Earth Science Books

AMERICAN INDIAN ENVIRONMENTS: Ecologicl Issues in Native American History
edited by Christopher Vecsey and Robert W. Venables. B&W photos illustrate. Condition: Gently pre-read, but highlighted, 1983 Syracuse Trade Paperback, second printing. Light tanning to white cover edges aith rubbings along bottom spine; edge wear; and highlighting on many pages. Better than it sounds. Content: These essays discuss the historical and contemporary relationships between Native Americans and the natural world. Topics include: environmental religions, Iroquois villages of the 18th century, Navajo natural resources, and subarctic Native Americans and wildlife. Very interesting. Contributors include Kai Erikson; William Hagan; Laurence Hauptman; Wilbur Jacobs; Oren Lyons; Peter MacDonald, and Calvin Martin. [1 copy available]
$ 5.59 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

ANTS, INDIANS, AND LITTLE DINOSAURS:
A Celebration of Man and Nature for the 75th Anniversary of Natural History Magazine
edited by Alan Ternes (American Museum of Natural History). Condition: UNREAD 1975 Charles Scribner's Sons paperback, special members edition. Remainder with small edgewear. Interior clean & tight but tanning. Content: Essays on man and nature by: J. Frank Dobie, Marston Bates, Archie Carr, Joseph Wood Krutch, Margaret Mead, Theodore Roosevelt, Edwin Colbert (on Ghost Ranch NM), Colin Turnbull, Oliver La Farge, Paul Erlich, et al. Catch up on your Natural History Magazine reading! A great look into the past. [1 copy available]
$ 4.49 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

BLACK TIDES (History of Oil Spills)
by Miles O. Hayes. B&W charts, maps, & photo section. Condition: NEW 1999 Univ. of Texas hardcover (no DJ issued), no printing given. Content: An illuminating, albeit willfully and irritatingly rustic, excursion through the recent history of oil spills and the development of rapid response teams to the events, from one of the people who goes around cleaning up after them. Hayes taught coastal geomorphology in Massachusetts and South Carolina for a number of years, happiest, as he recounts here in outtakes from his diaries, when in the field, taking in cuspate forelands and varves and tide-dominated embayments. But it was with the breakup of the tanker Metula off Tierra del Fuego that he found his calling: mapping coastal waterways to fashion contingency plans in the case of oil spills and later in hot-response situations. Hayes conveys a modicum of the nuts and bolts of his tradecraft, formulates a set of basic behavioral principles of oil-spill types, and details the growth of his business, the characters involved, the bureaucratic nonsense he must endure, and his private tribulations (including a couple of nasty plane c rashes). All of these take a back seat, however, to the widely scattered venues and record-breaking spills he has rushed tobarge dumps, well-head blowouts, unscheduled tanker off-loadingsfrom the Amoco Cadiz to the Exxon Valdez to the apocalyptic release in Kuwait. In a studied effort to strike a yokel posture, Hayes overplays the down-home music, and the feeble, emphatic stabs at humorIm only superhuman, you know! is typicalbegin to feel like an occupation army. Yet rising to the light through all the twanging is a clear sense of how rapid-response teams have developed sensitivity indices to handle oil spills. Major oil spills are viscerally revoltingelemental blots on the landscapebut by giving them a readable character, Hayess well-documented attempt to orchestrate slick-fighters so that they can protect the most delicate habitats first makes them yet another triage unit on the environmental front. (17 B&W photos, 11 maps) Questions welcome. [2 copies available]
$ 11.00 + $ 3.29 media shipping. International shipping available.

CALL OF THE RAINBOW WARRIOR: An Environmental Fable (Inscribed Copy)
by Twyla Dell. B&W decorations. Condition: UNREAD 1990 Foresight hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), assumed first edition. Signed in 1990. Content: Reviewer: "Simple but sophisticated, this book packs alot of depth. Rich Lawless, a very successful business man in the timber industry finds himself under attack from all sides, regulators, environmentalists, subordinates. Through visits from an ethereal presence, the Rainbow Warrior, Rich learns what his children's environment will be like unless he uses his leadership in this industry to modify their approach to forests and their resources. He also comes to terms with a neglected marriage and the demands of a valued worker who has child care problems. In other words, he moves from short-term to long-term thinking through a process that is as charming as it dramatic. Three colorful dreams bring him face to face with the effects of environmental indifference. The story is fast-paced and a quick, enjoyable read." (Unfortunately, many of the issues discussed in this book are still with us - very little progress.) Questions welcome. [1 copy availaable]
$ 9.59 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

FULL CIRCLE: A Song of Ecology & Earthern Spirituality
by Lone Wolf Circles. Forewords by Barbara Mor and Bill Devall. B&W drawings by the author. Condition: NEW 1992 Llewellyn softcover, first ediiton. Content: The solution to our severe ecological crisis lies in a personal and spiritual reaction. Full Circle offers spiritual activism as a cure for despair. It combines visionary art with rhythmic lyrics and essay into a cohesive message for personal empowerment and planetary healing. It is a song, a ritual chant that helps us in the urgent return to our wild, expanded selves. [1 copy availaable]
$ 5.75 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.

THE GARDENS OF THEIR DREAMS: Desertification and Culture in World History
by Brian Griffith. Condition: NEW 2001 Zed Books Trade Paperback, first printing. Content: This magnificent history of the desert relates the human consequences of its relentless expansion. As a result of the past several thousand years, the Great Desert now stretches in almost unbroken continuity from Mauritania's Atlantic seaboard through the Middle East and Central Asia to the Great Wall of China. The author seeks to understand how the great civilizations in the original "green lands" of North Africa, Ancient Egypt, the Middle East, South Asia, and China responded and changed under the pressure of invaders fleeing growing environmental degradation in the surrounding deserts. In fascinating detail, Brian Griffith's cultural history of the deserts of Africa and Asia shows how the expanding wasteland fundamentally reshaped people's images of nature, women, politics, and religion. Questions welcome. [2 copies available]
$ 7.49 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

GREAT BASIN DRAMA
by Darwin Lambert. B&W photos, maps, drawings. Condition: NEW 1991 Roberts Rinehart/Great Basin Natural History Association Trade Paperback. Tiny edgewear. Content: A close look at the rich history of the region of Great Basin National Park of Nevada. [1 copy available]
$ 6.89 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

HYPERSEA: LIFE ON LAND
by Mark McMenamin and Dianna McMenamin. Foreword by Lynn Marguilis. B&W drawings, photos, and charts illustrate. Condition: UNREAD 1994 Columbia Univ. Press hard cover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first printing. Content: While some of the data may be a bit dated, the theories and the background are still fresh and up-to-date. The authors (The Emergence of Animals: The Cambrian Breakthrough) claim that an association exists among terrestrial organisms to the extent that their body fluids commingle and that this connectedness forms a sea through which other organisms (symbionts) and nutrients can move. Authoritative, up-to-date research results are recounted from the areas of paleontology, ecology, physiology, embryology, and evolution to corroborate this radical vision of life. A convincingly clear and upbeat style drives home "hypersea" as both a proposed scientific theory with testable hypotheses and a philosophical viewpoint providing a novel perspective on our living world. Continuing in the symbiogenetics vein of Lynn Margulis and Dorian Sagan's Microcosmos, this book will spur controversy and is essential reading for the science buff as well as the specialist. Highly recommended. [1 copy available]
$ 5.89 + $ 3.29 media shipping. International shipping available.

AN INSTANT GUIDE TO TREES
by Eleanor Lawrence and Cecilia Fitzsimons. Full color illustrations. Condition: New 1998 Gramercy pocket-sized hardcover (pictorial boards) 14th printing. 128 pages. Content: This book is an ideal compact identification guide to trees commonly seen in gardens, parks, and in the countryside. This user-friendly guide assumes no previous knowledge: an easy-to-follow system of color-coded bands and symbols (denoting different leaf shapes) leads quickly to the correct section of the book. Detailed, full-color illustrations of leaves, shape of tree, fruit and flowers, plus a concise but informative text, make it easy to identify positively nearly 200 trees found in North America. "Lookalike" panels help prevent confusion between trees of similar appearance. Excellent and detailed reference. [1 copy available]
$ 2.69 + $ 2.94 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

IN THE RAINFOREST: Report from a Strange, Bautiful, Imperiled World
by Catherine Caufield. B&W maps. Condition: UNREAD 1995 University of Chicago Trade Paperback, third printing. Tiny edge wear. Content: In the Rainforest takes us to Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, revealing a colorful and bizarre world where fish live on fruit, spiders prey on birds, and violets grow to the size of apple trees. "I recommend In the Rainforest as scientific journalism at its best, and [Caufield's] book as the one to read to become informed about the tropical crisis. Caufield traveled the world, went to the difficult places, sometimes beautiful and often dispiriting, mastered the important ideas, and talked to an impressive number of people on all sides of the issues. . . . There are villains in abundance: corrupt government agents who aid in the destruction of native tribes, greedy caballero landowners, and even the governmental planners who with the best of intentions rush heedlessly toward the environmental degradation of their own countries."--E. O. Wilson, Science "The whole book is filled with amazing facts. . . . Moving and informative."--Ellen W. Chu [1 copy available]
$ 4.00 + $ 3.09 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

ISAAC'S STORM: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
by Erik Larson. B&W maps. Condition: UNREAD 2000 Vintage Trade Paperback, 9th printing. Light upturn front cover fore edge. Content: On September 8, 1900, a massive hurricane slammed into Galveston, Texas. A tidal surge of some four feet in as many seconds inundated the city, while the wind destroyed thousands of buildings. By the time the water and winds subsided, entire streets had disappeared and as many as 6,000 were dead -- making this the worst natural disaster in America's history. Larson blends science and history to tell the story of Galveston, its people, and the hurricane that devastated them. Drawing on hundreds of personal reminiscences of the storm, Larson follows individuals through the fateful day and the storm's aftermath. There's Louisa Rollfing, who begged her husband, August, not to go into town the morning of the storm; the Ursuline Sisters at St. Mary's orphanage who tied their charges to lengths of clothesline to keep them together; Judson Palmer, who huddled in his bathroom with his family and neighbors, hoping to ride out the storm. At the center of it all is Isaac Cline, employee of the nascent Weather Bureau, and his younger brother--and rival weatherman--Joseph. Larson does an excellent job of piecing together Isaac's life and reveals that Isaac was not the quick-thinking hero he claimed to be after the storm ended. The storm itself, however, is the book's true protagonist--and Larson describes its nuances in horrific detail. [The storm affected lives in Texas as far north as little Grandview, Texas, whre the old Methodist Church had a grand piano with a plaque dedicated to Mary Hayden who died in the hurricane. I never found out who she was.] [1 copy available]
$ 6.49 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

THE MYSTERIOUS LANDS: An Award-Winning Naturalist Explores The Four Great Deserts of the Southwest
by Ann Hamond Zwinger. B&W drawings by the Author. Condition: NEW 1990 Plume Trade Paperback, first printing. Small remainder mark bottom edges. Content: This is a wonderful book! America's great deserts of the Southwest have long been a source of inspiration and awe. Now one of our finest nature writers and illustrators presents superlative adventures exploring America's four great deserts: the Sonoran, the Chihuahuan, the Mojave, and the Great Basin of Nevada. Detailed drawings by the Author of the flora and fauna of the areas. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.50 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

NO APPARENT DANGER: The True Story of Volcanic Disaster at Galeras and Nevado Del Ruiz
by Victoria Bruce. B&W drawings illustrate. Condition: NEW 2000 HarperCollins hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first edition, first printing. Remainder mark. Content: If you have ever been angry at Congress for being mired in stalemate and acrimony, then read this book and you can feel the same way about the scientific community. It's time for both bodies to get their act together! Victoria Bruce retells the story of Galeras--the Columbian volcano that erupted in 1993 killing nine researchers--with the tenacity of an investigative reporter. She contests Stanley Williams' account of the events at Galeras, and to support her argument brings in the history of Nevado Del Ruiz--an earlier volcanic eruption that erased an entire town. Her story brings together the danger inherent in the natural world and the hubris and politics of the scientific community. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.89 + $ 3.29 shipping. Priorioty & International shipping available.

NORTHWEST TREASURE HUNTER'S GEM & MINERAL GUIDE:
Where & How to Dig, Pan, and Mine Your Own Gems & Minerals
by Kathy Tygle & Stephen Pedersen. B&W maps & photos illustrate. Condition: NEW 2000 GemStone Press Trade Paperback, first printing. Content: Whether you're an experienced rockhound or "prospector," or digging for the first time, with a simple rock hammer and a little luck, you too can strike it rich...or at the very least, have fun trying. This guide offers you easy to use information on the ins and outs of "fee-dig" mining, complete with locations, costs, tips on technique, entertaining legends and important information on everything from safety kits to where the nearest restrooms are. Included are resources for use in identifying your finds, having them made into jewelry, and further pursuing an exciting, and possibly profitable, hobby. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 6.89 + $ 3.09 shipping. Priorioty shipping available.

PAGES OF STONE: Geology of Western National Parks and Monuments: Rocky Mountains & Western Great Plains (# 1 in a series)
by Halka Chronic. Wonderful B&W photos and maps with a color photo section. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, 1988 Mountaineers large soft cover, first printing. Light edge wear. Content: This book details the geological forces that formed the Rocky Mountains, Grand Tetons, and the surrounding plains areas. Excellent. [1 copy available]
$ 6.59 + $ 3.39 media shipping.

PAGES OF STONE: Geology of Western National Parks and Monuments: Sierra Nevada, Cascades & Pacific Coast (# 2 in a series)
by Halka Chronic. Wonderful B&W photos and maps with a color photo section. Condition: UNREAD c. 1992 Mountaineers large soft cover, 6th printing. Content: This book details the geological forces that formed the Sierra Nevada, the Cascades, & the mountains along the Pacific Coast.. Excellent. [1 copy available]
$ 7.59 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

PATH OF DESTRUCTION: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms
by John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein. B&W photo section. Condition: NEW 2006 Little Brown hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first printing. Content: America and the world were stunned in August 2005 as Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed New Orleans. Shocking images seared the national consciousness: a city under water; entire families pulled from holes chopped in rooftops; children begging for water outside the convention center; hundreds of people waiting for days in hundred-degree heat alongside an interstate for buses that seemed never to arrive. To grasp how Katrina could happen in twenty-first-century America, you have to understand the untold backstory of the catastrophe, from New Orleans’s centuries-long flirtation with disaster, to the heroic attempts by a handful of local scientists and officials to sound warning bells, to the ignorant and misguided decisions by politicians, bureaucrats, and engineers that set the stage for the catastrophe. In this book, John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, give a full account of the storm and the dreadful inadequacies that existed prior to 2005, an indictment of the officials at all levels who failed to act, and a scientific investigation into why these huge storms have only just begun. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 5.00 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

PETRIFIED FOREST: The Story Behind the Scenery
by Sidney Ash & David May. Beautiful color photos of the Park plus B&W drawings of the flora. Condition: Gently pre-read 1969 edition (this printing c. 1990), Petrified Forest Museum Assn. soft cover (stapled wraps), no printing given. No major problems, just pre-read. Content: This book details the geological forces that formed the Petrified Forest, the petroglyphs, flora, and man's involvement in the Park. The book is dedicated to ". . . all who find Nature not an adversary to conquer and destroy, but a storehouse of infinite knowledge and experience linking man to all things past and present." [1 copy available]
$ 2.59 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK
by Annie Dillard. Condition: UNREAD 1973 Bantam paperback ed, 7th printing. Pale short crease bottom front cover, tiny edgewear, light tanning to page edges. Unread but not perfect. Original Dillard cover photo. Content: An American classic, this book is a series of essays that combines scientific observation, philosophy, daily thoughts, and deeper introspection with glorious prose. On the surface, Annie Dillard is simply exploring a place called Tinker Creek and its inhabitants: "It's a good place to live; there's lots to think about." But as her observations range well beyond the landscape into worlds of esoteric fact and metaphysical insight, each paragraph becomes suffused with images and ideas. Whether she is quoting the Koran or Albert Einstein, describing the universe of an Eskimo shaman or the mating of luna moths, Annie Dillard offers up her own knowledge with reverence for her material and respect for her reader. She observes her surroundings faithfully, intimately, sharing what can be shared with anyone willing to wait and watch with her. In the end, however, "No matter how quiet we are, the muskrats stay hidden. Maybe they sense the tense hum of consciousness, the buzz from two human beings who in silence cannot help but be aware of each other, and so of themselves." The precision of individual words, the vitality of metaphor, the sheer profusion of sources, the vivid sensory and cerebral impressions - all combine to make Pilgrim at Tinker Creek something extravagant and extraordinary. One of those "must-read" books. Questions welcome. [2 copies available]
$ 3.89 + $ 2.94 shipping. Priority shipping available.

THE PRACTICAL PALEONTOLOGIST
by Steve Parker. Raymond L. Bernor, Editor. Wonderful detailed color photos & drawings illustrate. Condition: Gently pre-read 1990 Little, Brown hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first American edition, first printing. Gift inscription hidden on half-title page. Content: A step-by-step guide to finding, studying, and interpreting fossils--from searching for sites to extracting, cleaning, and restoring finds." All of this and more is described inside using simple, nontechnical language and lots of color illustrations and photos. The advice, aimed at absolute beginners, details such topics as how to keep a field notebook, how to label a collection, and how to learn more at museums and libraries. This is presented together with short explanations of geological concepts, some history of the field of paleontology, and encouragement that a dedicated amateur really can develop a valuable and interesting collection of fossils. This book would be especially good for young people who are interested in fossils or who need ideas for science fair projects. A bit large for dragging around in the field, but take it anyway - it's essential for beginner fossil hunters, IMHO. Questions welcome. [1 copy available-
$ 8.95 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

ROADSIDE GEOLOGY OF ARIZONA
by halka Chronic. B&Wphotos, "color" maps, and drawings illustrate. Condition: UNREAD 1989 Mountain Press Trade Paperback, sixth printing. Tiny edge wear. Content: One of the most popular geology and travel series ever. Reviewer: "The first chapter or two of all these books is a Geology 101 of the State -- including terms, an historical timeline, and discussion of the latest geological theories that have any bearing at all on the landforms you will see from your car or truck as you drive across the state. Then comes the good part -- a series of chapters with exciting names like "Route 60; Globe to Mesa". As you drive, your companion reads the book, keyed to mile-markers, freeway exit ramps, small towns, etc. Every rill, dike, escarpment -- even the various colored rocks you see as you ride through the roadcuts on the freeway -- are explained. Follow the highways in the book, and you're an expert on Arizona geology. [1 copy available]
$ 5.29 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

SCENES OF THE PLATEAU LANDS AND HOW THEY CAME TO BE
by Wm. Lee Stokes. Great B&W drawings and maps. Condition: UNREAD 1983 Starstone sot cover (stapled wraps), 10th printing. Small, pale tag removal mark top front cover corner. Content: The Author is a Professor of Geology at the university of Utah. HIs B&W drawings and a readable text explain the forces of geology that formed the beautiful Four Corners area. Perfect for homeschooling. [1 copy available]
$ 5.29 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

SNOW
by Lisbeth Mark and Babs Lefrak. B&W illustrations. Condition: NEW 1996 Lefrak Books (Perigee) small softcover, first edition, first printing. Tiny edgewear. Content: Everything you ever wanted to know about Snow! This is a book of facts, fallacies, and folklore for everyone who loves and hates snow. Birth & Journey of a Snowflake is my favorite. Questions welcome.
$ 3.49 + $ 2.89 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.

TWISTER: The Science of Tornadoes and the Making of an Adventure Movie (Abridged Edition)
by Keay Davidson. 8 pages of color photos and movie stills. Condition: NEW 1996 Pocket Books Trade Paperback, first printing. Pale diagonal shelf wear crease bottom back cover corner. Light tanning to page edges. Content: Award-winning science writer, Davidson, takes you where only the bravest souls have ventured, and survived - into the frightening path of these violent twisters. He also gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Warner Brothers movie of the same name. In collaboration with the makers of the film, Davidson explores the many challenges faced by the producers, the stars, the director and the special effects experts who re-created this wild, mysterious experience. Through fascinating interviews, you'll come to understand just how these incredible storms came to life on the big screen. Of all the atmospheric storms, tornadoes are the fiercest, concentrating as much energy into a small space and time as numerous atomic-bomb blasts, and posing grave danger to the scientists who study this incredible phenomenon. Swirling at speeds of up to three hundred miles per hour and spewing debris as far as two hundred files away, a writhing tornado leaves behind a trail of tragedy: lives are ruined, families are wiped out, and entire towns are erased from the face of the Earth. Enhanced with spectacular close-up photographs and easy-to-grasp graphics, this book offers an enthralling profile of these powerful storms, including an in-depth look at the leading tornado-monitoring project, VORTEX. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.49 + $ 3.09 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

WATER, EARTH, AND SKY: The Colorado River Basin
by Michael Collier. Beautiful color photos of the Southwest by Collier. Condition: NEW 1999 Univ. of Utah Press hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), no printing given. Content: In 1996 award-winning author and photographer Michael Collier set out in his forty-year-old Cessna seeking an expanded understanding and perspective on the Colorado River Basin - a region spanning the states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and California - which he had come to know intimately through twenty-five years of river running. Twelve thousand photographs and more than a year later, Collier hadlearned another way of knowing that magnificent landscape and now shares his altered vision. For the first time, through this astonishing collection of aerial photographs, the 244,000 square miles of the basin, including its tributaries and the lands adjacent to them, can be seen for what they are: an integrated bioregion with a natural history fascinating in its complexity and a majestic beauty astounding in its diversity. These are images that provide unforgettable lessons in transcending our often delimiting cultural, political, and scientific worldviews. Flying over the Painted Desert at 150 miles per hour, Collier observes and photographs the entire life span of a thunderstorm: the weighty anvil cloud emptying itself on a parched redrock escarpment and, a few miles downstream, the ensuing flash flood, an erosive tumult of water and detritus. Above the Escalante Canyon, he captures the sinuous, incised meanders of the river, the choreography of a dance twenty million years old between relentless water and uplifting bedrock. The waters of the Colorado River now rarely reach the Sea of Cortez, depleted as they are by hundreds of upstream reservoirs and diversions - and Collier documents this as well: the stark, muddy delta of the river; the feathery channels that remain as the tides withdraw back to the sea. One hundred forty captivating images are accompanied by six essays, written by experts in various fields of natural history and ecology, that illuminate chosen aspects of the landscape: the life cycle of a razorback sucker; the conditions that shape the meanders of a river; the sensory feast of rock, air, water, leaf, and bird that may nourish the human soul. WATER, EARTH, AND SKY is a mosaic of splendid parts, a unique and dynamic assemblage like the Colorado River basin itself, which, viewed from the right distance, resolves itself into the patterns that make it a marvelous and inspiring whole. [1 copy available]
23.29 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

WESTERN GEM HUNTERS ATLAS: Rock Locations from Claifornia to the Dakotas and British Columbia to Texas
by Cy Johnson & Son. Detailed maps illustrate. Condition: UNREAD 1973 Cy Johnson Trade Paperback, stapled wraps, 25th edition. Light tanning to white cover edges. Content: Detailed maps show exact locations of rock formations and the gems and minerals to be found there. Very good! Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.49 + $ 3.09 media shipping. Priority shipping available.