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Nature and Science December 2018
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Atlas of a lost world : travels in ice age America
by Craig Childs
"From the author of Apocalyptic Planet, an unsparing, vivid, revelatory travelogue through prehistory that traces the arrival of the First People in North America twenty thousand years ago and the artifacts that enable us to imagine their lives and fates. Scientists squabble over the locations and dates for human arrival in the New World. The first explorers were few, encampments fleeting. At some point in time, between twenty and forty thousand years ago, sea levels were low enough that a vast land bridge was exposed between Asia and North America. But the land bridge was not the only way across. This book upends our notions of where these people came from and who they were. The unpeopled continent they reached was inhabited by megafauna--mastodons, sloths, mammoths, saber-toothed cats, lions, bison, and bears. The First People were not docile--Paleolithic spear points are still encrusted with the protein of their prey--but they were wildly outnumbered and many were prey to the much larger animals. Thisis a chronicle of the last millennia of the Ice Age, the gradual oscillations and retreat of glaciers, the clues and traces that document the first encounters of early humans, and the animals whose presence governed the humans' chances for survival"
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Unsavory truth : how food companies skew the science of what we eat
by Marion Nestle
"Is chocolate heart-healthy? Does yogurt prevent type 2 diabetes? Do pomegranates help cheat death? News accounts bombard us with such amazing claims, report them as science, and influence what we eat. Yet, as Marion Nestle explains, these studies are more about marketing than science; they are often paid for by companies that sell those foods. Whether it's a Coca-Cola-backed study hailing light exercise as a calorie neutralizer, or blueberry-sponsored investigators proclaiming that this fruit prevents erectile dysfunction, every corner of the food industry knows how to turn conflicted research into big profit. As Nestle argues, it's time to put public health first. Written with unmatched rigor and insight, Unsavory Truth reveals how the food industry manipulates nutrition science--and suggests what we can do about it"
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The weather detective : rediscovering nature's secret signs
by Peter Wohlleben
The German ecologist and internationally best-selling author of The Hidden Life of Trees presents an English-language translation of a guide to better understanding environmental phenomena by recognizing clues in nature and the weather
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| The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher SkaifeIntroducing: Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife, of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London.
What does he do? Straife is the Tower of London's Ravenmaster, responsible for the care of the Tower's seven resident ravens, who all have names and distinctive personalities.
Did you know? One of the Tower's seven ravens, Merlina, has become a celebrity, thanks to her intelligence and love of pranks (including a convincing ability to play dead). |
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| Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame by Michael KodasContains: Everything you ever wanted to know about megafires.
Such as: What are they? How do they start? Why are they so destructive? Can they be stopped? (Should they be stopped?)
Did you know? Research by the U.S. Forest Service suggests that by 2050, megafires could consume 20 million acres per year -- an area larger than the state of Maine. |
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The stowaway : a young man's extraordinary adventure to Antarctica
by Laurie Gwen Shapiro
Documents the true story of a scrappy teen from New York's Lower East Side who stowed away on a daring expedition to Antarctica in 1928, tracing the sensational heyday of the time and how high schooler Billy Gawronski jumped into the Hudson and snuck aboard the expedition's flagship, eventually becoming an international celebrity.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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