Staff Pick
Filled with quirky details and stunning nature photography, Life: Extraordinary Animals, Extreme Behaviour is like Wild Kingdom on steroids. Fish climbing a waterfall? You'll find them in here. Ants with eye stalks? Monkeys that use stone tools? They're all here, waiting to share their stories of survival. Recommended By Mary Jo S., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Environmentalists and the timber industry do not often collaborate, but in the years immediately following gray wolf reintroduction in the interior American West, a plan to reintroduce grizzly bears to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness of Idaho and Montana brought these odd bedfellows together. The partnership won praise from diverse interests across the country and in 2000 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved a plan for reintroduction. When the Bush Administration took office, however, it promptly shelved the project.
In Grizzly West Michael J. Dax explores the political, cultural, and social forces at work in the West and around the country that gave rise to this innovative plan but also contributed to its downfall. Observers at the time blamed the projectand#8217;s collapse on simple partisan politics, but Dax reveals how the American Westand#8217;s changing culture and economy over the second half of the twentieth century dramatically affected this bold vision. He examines the growth of the New Westand#8217;s political potency, while at the same time revealing the ways in which the Old West still holds a significant grip over the regionand#8217;s politics. Grizzly West explores the great divide between the Old and the New West, one that has lasting consequences for the modern West and for our country's relationship with its wildlife.
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Review
"In 60 concise and captivating vignettes . . . the authors provide the most up-to-date science."--Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
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“Stunning!” Alaska Airlines Mag / Horizontal Air Mag
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and#8220;Even the most casual reader will be awed by the beauty, complexity, and ingenuity of nature as celebrated here.and#8221; STARRED REVIEW
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and#8220;If you are looking for a wonderful gift for the animal lover on your list, this book is it.and#8221;
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“A volume over which a reader can linger with pleasure.” Richmond Times-Dispatch
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“Enjoyable and educational.” Wildlife Activist
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and#8220;A highly informative and compelling standalone volume in its own right . . . an excellent addition to anyoneand#8217;s library.and#8221;
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and#8220;In 60 concise and captivating vignettes . . . the authors provide the most up-to-date science.and#8221;
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andldquo;Idahoandrsquo;s Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness together with the Frank Church Wilderness constitute the largest roadless area in the Lower 48. All this land is prime and historical grizzly bear habitat. Yet, despite nearby grizzly populations in Montana, this vast region is tragically and bafflingly devoid of grizzly bears. How could this be? Michael Daxandrsquo;s unusually thorough book documents our public failure to reintroduce the great bear to its natural home.andrdquo;andmdash;Doug Peacock, author of
Grizzly Years and
In the Shadow of the Sabertoothand#160;
Review
and#8220;Michael Dax expertly probes the economic, cultural, and political divides spawned by recent efforts to reintroduce grizzly bears into the Bitterroot Range. . . . This is a first-rate environmental history that will enlighten environmentalists, legislators, natural resource users, and others engaged in deciding the fate of public lands in the modern American West.and#8221;and#8212;Mark Harvey, author of Wilderness Forever: Howard Zahniser and the Path to the Wilderness Act
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and#8220;Michael Dax delivers a nuanced and compelling study of the interconnectedness of politics and the environment in the West. He ably tells a story that far too few know, and he does so with grace and clarity and skillfully avoids green-washing this topic.and#8221;and#8212;Sara Dant, professor of history at Weber State University and coauthor of the Encyclopedia of American National Parks
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and#8220;Stunning!and#8221;
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and#8220;A volume over which a reader can linger with pleasure.and#8221;
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and#8220;Enjoyable and educational.and#8221;
Synopsis
Life, the spectacular companion volume to the new Discovery Channel/BBC series, tells a majestic and compelling story of survival and of the amazing behaviors animals and plants adopt to stay alive and pass their genes to a new generation.
Beautifully written and illustrated with more than 300 high-definition color photographs, Life focuses on the most exciting examples of the millions of species to demonstrate the harrowing and very different challenges that all living things must overcome to prevail and to procreate. In 60 concise and captivating vignettes, intriguingly grouped in categories like Extraordinary Sea Creatures, Fabulous Fish, Irrepressible Plants, Hot-blooded Hunters, and Intellectual Primates, the authors provide the most up-to-date science. Each chapter parallels an episode of the television series, making the book a must-have addition to any interested viewer's library.
From the familiar to the rare — polar bears, Japanese snow macaques, monarch butterflies, and fish-catching bats, a mega-roost of 10 million fruit bats in Zambia, capuchin monkeys that use stone tools, marine life beneath and upon the ice of Antarctica, and tiny goby fish that climb Hawaiian waterfalls — this sumptuous volume brims with information and unforgettable images of the spectacular, the dangerous, and the bizarre.
About the Author
Martha Holmes, producer for the BBC television production of Life, completed her doctorate in marine biology at the University of York. Michael Gunton, executive editor of Life, is a zoologist who received his training at Cambridge University.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Location map
1 Extraordinary sea creatures
2 Fabulous fish
3 Irrepressible plants
4 Insect ingenuity
5 Frogs, serpents and dragons
6 Brilliant birds
7 Winning mammals
8 Hot-blooded hunters
9 Intellectual primates
Index