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Luminous Creatures

Author: Michel Anctil
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN: 0773554106
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description
Naturalists in antiquity worked hard to dispel fanciful ideas about the meaning of living lights, but remained bewildered by them. Even Charles Darwin was perplexed by the chaotic diversity of luminous organisms, which he found difficult to reconcile with his evolutionary theory. It fell to naturalists and scientists to make sense of the dazzling displays of fireflies and other organisms. In Luminous Creatures Michel Anctil shows how mythical perceptions of bioluminescence gradually gave way to a scientific understanding of its mechanisms, functions, and evolution, and to the recognition of its usefulness for biomedical and other applied fields. Following the rise of the modern scientific method and the circumnavigations and oceanographic expeditions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, biologists began to realize the diversity of bioluminescence's expressions in light organs and ecological imprints, and how widespread it is on the planet. By the end of the nineteenth century an understanding of the chemical nature and physiological control of the phenomenon was at hand. Technological developments led to an explosion of knowledge on the ecology, evolution, and molecular biology of bioluminescence. Luminous Creatures tracks these historical events and illuminates the lives and the trail-blazing accomplishments of the scientists involved. It offers a unique window into the awe-inspiring, phantasmagorical world of light-producing organisms, viewed from the perspectives of casual observers and scientists alike.

The Brief Luminous Flight of the Firefly

Author: Ellen Byerrum
Publisher: Lethal Black Dress Press
ISBN: 9781949582062
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
"It's not like it's murder.""Don't kid yourself, sister. People commit all kinds of crimes for all kinds of reasons. There's murder afoot whenever money is involved."Ambitious and idealistic, Mimi Smith leaves her home out west and pauses her college career to work for the war effort in Washington, D.C. She lands an entry-level stenographer's job at the government office that oversees rationing and black-market activities, and a rented room in Alexandria, Virginia. But Mimi's got bigger plans than laboring as a mere stenographer-she has an eye on a slot as an investigator. When she breaks up a group of drunken servicemen harassing a flashily dressed woman at a dance, her instincts kick in. She saves the young woman and tries to get her back on her feet. It's soon clear that the victim, Kitty Hawkins, is what Mimi's grandmother calls a "magdalen," a lady of the evening Kitty is trying to escape that life and outrun the desperate "quivers" she feels breathing down her neck. It's June 1943, halfway through a world war that feels like it will never end. Rationing, victory gardens, and making do or doing without have all become a patriotic way of life. But the flip side of patriotism is hoarding, profiteering, theft, and black marketeering. And someone in Alexandria is murdering magdalens caught up in selling information and stolen goods. Teaming up with a skeptical local policeman and a country boy soon to enter the Navy, Mimi grapples with life, death, and a killer who has set his sights on her. Firefly is the prequel to the bestselling Crime of Fashion Mysteries, featuring Lacey Smithsonian. Set decades before Lacey plies her trade as a journalist in D.C., Firefly explores Lacey's great aunt Mimi Smith's wartime journey that brought her to Washington, the parallels between the two women, including their love of fashion and the clues people wear without knowing it, and the origins of Mimi's trunk full of mysteries, the trunk Lacey later inherits. And both Mimi and Lacey discover they have a passion for finding out how the story ends.

Designer Knockoff

Author: Ellen Byerrum
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101175354
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
When fashion columnist Lacey Smithsonian learns that a new fashion museum will soon grace decidedly unfashionable D.C., it's more than a good story-it's a chance to show off her vintage Hugh Bentley suit. And it's not long before the dapper designer himself spots Lacey in the crowd. A reporter at heart, she manages to get all the juicy details about his past-including a long-unsolved mystery about a missing employee. Could it be linked to the disappearance of a Washington intern or the recent Bentley boutique robbery? Lacey sets out to unravel the murderous details in a fabric of lies, greed-and (gasp!) very bad taste...

Shot Through Velvet

Author: Ellen Byerrum
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101477148
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
Fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian is touring a failing velvet factory in Virginia on its final day of operations-and finds one of the factory owners dead, lashed to a spool of velvet and soaked in blue dye. The workers are delighted, since they blamed the "Blue Devil" for killing their jobs. But when another nickname, the "Velvet Avenger", makes the rounds, and ribbons of blue velvet start popping up, it could be more than Lacey's job at stake-it could be her life...

Killer Hair

Author: Ellen Byerrum
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780451209481
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
"Crimes of Fashion" columnist Lacey Smithsonian delves into her latest mystery when hot new stylist Angie Woods supposedly commits suicide, but Lacey believes otherwise and teams up with a gorgeous ex-cop to find the truth, an investigation that leads her to a congressional staffer. Original.

Silent Sparks

Author: Sara Lewis
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691162689
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
An informative, entertaining, and beautifully illustrated look at the beloved firefly For centuries, the beauty of fireflies has evoked wonder and delight. Yet for most of us, fireflies remain shrouded in mystery: How do fireflies make their light? What are they saying with their flashing? And what do fireflies look for in a mate? In Silent Sparks, noted biologist and firefly expert Sara Lewis dives into the fascinating world of fireflies and reveals the most up-to-date discoveries about these beloved insects. From the meadows of New England and the hills of the Great Smoky Mountains, to the rivers of Japan and mangrove forests of Malaysia, this beautifully illustrated and accessible book uncovers the remarkable, dramatic stories of birth, courtship, romance, sex, deceit, poison, and death among fireflies. The nearly two thousand species of fireflies worldwide have evolved in different ways—and while most mate through the aerial language of blinking lights, not all do. Lewis introduces us to fireflies that don't light up at all, relying on wind-borne perfumes to find mates, and we encounter glow-worm fireflies, whose plump, wingless females never fly. We go behind the scenes to meet inquisitive scientists who have dedicated their lives to understanding fireflies, and we learn about various modern threats including light pollution and habitat destruction. In the last section of the book, Lewis provides a field guide for North American fireflies, enabling us to identify them in our own backyards and neighborhoods. This concise, handy guide includes distinguishing features, habits, and range maps for the most commonly encountered fireflies, as well as a gear list. A passionate exploration of one of the world's most charismatic and admired insects, Silent Sparks will inspire us to reconnect with the natural world.

Among a Thousand Fireflies

Author: Helen Frost
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1536205621
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
How can a firefly find the one, among so many? Exquisite photographs and poetic text evoke a sense of mystery and magic. On a summer evening, just as the stars blink on, a firefly lands on a flower. Lights start to flash all around her — first one, then three, seven. Hundreds. Thousands. How will she find just one flash among them? And will he see her flash in return? In evocative photographs and lyrical language, Rick Lieder and Helen Frost, creators of the critically acclaimed Step Gently Out and Sweep Up the Sun, offer a true story of how two fireflies come together after finding each other’s light among thousands of others.

Step Gently Out

Author: Helen Frost
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0763695173
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
“A dazzlingly poetic photo album of the insect world for tots on up.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) What would happen if you walked very, very quietly and looked carefully at the natural world outside? You might see a cricket leap, a moth spread her wings, or a spider step across a silken web. In simple, evocative language, Helen Frost hints at the many tiny creatures around us, while in stunning close-up photographs, Rick Lieder captures a katydid's eye, a firefly, and many more living wonders awaiting discovery. Back matter amplifies the descriptions of the insects and spiders in the book.