The Amazon is a land of superlatives. The complex ecosystem covers an area about the size of the continental U.S. The Amazon River discharges 57 million gallons of water per second--in two hours, this would be enough to supply all of New York City's 7.5 million residents with water for a year. Its flora and fauna are abundant. Approximately one of every four flowering plant species on earth resides in the Amazon. A single Amazonian river may contain more fish species than all the rivers in...

The fascinating account of a pioneering ethnobotanist’s travels in the Amazon—at once a gripping adventure story, a passionate argument for conservationism, and an investigation into the healing power of plants, by the author of The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to KnowFor thousands of years, healers have used plants to cure illness. Aspirin, the world's most widely used drug, is based on compounds originally extracted from the bark of a willow tree, and mor...

Where the Gods Reign is a scientific and creative anthropological overview of the Amazon rainforest ecosystem-featuring writings and excerpts on rivers, ethnic groups, cultural customs, rubber and cocoa plants, drugs and medicines, and more.Beautiful photographs taken by Dr. Schultes during his 14 years residing in the Colombian Amazon are accompanied by short poetic reflections, precise summaries which showcase Schultes’s immense knowledge of the area, and carefully selected quote...

The complex ecosystem of the Amazon covers an area about the size of the continental US. Approximately one of every four flowering plant species on earth resides in the Amazon. A single Amazonian river may contain more fish species than all the rivers in Europe combined. The rainforest, which contains approximately 390 billion trees, plays a vital role in stabilizing the global climate by absorbing massive amounts of carbon dioxide—or releasing it into the atmosphere if the trees are destr...

Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice has been called one of the greatest adventure stories ever told.As then-chief ethnobotanist for Conservation International, Mark Plotkin spent almost 15 years tracking the shamans of the northeast Amazon. Their knowledge of healing plants may hold the cure to some of today's most devastating diseases. This audiobook is the thrilling account of his apprenticeship to these powerful wise men, a gripping journey into a wild and wonderful world se...

Fingerprints: Analysis and Understanding the Science, Second Edition is a thorough update of Mark Hawthorne’s classic written by two professionals with combined experience not only in crime scene investigations but also as court-recognized experts in latent print examination. Designed as a concise text to cover the fundamental techniques and principles of obtaining and analyzing latent fingerprint evidence, the book is laid out and written in an easy to understand format f...

A journey into the deeper workings of indigenous healing in the Amazon• Explores the three pillars of Amazonian shamanism: purging, psychoactive plants, and diet• Shares the experiences of apprenticing with an Ashaninca master shaman• Reveals the intimate relationship between shamans and plant spiritsThe Jaguar that Roams the Mind is a journey into the vanishing world of Amazonian shamanism--an adventure of initiation and return--that explores the u...

Seventeen marvelous essays introducing the habitats, ecology, plants, and animals of the Central and South American rainforest.A lively, lucid portrait of the tropics as seen by two uncommonly observant and thoughtful field biologists. Its seventeen marvelous essays introduce the habitats, ecology, plants, and animals of the Central and South American rainforest. Includes a lengthy appendix of practical advice for the tropical traveler.

The story of two generations of scientific explorers in South America—Richard Evans Schultes and his protégé Wade Davis—an epic tale of adventure and a compelling work of natural history.In 1941, Professor Richard Evan Schultes took a leave from Harvard and disappeared into the Amazon, where he spent the next twelve years mapping uncharted rivers and living among dozens of Indian tribes. In the 1970s, he sent two prize students, Tim Plowman and Wade Davis, to follo...

From the most celebrated heir to Darwin comes a groundbreaking book on evolution, the summa work of Edward O. Wilson's legendary career.Where did we come from? What are we? Where are we going? In a generational work of clarity and passion, one of our greatest living scientists directly addresses these three fundamental questions of religion, philosophy, and science while “overturning the famous theory that evolution naturally encourages creatures to put family first” (Discover

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZEONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARA NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALISTThe 10th-anniversary edition of the instant classic, The Sixth Extinction, now with a new epilogue. Kolbert blends intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes.

Are plants intelligent? Can they solve problems, communicate, and navigate their surroundings? Or are they passive, incapable of independent action or social behavior? Philosophers and scientists have pondered these questions since ancient Greece, most often concluding that plants are unthinking and inert: they are too silent, too sedentary -- just too different from us. Yet discoveries over the past fifty years have challenged these ideas, shedding new light on the extraordinary capabilit...