May 14, 2013
New Arrivals · Life Sciences, Natural History & Animals
These titles were recently added to the collection of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.
Animals of Ohio's ponds and vernal pools
May 2, 2013
FitzSimmons, David.
Kent, Ohio : Kent State University Press, c2011.
xiii, 144 p. : col. ill., col. map ; 28 cm.
Introduction: Why should we care? -- Not just a fishin' hole : farm ponds and other diminutive lakes -- Springtime gems : vernal pools -- Below the surface : non-insect invertebrates -- Dragons, damsels, and the magical six-legged dominion : insects -- Truthful tales : fish -- Both water and land : amphibians and reptiles -- What fur? : mammals -- Finely feathered fauna : birds -- Exploration, succession, and pollution : what we can do.
Animals of Ohio's Ponds and Vernal Pools is a wonderful resource about wetlands and wildlife that will inspire readers to learn about and protect their own natural environments.
Scatter, adapt, and remember : how humans will survive a mass extinction
May 1, 2013
Newitz, Annalee, 1969-
305 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
"In its 4.5 billion-year history, life on Earth has been almost erased at least half a dozen times: shattered by asteroid impacts, entombed in ice, smothered by methane, and torn apart by unfathomably powerful megavolcanoes. And we know that another global disaster is eventually headed our way. Can we survive it? How?"--Dust jacket flap.
Wonders of life : exploring the most extraordinary force in the universe
May 1, 2013
Cox, Brian, 1968- author.
288 pages : color illustrations ; 29 cm
Includes index.
"As seen on SCI, Science Channel"--Cover.
Wonders of life -- Home. Evolution of life ; Return of the king ; A very special home ; Simple but complex ; The history of the exploration of water ; Water, water everywhere-- ; Water, the essential ingredient ; Walking on water ; Treetops to teardrops : the magic of hydrogen bonds ; Into the light. A train journey through time ; A child star ; A unique and colourful world ; The origin;s of life's colours ; From the smallest beginnings-- ; Eating the Sun ; A breath of fresh air ; Breath of life ; Four-legged life story -- What is life? The briefest of beauty. Day of the dead ; What is life? ; Energy and the First Law of Thermodynamics ; First life. Life's first energy source ; On Professor Cox's battery and the origin of life ; Searching for Eden : a warm little pond-- ; Universal life ; Prokaryotic and eukaryotic life ; Life and the Second Law of Thermodynamics : Schrödinger's Paradox ; Follow the Sun ; The origin of life's order ; One big family -- Size matters. Life-size differences. Same planet, different world ; Ocean giants ; The physics of a killer ; Small is beautiful ; Of royal crowns and ocean giants ; Big things don't jump ; Lost giants ; The world of the small. Inside an insect ; Beetle mania ; Broken men and splashing horses ; As small as it gets-- ; The smallest multicellular life on Earth ; Size really matters ; An island of giants -- Expanding universe. The expanding universe. Plugging in ; The common sense ; A bolt from the blue ; The universal nature of sensing ; River monsters ; Good vibrations. The power of hearing ; The human ear : a wonder of acoustic engineering ; The ossicles : one of nature's great evolutionary bodges ; Evolving ears and eyes ; The jawless lamprey ; Let there be light-- . Seeing the light ; Eye wide open ; A very human experience of a very human creature ; Compound vs. camera : the advantages and disadvantages of the simple and the complex ; Seeing the universe -- Endless forms most beautiful. A universal common ancestor. Evolution and Madagascar ; Darwin's bark spider ; Darwin's orchid ; A name for life ; The stuff of life ; The bird : collision of a trillion suns ; The Hoyle Resonance : are we lucky to be here at all? ; Carbon cycle. The greatest cycles of life ; Harvesting carbon ; Why carbon? ; The building blocks of biology ; DNA from the beginning ; Meet the ancestors ; Tree of life ; Mutations : the spring from which diversity flows ; The power of mutations ; Tossing a coin isn't enough ; The power of islands ; Island Madagascar ; A creature from another world ; Precious islands.
How to eradicate invasive plants
April 26, 2013
Dunn Chace, Teri.
Portland, Or. : Timber Press, 2013.
336 p. : col. ill. ; 23 cm.
Includes index.
Know thy enemy -- Combat thy enemy -- Water and bog plants -- Annuals, biennials, and tropical perennials -- Herbaceous perennials -- Grasses and bamboos -- Vines -- Shrubs -- Trees -- Problem areas for problem plants -- Metric conversions.
Invasive plants are a growing threat to home landscapes, affecting native plants, wildlife, and humans. This clear, easy-to-use book shows you how to recognize the "enemy"; offers eradication options, from simple, organic approaches to the safest and most responsible ways to use chemicals; and enables you to identify 200 of the most common invasives.--COVER.
Penguins : natural history and conservation
April 24, 2013
viii, 328 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 26 cm
"A state-of-the-art guide to status, distribution, abundance, and population trends of 18 penguin species. Highlights emerging conservation issues and opportunities to increase understanding of common threats to penguins"-- Provided by publisher.
The kingdom of rarities
April 22, 2013
Dinerstein, Eric, 1952-
Washington : Island Press, c2013.
xiii, 295 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
The uncommon menagerie -- The gift of isolation -- A jaguar on the beach -- The firebird suite -- There, in the elephant grass -- Scent of an anteater -- Invasion and resistance -- Ghosts of Indochina -- Rarity made common.
Why are some animals naturally rare and others so abundant? From the Himalayan slopes of Bhutan to the most isolated mountain ranges of New Guinea, Dinerstein takes us to some of the least-traveled places on the planet to catch a glimpse of unique animals, and shares stories of these species to give readers a deep appreciation of their ecological importance and the urgency of protecting all types of life-- the uncommon and abundant alike.
The book of barely imagined beings : a 21st century bestiary
April 16, 2013
Henderson, Caspar.
xix, 427 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm
Originally published: London : Granta Books, 2012.
Axolotl -- Barrel sponge -- Crown of thorns starfish -- Dolphin -- Eel -- Flatworm -- Gonodactylus -- Human -- Iridogorgia -- Japanese macaque -- Kìrìphá-kò, the honey badger -- Leatherback -- Mystaceus -- Nautilus -- Octopus -- Pufferfish -- Quetzalcoatlus -- Right whale -- Sea butterfly -- Thorny devil -- 'Unicorn' : the goblin shark -- Venus's girdle -- Waterbear -- Xenoglaux -- Xenophyophore -- Yeti crab -- Zebra fish.
Odd couples : extraordinary differences between the sexes in the animal kingdom
April 15, 2013
Fairbairn, Daphne J.
300 pages, [16] pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm
The roots of sexual differences : why male and female animals differ -- Elephant seals : harems, hierarchies, and giant males -- Great bustards : gorgeous males and choosy females -- Shell-carrying cichlids : protective males and furtive females -- Yellow garden spiders : sedentary females and roving males -- Blanket octopuses : drifting females and dwarf males -- Giant seadevils : fearsome females and parasitic males -- Bone-eating worms : female tubeworms with harems of minuscule males -- Shell-burrowing barnacles : sac-like females with harems of phallic males -- The diversity of sexual differences : differences between males and females across the animal kingdom.
What's that flower?
April 15, 2013
Edmondson, Dudley.
New York : DK Publishing, 2013.
128 p. : col. ill. ; 19 cm.
Includes index.
"A beginner's guide to wildflowers"--Cover.
Imperial dreams : tracking the imperial woodpecker through the wild Sierra Madre
April 4, 2013
Gallagher, Tim.
New York : Atria Books, [2013]
xxiv, 277 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm
"Naturalist Tim Gallagher journeys deep into the savagely beautiful Sierra Madre, home to rich wildlife and other natural treasures--and also to Mexican drug cartels--in a dangerous quest to locate the rarest bird in the world--the possibly extinct Imperial Woodpecker, the largest of all carpinteros"-- Provided by publisher.
Gold rush in the jungle : the race to discover and defend the rarest animals of Vietnam's "lost world"
April 4, 2013
Drollette, Dan, Jr., 1962-
xxiv, 310 pages, 8 unnumbered pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm
Never look a polar bear in the eye : a family field trip to the Arctic's edge in search of adventure, truth, and mini-marshmallows
April 3, 2013
Unger, Zac.
ix, 296 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 24 cm
Prologue -- Let's see what we've got bear-wise -- The James Bond of vertebrate zoology -- The polar bear capital of the world -- Vacation in Bogland -- Pretty dumb for being so smart -- The truth is that we just don't know -- Polar bears need crime labs, too -- Sniff away -- Going nuclear -- I think we should move to Churchill -- A perfect place for a bear attack -- Beartopia -- This is a disaster -- Bedeviled from the start -- Polar bear pitchman -- The greatest conservation generation -- Scare them and they will come -- Never look a polar bear in the eye -- Dial 675-BEAR -- Nice day for a drive -- Don't touch the bears and don't feed the bears -- Looking for Narnia -- The bear whisperer -- Bunny huggers -- They know they are safe here -- Circus bears -- Bear in the air -- All creatures great and small -- The heavy hitters speak -- Apocalypse now, or maybe later -- Epilogue.
Ginkgo : the tree that time forgot
March 26, 2013
Crane, Peter R.
New Haven : Yale University Press, c2013.
xix, 384 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
The big book of beasts : the world's most curious creatures
March 25, 2013
Largo, Michael.
xv, 444 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
"A one-of-a-kind treasury of the most strange and fascinating knowledge and lore about animals. Largo tells us their most fascinating secrets and reveals fact after astonishing--and often hilarious--fact about their oddest behavior. Largo also looks at the beasts we created with our imaginations, as well as ones long gone"-- Provided by publisher.
Animal wise : the thoughts and emotions of our fellow creatures
March 22, 2013
Morell, Virginia.
291 pages ; 25 cm
Introduction -- The ant teachers -- Among fish -- Birds with brains -- Parrots in translation -- The laughter of rats -- Elephant memories -- The educated dolphin -- The wild minds of dolphins -- What it means to be a chimpanzee -- Of dogs and wolves.
Explores the frontiers of research on animal cognition and emotion, offering a surprising examination into the hearts and minds of wild and domesticated animals.
How animals grieve
March 22, 2013
King, Barbara J., 1956-
193 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Prologue: on grief and love -- Keening for Carson the cat -- A dog's best friend -- Mourning on the farm -- Why bunnies get depressed -- Elephant bones -- Do monkeys mourn? -- Chimpanzees, cruel to be kind -- Bird love -- Sea of emotion: dolphins, whales, and turtles -- No boundaries: cross-species grief -- Animal suicide? -- Ape grief -- On bison death in Yellowstone and obituaries of animals -- Writing grief -- The prehistory of grief.
The living landscape : how to read it and understand it
March 21, 2013
Whitefield, Patrick.
East Meon : Permanent Publications, c2009.
333 p., [16] p. plates : ill. (some col.), maps ; 24 cm.
Paleofantasy : what evolution really tells us about sex, diet, and how we live
March 20, 2013
Zuk, M. (Marlene)
328 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Cavemen in condos -- Are we stuck? -- Crickets, sparrows, and Darwins- or, evolution before our eyes -- The perfect paleofantasy diet : milk -- The perfect paleofantasy diet : meat, grains, and cooking -- Exercising the paleofantasy -- Paleofantasy love -- The paleofantasy family -- Paleofantasy, in sickness and in health -- Are we still evolving? : a tale of genes, altitude, and earwax.
Debunks beliefs based on the assumption that human beings have finished evolving and defends the assertion that modern man is not biologically the same as our caveman ancestors.
Letters to a young scientist
March 6, 2013
Wilson, Edward O.
244 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm
You made the right choice -- The path to follow. First passion, then training ; Mathematics ; The path to follow -- The creative process. What is science? ; The creative process ; What it takes ; Most likely to succeed ; I never changed ; Archetypes of the scientific mind ; Scientists as explorers of the universe -- A life in science. A mentor and the start of a career ; The grails of field biology ; A celebration of audacity ; Know your subject, thoroughly -- Theory and the big picture. Science as universal knowledge ; Searching for new worlds on Earth ; The making of theories ; Biological theory on a grand scale ; Theory in the real world -- Truth and ethics. The scientific ethic.
Proving Darwin : making biology mathematical
March 6, 2013
Chaitin, Gregory J.
New York : Pantheon Books, c2012.
xvii, 123 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
Problem Solvers and Theorizers -- Introduction: Overview of Proving Darwin -- Life as Evolving Software : The Evolution of Mutating Software -- The Human Discovery of Software : Turing and von Neumann as Biologists -- The Mathematics of Metabiology : Random Walks in Software Space -- Santa Fe Institute Lecture : A Mathematical Theory of Evolution and Biological Creativity -- Theological Aspects of Metabiology -- The Politics of Creativity (Social Darwinism -- Social Metabiology) -- What can Mathematics Ultimately Accomplish? : Metabiology and Beyond -- Appendix 1: von Neumann's "DNA = Software" Paper -- Appendix 2: The Heart of the Proof.
Explains how evolution works on a mathematical level, arguing that mathematical theory is an essential part of evolution while highlighting mathematical principles in the biological world.
Explore the Northeast National Marine Sanctuaries with Jean-Michel Cousteau : Thunder Bay, Stellwagen Bank, Monitor
February 26, 2013
[Flagler Beach, Florida] : Ocean Publishing, 2012.
xv, 165 p. : ill. (mostly col.), map ; 23 cm.
Explore the west coast National Marine Sanctuaries with Jean-Michel Cousteau
February 26, 2013
[Flagler Beach, Fla.] : Ocean Pub., [2012]
xvi, 351 pages : color illustrations, color maps ; 23 cm.
"Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, Farallones, Cordell Bank, Olympic Coast."
Depicts an exploration through the National Marine Sanctuaries on the West Coast, including the squids of the Channel Islands, the sea lions of Montertey Bay, the harbor seals of the Gulf of the Farallones, and the bald eagles of the Olympic Coast.
The sixty thousand-dollar dog : my life with animals
February 25, 2013
Slater, Lauren.
Boston : Beacon Press, c2012.
251 p. ; 24 cm.
The egg -- Sugaring the bit -- Old homes -- The swan with a broken beak -- The sixty thousand-dollar dog -- The death of a wasp -- Bat dreams.
Big cats
February 21, 2013
Llewellyn, Claire.
New York : Kingfisher, c2013.
32 p. : col. ill., map ; 28 cm.
Includes index.
"Describes the beauty and strength of the world's biggest cats. In this book, children will learn about species such as jaguars, snow leopards, lions, and cheetahs. On one illustrated spread, they can see one moment in an actual cat's life such as the second before a jaguar charges into the water in southern Brazil, or a group of young cheetah brothers defending their home in The Kalahari Desert. Real-life photographs highlight more general information about these fantastic felines, such as a cat's anatomy, and the social life of a pride."
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