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The book of eels : our enduring fascination with the most mysterious creature in the natural world / by Svensson, Patrik,1972-author.; Broomé, Agnes,translator.; translation of:Svensson, Patrik,1972-Ålevangeliet.English.;
Includes bibliographical references."Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is both a meditation on the world's most elusive fish--the eel--and a reflection on the human condition. Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the "eel question": Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don't understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery. Drawing on a breadth of research about eels in literature, history, and modern marine biology, as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father, Patrik Svensson crafts a mesmerizing portrait of an unusual, utterly misunderstood, and completely captivating animal. In The Book of Eels, we meet renowned historical thinkers, from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud to Rachel Carson, for whom the eel was a singular obsession. And we meet the scientists who spearheaded the search for the eel's point of origin, including Danish marine biologist Johannes Schmidt, who led research efforts in the early twentieth century, catching thousands upon thousands of eels, in the hopes of proving their birthing grounds in the Sargasso Sea. Blending memoir and nature writing at its best, Svensson's journey to understand the eel becomes an exploration of the human condition that delves into overarching issues about our roots and destiny, both as humans and as animals, and, ultimately, how to handle the biggest question of all: death. The result is a gripping and slippery narrative that will surprise and enchant."--
Subjects: Eels.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Climate change / by Woodward, John,1954-;
Earth's climate -- The greenhouse effect -- Checks and balances -- Natural climate change -- Human impact -- Burning the forests -- Fossil fuels -- Our carbon culture -- Adding to the problem -- Heatwaves and droughts -- Melting ice -- Warming oceans -- Oceanic research -- Living with the heat -- Plight of the polar bear -- Climate models -- This century -- What scares the scientists? -- Who is most vulnerable? -- Adapting to climate change -- Combating climate change -- Cutting the carbon -- Nuclear power -- Renewable energy -- Power for the people -- Energy efficiency -- Green transport -- Your carbon footprint -- Greenhouse-gas producers.Explains why human activities are making the planet heat up--and how we know for sure that this is the case. Explores the effects of the changing climate, from more frequent hurricanes and wildfires to melting ice caps and rising sea levels. Shows how scientists predict how the climate will change in the future and what actions we can all take to combat climate change.LSC
Subjects: Climatic changes; Global warming; Environmental protection;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Earth / by Van Rose, Susanna.;
Includes index.Examines the natural forces that shape our planet, covering such topics as climate, the oceans, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, and glaciers.LSC
Subjects: Earth sciences;
© 2013., DK,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Letters for the ages : the private and personal letters of Sir Winston Churchill / by Churchill, Winston,1874-1965,author.; Churchill, Winston,1874-1965.Correspondence.Selections.; Drake, James,editor.; Packwood, Allen,editor.;
"Here are some of the best of Churchill's letters, many of a more personal and intimate nature, presented in chronological order, with a preface to each letter explaining the context. The recipients include a vast range of people, including his schoolmaster, his American grandmother and former President Eisenhower. They are taken from within the Churchill Archive in Cambridge, where there is a mass of Churchill's correspondence. Several of the letters included have never appeared in book form before. Winston Churchill has become an iconic figure greatly loved the world over, but maybe especially these days in the USA. Churchill understood the power of words and he used his writing to sustain and complement his political career, publishing over 40 books and receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. This volume concentrates on his more intimate words. It seeks to show the private man behind the public figure and introduce fresh light on Churchill's character and personality by capturing the drama, immediacy, storms, depressions, passions and challenges of Churchill's extraordinary career. Churchill was neither a god nor a demon. Through these letters we see him as a human being with human emotions, frailties and a large ego. He was not always right. He held strong opinions and was often provocative. These letters take us into his world and allow us to follow the changes in his motivations and beliefs as he navigates his 90 years. There are intimate letters to his parents, his teacher at Harrow, Louis de Souza (Boer Secretary of State for War), his wife Clementine, Prime Minister Asquith, Lord Northcliffe, Anthony Eden, President Roosevelt, Eamon De Valera, the French Socialist Prime Minister Léon Blum and Charles De Gaulle. These are letters of a personal nature and are most illuminating. They are enhanced by facsimiles of the letters and images which appear throughout the book, helping the reader to envisage a sense of Churchill in his most private moments."--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Natural causes : an epidemic of wellness, the certainty of dying, and killing ourselves to live longer / by Ehrenreich, Barbara,author.;
Includes bibliographical references.From the bestselling author of 'Nickel and Dimed', comes an exploration of how we are killing ourselves to live longer, not better. Drawing on varied sources, from personal experience and sociological trends to pop culture and current scientific literature, this book examines the ways in which we obsess over death and tackles the seemingly unsolvable problem of how we might better prepare ourselves for the end.
Subjects: Aging.; Death;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The house on the canal : the story of the house that hid Anne Frank / by Harding, Thomas,1968-; Teckentrup, Britta.;
"In the middle of Amsterdam is a house on a canal with a green door. Over four hundred years, it has quietly witnessed love, desperation, and historic change. Sometimes the narrow house was splendidly decorated, humming with life and love; other times, it stood empty, in near ruins. Sometimes the green door was open and inviting; other times, it was closed against cold and plague or to conceal the victims of wartime persecution. The house's last occupant, a young girl with a sweet smile, would famously document her time there. In her diary, Anne Frank wrote of "the old house on the canal," and today people come from far and wide to visit what stands as a universal symbol of hope and resilience. Thomas Harding's lyrical text and concise back matter reveal history through the changing face and fortunes of a remarkable structure. Impeccably researched, Britta Teckentrup's dreamy mixed-media collages, including a map and archival imagery, perfectly echo the layered narrative and capture the ethereal nature of time and circumstance"--
Subjects: Creative nonfiction.; Picture books.; Frank, Anne, 1929-1945; Dwellings; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945);
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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The Tudors in love : passion and politics in the age of England's most famous dynasty / by Gristwood, Sarah,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Sarah Gristwood's The Tudors in Love offers a brilliant history of the Tudor dynasty, showing how the rules of romantic courtly love irrevocably shaped the politics and international diplomacy of the period. Why did Henry VIII marry six times? Why did Anne Boleyn have to die? Why did Elizabeth I's courtiers hail her as a goddess come to earth? The dramas of courtly love have captivated centuries of readers and dreamers. Yet too often they're dismissed as something existing only in books and song--those old legends of King Arthur and chivalric fantasy. Not so. In this ground-breaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty. From Henry VIII declaring himself as the 'loyal and most assured servant' of Anne Boleyn to the poems lavished on Elizabeth I by her suitors, the Tudors re-enacted the roles of the devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature. The Tudors in Love dissects the codes of love, desire and power, unveiling romantic obsessions that have shaped the history of the world"--
Subjects: Tudor, House of.; Courtly love;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Wintering : the power of rest and retreat in difficult times / by May, Katherine,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."An intimate, revelatory book exploring the ways we can care for and repair ourselves when life knocks us down. Sometimes you slip through the cracks: unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one, a break up, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered. A moving personal narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world, May's story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing Arctic seas. Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season"--
Subjects: Nature, Healing power of.; Rest.; Self-acceptance.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Oobleck, slime, and dancing spaghetti : twenty terrific at-home science experiments inspired by favorite children's books / by Williams, Jennifer,1971-;
Includes bibliographical references.Wizzil : meatballs explode & water spurts like geysers! -- Strega nona : make your spaghetti "dance"! -- The book of slime : create something slimy! -- Bartholomew and the oobleck : concocting colorful, sticky & gooey -- Stuff! -- George's marvelous medicine : boiling up a witchy brew, then change the color -- Fun with food science -- The butter battle book : shake cream into butter! -- 3 ways to let it melt in your mouth! -- Ice cream Larry : freeze your own ice cream in a can -- Sad Sam and the magic cookies. Soft & chewy or hard & crumbly -- Everybody bakes bread : learn what makes dough rise? -- How to make an apple pie and see the world : make a fake apple -- Pie with fun flavorings -- Rechenka's eggs : dye eggs & create art using natural ingredients -- Froth it! : blow bubbles in milk & measure the foam! -- A monster in my cereal : find the magnetic monster within! -- Air science and engineering -- Air is all around you : inflating a balloon with hot air & a soda -- Bottle! -- Hot-air Henry : build your own hot-air balloon! -- Daisy and the egg : design a "nest" to protect an egg in flight -- Meteorology -- A drop around the world : create a mini water-cycle in a jar! -- Your very own ecosystem with clouds! -- Twister! : make a "water tornado" in a bottle! -- More on the research.
Subjects: Science;
© c2009., Bright Sky Press,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The monarch effect : surviving poison, predators, and people / by Church, Dana L.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Rivers of Butterflies -- Baby Monarchs and barfing Blue Jays -- Where do they go? -- More to the story -- Squabbling scientists -- Secrets of the forest -- Tracking migration -- Tracking more than migration -- Monarch "smarts" -- Monarchs around the world-- Monarch emergencies -- Living near the Monarchy -- Conclusion: more than a butterfly."With their stunning black-and-orange wings, monarch butterflies are one of the most recognizable insects on the planet. But despite their delicate beauty, these creatures are warriors. The moment they hatch, they're fighting for their lives. Everything is the enemy: from the very leaf they live on to the humans and animals around them to nature itself. How does such a tiny egg survive to become a butterfly? And even after emerging from the cocoon, unimaginable danger awaits: migration. Every year, monarchs take flight, making one of the greatest migrations in the world. However, for a long time, their destination was unknown within the scientific community. Through the research of scientists in Canada and the United States and the support and efforts ofordinary people as well as Indigenous knowledge in Mexico, that mystery was finally solved. But to do so would involve years of searching across three countries and encounters with feuding scientists, the consequences of colonialism, and life-and-death stakes"--
Subjects: Monarch butterfly; Monarch butterfly; Monarch butterfly;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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