nature

Grace Greylock Niles was a botanist, teacher, collector, photographer, free spirit, swamp-explorer, writer, and nature enthusiast. This fascinating and beautifully illustrated book opens the readers' eyes and mind to a world of natural beauty that few would dare to explore. A native of Vermont, the author spent decades exploring the flora and fauna of the northeast, but her special interest in orchids inspired her tireless “bog-trotting.”

The title translates as "The life of mammals and fossilized humans, deciphered using comparative anatomy of the chewing organs.” This book's author, Mr. Sanielevici, believed that analysis of the processes and organs involved in chewing and digesting would explain the evolution of humans and mammals. In his ideology, ethnicity, racial diversity, and even personality are derived from historic and regional dietary trends: you are what you eat.

Scientists have named the most recent geological time period the “Anthropocene" (age of humans). A majority of scientists now believe humans are altering various earth system processes—including our weather patterns. This very readable book argues that climate change and global warming affect us all. The book also offers information on how we can participate in solving this problem. Chapter 11 tells the story of the golden toad in the Monteverde cloud forest reserve in Costa Rica.

John Randolph Spears (b. 1850) was a well-traveled journalist at turn of the century, eventually writing nearly a dozen books, primarily on nautical and maritime themes. This early title is about the land, sea, flora, fauna, and cultures of South America’s southernmost region. The “gold diggings” from the title are mostly done on the east coast of Tierra del Fuego, where, after heavy storms, gold shows up on the black sands. The quest for gold often creates conflicts with indigenous communities of the area, which Spears takes great care to describe with sensitivity (for the times).

This book is a narrative of the author’s 1971-1972 survey of nesting raptors in the eastern Colorado prairie. Species observed included golden eagles, owls, hawks, and falcons. The majority of the book describes the behaviors of these birds in their natural habitats, but it also includes anecdotes involving a few native reptiles, small mammals, and other non-raptor bird species. The author presents an optimistic view of the future of raptor-human interaction with proper conservation methods. The book is beautifully illustrated with drawings by Robert Katona, a self-taught artist.

This is the second of a series of sketches and life histories of birds told in a unique way—by the birds themselves as "autobiographies." This makes it especially interesting to the young readers for whom it was written, but also contributes valuable information for older naturalists. Author Arthur Allen was a professor of ornithology at Cornell University, which is renowned for its Laboratory of Ornithology. The book is illustrated with 240 of Allen's own photographs, and there are eight color plates by George Miksch Sutton. One of Sutton’s images is used for this entry.

This is a first edition of an important pattern book containing 31 chromolithographics designed by Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852) and inspired by design forms found in nature. Pugin, best known as the designer of the interiors of Houses of Parliament (1836-1868) in collaboration with Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860), was a proponent of Neo-Gothic as a national style for England.

This highly unusual book's title translates to: A Representation of Inland and Foreign Wood: As Well Trees as [sic] Shrubs which are Collected by the Lovers of Natural History in their Cabinets of Natural Curiosities for Use and Pleasure… Exotic and rare wood samples were often artifacts that were part of a collection of curiousities, as well as the woods used in crafting a cabinet of curiousities. This is a survey of indigenous woods from around the world.

Imagine a dazzling sunlit morning where you’ve chosen to escape from modern day technology and enjoy the beauty of nature. You come across an intriguing structure that you identify as a birds nest. However, without cell phone reception you are unable to scurry to Google for help, and you are unable to identify the species of bird that constructed the nest. Well, fear no more.

The relationship between plants and insects is impacted by generations of evolution by both insects and plants. Insects consume about 10% of plant annual production in natural habitats and even more in agricultural systems. For that reason, plants have had to adapt their defensive mechanisms to fend off these predators.  Consequently, some insects have become specialized feeders in order to sustain life. Insect-Plant Biology focuses on the mechanisms that make insects specialized and how plants respond to these invasions.

This volume of the “Fauna of the Romanian People's Republic” is part of a larger set which covers the fauna of Romania. This volume covers the arachnids of Romania, which includes spiders, scorpions, opils, and ticks. Complete with detailed illustrations, this book serves as a helpful research resource and as a way to startle your friends who suffer from arachnophobia.

This is the first edition of Alfred Russel Wallace’s (1823-1913) work on biodiversity, a subject of study that wasn’t as popular 130 years ago. Wallace is referred to as the “father of biogeography” due to his extensive fieldwork around the world documenting species' distribution based on their locations. He is also considered Charles Darwin’s biggest influencer and proponent when Darwin was writing On the Origins of a Species, based on Wallace's theories of natural selection.

Emile-Allain Séguy (1877-1951) was one of the foremost French designers at the beginning of the 20th century, creating examples of ornamentation to inspire artists and designers based on the natural world, including flowers, foliage, crystals, insects, and animals. Working in both the Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles, he published many design folios utilizing the pochoir technique, a printing process that employs a series of stencils to lay dense and vivid color. Samarkande is a portfolio of decoration and ornament reflecting Oriental influences.