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Life's Engines: How Microbes Made Earth Habitable
by Paul G. FalkowskiFor almost four billion years, microbes had the primordial oceans all to themselves. The stewards of Earth, these organisms transformed the chemistry of our planet to make it habitable for plants, animals, and us. Life's Engines takes readers deep into the microscopic world to explore how these marvelous creatures made life on Earth possible--and how human life today would cease to exist without them.Paul Falkowski looks "under the hood" of microbes to find the engines of life, the actual working parts that do the biochemical heavy lifting for every living organism on Earth. With insight and humor, he explains how these miniature engines are built--and how they have been appropriated by and assembled like Lego sets within every creature that walks, swims, or flies. Falkowski shows how evolution works to maintain this core machinery of life, and how we and other animals are veritable conglomerations of microbes.A vibrantly entertaining book about the microbes that support our very existence, Life's Engines will inspire wonder about these elegantly complex nanomachines that have driven life since its origin. It also issues a timely warning about the dangers of tinkering with that machinery to make it more "efficient" at meeting the ever-growing demands of humans in the coming century.
Life's Engines: How Microbes Made Earth Habitable (Princeton Science Library #137)
by Paul G. FalkowskiThe marvelous microbes that made life on Earth possible and support our very existenceFor almost four billion years, microbes had the primordial oceans all to themselves. The stewards of Earth, these organisms transformed the chemistry of our planet to make it habitable for plants, animals, and us. Life's Engines takes readers deep into the microscopic world to explore how these marvelous creatures made life on Earth possible—and how human life today would cease to exist without them.Paul Falkowski looks "under the hood" of microbes to find the engines of life, the actual working parts that do the biochemical heavy lifting for every living organism on Earth. With insight and humor, he explains how these miniature engines are built—and how they have been appropriated by and assembled like Lego sets within every creature that walks, swims, or flies. Falkowski shows how evolution works to maintain this core machinery of life, and how we and other animals are veritable conglomerations of microbes.A vibrantly entertaining book about the microbes that support our very existence, Life's Engines will inspire wonder about these elegantly complex nanomachines that have driven life since its origin. It also issues a timely warning about the dangers of tinkering with that machinery to make it more "efficient" at meeting the ever-growing demands of humans in the coming century.
Life, Fish and Mangroves: Resource Governance in Coastal Cambodia (Governance Series)
by Melissa MarschkeIn Life, Fish and Mangroves, Melissa Marschke explores the potential of resource governance, offering a case study of resource-dependent village life. Following six households and one village-based institution in coastal Cambodia over a twelve-year period, Marschke reveals the opportunities and constraints facing villagers and illustrates why local resource management practices remain delicate, even with a sustained effort. She highlights how government and business interests in community-based management and resource exploitation combine to produce a complex, highly uncertain dynamic. With this instructive study, she demonstrates that in spite of a significant effort, spanning many years and engaging many players, resource governance remains fragile and coastal livelihoods in Cambodia remain precarious.
Life-Size Birds: The Big Book of North American Birds
by Nancy J. HajeskiThe biggest book on North American birds this century!John James Audubon would be proud to know that a life-size bird book is alive in the twenty-first century. You won't need Sotheby's auction house to buy this volume, though! Full-size images of beautiful feathered friends offer a detailed look at each North American species, while scaled photographs of larger birds allow you to see the entire animal. Fun facts pepper the pages, and a summary of general information accompanies each avian. Get an up-close, personal look at the world's masters of flight!
Life: A Journey through Science and Politics
by Paul R. EhrlichA renowned scientist and environmental advocate looks back on a life that has straddled the worlds of science and politics “Entirely entertaining.”—Kirkus Reviews Acclaimed as a public scientist and as a spokesperson on pressing environmental and equity issues, delivering his message from the classroom to 60 Minutes, Paul R. Ehrlich reflects on his life, including his love affair with his wife, Anne, his scientific research, his public advocacy, and his concern for global issues. Interweaving the range of his experiences—as an airplane pilot, a desegregationist, a proud parent—Ehrlich’s insights are priceless on pressing issues such as biodiversity loss, overpopulation, depletion of resources, and deterioration of the environment. A lifelong advocate for women’s reproductive rights, Ehrlich also helped to debunk scientific bias associating skin color and intelligence and warned some fifty years ago about a possible pandemic and the likely ecological consequences of a nuclear war. This book is a vital contribution to literature focused on the human predicament, including problems of governance and democracy in the twenty-first century, and insight into the ecological and evolutionary science of our day. It is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding global change, our planet’s wonders, and a scientific approach to the present existential threats to civilization.
LifePlace: Bioregional Thought and Practice
by Robert L. Thayer Jr.This is a passionately written advocacy of bioregionalism, the conviction that people should live, work, play, and consume locally, for the health of the environment and for society. The book is inspirational as well as educational, a combination of philosophy and practical suggestions for implementing bioregionalism in communities.
Lifeblood: Oil, Freedom, and the Forces of Capital (A Quadrant Book)
by Matthew T. HuberIf our oil addiction is so bad for us, why don&’t we kick the habit? Looking beyond the usual culprits—Big Oil, petro-states, and the strategists of empire—Lifeblood finds a deeper and more complex explanation in everyday practices of oil consumption in American culture. Those practices, Matthew T. Huber suggests, have in fact been instrumental in shaping the broader cultural politics of American capitalism.How did gasoline and countless other petroleum products become so central to our notions of the American way of life? Huber traces the answer from the 1930s through the oil shocks of the 1970s to our present predicament, revealing that oil&’s role in defining popular culture extends far beyond material connections between oil, suburbia, and automobility. He shows how oil powered a cultural politics of entrepreneurial life—the very American idea that life itself is a product of individual entrepreneurial capacities. In so doing he uses oil to retell American political history from the triumph of New Deal liberalism to the rise of the New Right, from oil&’s celebration as the lifeblood of postwar capitalism to increasing anxieties over oil addiction.Lifeblood rethinks debates surrounding energy and capitalism, neoliberalism and nature, and the importance of suburbanization in the rightward shift in American politics. Today, Huber tells us, as crises attributable to oil intensify, a populist clamoring for cheap energy has less to do with American excess than with the eroding conditions of life under neoliberalism.
Lifeguard
by James Patterson Andrew GrossThe perfect job. Working for an easy-going boss at his luxurious mansion by the sun-kissed beach, watching beautiful women walk by. The perfect girl. Tess - gorgeous, funny, apparently very rich and crazy for him.The perfect score. Five million up for grabs. And to get his share, all he needs to do is trigger three house alarms to throw the cops off the scent of the real robbery.Could things get any better for Ned Kelly? But things don't go according to plan. And when Tess is brutally murdered and the others involved in the robbery are massacred, Ned is the prime suspect. With danger at every twist and turn, he's running for his life.(P)2012 Headline Digital
Lifeguard: Bookshots
by James Patterson Andrew GrossThe perfect job. Working for an easy-going boss at his luxurious mansion by the sun-kissed beach, watching beautiful women walk by. The perfect girl. Tess - gorgeous, funny, apparently very rich and crazy for him.The perfect score. Five million up for grabs. And to get his share, all he needs to do is trigger three house alarms to throw the cops off the scent of the real robbery.Could things get any better for Ned Kelly? But things don't go according to plan. And when Tess is brutally murdered and the others involved in the robbery are massacred, Ned is the prime suspect. With danger at every twist and turn, he's running for his life.
Lifelines: The Case For River Conservation
by Tim Palmer"In Lifelines, Tim Palmer addresses the fate of our waterways. While proposals for gigantic federal dams are no longer common, and some of the worst pollution has been brought under control, myriad other concerns have appeared -- many of them more subtle and complex than the threats of the past.Palmer examines the alarming condition of rivers in today's world, reports on the success in restoring some of our most polluted streams and in stopping destructive dams, and builds the case for what must be done to avoid the collapse of riparian ecosystems and to reclaim qualities we cannot do without. He documents the needs for a new level of awareness and suggests ways to avert the plunder of our remaining river legacy.Lifelines offers a fresh perspective on: the values of natural rivers current threats to streams and possibilities for reform the continuing challenge of hydropower development water quality, instream flows, and riparian habitat ecosystem management and watershed protection the need for vision, hope, and action
Lifelong Learning for Green Skills and Sustainable Development: Southern European Perspectives
by Nikša Alfirević Jurica Pavičić Tihomir Žiljak Philippe RistordThis edited book analyses the implementation of green transformation policies and the UN Sustainable Development Goals across the European Union, in the context of lifelong learning and educational practices. The contributions examine how green skills became mainstreamed in member states’ education policies, as well as the social, economic and political circumstances contributing to this process. A focus on lifelong learning (from an early age to adulthood) is maintained throughout the volume, and the book will appeal to researchers, students, policy- and decision-makers in education, environmental and social studies.
Lifestyle Sports and Public Policy (Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society)
by Daniel Turner Sandro CarnicelliLifestyle Sports and Public Policy is the first book to develop a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between lifestyle sports and the public policy environment which frames and regulates them. Drawing on a wide range of lifestyle sports from across the globe, including parkour, skateboarding, mountain biking and climbing, it identifies the critical issues facing practitioners and policymakers as these sports become increasingly popular. Part I examines public sector bodies that provide lifestyle sports opportunities to the public, either through funding partners or by managing facilities themselves. Part II looks at the use of lifestyle sports to promote policy agendas such as improving public health, while Part III considers the impact of public sector regulatory actions on the lifestyle sports industry. Each part contains case studies which investigate a policy issue from the perspective of a different lifestyle sport, including some sports which have traditionally been under-represented such as rodeo and curling. This book is a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in lifestyle sports, leisure studies, sport tourism, leisure management or sport policy.
Light Comes to Shadow Mountain
by Toni BuzzeoCora Mae Tipton is determined to light up her Appalachian community in this historical fiction novel from an award-winning author and former librarian.It&’s 1937 and the government is pushing to bring electricity to the mountains of southeastern Kentucky. It&’s all Cora can think of; radios with news from around the world, machines that keep food cold, lightbulbs by which to read at night! Cora figures she can help spread the word by starting a school newspaper and convincing her neighbors to support the Rural Electrification Act.But resistance to change isn&’t easy to overcome, especially when it starts at home. Cora&’s mother is a fierce opponent of electrification. She argues that protecting the landscape of the holler—the trees, the streams, the land that provides for their way of life—is their responsibility. But Cora just can&’t let go of wanting more. Lyrical, literary, and deeply heartfelt, this debut novel from an award-winning author-librarian speaks to family, friendship, and loss through the spirited perspective of a girl eager for an electrified existence, but most of all, the light of her mother&’s love and acceptance.Back matter includes an Author&’s Note; further information on the Rural Electrification Act, the herbs and plants of Appalachia, the Pack Horse Library Project, and more; and a &“Quick Questions&” historical trivia section for readers.A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Light Light
by Julie JoostenSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2014 GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD FOR POETRYShortlisted for the 2014 Gerald Lampert Memorial AwardFinalist for the 2014 Goldie Awards: Poetry CategoryMoving from the Enlightenment science of natural history to the contemporary science of global warming, Light Light is a provocative engagement with the technologies and languages that shape discourses of knowing. It bridges the histories of botany, empire, and mind to take up the claim of "objectivity" as the dissolution of a discrete self and thus explores the mind's movement toward and with the world. The poems in Light Light range from the epigrammatic to the experimental, from the narrative to the lyric, consistently exploring the way language captures the undulation of a mind’s working, how that rhythm becomes the embodiment of thought, and how that embodiment forms a politics engaged with the environment and its increasing alterations.
Light Pollution: Responses and Remedies (The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series)
by Bob MizonThere have been many developments in the field of light pollution over the last few years, and this second edition of 'Light Pollution - Responses and Remedies' will introduce them in detail. Examples include the appearance of anti-light pollution legislation in various countries, new departures in lighting design, human health implications, and the growing realization among the general public that lighting is not always a good thing. In this title, author Bob Mizon discusses the various ways in which wasted artificial light has damaged the quality of modern life, and suggest solutions. This book is for anyone who has experienced glare, discomfort, or nuisance from poorly directed lights; has wondered why we waste so much money lighting the sky; or anyone who simply wants to see the stars instead of a baleful urban glow. "Light Pollution, 2nd Edition" offers practical and inexpensive solutions to the world-wide problem of wasted artificial light, and emphasizes that light pollution is not just an astronomers' problem, but affects everyone in various ways.
Light and Heavy Things
by Christopher Kennedy Faisal Siddiqui Zeeshan Sahil Mi DitmarLight and Heavy Things provides readers in this country an opportunity to discover the work of the late Pakistani poet, Zeeshan Sahil. Although readers of Urdu poetry mourned his passing in 2008, Sahil is a relatively unknown poet in the United States. Sahil's work conveys his post-modern sensibility with plain language, presenting political realities of Pakistan in personal terms.
Light and Heavy Things: Selected Poems of Zeeshan Sahil (Lannan Translations Selection Series)
by Zeeshan SahilLight and Heavy Things provides readers in this country an opportunity to discover the work of the late Pakistani poet, Zeeshan Sahil. Although readers of Urdu poetry mourned his passing in 2008, Sahil is a relatively unknown poet in the United States. Sahil's work conveys his post-modern sensibility with plain language, presenting political realities of Pakistan in personal terms.
Light at the Seam: Poems
by Joseph BathantiLight at the Seam, a new collection from North Carolina poet Joseph Bathanti, is an exploration of mountaintop removal in southern Appalachian coal country. The volume illuminates and champions often invisible people residing, in a precarious moment in time, on the glorious, yet besieged, Appalachian earth. Their call to defend it, as well as their faith that the land will exact its own reckoning, constitutes a sacred as well as existential quest. Rooted in social and restorative justice, Light at the Seam contemplates the earth as fundamentally sacramental, a crucible of awe and mystery, able to regenerate itself and its people even as it succumbs to them. More than mere cautionary tale, this is a volume of hope and wonder.
Light in the Night: Ancient and Modern Lighthouses
by Pamela GrahamFrom the book: A lighthouse is a tower by the sea with a brilliant light at the top to guide ships through dangerous waters. Lighthouses are usually built on rocky coastlines, isolated reefs, and at the entrances to harbors and estuaries. They have to be tall, so they can be seen during the day, and so that their light can shine for a long distance out to sea at night. As well as guiding ships along the coast to their destinations, they give warning of underwater rocks. Each lighthouse has a distinctive shape or an identifying color that allows mariners to know which lighthouse they are looking at; they can then be sure of their exact location. In some places where fog is common, lighthouses also emit warning sounds to alert boats and ships that they are near danger. This book explores lighthouses and their history. A fascinating book.
Light to Life: The miracle of photosynthesis and how it can save the planet
by Raffael Jovine"Read this book and you will learn how photosynthesis was discovered, how it works, and how we can produce more food to feed the world." - PAUL NURSE, Nobel Prize winner and author of What is Life?In Light to Life, biologist Raffael Jovine takes us on a journey of discovery into the intricate, beautiful and often surprising processes that convert energy from the sun into life and how all-important these are to our survival.Despite the unprecedented challenges the Earth faces from global warming, habitat loss, air pollution and population growth; Jovine shows us that there is hope to be found. Photosynthesis is the very source of life: it has the power not just to produce food, but to reshape continents, drive biogeochemical cycles, stabilise the climate and regulate weather.In this exciting, revelatory book, Jovine unveils a blueprint for the future: greening the desert, bringing the ocean on land, planting mangrove forests and oyster banks, growing algae for animal feed, human food and soil carbon... He demonstrates how by harnessing photosynthesis we can regenerate the planet and revise the way we human beings interact with it.This book will help you to see the world in a different way, in all its wonderful detail - through the photosynthetic pigments in your eyes.
Lighthouse Adventures: Heroes, Haunts and Havoc on the Great Lakes
by Wes OleszewskiWithin these pages will be found short stories, long stories, technical descriptions, shipwrecks, acts of courage, fascinating drawings, details on how things worked, maps of where things are and were, photos, and generally something for everyone. There will be quick reading for the days that you desire just a taste of lighthouses, and long, detailed adventures for the times when you want to be transported to another place and era. You will read the fascinating details on how some of these lighthouses were constructed in projects that are still considered as feats of ingenuity. Technical and cutaway drawings from the United States Lighthouse Board will be found within these pages, reproduced from the original reports of more than a century ago. Along this path of discovery you will become acquainted with people and places that were our neighbors and neighborhoods long forgotten. In short, this text contains a wide range of lighthouse adventures from construction to shipwrecks to ghosts and hauntings. As with all of my writings of the Great Lakes, each one of these stories is completely factual and the result of detailed research. There is absolutely no fiction here; the adventures that you will be reading actually happened, the people named actually existed and their trials and tribulations really took place.
Lighthouse Tales
by Frederick StonehouseFrom the Book Jacket: Lighthouse Tales tells the story of the exciting human side of lightkeeping. It describes the deadly storms, killing fogs and numbing loneliness those who "kept the lights" endured. Stories of wreck and rescue, death and sacrifice, all thread their way through the pages of this remarkable tribute to the "wickies" of a bygone era. The book speaks of the courage of the old time keepers and their families, not just in rescuing shipwreck victims but also in the tenacity of their daily lives. Lighthouse Tales will appeal greatly to anyone interested in the wonders of the Great Lakes, historians, sailors, lighthouse fanatics and people just looking for a roaring good story. The book is thoroughly illustrated with rare photographs. Narratives include: The thrilling story of the steamer GEORGE W. PERKINS and it's close encounter with Lansing Shoal Light during the height of the infamous 1940 Armistice Day storm. Superior Shoal and the lighthouse that wasn't. The death of six brave Coast Guardsmen at Oswego, New York in 1942. Poverty Island Light and the mysterious treasure. And many more thrilling tales of "keeping the lights!"
Lighthouses of the World: 130 World Wonders Pictured Inside
by Lisa PurcellReaders say it best: "fascinating book" with "beautiful photos" and "information regarding all kinds of light houses"From ancient times until the present, lighthouses have symbolized safety, homecoming, and the seafaring way of life. Lighthouses of the World provides gorgeous full-color photos showcasing lighthouses from around the world. From the Barnegat Lighthouse on Long Beach Island, to the ancient Kõpu Lighthouse in Estonia (first constructed in 1531), Lighthouses of the World traverses continents in order to provide stunning color photography and illustration showing the many different lighthouses that man has constructed over the centuries.
Lightning Bug Light Show (The Adventures of Sophie Mouse #21)
by Poppy GreenSophie goes to a light show and helps a lightning bug performer in this twenty-first sweet book in The Adventures of Sophie Mouse!The traveling Lightning Bug Troupe is visiting Silverlake Forest, and Sophie can&’t wait to attend their light show for the first time. She even befriends a lightning bug named Rory. But Rory has a problem that&’s stopping him from performing with his troupe. Can Sophie help him take the stage? With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Sophie Mouse chapter books are perfect for beginning readers!
Lights Out: Ten Myths About (and Real Solutions to) America's Energy Crisis
by Spencer Abraham William G. TuckerIn this timely book, former Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham debunks the myths that warp our current debate over energy, and offers new solutions to the real problems we face in America. Drawing on the very latest thinking from experts in industry and academia, and his own experiences running America's Energy Department, he proposes a fresh approach to meeting our daunting energy threats. This book effectively answers how America and the world can overcome the challenges of rising global energy demand, geopolitical disruptions of the energy marketplace, and the environmental impact of producing and using energy. What emerges is a pragmatic energy strategy that calls for blending a variety of energy sources including nuclear, clean coal, solar, wind, and natural gas with a more determined effort at improving energy efficiency through the deployment of smart energy grids and buildings, to help meet our challenges while preserving our economy and environment. Coming in the midst of a national debate about global warming, energy dependence and rising energy prices and rich with anecdotes from the author's service in the Senate and cabinet, this book is a clarion call that will help shape our energy future.