An engaging and thought-provoking introduction to river scienceWhen we look at a river, either up close or while flying over a river valley, what are we really seeing? Following the Bend takes readers on a majestic journey by water to find answers, along the way shedding light on the key concepts of modern river science, from hydrology and water chemistry to stream and wetland ecology.In this accessible and uniquely personal book, Ellen Wohl explai...

To contemplate an alpine lake or a ribbon of white water twisting down the face of the Rocky Mountains is to appreciate the majesty of this block of bedrock thrust up from Earth’s interior, weathering eons of nature's assaults. To learn what humans, in our brief lifespan, have done here is to acquire a sobering sense of our place in the natural world. Ellen Wohl’s account of a year in the life of Rocky Mountain National Park reflects a lifelong interest in these rhythms and disruptions. In...

This work is designed to broaden the scope with which many people regard a river. Rivers are commonly regarded from a very simplistic perspective as conduits for downstream flows of water. In this context, it may be considered acceptable and necessary to engineer the channel to either facilitate such flows (e.g., channelization, levees) or limit flows and store water (e.g., water supply reservoirs, flood control). The book presents the concept of a river as a spatially and temporally compl...

A fascinating study of the thousands of new animal species that walked in the footsteps of the dinosaurs—and the climate changes that brought them forth.The fascinating group of animals called dinosaurs became extinct some 65 million years ago (except for their feathered descendants). In their place evolved an enormous variety of land creatures, especially mammals, which in their way were every bit as remarkable as their Mesozoic cousins. The Age of Mammals, the Ce...

A paleontologist shows what life was like on our planet long before the early humans emerged through words and illustrations.Paleontologist Dr. Mark P. Witton draws on the latest twenty-first century discoveries to re-create the appearances and lifestyles of extinct, fascinating species, the environments they inhabited, and the challenges they faced living on an ever-changing planet. A worthy successor to Charles Knight's beloved 1946 classic, Life through the ...

“A love poem to the living things that inhabit the mountains and rivers of Washington, coastal Oregon, and southwestern British Columbia.” —Saul Weisberg, executive director, North Cascades InstituteMore than just a field guide, Cascadia Revealed is the essential trailside reference for naturalists, hikers, and campers. With engaging prose and precise science, Dan Mathews brings the mountains alive with stories of their formation and profiles of the plants...

A beloved natural historian and biologist explores how climate change is driving evolution.**“Hanson is an affable guide and storyteller., with a knack for analogy, a sense of humor and the natural curiosity of a scientist.” ―**New York TimesIn Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid, biologist Thor Hanson tells the remarkable story of how plants and animals are responding to climate change: adjusting, evolving, and sometimes ...

**Finalist for the 2025 Los Angeles Times Book PrizeFinalist for the 2026 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing AwardFinalist for the 2026 Maine Literary AwardOne of NPR's "Books We Love" for 2025A Scientific American Staff Favorite for 2025A revelatory journey through four moments in Earth’s deep past, and their lessons for our future.**The epic stories of our planet’s 4.54-billion-year history are written in strata—ages-old remnant...

Earth's past is littered with the mysterious and unexplained: the pyramids, Easter Island, Stonehenge, dinosaurs, and the list goes on and on as science looks for clues to decipher these puzzles.One such mystery surrounds the now-extinct creature called the woolly mammoth. Author and meteorologist Michael Oard has studied the mammoth and its equally mysterious time period, the Ice Age, for many years and has come to some fascinating conclusions to help lift the fog engulfing the fac...

"A valuable new synthesis of . . . climate, geography, and life during the past 20,000 years. . . . an intimate appreciation of the rich variety of nature." —S. David Webb, ScienceThe fascinating story of how a harsh terrain that resembled modern Antarctica has been transformed gradually into the forests, grasslands, and wetlands we know today."One of the best scientific books published in the last ten years." — Ottowa Journal"This ni...

'An insightful book with sparkling wit and humour that will appeal to new and seasoned readers of palaeontology.'Dr Anjana Khatwa, TV presenter and Earth ScientistIt is difficult to conceive of the vast scale of the history of life on Earth, from the very first living organisms sparking into life in hydrothermal deep-sea vents to the dizzying diversity of life today. The evolution of life is a sweeping epic of a tale, with twists and turns, ...

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2011 titleA bold, far-reaching look at how our actions will decide the planet's future for millennia to come.Imagine a planet where North American and Eurasian navies are squaring off over shipping lanes through an acidified, ice-free Arctic. Centuries later, their northern descendants retreat southward as the recovering sea freezes over again. And later still, future nations plan how to avert an approaching Ice Age... by burning w...