The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth

The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth PDF Author: Richard Conniff
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393341321
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
Conniff tells the story of bold adventurers who risked death to discover strange life forms in the farthest corners of planet Earth.

The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth

The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth PDF Author: Richard Conniff
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393341321
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
Conniff tells the story of bold adventurers who risked death to discover strange life forms in the farthest corners of planet Earth.

The Plant Messiah

The Plant Messiah PDF Author: Carlos Magdalena
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241979307
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
Passionate, forthright and enthusiastic, Carlos Magdalena is a world-renowned horticulturist - known both for his charisma and his conservation work. The Plant Messiah follows Carlos' dreams and disappointments; from his days as a school boy in the death throes of General Franco's Fascist dictatorship, to his advent as The Plant Messiah at the forefront of conservation, backed by the reputation and resources of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and enthused by the potential that lies beyond. The book discloses for the first time the details behind his 'codebreaking' exploits and the secret stories behind his work; his genius, lateral thinking and steadfast belief that everything is possible.

The Natural History of the Rich: A Field Guide

The Natural History of the Rich: A Field Guide PDF Author: Richard Conniff
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393345785
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
A tantalizing, droll study of the idiosyncratic existence of the very rich, through the unexpected lens of the naturalist. Journalist Richard Conniff probes the age-old question "Are the rich different from you and me?" and finds that they are indeed a completely different animal. He observes with great humor this socially unique species, revealing their strategies for ensuring dominance and submission, their flourishes of display behavior, the intricate dynamics of their pecking order, as well as their unorthodox mating practices. Through comparisons to other equally exotic animals, Conniff uncovers surprising commonalities.

House of Lost Worlds

House of Lost Worlds PDF Author: Richard Conniff
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 030022060X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
This fascinating book tells the story of how one museum changed ideas about dinosaurs, dynasties, and even the story of life on earth. The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, now celebrating its 150th anniversary, has remade the way we see the world. Delving into the museum’s storied and colorful past, award-winning author Richard Conniff introduces a cast of bold explorers, roughneck bone hunters, and visionary scientists. Some became famous for wresting Brontosaurus, Triceratops, and other dinosaurs from the earth, others pioneered the introduction of science education in North America, and still others rediscovered the long-buried glory of Machu Picchu. In this lively tale of events, achievements, and scandals from throughout the museum’s history. Readers will encounter renowned paleontologist O. C. Marsh who engaged in ferocious combat with his “Bone Wars” rival Edward Drinker Cope, as well as dozens of other intriguing characters. Nearly 100 color images portray important figures in the Peabody’s history and special objects from the museum’s 13-million-item collections. For anyone with an interest in exploring, understanding, and protecting the natural world, this book will deliver abundant delights.

Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals

Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals PDF Author: Richard Conniff
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393071537
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
"Hilariously informative…This book will remind you why you always wanted to be a naturalist." —Outside In this thrilling foray into the animal kingdom, Richard Conniff takes readers on an adventure-packed journey as he courts the most dangerous animals and lives to tell the tale. He lets African wild dogs sniff his neck to test the idea that they are vicious man-eaters, sticks his hand in a fire ant mound and does multiple takes for a pretty camerawoman on a television shoot, and flings chicken carcasses into piranha-infested waters to clock how quickly they disappear—before diving in himself. This collection offers a rare chance to go along on these death-defying treks and see life through the eyes of a bona-fide field naturalist.

The Lost Species

The Lost Species PDF Author: Christopher Kemp
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022651370X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
We hear routinely about dinosaurs unearthed in the Gobi Desert, about new marsupials found in the forests of Madagascar, about darling deep sea squid in the polar regions. These discoveries tend to be accompanied by wondrous feats of adventuring scientists. But just as one can experience the world in a backyard, or farther reaches of the world with a good book and a comfy armchair, scientists themselves know that the natural history museums of the world contain some of the best terrain for discovering new species. In recent years scientists have found in museum drawers and cabinets a new rove beetle collected by Darwin, a tiny lungless salamander thinner than a matchstick, a monkey from the Brazilian rainforest, and a 40 million year old beardog. The Lost Species shares the thrill of spelunking in museum basements, digging in museum trays, and breathing new life in taxidermied beings--a in a days' adventure for the scientists in this book. These discoveries help tell the story of life, and the priceless collections of natural history museums.

On Heroes, Hero-worship, and the Heroic in History

On Heroes, Hero-worship, and the Heroic in History PDF Author: Thomas Carlyle
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Heroes
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description


The Dinosaur Artist

The Dinosaur Artist PDF Author: Paige Williams
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0316382507
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
In this 2018 New York Times Notable Book,Paige Williams "does for fossils what Susan Orlean did for orchids" (Book Riot) in her account of one Florida man's attempt to sell a dinosaur skeleton from Mongolia--a story "steeped in natural history, human nature, commerce, crime, science, and politics" (Rebecca Skloot). In 2012, a New York auction catalogue boasted an unusual offering: "a superb Tyrannosaurus skeleton." In fact, Lot 49135 consisted of a nearly complete T. bataar, a close cousin to the most famous animal that ever lived. The fossils now on display in a Manhattan event space had been unearthed in Mongolia, more than 6,000 miles away. At eight-feet high and 24 feet long, the specimen was spectacular, and when the gavel sounded the winning bid was over $1 million. Eric Prokopi, a thirty-eight-year-old Floridian, was the man who had brought this extraordinary skeleton to market. A onetime swimmer who spent his teenage years diving for shark teeth, Prokopi's singular obsession with fossils fueled a thriving business hunting, preparing, and selling specimens, to clients ranging from natural history museums to avid private collectors like actor Leonardo DiCaprio. But there was a problem. This time, facing financial strain, had Prokopi gone too far? As the T. bataar went to auction, a network of paleontologists alerted the government of Mongolia to the eye-catching lot. As an international custody battle ensued, Prokopi watched as his own world unraveled. In the tradition of The Orchid Thief, The Dinosaur Artist is a stunning work of narrative journalism about humans' relationship with natural history and a seemingly intractable conflict between science and commerce. A story that stretches from Florida's Land O' Lakes to the Gobi Desert, The Dinosaur Artist illuminates the history of fossil collecting--a murky, sometimes risky business, populated by eccentrics and obsessives, where the lines between poacher and hunter, collector and smuggler, enthusiast and opportunist, can easily blur. In her first book, Paige Williams has given readers an irresistible story that spans continents, cultures, and millennia as she examines the question of who, ultimately, owns the past.

The Next Species

The Next Species PDF Author: Michael Tennesen
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451677529
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Delving into the history of the planet and based on reports and interviews with scientists, a science writer--traveling to rain forests, canyons, craters, and caves all over the world to explore the potential winners and losers of the next era of evolution--describes what life on earth could look like after the next mass extinction.

Bringing Fossils to Life

Bringing Fossils to Life PDF Author: Donald R. Prothero
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231158939
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 690

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Book Description
The leading textbook in its field, this work applies paleobiological principles to the fossil record while detailing the evolutionary history of major plant and animal phyla. It incorporates current research from biology, ecology, and population genetics. Written for biology and geology undergrads, the text bridges the gap between purely theoretical paleobiology and solely descriptive invertebrate paleobiology books, emphasizing the cataloguing of live organisms over dead objects. This third edition revises art and research throughout, expands the coverage of invertebrates, includes a discussion of new methodologies, and adds a chapter on the origin and early evolution of life.