From ancient megalodons to fearsome Great Whites, this book tells the complete, untold story of how sharks emerged as Earth’s ultimate survivors, by world-leading paleontologist John Long.“Will keep you on the edge of your seat from its first page to its last page.”—Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Guns, Germs, and SteelSharks have been fighting for their lives for 500 million years and today are under dire threat. T...

This completely revised and updated edition, illustrated with 359 color photographs and drawings, brings together in a single volume the anchoring systems most popular among climbers. If you’re new to trad climbing, this book details the necessary skills needed to make safe gear placements and build solid and efficient anchor systems, based on simple guidelines. This new edition of Climbing Anchors is the climber’s complete and authoritative source of information on placement and evaluatio...

We all know about the birds and the bees, but what about the ancient placoderm fishes and the dinosaurs?The history of sex is as old as life itself-and as complicated and mysterious. And despite centuries of study there is always more to know. In 2008, paleontologist John A. Long and a team of researchers revealed their discovery of a placoderm fish fossil, known as "the mother fish," which at 380 million years old revealed the oldest vertebrate embryo-the earliest known example of ...

With more than 100 full-color photos and detailed captions showing how to create safe and simple rock-climbing anchoring systems, this is a take-to-the-crag companion book to our huge-selling Climbing Anchors.Designed for quick use by climbers on site, this book shows how to properly place and configure natural anchors, passive chocks, mechanical chocks, fixed gear, knots, belay anchors, toprope anchors and rappel anchors. This field guide is up to date with the essential knowledge...

Violence, bigamy, race, and a quest for justice—the true crime story of Charles Watkins, his wife's mysterious death, and the chaos that followed.A drama played out in the mountains of southwestern Virginia in 1891 that attracted nationwide attention and held the citizens of the Roanoke Valley spellbound. The tale of the trial of Charles Watkins for the murder of his wife was marked by threats of lynching, a fugitive manhunt, a disappearing witness, mistaken identi...

Pssst! It's True! This is the best book on DINOSAURS you'll ever read! Fossil smugglers caught! Dino battle of the century! Skeletons sell for millions! Stegosaurus footprints stolen!Dinosaurs are still making headlines, 65 million years after they all died out. (Or did they?) New fossil discoveries reveal ancient secrets from the long-ago times when 80-tonne titanosaurids and chicken-sized raptors shared the Earth with killers like Tyrannosaurus rex. Dig up the dirt on Jurassic gi...

From ancient megalodons to fearsome Great Whites, this book tells the complete, untold story of how sharks emerged as Earth’s ultimate survivors, by world-leading paleontologist John Long.“Will keep you on the edge of your seat from its first page to its last page.”—Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Guns, Germs, and SteelSharks have been fighting for their lives for 500 million years and today are under dire threat. T...

Traditional, or simply, trad climbing, is a do-it-yourself adventure requiring the climbing team to negotiate the climb and to carry, hand-place and remove most if not all components of the roped safety system. In The Trad Climber’s Bible, two of the most revered and respected trad climbers in the world, John Long and Peter Croft, offer hard-won knowledge to aspiring trad climbers in a narrative format that is as informative as it is entertaining. With photos by iconic climbing ph...

What happens when we let robots play the game of life?The challenge of studying evolution is that the history of life is buried in the past -- we can't witness the dramatic events that shaped the adaptations we see today. But biorobotics expert John Long has found an ingenious way to overcome this problem: he creates robots that look and behave like extinct animals, subjects them to evolutionary pressures, lets them compete for mates and resources, and mutates thei...

In "John Long's Journal, 1768-1782," J. Indian Trader Long masterfully captures the nuanced dynamics of trade and cultural exchange between European settlers and Indigenous peoples during a formative period in North American history. Written in a straightforward yet evocative style, Long's journal entries reveal the complexities of frontier life, characterized by both collaboration and conflict. The narrative weaves personal anecdotes with broader historical commentary, offering readers an...

Designed for quick use by climbers on site, this field guide is up to date with essential knowledge every climber can depend on to easily evaluate climbing anchors.Illustrated with 266 photos, drawings, and diagrams, key fundamentals are detailed with bullet points, and assessment guidelines for nuts, cams, and anchor systems are spelled out in easy to remember acronyms, simplifying the most important and critical guidelines every trad climber should know.Climbing Ancho...

Year after year, in spite of monumental dangers, climbers return to the world's most difficult mountains, whether it's the cliffs of Yosemite or the peaks of the Himalaya. At these places, even the most cautious climber must accept the possibilities of moving unroped to save time, braving terrain vulnerable to rockfall, trusting afternoon thunderstorms to hold off long enough to get below treeline. Mistakes, bad weather and bad luck often lead to death. This collection offers harrowing acc...