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Last Barriers: Photographs of Wilderness in the Gulf Islands National Seashore
by Donald Muir BradburnRarely has a book of photography performed a more poignant and immediate service in preserving a natural Mississippi wonder. The Mississippi Gulf Coast barrier islands captured the heart and mind of Donald Muir Bradburn (1924–2012) in childhood. He became fascinated with the natural history and ornithology he witnessed. To him, the islands, especially Horn Island with its dark forests, high dunes, and deserted beaches, represented unbounded freedom and the ideal of a timeless world. Years later, when the National Park Service threatened to open the islands to “almost unlimited opportunities for camping, picnicking, water skiing, boating, bicycling, hiking, and bird watching,” Bradburn became an activist for preservation, focusing on saving Horn Island and Petit Bois Island as unchanged wilderness. In addition to supporting legislation that would keep both islands part of the National Wilderness System, Bradburn photographed the islands and their plants to show conservationist groups and individuals what was at stake and motivate them to join the fight. Eventually, through his efforts and those of others, Congress passed the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, which designated Horn and Petit Bois Islands as wilderness. For a time, the legislation saved a place shimmering with natural grace. After the fright and insult of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Bradburn’s photographs are an even more deeply felt act of preservation. Last Barriers: Photographs from the Gulf Islands National Seashore is a collection of 120 images taken of the Gulf Coast islands that preoccupied his life and photography. The large majority of these are of Horn Island long before Hurricane Katrina and include landscapes in various weather conditions and during different times of the day, flora and fauna, and various habitats, seen either close-up or from afar. Each is accompanied by a detailed caption stating the date taken, the biological information of the species and plants depicted, and landscape descriptions. In a personal essay, Bradburn movingly reflects on his attachment to these island wonders and records the history of the efforts to save them.
Last Breath
by Peter Stark"Forget the edge of your seat. Last Breathtakes you to the edge of your life, for a pulse-pounding glimpse into the Great Beyond. There are many ways to risk your life in the out-of-doors, and Stark has captured them in exquisite and harrowing detail. " -JIM ROBBINS Author ofA Symphony in the Brain An enthralling blend of adventure and science, Last Breath re-creates in heart-stopping detail what happens to our bodies and our minds in the perilous last moments of life when an extreme adventure goes awry. Combining the adrenaline high of extreme sports with the startling facts of physiological reality, veteran travel and outdoor sports writer Peter Stark narrates a series of adventure stories in which thrill can cross the line to mortal peril. Each death or brush with death is at once a suspense story, a cautionary tale, and a medical thriller. Will they survive, or will they succumb? Readers will shiver with a man lost in the snowy woods, suffering from hypothermia and tearsing off his clothes as he's burning up from the cold; they will hallucinate with a young woman stranded at the top of Annapurna as she experiences a cerebral edema; and while a kayaker tumbles helplessly underwater for two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, readers, too, will gasp for their last breath.
Last Call at the Oasis: The Global Water Crisis and Where We Go from Here
by Participant Media"If there was a price placed on clean water we might start treating it like it has value. Maybe when it's gone we'll realize we can't drink oil or money. " --Dave Matthews Less than 1 percent of the world's water is fresh and potable--and no more will ever be available. Thanks to pollution, global warming, and population growth, water access is poised to become today's most explosive global issue. This book, based on the film Last Call at the Oasis by Academy Award®-winning director Jessica Yu, offers insights into the coming water crisis from visionary scientists, policymakers, activists, and environmentalists, including: ROBERT MORAN on how oil and mineral development pollute and divert water supplies--often beyond public scrutiny PETER H. GLEICK on discovering the "soft path" to global water security ROBERT GLENNON on how the power of markets can help protect the world's water LYNN HENNING on how a family farmer became a passionate "water activist" ALEX PRUD'HOMME on how the water crisis affects us all GARY WHITE on how innovative social and economic strategies can make clean water available even for the world's poorest people HADLEY ARNOLD AND PETER ARNOLD on how arid regions like America's Southwest can wisely husband water supplies for cities and farmers alike ROBYN BEAVERS on how today's smartest businesses are making sustainable water management a competitive advantage ZEM JOAQUIN on nine "ecofabulous" ways of saving water at home--and doing it with style BILL MCDONOUGH on how smart design can preserve water's "Endless Resourcefulness" for generations to come No resource on earth is more precious--or more endangered--than water. Last Call at the Oasis is a powerful tool for learning about the water challenges we face as well as the remarkable solutions available to us--if we have the will to use them.
Last Chance to See
by Douglas Adams Mark Carwardine"Very funny and moving...The glimpses of rare fauna seem to have enlarged [Adams'] thinking, enlivened his world; and so might the animals do for us all, if we were to help them live."THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLDJoin bestselling author Douglas Adams and zooligist Mark Carwardine as they take off around the world in search of exotic, endangered creatures. Hilarious and poignant--as only Douglas Adams can be--LAST CHANCE TO SEE is an entertaining and arresting odyssey through the Earth's magnificent wildlife galaxy.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Last Chance: Preserving Life in Earth (Speaker's Corner Ser.)
by Larry J Schweiger"This is an unabashed call to each and every American to moral duty for the future of life on earth," begins National Wildlife Federation president and CEO Larry J. Schweiger in this stirring exposé and call to action. Speaking to us not just as a conservation leader but also as an outdoor lover and a parent, Schweiger describes the causes and effects of global warming on our wildlife, ecosystems, and human life as we know it. With an engaging, down-to-earth tone (and a dash of wit; e.g., "What Happens in Greenland Will Not Stay in Greenland"), Schweiger breaks down the science behind our looming environmental catastrophe. Not letting go of hope, he also offers practical solutions and proposes a plan of action for everyday citizens. Last Chance will inspire each of us to take part in restoring the vital connection to our natural world before it's too late."
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder
by Richard Louv“The children and nature movement is fueled by this fundamental idea: the child in nature is an endangered species, and the health of children and the health of the Earth are inseparable.” —Richard Louv, from the new edition In his landmark work Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv brought together cutting-edge studies that pointed to direct exposure to nature as essential for a child’s healthy physical and emotional development. Now this new edition updates the growing body of evidence linking the lack of nature in children’s lives and the rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Louv’s message has galvanized an international back-to-nature campaign to “Leave No Child Inside.” His book will change the way you think about our future and the future of our children. “[The] national movement to ‘leave no child inside’ . . . has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grass-roots projects, a U.S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a ‘green hour’ in each day. . . . The increased activism has been partly inspired by a best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods, and its author, Richard Louv.” —The Washington Post “Last Child in the Woods, which describes a generation so plugged into electronic diversions that it has lost its connection to the natural world, is helping drive a movement quickly flourishing across the nation.” —The Nation’s Health “This book is an absolute must-read for parents.” —The Boston Globe Now includesA Field Guide with 100 Practical Actions We Can Take Discussion Points for Book Groups, Classrooms, and Communities Additional Notes by the Author New and Updated Research from the U.S. and Abroad
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
by Richard LouvFrom the Book Jacket: "I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are," reports a fourth-grader. Never before in history have children been so plugged-in-and so out of touch with the natural world. In this groundbreaking new work, child advocacy expert Richard Louv direcdy links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation-he calls it nature deficit-to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as rises in obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and depression. Some startling facts: By the 1990s the radius around the home where children were allowed to roam on their own had shrunk to a ninth of what it had been in 1970. Today, average eight-year- olds are better able to identify cartoon characters than native species, such as beetles and oak trees, in their own community. The rate at which doctors prescribe antidepressants to children has doubled in the last five years, and recent studies show that too much computer use spells trouble for the developing mind. Nature-deficit disorder is not a medical condition; it is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. This alienation damages children and shapes adults, families, and communities. There are solutions, though, and they're right in our own backyards. Last Child in the Woods is the first book to bring together cutting-edge research showing that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development-physical, emotional, and spiritual. What's more, nature is a potent therapy for depression, obesity, and ADD. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Even creativity is stimulated by childhood experiences in nature. Yet sending kids outside to play is increasingly difficult. Computers, television, and video games compete for their time, of course, but it's also our fears of traffic, strangers, even virus- carrying mosquitoes-fears the media exploit- that keep children indoors. Meanwhile, schools assign more and more homework, and there is less and less access to natural areas. Parents have the power to ensure that their daughter or son will not be the "last child in the woods," and this book is the first step toward that nature-child reunion.
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
by Richard Louv"The children and nature movement is fueled by this fundamental idea: the child in nature is an endangered species, and the health of children and the health of the Earth are inseparable. " --Richard Louv, from the new edition In his landmark work Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv brought together cutting-edge studies that pointed to direct exposure to nature as essential for a child's healthy physical and emotional development. Now this new edition updates the growing body of evidence linking the lack of nature in children's lives and the rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Louv's message has galvanized an international back-to-nature campaign to "Leave No Child Inside. " His book will change the way you think about our future and the future of our children. "[The] national movement to 'leave no child inside' . . . has been the focus of Capitol Hill hearings, state legislative action, grass-roots projects, a U. S. Forest Service initiative to get more children into the woods and a national effort to promote a 'green hour' in each day. . . . The increased activism has been partly inspired by a best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods, and its author, Richard Louv. " --The Washington Post "Last Child in the Woods, which describes a generation so plugged into electronic diversions that it has lost its connection to the natural world, is helping drive a movement quickly flourishing across the nation. " --The Nation's Health "This book is an absolute must-read for parents. " --The Boston Globe Now includes A Field Guide with 100 Practical Actions We Can Take Discussion Points for Book Groups, Classrooms, and Communities Additional Notes by the Author New and Updated Research from the U. S. and Abroad
Last Lift from Crete: The Nicholas Everard World War Ii Saga Book 2 (Nicholas Everard Naval Thrillers #2)
by Alexander FullertonCrete, May 1941. Against all odds the Everards must survive a relentless Luftwaffe assault.The situation is dire for British forces in the Mediterranean. Their ships, with no air cover, have to run the gauntlet of 2,000 German bombers; and can only lick their wounds under cover of darkness.Nick Everard commands the destroyer Tuareg as it ventures well inside Stuka territory. There they are ordered to evacuate a body of troops, plus an Australian field hospital and thirty nurses, from right under the Germans’ noses. The soon-decimated flotilla has to make it round the Aegean, then out of Crete – but only a miracle can save them!Last Lift from Crete combines gripping personal drama with incredible naval action, and is a must-read for fans of Alistair MacLean and C. S. Forester.Praise for Alexander Fullerton‘Impeccable in detail and gripping in impact’ Irish Independent‘His action passages are superb and he never puts a period foot wrong’ Observer‘The research is unimpeachable and the scent of battle quite overwhelming’ Sunday Times
Last Stand of the Louisiana Shrimpers
by Emma Christopher LiretteIn recent years, shrimpers on the Louisiana coast have faced a historically dire shrimp season, with the price of shrimp barely high enough to justify trawling. Yet, many of them wouldn’t consider leaving shrimping behind, despite having transferrable skills that could land them jobs in the oil and gas industry. Since 2001, shrimpers have faced increasing challenges to their trade: an influx of shrimp from southeast Asia, several traumatic hurricane seasons, and the largest oil spill at sea in American history. In Last Stand of the Louisiana Shrimpers, author Emma Christopher Lirette traces how Louisiana Gulf Coast shrimpers negotiate land and blood, sea and freedom, and economic security and networks of control. This book explores what ties shrimpers to their boats and nets. Despite feeling trapped by finances and circumstances, they have created a world in which they have agency. Lirette provides a richly textured view of the shrimpers of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, calling upon ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, interdisciplinary scholarship, and critical theory. With evocative, lyrical prose, she argues that in persisting to trawl in places that increasingly restrict their way of life, shrimpers build fragile, quietly defiant worlds, adapting to a constantly changing environment. In these flickering worlds, shrimpers reimagine what it means to work and what it means to make a living.
Last Stand of the Red Spruce
by Robert A. MelloHere is a vitally important book for anyone who is concerned with acid rain and the fate of our forests. In his fascinating investigation into the decline of the red spruce on Camel Hump in Vermont, Robert A. Mello explores an ecological mystery. He presents, in clear, concise, non-technical language, both sides of an issue which has split the scientific community.Last Stand of the Red Spruce tells us the the time is long past-due to take action on acid rain. Mello urges pressure for legislation to preserve our health and warns us that we can no longer be complacent.
Last Stand: Ted Turner's Quest To Save A Troubled Planet
by Todd WilkinsonEntrepreneur and media mogul Ted Turner has commanded global attention for his dramatic personality, his founding of CNN, his marriage to Jane Fonda, and his company's merger with Time Warner. But his green resume has gone largely ignored, even while his role as a pioneering eco-capitalist means more to Turner than any other aspect of his legacy. He currently owns more than two million acres of private land (more than any other individual in America), and his bison herd exceeds 50,000 head, the largest in history. He donated $1 billion to help save the UN, and has recorded dozens of other firsts with regard to wildlife conservation, fighting nukes, and assisting the poor. He calls global warming the most dire threat facing humanity, and says that the tycoons of the future will be minted in the development of green, alternative renewable energy. Last Stand goes behind the scenes into Turner's private life, exploring the man's accomplishments and his motivations, showing the world a fascinating and flawed, fully three-dimensional character. From barnstorming the country with T. Boone Pickens on behalf of green energy to a pivotal night when he considered suicide, Turner is not the man the public believes him to be. Through Turner's eyes, the reader is asked to consider another way of thinking about the environment, our obligations to help others in need, and the grave challenges threatening the survival of civilization.
Last Stories of the Old Duck Hunters
by Gordon MacquarrieMasterpieces you can read over and over is how the Washington Post reviewed MacQuarrie's engaging, timeless stories of the misadventures of the Old Duck Hunters Association.Here are 53 classic hunting and fishing stories, some from sporting magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, including unpublished works from the author's literary estate.
Late Cenozoic Climate Change in Asia
by Zhisheng AnThis book is the first of its kind on environmental change research devoted to monsoon-arid environment evolution history and its mechanism involved. Capturing the most prominent features of Asian climate and environmental changes, it gives a comprehensive review of the Asian Monsoon records providing evidence for spatial and temporal climatic and environmental changes across the Asian continent since the Late Cenozoic. The dynamics underlying these changes are explored based on various bio-geological records and in particular based on the evidence of loess, speleothems as well as on mammal fossils. The Asian monsoon-arid climate system which quantifies the controlling mechanisms of climate change and the way it operates in different time scales is described. Attempts to differentiate between natural change and human-induced effects, which will help guide policies and countermeasures designed to support sustainable development on the Chinese Loess Plateau and the arid west.
Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss
by Margaret RenklFrom the New York Times columnist, a portrait of a family and the cycles of joy and grief that mark the natural world: “Has the makings of an American classic.” —Ann Patchett Growing up in Alabama, Margaret Renkl was a devoted reader, an explorer of riverbeds and red-dirt roads, and a fiercely loved daughter. Here, in brief essays, she traces a tender and honest portrait of her complicated parents—her exuberant, creative mother; her steady, supportive father—and of the bittersweet moments that accompany a child’s transition to caregiver.And here, braided into the overall narrative, Renkl offers observations on the world surrounding her suburban Nashville home. Ringing with rapture and heartache, these essays convey the dignity of bluebirds and rat snakes, monarch butterflies and native bees. As these two threads haunt and harmonize with each other, Renkl suggests that there is astonishment to be found in common things: in what seems ordinary, in what we all share. For in both worlds—the natural one and our own—“the shadow side of love is always loss, and grief is only love’s own twin.”Gorgeously illustrated by the author’s brother, Billy Renkl, Late Migrations is an assured and memorable debut.“Magnificent . . . Readers will savor each page and the many gems of wisdom they contain.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Late Pleistocene and Holocene Environmental Change on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington
by Daniel G. Gavin Linda B. BrubakerThis study brings together decades of research on the modern natural environment of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, reviews past research on paleoenvironmental change since the Late Pleistocene, and finally presents paleoecological records of changing forest composition and fire over the last 14,000 years. The focus of this study is on the authors' studies of five pollen records from the Olympic Peninsula. Maps and other data graphics are used extensively. Paleoecology can effectively address some of these challenges we face in understanding the biotic response to climate change and other agents of change in ecosystems. First, species responses to climate change are mediated by changing disturbance regimes. Second, biotic hotspots today suggest a long-term maintenance of diversity in an area, and researchers approach the maintenance of diversity from a wide range and angles (CITE). Mountain regions may maintain biodiversity through significant climate change in 'refugia': locations where components of diversity retreat to and expand from during periods of unfavorable climate (Keppel et al. , 2012). Paleoecological studies can describe the context for which biodiversity persisted through time climate refugia. Third, the paleoecological approach is especially suited for long-lived organisms. For example, a tree species that may typically reach reproductive sizes only after 50 years and remain fertile for 300 years, will experience only 30 to 200 generations since colonizing a location after Holocene warming about 11,000 years ago. Thus, by summarizing community change through multiple generations and natural disturbance events, paleoecological studies can examine the resilience of ecosystems to disturbances in the past, showing how many ecosystems recover quickly while others may not (Willis et al. , 2010).
Late Victorian Holocausts
by Mike DavisExamining a series of El Niño-induced droughts and the famines that they spawned round the globe in the last third of the 19th century, Mike Davis discloses the intimate, baleful relationship between imperial arrogance and natural incident that combined to produce some of the worst tragedies in human history.<P> Late Victorian Holocausts focuses on three zones of drought and subsequent famine: India, Northern China, and Northeastern Brazil. All were affected by the same global climatic factors that caused massive crop failures, and all experienced brutal famines that decimated local populations. But the effects of drought were magnified in each case because of singularly destructive policies promulgated by different ruling elites.<P> Davis argues that the seeds of underdevelopment in what later became known as the Third World were sown in this era of High Imperialism, as the price for capitalist modernization was paid in the currency of millions of peasants' lives.
Laterites of the Bengal Basin: Characterization, Geochronology and Evolution (SpringerBriefs in Geography)
by Sandipan Ghosh Sanat Kumar GuchhaitThis Brief analyses and discusses the laterites in the Bengal Basin. The book highlights: (1) the definition, identification and classification of ferruginous materials, (2) the mode of laterite formation and its other horizons, (3) processes and theories of lateritisation, (4) determination of laterite ages, (5) recognition of palaeogeomorphic and palaeoclimatic significance and (6) geo-chronology and reconstruction of former lateritized landscapes. The chapters cover the tectono-climatic evolution of north-south laterite profiles of the north-western Bengal Basin on the Rajmahal Basalt Traps, Archean Granite-Gneiss, Gondwana Sandstones, Palaeogene Gravels and Older Palaeo-Deltaic Alluvium. The book uses advanced field-based studies, quantitative analysis and thematic mapping to cover various areas of palaeogeography and regolith geology of the Bengal Basin in connection with laterite genesis, palaeoweathering, tectonic geomorphology, Quaternary geomorphology and pedogeomorphology. It introduces laterites as a potential stratigraphic marker in Indian geology by explaining their palaeogeomorphic and palaeoclimatic significance.This Brief is a comprehensive resource to researchers, students and academicians of geography, geomorphology and geology working on laterites.
Latest Developments in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics (Springer Transactions in Civil and Environmental Engineering)
by T. G. Sitharam Sreevalsa Kolathayar Ravi JakkaThis volume brings together contributions from world renowned researchers and practitioners in the field of geotechnical engineering. The chapters of this book are based on the keynote and invited lectures delivered at the 7th International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. The book presents advances in the field of soil dynamics and geotechnical earthquake engineering. A strong emphasis is placed on proving connections between academic research and field practice, with many examples, case studies, best practices, and discussions on performance-based design. This volume will be of interest to research scholars, academicians and industry professionals alike.
Latin America in Times of Global Environmental Change (The Latin American Studies Book Series)
by Cristian LorenzoThis volume discusses the challenges of Latin America in global environmental geopolitics. Written by leading experts, this book brings together Latin American research on global environmental change. They cover a range of topics such as climate change, water, forest and biodiversity conservation connected with science policies, public opinion, priorities of international funds, and international politics of Latin American countries. The book describes the discrepancy between the international priorities and the regional needs or country interests. It includes several case studies and analyses the cooperation in multilateral negotiations on climate change. It also offers a synthesis of debates around global environmental changes and Latin American politics, which the authors have previously promoted in different academic events in South America, including in Santiago de Chile in Chile, and Buenos Aires and Ushuaia in Argentina.This book assesses the environmental problems from different perspectives, highlights the scientific development in the environmental changes affecting Latin America and offers a new view on geopolitics to help face those issues. Specialist readers in international relations, political sciences, environmental sciences, geography and geopolitics will appreciate this up-to-date examination of Latin America and the global environmental change.
Latin American Dendroecology: Combining Tree-Ring Sciences and Ecology in a Megadiverse Territory
by J. Julio Camarero Marín Pompa-GarcíaLatin America is a megadiverse territory hosting several hotspots of plant diversity and many types of forest biomes, ecosystems and climate types, from tropical rainforest to semi-arid woodlands. This combination of diverse forests and climates generates multiple responses to ecological changes affecting the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems. Recently, there have been major efforts to improve our understanding of such impacts on ecosystems processes. However, there is a dearth of studies focused on Latin-American forest ecosystems that could provide novel insights into the patterns and mechanisms of ecological processes in response to environmental stress. The abundance of “New World” tree species with dendrochronological potential constitutes an ideal opportunity to improve the ecological state of knowledge regarding these diverse forest types, which are often threatened by several impacts such as logging or conversion to agricultural lands. Thus, detailed information on the dendroecology of these species will improve our understanding of forests in the face of global change. Accordingly, this book identifies numerous relevant ecological processes and scales, ranging from tree species to populations and communities, and from both dendrochronological and dendroecological perspectives. It offers a valuable reference guide for the exploration of long-term ecological interactions between trees and their environmental conditions, and will foster further research and international projects on the continent and elsewhere.
Latinx Environmentalisms: Place, Justice, and the Decolonial
by Stacy AlaimoThe whiteness of mainstream environmentalism often fails to account for the richness and variety of Latinx environmental thought. Building on insights of environmental justice scholarship as well as critical race and ethnic studies, the editors and contributors to Latinx Environmentalisms map the ways Latinx cultural texts integrate environmental concerns with questions of social and political justice. Original interviews with creative writers, including Cherríe Moraga, Helena María Viramontes, and Héctor Tobar, as well as new essays by noted scholars of Latinx literature and culture, show how Latinx authors and cultural producers express environmental concerns in their work. These chapters, which focus on film, visual art, and literature—and engage in fields such as disability studies, animal studies, and queer studies—emphasize the role of racial capitalism in shaping human relationships to the more-than-human world and reveal a vibrant tradition of Latinx decolonial environmentalism. Latinx Environmentalisms accounts for the ways Latinx cultures are environmental, but often do not assume the mantle of “environmentalism.”
Latour and the Humanities
by Rita Felski and Stephen MueckeHow does the work of influential theorist Bruno Latour offer a fresh angle on the practices and purposes of the humanities?In recent years, defenses of the humanities have tended to argue along predictable lines: the humanities foster empathy, the humanities encourage critical thinking, the humanities offer a counterweight to the cold calculations of the natural and social sciences. The essays in Latour and the Humanities take a different approach. Exploring the relevance of theorist Bruno Latour's work, they argue for attachments and entanglements between the humanities and the sciences while looking closely at the interests, institutions, and intellectual projects that shape the humanities within and beyond the university. The collection, which is written by a group of highly distinguished scholars from around the world, is divided into two sections. In the first part, authors engage in depth with Latour's work while also rethinking the ties between the humanities and the sciences. Essays argue for greater attention to the nonhuman world, the urgency of climate change, and more nuanced views of universities as institutions. The second half of the volume contains essays that reflect on Latour's influence on the practices of specific disciplines, including art, the digital humanities, film studies, and political theory.Inspiring conversation about the relevance of actor-network-theory for research and teaching in the humanities, Latour and the Humanities offers a substantial introduction to Latour's work while discussing the humanities without falling back on the genres of either the sermon or the jeremiad. This volume will be of interest to all those searching for fresh perspectives on the value and importance of humanistic disciplines and thought.Contributors: David J. Alworth, Anders Blok, Claudia Breger, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Yves Citton, Steven Connor, Gerard de Vries, Simon During, Rita Felski, Francis Halsall, Graham Harman, Antoine Hennion, Casper Bruun Jensen, Bruno Latour, Heather Love, Patrice Maniglier, Stephen Muecke, Barbara Herrnstein Smith, Nigel Thrift, Michael Witmore
Laudato Si’ and the Environment: Pope Francis’ Green Encyclical (Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies)
by Robert McKimThis volume is a response to the Pope’s Laudato Si’, giving an interdisciplinary overview of its impact on the environmental concerns of Catholics as well as other religious groups. Published in 2015, it is often seen as an "environmental" encyclical and in it the Pope urges us to face up to the crisis of climate change. He argues that all of us should prioritise taking better care of the Earth, our common home, while also attending to the plight of the poor. Written by an international and multidisciplinary team of leading scholars, the Pope’s invitation to all people to begin a new dialog about these matters is considered from a variety of perspectives. There is discussion of the implications for immigration, population control, eating animals, and property ownership. Additionally, indigenous religious perspectives, development and environmental protection, and the implementation of the ideas of the encyclical in the Church are explored. Each chapter deals with the scriptural, theological, and philosophical underpinnings of the encyclical, as well as other central concepts such as interconnectedness, the role of practice, and what Pope Francis calls the "technocratic paradigm". This book expertly illuminates the relationship between Laudato Si’ and environmental concerns. It will, therefore, be vital reading for anyone studying religion and the environment, environmental ethics, Catholic theology, and environmental thought.
Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst For Conservation
by Robin W. Winks Bruce BabbittDespite his status as a scion of one of the wealthiest and most famous families in the United States and an enormously successful businessman in his own right, Laurance S. Rockefeller is unknown to all but a few Americans. Yet while he has been neither Vice President nor Governor nor chairman of the world's largest bank, his contribution to society has been at least as great as that of his more famous brothers. In Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst for Conservation, noted historian Robin W. Winks brings Laurance to the forefront, offering an intimate look at his life and accomplishments. While Rockefeller has played a vital role in the business world as one of the most astute venture capitalists of our time--providing seed money for, among other endeavors, Eastern Airlines, Intel Corporation, and Apple Computers--his driving passion throughout his life has been the environment In addition to donating millions of dollars and the helping to found numerous conservation organizations, he served under five consecutive presidents in environmental advisory capacities. As chairman of the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC) under Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, Rockefeller orchestrated an assessment of the recreation and conservation needs of the American people and the policies and programs required to meet those needs. The reports issued by the Commission are a groundbreaking achievement that laid the framework for nearly all significant environmental legislation of the following three decades. Winks uses a combination of historical insight and extensive research to present the first in-depth examination of Laurance Rockefeller's life and work. His book explores Rockefeller's role in the transition from traditional land conservation to a more inclusive environmentalism. It compels broader interpretation of the history of environmental protection, and is essential reading for anyone concerned with the past or future of conservation in America.