Robert Penn
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393253740
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 151
Book Description
The story of how one man cut down a single tree to see how many things could be made from it. Out of all the trees in the world, the ash is most closely bound up with who we are: the tree we have made the greatest and most varied use of over the course of human history. One frigid winter morning, Robert Penn lovingly selected an ash tree and cut it down. He wanted to see how many beautiful, handmade objects could be made from it. Thus begins an adventure of craftsmanship and discovery. Penn visits the shops of modern-day woodworkers—whose expertise has been handed down through generations—and finds that ancient woodworking techniques are far from dead. He introduces artisans who create a flawless axe handle, a rugged and true wagon wheel, a deadly bow and arrow, an Olympic-grade toboggan, and many other handmade objects using their knowledge of ash’s unique properties. Penn connects our daily lives back to the natural woodlands that once dominated our landscapes. Throughout his travels—from his home in Wales, across Europe, and America—Penn makes a case for the continued and better use of the ash tree as a sustainable resource and reveals some of the dire threats to our ash trees. The emerald ash borer, a voracious and destructive beetle, has killed tens of millions of ash trees across North America since 2002. Unless we are prepared to act now and better value our trees, Penn argues, the ash tree and its many magnificent contributions to mankind will become a thing of the past. This exuberant tale of nature, human ingenuity, and the pleasure of making things by hand chronicles how the urge to understand and appreciate trees still runs through us all like grain through wood.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393253740
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 151
Book Description
The story of how one man cut down a single tree to see how many things could be made from it. Out of all the trees in the world, the ash is most closely bound up with who we are: the tree we have made the greatest and most varied use of over the course of human history. One frigid winter morning, Robert Penn lovingly selected an ash tree and cut it down. He wanted to see how many beautiful, handmade objects could be made from it. Thus begins an adventure of craftsmanship and discovery. Penn visits the shops of modern-day woodworkers—whose expertise has been handed down through generations—and finds that ancient woodworking techniques are far from dead. He introduces artisans who create a flawless axe handle, a rugged and true wagon wheel, a deadly bow and arrow, an Olympic-grade toboggan, and many other handmade objects using their knowledge of ash’s unique properties. Penn connects our daily lives back to the natural woodlands that once dominated our landscapes. Throughout his travels—from his home in Wales, across Europe, and America—Penn makes a case for the continued and better use of the ash tree as a sustainable resource and reveals some of the dire threats to our ash trees. The emerald ash borer, a voracious and destructive beetle, has killed tens of millions of ash trees across North America since 2002. Unless we are prepared to act now and better value our trees, Penn argues, the ash tree and its many magnificent contributions to mankind will become a thing of the past. This exuberant tale of nature, human ingenuity, and the pleasure of making things by hand chronicles how the urge to understand and appreciate trees still runs through us all like grain through wood.
The Remarkable Baobab
Author: Thomas Pakenham
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393059892
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 160
Book Description
Acclaimed historian Thomas Pakenham-who has dramatized in photographs and words the sheer majesty of trees throughout the world-now trains his lens on the most mysterious of trees, the baobab, with spectacular results. His search for the world's most striking baobabs has led him over the last eight years on a trail from sub-Saharan Africa to Madagascar and Australia, the Caribbean, and the United States. Here, in The Remarkable Baobab, Pakenham records his personal encounters with these mysterious giants, tracing their mythologies, their natural grandeur, and their origins, as well as their chances of survival in an uncertain environment. As Pakenham notes, the baobab may indeed be one of the oldest life forms on the planet, and many of the specimens still standing today have been alive for well over a thousand years. Standing tall on the savannahs of Africa and the sunburned plains of Australia, they are tremendous in size and have provided food, medicine, and places of refuge and worship to many, even serving as prisons, tombs, and ossuaries on occasion. Over the last one thousand years they have gained mythical status among many peoples, due in no small part to their appearance-without leaves, the branches of the trees look like roots growing into the sky. The Remarkable Baobab also includes a special section devoted to two famous baobabs in North America-one which is now over twenty feet in girth and is planted on a private Florida estate, the other a breathtaking specimen on the campus of the University of Arizona that was brought to the United States by smugglers. These stories are but two examples provided by Thomas Pakenham in The Remarkable Baobab, a book that is as visually bewitching as the baobab itself. Book jacket.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393059892
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 160
Book Description
Acclaimed historian Thomas Pakenham-who has dramatized in photographs and words the sheer majesty of trees throughout the world-now trains his lens on the most mysterious of trees, the baobab, with spectacular results. His search for the world's most striking baobabs has led him over the last eight years on a trail from sub-Saharan Africa to Madagascar and Australia, the Caribbean, and the United States. Here, in The Remarkable Baobab, Pakenham records his personal encounters with these mysterious giants, tracing their mythologies, their natural grandeur, and their origins, as well as their chances of survival in an uncertain environment. As Pakenham notes, the baobab may indeed be one of the oldest life forms on the planet, and many of the specimens still standing today have been alive for well over a thousand years. Standing tall on the savannahs of Africa and the sunburned plains of Australia, they are tremendous in size and have provided food, medicine, and places of refuge and worship to many, even serving as prisons, tombs, and ossuaries on occasion. Over the last one thousand years they have gained mythical status among many peoples, due in no small part to their appearance-without leaves, the branches of the trees look like roots growing into the sky. The Remarkable Baobab also includes a special section devoted to two famous baobabs in North America-one which is now over twenty feet in girth and is planted on a private Florida estate, the other a breathtaking specimen on the campus of the University of Arizona that was brought to the United States by smugglers. These stories are but two examples provided by Thomas Pakenham in The Remarkable Baobab, a book that is as visually bewitching as the baobab itself. Book jacket.
Beyond the Trees
Author: Adam Shoalts
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735236844
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 319
Book Description
National bestseller A thrilling odyssey through an unforgiving landscape, from "Canada's greatest living explorer." In the spring of 2017, Adam Shoalts, bestselling author and adventurer, set off on an unprecedented solo journey across North America's greatest wilderness. A place where, in our increasingly interconnected, digital world, it's still possible to wander for months without crossing a single road, or even see another human being. Between his starting point in Eagle Plains, Yukon Territory, to his destination in Baker Lake, Nunavut, lies a maze of obstacles: shifting ice floes, swollen rivers, fog-bound lakes, and gale-force storms. And Shoalts must time his departure by the breakup of the spring ice, then sprint across nearly 4,000 kilometers of rugged, wild terrain to arrive before winter closes in. He travels alone up raging rivers that only the most expert white-water canoeists dare travel even downstream. He must portage across fields of jagged rocks that stretch to the horizon, and navigate labyrinths of swamps, tormented by clouds of mosquitoes every step of the way. And the race against the calendar means that he cannot afford the luxuries of rest, or of making mistakes. Shoalts must trek tirelessly, well into the endless Arctic summer nights, at times not even pausing to eat. But his reward is the adventure of a lifetime. Heart-stopping, wonder-filled, and attentive to the majesty of the natural world, Beyond the Trees captures the ache for adventure that afflicts us all.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735236844
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 319
Book Description
National bestseller A thrilling odyssey through an unforgiving landscape, from "Canada's greatest living explorer." In the spring of 2017, Adam Shoalts, bestselling author and adventurer, set off on an unprecedented solo journey across North America's greatest wilderness. A place where, in our increasingly interconnected, digital world, it's still possible to wander for months without crossing a single road, or even see another human being. Between his starting point in Eagle Plains, Yukon Territory, to his destination in Baker Lake, Nunavut, lies a maze of obstacles: shifting ice floes, swollen rivers, fog-bound lakes, and gale-force storms. And Shoalts must time his departure by the breakup of the spring ice, then sprint across nearly 4,000 kilometers of rugged, wild terrain to arrive before winter closes in. He travels alone up raging rivers that only the most expert white-water canoeists dare travel even downstream. He must portage across fields of jagged rocks that stretch to the horizon, and navigate labyrinths of swamps, tormented by clouds of mosquitoes every step of the way. And the race against the calendar means that he cannot afford the luxuries of rest, or of making mistakes. Shoalts must trek tirelessly, well into the endless Arctic summer nights, at times not even pausing to eat. But his reward is the adventure of a lifetime. Heart-stopping, wonder-filled, and attentive to the majesty of the natural world, Beyond the Trees captures the ache for adventure that afflicts us all.
The New Mind of the South
Author: Tracy Thompson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439158479
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
Thompson, a Georgia native, asserts that the South has drawn on its oldest tradition: an ability to adapt and transform itself. She spent years traveling through the region and discovered a South both amazingly similar and radically different from the land she knew as a child. The new South is ahead of others in absorbing waves of Latino immigrants, in rediscovering its agrarian traditions, in seeking racial reconciliation, and in reinventing what it means to have roots in an increasingly rootless global culture.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439158479
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
Thompson, a Georgia native, asserts that the South has drawn on its oldest tradition: an ability to adapt and transform itself. She spent years traveling through the region and discovered a South both amazingly similar and radically different from the land she knew as a child. The new South is ahead of others in absorbing waves of Latino immigrants, in rediscovering its agrarian traditions, in seeking racial reconciliation, and in reinventing what it means to have roots in an increasingly rootless global culture.
Honeybee Democracy
Author: Thomas D. Seeley
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140083595X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 283
Book Description
How honeybees make collective decisions—and what we can learn from this amazing democratic process Honeybees make decisions collectively—and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honeybees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, as world-renowned animal behaviorist Thomas Seeley reveals, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective decision making. A remarkable and richly illustrated account of scientific discovery, Honeybee Democracy brings together, for the first time, decades of Seeley's pioneering research to tell the amazing story of house hunting and democratic debate among the honeybees. In the late spring and early summer, as a bee colony becomes overcrowded, a third of the hive stays behind and rears a new queen, while a swarm of thousands departs with the old queen to produce a daughter colony. Seeley describes how these bees evaluate potential nest sites, advertise their discoveries to one another, engage in open deliberation, choose a final site, and navigate together—as a swirling cloud of bees—to their new home. Seeley investigates how evolution has honed the decision-making methods of honeybees over millions of years, and he considers similarities between the ways that bee swarms and primate brains process information. He concludes that what works well for bees can also work well for people: any decision-making group should consist of individuals with shared interests and mutual respect, a leader's influence should be minimized, debate should be relied upon, diverse solutions should be sought, and the majority should be counted on for a dependable resolution. An impressive exploration of animal behavior, Honeybee Democracy shows that decision-making groups, whether honeybee or human, can be smarter than even the smartest individuals in them.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140083595X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 283
Book Description
How honeybees make collective decisions—and what we can learn from this amazing democratic process Honeybees make decisions collectively—and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honeybees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, as world-renowned animal behaviorist Thomas Seeley reveals, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective decision making. A remarkable and richly illustrated account of scientific discovery, Honeybee Democracy brings together, for the first time, decades of Seeley's pioneering research to tell the amazing story of house hunting and democratic debate among the honeybees. In the late spring and early summer, as a bee colony becomes overcrowded, a third of the hive stays behind and rears a new queen, while a swarm of thousands departs with the old queen to produce a daughter colony. Seeley describes how these bees evaluate potential nest sites, advertise their discoveries to one another, engage in open deliberation, choose a final site, and navigate together—as a swirling cloud of bees—to their new home. Seeley investigates how evolution has honed the decision-making methods of honeybees over millions of years, and he considers similarities between the ways that bee swarms and primate brains process information. He concludes that what works well for bees can also work well for people: any decision-making group should consist of individuals with shared interests and mutual respect, a leader's influence should be minimized, debate should be relied upon, diverse solutions should be sought, and the majority should be counted on for a dependable resolution. An impressive exploration of animal behavior, Honeybee Democracy shows that decision-making groups, whether honeybee or human, can be smarter than even the smartest individuals in them.
Hello Goodbye Hello
Author: Craig Brown
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451684517
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
A collection of whimsical true encounters between famous and infamous individuals describes the unlikely meetings of Marilyn Monroe with Frank Lloyd Wright, Michael Jackson with Nancy Reagan, and Sigmund Freud with Gustav Mahler.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451684517
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
A collection of whimsical true encounters between famous and infamous individuals describes the unlikely meetings of Marilyn Monroe with Frank Lloyd Wright, Michael Jackson with Nancy Reagan, and Sigmund Freud with Gustav Mahler.