Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh

Book Description

This gripping portrait of the rapidly evolving socioeconomic life of Ladakh - the Western Himalayan land known as "Little Tibet" - offers crucial lessons in sustainable development as its people attempt to balance growth and technology with cultural values. This account moves from the author's first visit in idyllic, nonindustrial Ladakh in 1974 to the present, showing the profound changes as the region was opened to foreign tourists, Western artifacts and technologies, and pressures for economic growth. These changes brought generational conflict, unemployment, inflation, environmental damage, and threats to the traditional way of life.
Appalled at the negative changes, the author helped establish the Ladakh Project (later renamed the International Society for Ecology and Culture) to seek sustainable solutions to preserve cultural values and environmental health, while facilitating the Ladakhis' hunger for modernization. This model undertaking effectively combines educational programs for all social levels with the design, demonstration, and promotion of appropriate technologies such as solar heating and small-scale hydro power.
This examination of how modernization changes the way people live and think challenges us to redefine our concepts of "development" and "progress." More than anything else, Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh stresses the need for the global community to find ways to carry traditional wisdom into the future.

Customer Reviews:

ANOTHER WAY.......2002-12-16

After reading this book, I suddenly realized the root problem of Western Civilization: We have no culture. Where there was once culture, we now have an expanding economic order threatening all life on the planet. Through its mechanism of growth and expansion, the global economy is conquering and converting life's diversity into an ecological and social monoculture of cash crops, Levis, soda pop and movie theatres. Perhaps moonscape would be a better word. Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. Our fast-paced, increasingly technological, capital-intensive, fossil fuel-centered, centralized, highly specialized, travel and commercial-oriented, often stressful society is by no means the end-all-be-all of human history. Murder, child abuse, drug abuse, theft, poverty, hunger, and every other problem that plagues the West are not products of human nature. The pathology of civilization is not natural or inevitable, and the Ladakhi are proof of this. Read this book and rediscover ancient, profound, life-affirmating alternatives to the modern humdrum. Discover another way of living, thinking and feeling. Important, necessary, engaging and masterfully written - this book was a treasure to read. Indeed, it was an awaking.

A MUST READ

Inspiring.......2002-10-10

This book has changed the way I looked at the issues of development, modernisation & morals. An amazing read, beautifully written and with great insights.

I have just returned from a trip to Ladakh and I could really relate to what Ms.Norberg talks about in the book.

Just a couple of side issues. It'd be good to know what exactly went wrong in Ladakh. Here are a people who for 2000 years had lived successfully by the rules of Buddhism. How & why did Buddhism fail these people in the face of global/western economic & cultural imperialism? Does the blame lie with Buddhism- it being too 'compassionate' and allowing a religion? Does the blame lie with the Ladakhis who probably were not as sincere Buddhists as they are made out to be?

After all if they really were such devout Buddhists, how come they fell to the greed that capitalism breeds?

Anyway, these are issues which could have been addressed in the book. Regardless, the book is excellent! A must read.

Wonderful and Depressing.......2001-03-15

Rarely have I felt more dispair about the direction of what we know as civilization as I felt halfway through this book. The Ladakh people are described as happy, healthy, and self-reliant. Suddenly, the "real world" happens to them, and they come to see themselves as poor, when before they had no need of money.

The authors do a nice job of weaving a story of hope at the end but I have concern for the future of these people. It helps me understand the decision the government of Bhutan has made to isolate themselves from western-style civilization.

Riches to Rags.......2000-10-25

The first half of *Ancient Futures* will delight and amaze you; the second half will break your heart.

In the 1970s, the Ladakhis of Little Tibet were a happy people. They had a sustainable traditional economy based on trade and cooperation - not money. One person's gain was not another person's loss. There was plenty of leisure, no hunger or poverty, very little sickness or disease, everyone was valued, there was no pollution and nothing was wasted. They got along fine with their Muslim neighbors and they kept their population stable through marriage customs based on land use. Almost every family had a celibate monk or nun. Buddhist monasteries and people had a mutually beneficial economic, social and spiritual relationship. Ladakhis are a naturally contemplative people with a great deal of spiritual awareness. "Schon chan" (one who angers easily) is about the only insult in the Ladakhi lnaguage. "Lack of pride is a virtue, for pride, born of ego, has nothing to do with self-respect among these Buddhist people." The author says that it took her two years of living among them to realize that the people were genuinely and joyfully HAPPY. Then the world beat a path to their door and all that changed - in fewer than two decades.

It's like a little piece of cultural time-lapse photography. What took western culture more than four centuries to do to the Native-Americans took only twenty years here. Ladakh has become a cautionary tale and a monument to western greed and stupidity.

Now there is poverty and unemployment, stress-related disease, women are devalued, the people are ashamed of their "backward" culture, there is little leisure but a great deal of pollution and waste as well as dispute between Muslims and Buddhists and the population had increased markedly. ("Interestingly, a number of Ladakhis have linked the rise of birth rates to the advent of modern democracy. "Power is a question of votes" is a current slogan, meaning that, in the modern sector, the larger your group, the greater your access to power. Competition for jobs and political representation within the new centralized structures is increasingly dividing Ladakhis.")

Chiildren are trained to become specialists in a technological rather than an ecological society. They no longer have time to learn the superb survival techniques of their families. Western culture is creating artificial scarsity and inducing competition.

Now I understand the mechanism better. A culture that has a heavily subsidized infrastructure invades a traditional self-sustaining culture and creates artificial "needs." So they go to the city to earn money which they never needed before, leaving their farms and women, who are immediately devalued because they're not wage earners. The people are no longer planting, irrigating, spinning wool, gathering seeds, harvesting, playing music and singing and telling stories, having seasonal parties, marriage parties or funeral watches - together.

Time has become a commodity. It has become uneconomical to grow one's own food, make one's own clothes and build one's own house. You have to pay your neighbors for the work that the whole community used to do for free.

The men are in the cities earning money and the women are producing tourist commodities with the wool they used to spin for their own use and the food they used to grow for their own families. Now they grow cash crops for strangers so they can make enough money to buy polyester clothes and walkmans and jeans for their kids and food grown hundreds of miles away and fuel trucked in from afar.

The Yak and the Dzo, uniquely suited for high altitudes of Ladakh gave rich milk but not as much as western cattle. So what did the conquering culture do? They imported cattle that can't make it at such altitudes, so more land has to be relegated to planting crops to feed the cattle, thereby upsetting the balance. And they call this progress.

Why can't we just leave people alone - especially when they're doing FINE without us?

"When one-third of the world's population consumes two-thirds of the world's resources," says Norberg-Hodge, "and then in effect turns around and tells the others to do as they do, it is little short of a hoax. Development is all too often a euphemism for exploitation, a new colonialism."

All this would be a dismal tragedy comparable to Columbus's complete genocide of the Tainos if not for a "counter development" movement generated in part by this author. Since the Ladakhis can't go back, they can at least go forward. Instead of importing expensive fossil fuels (previously they had used yak dung and kept warm) they can have solar houses and greenhouses, which have worked very well and given them one benefit that they have previously not had. That's something. Information is another plus. The people are being made aware that westerners pay more for whole grains, organic vegetables, pure water, natural fibers, and natural building materials - things these people have had for a thousand years without money. This is something so-called third-world people are generally not told about.

Once in a while a book comes along that changes one's perspective forever. *Ancient Futures* is such a book. I haven't been the same since.

One of the reviewers on this site said he ended up buy copies for his friends. So have I. This book is a must-read for every person who is concerned about the preservation of our planet and our species.

pamhan99@aol.com

Intimate view of one society gives insights on our own.......2000-05-02

How does life in a non-industrial society compare to life in our own? In which society are people happier? If life in non-industrial societies compares favorably to life in our own, then why are the barrios of the third world filling up with migrants from remote villages? This book provides surprising insights into these questions. It also provokes reflections on our own society and its influence on the rest of the world. After reading a used copy I picked up for free, I bought seven copies of this book for friends and family!

America's Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery

Average customer rating:

Forest industry perspective
Excellent Book
Excellent Book
Review of Thomas Bonnicksen's America's Ancient Forests
Thomas M. Bonnicksen Brilliant Paen to our Ancient Forests

America's Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery
Thomas M. Bonnicksen
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
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After the Ice Age: The Return of Life to Glaciated North America

ASIN: 0471136220

Book Description

At the time of European discovery, the ancient North American forests stretched across nearly half the continent. And while today little remains of this past glory, efforts are underway to bring back some of the diverse ecosystems of that era. America's Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery provides scientists and professionals with essential information for forest restoration and conservation projects, while presenting a compelling and far-reaching account of how the North American landscape has evolved over the past 18,000 years.

The book weaves historical accounts and scientific knowledge into a dynamic narrative about the ancient forests and the events that shaped them. Divided into two major parts, it covers first the glaciers and forests of the Ice Age and the influences of native peoples, and then provides an in-depth look at these majestic forests through the eyes of the first European explorers. Changes in climate and elevation, the movement of trees northward, the assembly of modern forests, and qualities that all ancient forests shared are also thoroughly examined.

A special feature of this book is its self-contained introduction to the early history of Native American peoples and their environment. The author draws on his roots in the Osage nation as well as painstaking research through the historical record, offering a complete discussion of how the cultural practices of hunting, agriculture, and fire helped form the ancient forests.

Customer Reviews:

Forest industry perspective.......2006-09-14

Potential readers of this book should be aware that the author is a forest industry proponent who argues a strongly industry perspective on forest management that is contradicted by the vast majority of scientific research. He has served on the Scientific Advisory Board of National Center for Public Policy Research, a free market think tank that has argued, "There is no serious evidence that man-made global warming is taking place", and "There are many indications that carbon dioxide does not play a significant role in global warming." The book presents an unique view on forest management, but one that is shared by few others.

Excellent Book.......2003-02-24

I found this book to be very well researched and written. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the natural history of our great nation.

Excellent Book.......2003-02-24

I found this book to be very well researched and written. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the natural history of our great nation.

Review of Thomas Bonnicksen's America's Ancient Forests.......2001-01-20

This book could have been titled America's Ancient Landscapes. One of the pleasant surprises about this book is that it deals with all types of landscapes: prairies, barrens, savannas, and all types of wetlands, as well as forests. For those of us in the Midwest, who deal with all of those types, this is a great bonus. Bonnicksen gives us the needed background, through the tremendous changes of the ice age and the plant migrations that followed, to the landscape affects of the Native Americans, to be able to knowledgeably manage natural areas, and restorations. The background on the Indians is so very thorough. You can't help but acquire a new impression of how important and ubiquitous their influence was. What I really like about this book is the complete documentation, done in the old fashioned way, with footnotes! The chapter on fire had 317 footnotes, all of which can be looked up in first the Notes and Citations, then in the extensive Bibliography, which alone covers 75 pages! This is a great reference work. If you can't afford it, get your local library to purchase a copy. I did!

Thomas M. Bonnicksen Brilliant Paen to our Ancient Forests.......2000-09-27

Professor Bonnicksen has devoted his career to the care and protection of the forests. Where public relations folks talk the talk, Professor Bonnicksen walks the walk. Ancient Forests is a tour through history, a tour de forest that takes us from ancient lands and brings us to the present day, making us realize that from the forest we came and from the forests we shall go. A member of the Congressional Commission charged with oversight of American forest and land use and a devoted conservationist, Professor Bonnicksen in this brilliant volume brings many of his themes expounded in shorter articles and books together in a densely forested wood of pine and deciduous scented brilliance. After reading this book, no one will pass a tree and look at it the same, ever, again. Kudos to Professor Bonnicksen of Texas A & M University.

In Search of Ancient Oregon: A Geological and Natural History

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Wonderful, beautiful book
great gift - surprisingly interesting!
Remarkable book for specific examples and photos
Fascinating and beautiful book
ONE WORD; EXCELLENT

In Search of Ancient Oregon: A Geological and Natural History
Ellen Morris Bishop
Manufacturer: Timber Press, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0881927899

Book Description

Geology is an extremely visual subject, and In Search of Ancient Oregon is a beautifully photographed, expertly written account of Oregon's fascinating geological story. Written by a passionate and professional geologist who has spent countless hours in the field exploring and photographing the state, In Search of Ancient Oregon is a book for all those interested in Oregon's landscapes and environments. It presents fine-art-quality color photographs of well-known features such as Mount Hood, Crater Lake, Smith Rock, Steens Mountain, the Columbia River Gorge, and Cannon Beach, and scenic, not so well known places such as Jordan Craters, Leslie Gulch, Abert Rim, Hells Canyon, Elkhorn Mountains, and Three Fingered Jack. Each of the more than 220 stunning photographs is accompanied by readable text, presenting the story of how Oregon's diverse landscapes evolved — and what we may expect in the future. Until now, no book has presented this dynamic story in a way that everyone interested in Oregon's natural history can easily understand. The combination of extraordinary photographs and the author's lucid explanations make this book both unique and essential for those curious about our own contemporary landscape.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful, beautiful book.......2007-10-03

This book is beautifully illustrated and well written, making it easy to grasp the geological concepts. I feel like I found a treasure. I have lived in Oregon all of my life. Now I am looking at the view of the mountains and river valleys--as well as that pile of "pretty" rocks in my yard-- with new eyes...

great gift - surprisingly interesting!.......2007-01-12

I gave this book to my husband, at his request. He's an engineer, so I figured that this would be a book that interested similar minds. :) It turns out to be really facinating - our extended family and friends have enjoyed sharing it, and the photos are beautiful and interesting for all ages. My only wish is that it still was easy to find in hardback, as I think that would be nice.

The book is written "story-style," which makes the information a lot more palatable to those who don't have a geology background. The historical and environmental perspectives are woven together with very thoughtful writing. There is a lot of data in this book, but I don't think it reads like a textbook, which is nice.

Overall, this is a great book. It makes a wonderful gift for just about anyone who appreciates the environment or anyone who has an interest in understanding the land formations they see or live on.

Remarkable book for specific examples and photos .......2006-05-23

In describing the events and processes in Oregon's geological history the author repeatedly references and explains familiar landscape features. (E.g. Alameda Ridge is a gravel bar left by the Lake Missoula Floods entering the Portland Basin. Mt. Scott, Rocky Butte and Powell Butte are all remnants of Pleistocene volcanoes. ) This makes the geology lesson both clearer and more interesting. Likewise, descriptions of flora and fauna further illustrate extant conditions during our state's evolution. With its many excellent photos, the book could easily succeed as a 'coffee table book.'

Fascinating and beautiful book.......2006-03-23

If you have an interest in the geology and natural history of the Oregon region, this is a fascinating and well written book. It's easy to follow and has beautiful photographic illustrations of the material.

ONE WORD; EXCELLENT.......2005-08-03

My wife and I have always been facinated by geology and archeology but find so many books on the subjects difficult,
and at times boring, to read. We live on a fixed, retirement income so must keep our "luxury" expenditures to a minimum.
I bought In Search of Ancient Oregon for my wife on Mother's Day,
and we both found it an absolute gem of easy to read, interesting information with wonderful photographs. The book is everything it was advertised to be, and more. WELL worth the money it cost.

Natural History: A Selection (Penguin Classics)

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Amusing, informative, and delightful
An ancestor of Borges, Kafka and Calvino
Rome's Own Guiness Book
How get he get so much wrong?
Selections from the worlds first real encyclopaedia!

Natural History: A Selection (Penguin Classics)
Secundius Gaisus Pliny the Elder
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140444130

Customer Reviews:

Amusing, informative, and delightful.......2006-05-28

You can discount this review by the way that I bought this seeking to read the famous account of Vesuvius' eruption. I couldn't remember which Pliny wrote it - and since I have free shipping through Amazon Prime, I just went ahead and impulse-bought the Natural History, without even Googling the Plinys.

Anyhow.

These selections from the Natural History are fascinating. Pliny was an energetic man, hugely desirous of literary immortality, who wrote his books in the interstices of a full career as a soldier and an administrator. Pliny worked when others were asleep; Pliny read and dictated in a sedan chair as he moved about urban areas.

The book is rambling and discursive, full of vignettes, asides, and diatribes. Parts are straightforward precises of other authors (for example, I recently read Vitrivius, and Pliny's section on water and pipes reads almost like a New Yorker review of Vitrivius' coverage of water detection and pipe construction) while other parts are based on Pliny's personal observations. The whole is laced with Pliny's rants about the evils of luxury and greed and the decline of the desire for fame; anyone who wonders about the sustainability of contemporary society will find his complaints about the frivolity and vanity of "modern" men to be nearly as appropriate today as they were almost 2000 years ago.

Healy's translation is clear and easy to read. However, Healy's selections are occasionally jarring, and some of the section titles are annoying and condescending. The footnotes can be repetitive, and are often rather ill-chosen; Healy footnotes Latin terms that are pretty obvious from cognates, while leaving some more mysterious terms completely unexplained. (It's almost as if he were aiming at a particularly incurious high-school audience.) The index is rather poor, but the Key To Place Names struck me as quite good; it's interesting to see how some names have survived (with modification) while others have been swept away by conquering tides, and it's nice to be able to put a location to places that I've seen in other works and just sort of filed under "exotic locations".

Overall, Pliny is not for everyone. I certainly wouldn't recommend it as a first exposure to Roman literature! However, I think any omnivorous reader with even a passing interest in the classics will think their time with Pliny was time well spent. Pliny ranges; Pliny amuses; Pliny will be nice to have on your shelf if industrial civilization does collapse.

An ancestor of Borges, Kafka and Calvino.......2006-03-04

It is ridiculous to dismiss Pliny on account of his many mistakes and factual errors and so on.
The way to read this book is the way in which you read that kind of fantastic literature that gives the "illusion" of fact; Borges and Italo Calvino come to mind - the first one had plans for making an edition of Pliny in Spanish, with his prologue, but died before finishing the project (you can check the notes of Borges' Selected Non-Fictions for that); Calvino in fact wrote a wonderful essay on Pliny, included in "Why Read the Classics?", a book everyone giving "Natural History" less than four stars should read urgently.

Let's say it: if Pliny had got everything "right", he would still be used to teach natural science in high-school... and, for that reason, nobody would care about him.

There are people who think that the only documents that tell us something about the past are those written with a clinical, cold eye: the look of an outsider. This book is fun PRECISELY because Pliny wrote down everything that reached his ears without checking the facts -Zeus bless his heart-, and because of his welcoming disposition, a geography of the common imagination of that time has been preserved; something that otherwise would be lost.

Not long ago some people around this parts believed the Russians ate their own children. A good number among us are certain that paying someone to listen to your problems for fifty minutes every week, allows you to confront your unearthed traumas and clean up your life. Maybe in a thousand years all this will be just the mythology of our time. A few days ago scientists started to suspect Pluto is not a planet after all, so all those books written about it in the past century... they are mutating already into vintage science fiction.

In the meantime, how can anyone not be interested to know that "there is a record of 120 (mice) being born from a single mother, and in Persia of mice already pregnant being found in the parent's womb; and it is believed that they are made pregnant by tasting salt"(X, LXXXIV)? Or that "the day on which King Pyrrhus died, the heads of his victims, when cut off, crawled about licking up their own blood"(XI, LXXVII)? Or that "some people are born with a hairy heart, and that they are exceptionally brave and resolute. An example being a Messenian named Aristomenes who killed three thousand Spartans. He himself, when severely wounded, was taken prisoner and for the first time escaped through a cave from confinement in the quarries by following the routes by which foxes got in. He was again taken prisoner, but when his guards were fast asleep he role to the fire and burnt off his thongs, burning his body in the process. He was taken a third time, and the Spartans cut him open alive and his heart was found to be shaggy"(XI, LXIX)?

How can anyone not enjoy fragments like this one: "The most learned authorities state that the eyes are connected with the brain by a vein; for my own part I am inclined to believe that they are also thus connected with the stomach: it is unquestionable that a man never has an eye knocked out without vomiting."(XI, LIV)? Or his unique way of defining the eyes, "the most precious part of the body and the one that distinguishes life from death by the use it makes of daylight"(XI, LII)?

How can this miniature ancestor of Kafka be forgotten: "It is surprising that elephants can even climb up ropes, but especially that they can come down them again, at all events when they are stretched at a slope. Mucianus, who was three times consul, states that one elephant actually learnt the shapes of the Greek letters, and used to write out in words of that language: 'I myself wrote this and dedicated these spoils won from the Celts'"(VIII, III)? (Note: all quotations are from the Loeb's edition).

Other reviewer compared the Natural History with the Guinness Book of Records. He probably took a minute off to write the review and then jumped right back to reading his number of People magazine. The Guinness is a compilation of isolated (and insipid) facts. Pliny's is an organic work, as Shakespeare's crowded plays or Montaigne's essays are organic.

Like any great work in human history -from Plato to Galileo, from Dante to Stephen Hawkings- Pliny's Natural History is, first of all, a work of imagination.

Rome's Own Guiness Book.......2004-02-08

Yes, yes, I know. It is the mark of great hubris to give 2 stars to a book that has survived over 2000 years and been a favorite work of many of history's top thinkers and achievers. Pliny's good enough for Petrarch, but not good enough for jrmspnc, eh?

That's not what the star rating is about at all. Rather, 2 stars reflects my own, entirely subjective impression of the work. Is this a book that I want to pick up and read for fun? No. Is this a book that scholars of the ancient world should read? I don't know, I'll leave that to the scholars.

What we have here is, to a modern reader, more of a Guiness Book of Records than an encyclopedia, although it is clear why Pliny may justly be called the first encyclopedist. There are some "tall tales" here, reports of creatures with no heads, or backward feet, of people who never laugh, and of people who live to be hundreds of years old. And there's lessons in mineralogy, botany, zoology, and so on.

In short, the book is exactly as advertised. It is also, to one who looks for skilled prose and historical narrative, fairly tedious. The nuggest that fire the imagination are few and far between. Again, exactly as advertised so I have noone to blame but myself. I just don't see the average lay reader, with a passing interest in things Roman, getting a whole lot out of this one. Better to read an actual history of Rome, and let the historian cull the good bits out of Pliny.

Healy's introduction does not help matters. Healy spends most of his introduction reciting how completely inaccurate Pliny is, sometimes even by contemporary standards, which does not bode well! So, the reader finds himself constantly thinking, "well, this is wrong anyway, so what's the point?"

The point, of course, is up to each reader to judge. For this reader, there was very little point at all.

How get he get so much wrong?.......2003-04-27

This book was pretty good although I had to constantly check most of Pliny's 'facts' with a natural science textbook nearby. I was shocked to find how wrong he was and on so many things. Its like he was just guessing and not performing the necessary experiments. I don't know where this guy got his degree, but that place probably wants to rethink their ciriculum. Quite frankly, with Scientists has ill-informed as Pliny was, its amazing that the Roman Empire lasted so long. What else can you really say?

Selections from the worlds first real encyclopaedia!.......2001-04-05

For those of you who wish to get acquainted with Pliny, learn more of ancient customs and practices, or if you just look for something different and enlightening to read for a change this book is highly recommended.

As the title rightly suggests this Penguin Classic consists of eclectic samples taken from the 37 books that comprise the Natural History. It is based on an updated, accurate and easy to read translation by John Healy and includes a 32 page introduction, the official section numbering, a key to ancient places mentioned in the text and an index. At 400 pages it is substantial enough to offer many pleasurable hours of thought provoking reading, although, to be honest, I had expected considerably more material to be included. This selection also reflects the translators interest in mineralogy and metallurgy (22 pages are for example devoted to a treatise on gold and silver while no selections have been made from book XIX on vegetable gardening). A curiosity which deserves a note here is book XIV (pp. 182-193 in this edition) in which Pliny gives an eminent account of the art of wine and viticulture. It is an absolute must read for all connoisseurs of good drink.

Considering that the complete works are both very expensive and bulky this is a good introductory option. But this is only an appetiser. Those who wish to indulge in more serious reading, or look to read Pliny in a more scholarly manner for the possibility of making good and well informed quotes, will undoubtedly do better by consulting the separate volumes which contain the whole unabridged text (eg. H. Rackham's authoritative translation with parallel Latin-English text published in 10 volumes by Harvard University Press). Had this Penguin edition covered more material I would have rated it at 5 stars.

Book Description

b /b b i Ancient Natural History /i /b surveys the ways in which people in the ancient world thought about nature, particularly animals and plants. It looks at those people whose wider views are known, so that we can see their natural history in context. As a large number of readers are aware of the importance of Greek "science" in later periods of European history, this book is designed to show how such doctrines arose in ancient society. br br Ancient natural history was the gathering and presentation of i historiae, /i items worthy of note by the philosopher, popularizer or marvel-monger. These "histories" were natural because they were part of the physical world. The book examines the relationship between the physical world, the gods, Greek philosophy and the purposes of those who expressed such different notions about "nature." Attention is given to Aristotle's animals and Theophrastus's plants. br br "Histories" worthy of note most often came from distant places, and Strabo's geography is taken as illustrative of the principles of the book. Pliny's i Natural History /i is examined in some detail. A major theme of the book is how natural history was treated differently by different societies: the Greeks, the Romans, Jews and Christians.

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The Economics of Fisheries Management
Lee, G. Anderson
Manufacturer: The Blackburn Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1930665989

Book Description

In 1977, Lee Anderson published the first edition of The Economics of Fisheries Management. This second edition was first published in 1986. The first edition was remarkably successful in that it remained unchallenged as the most important reference work in the realm of fisheries management, at least from an economic perspective. The second edition underwent considerable revision and enlargement. The book provides a very readable introduction to the economics of fisheries management, beginning with basic microeconomic principles, and then applying those principles to a very wide array of fisheries problems, pushing back frontiers in some advanced areas, while relying on the published literature in others. The discussion begins with an analysis of the basic open access problem and shows why, in the absence of property rights, there is a strong tendency for fish stocks to be over-exploited and for fishing fleets to be too large. After presenting the argument in terms of several different models, each allowing a slightly different look at the problem, the economic and biological effects of various types of management techniques are discussed. ".. students, researchers and practitioners will all find this second edition to be very good reading and an invaluable reference volume". Marine Resource Economics ". an excellent piece of work, that is consistent with the high standards Dr. Anderson has established in his other efforts." J. Fisheries Research Board of Canada Lee G. Anderson earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Washington in 1970. He is Professor of Economics and Marine Studies at the University of Delaware and is currently the Director of the Marine Policy Program in the College of Marine Studies. He has written or edited six books and over sixty scientific papers on fisheries economics and the economics of fisheries management. He is a past member of the Executive Board of the Law of the Sea Institute past member and chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and past Board Member and President of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade. He has acted in an advisory capacity to National Marine Fisheries Service, and other Fishery Management Councils, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the U.S. Department of State, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, U.S. General Accounting Office, the National Academy of Sciences, the World Bank, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the European Union, the Governments of New Zealand, Australia, Oman, Morocco, and Chile with respect to fisheries management and development. In 1993 he was awarded the Rosential Award for Contribution to Ocean Science for his theoretical and applied work on individual transferable quotas. His current work deals with simulation models, design and implementation of ITQ programs, the economics of fishing in time and space, and marine reserves.

On Ancient Wings: The Sandhill Cranes of North America (Natural History)

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Amazing photography.
A fine tribute marries natural history and visual display
Extravagantly beautiful wildlife photography

On Ancient Wings: The Sandhill Cranes of North America (Natural History)
Michael Forsberg
Manufacturer: Michael Forsberg Photography
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0975496409

Book Description

Rising from sandbars on the Platte River with clarion calls, the sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) feels the urgency of spring migration. Elegant, noble, and spiritual, the sandhill crane is one of the most ancient of all birds. More than a half-million strong, flying in squadrons, these majestic creatures point northward to their Arctic and sub-Arctic breeding ranges. Theirs is an epic story of endurance through the ages.

With 153 stunning color photographs, On Ancient Wings presents sandhill cranes in their wild but increasingly compromised habitats today. Over the course of five years, Michael Forsberg documented the tall gray birds in habitats ranging from the Alaskan tundra, to the arid High Plains, from Cuban nature preserves to suburban backyards. With an eye for beauty and an uncommon persistence, the author documents the cranes’ challenges to adapt and survive in a rapidly changing natural world. Forsberg argues that humankind, for its own sake, should secure the cranes’ place in the future. On Ancient Wings intertwines the lives of cranes, people, and their common places to tell an ancient story at a time when sandhill cranes and their wetland and grassland habitats face daunting prospects.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing photography........2005-12-20

Michael Forsberg has put together an amazing collection of photos and is a good writer as well. On Ancient Wings shows that it doesn't matter if you've been a pro photographer for 35 years or ten, all that matters is the emotional impact of the photography. There's certain well-known wildlife photographers out there who talk talk talk about how good they think they are and then there's photographers who just are. Forsberg falls in the latter category.

A fine tribute marries natural history and visual display.......2005-06-07

At once a coffee table photo celebration and a natural history, any avid birder should consider photographer Michael Forsberg's On Ancient Wings: The Sandhill Cranes Of North America to be essential reading. The photos alone - full-page color spreads which are gorgeous in their all-season crane portraits - are worth repeated looks, covering cranes in environments from Alaska to Cuba. Then, there's the discourse surveying the natural history and lives of cranes, revealing their interactions with people and their attempts to adapt to a changing natural world. A fine tribute marries natural history and visual display, inviting audiences from natural history students to casual readers to partake.

Extravagantly beautiful wildlife photography.......2005-04-16

A geo-photographic tribute to America's elusive but elegant cranes, along with their widely diverse habitats. Part journal and part photography book, the author takes the reader on journeys to Alaska (including a breathtaking view of cranes flying past Mt. McKinley) to Florida, from the Central Valley of California to the agricultural plains of Wisconsin. Between, readers are treated to wildlife vistas in the Teton and Yellowstone National Park region, Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in the desert of New Mexico, and the Platte River, which flows through the High Plains of Central Nebraska. Not just a travel documentary, this is the first book of a remarkable young artist, who will dazzle and delight readers with a poetry of cranes as observed through the lens of his camera.

Field Guide to Old-Growth Forests: Exploring Ancient Forest Ecosystems from California to the Pacific Northwest

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more please!
Brings the magic alive
Outstanding contribution to forestry & ecological studies.

Field Guide to Old-Growth Forests: Exploring Ancient Forest Ecosystems from California to the Pacific Northwest
Larry Eifert
Manufacturer: Sasquatch Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Ecology | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Forests | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Trees | Field Guides | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

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One might wonder why a field guide to old-growth forests is even necessary. After all, can't you just drive around the Pacific Northwest and get your fill of the big trees? Well, unfortunately, it's not that easy. With ancient forests in the region reduced to a tiny fraction of their former splendor in the space of a single human lifetime, most folks will need precise directions in order to navigate the burned-over clear-cuts and tree farms that now cover the land. This guide will get you into the storied woods--and much more. Locations and maps of many (but not all) great stands of old growth are provided, such as Northern California's Headwaters Forest, Oregon's Opal Creek Wilderness, Washington's Hoh Rainforest, and others north into British Columbia and Southeast Alaska. Additionally, a brief crash course in forest ecology places the giants in a broader ecosystem context, while descriptive passages cover identification and natural histories for common species.

However, "this field guide is not about the weighty scientific details, or the disputes about or denunciation of past timber practices," as the introduction cautions. "Instead, it's about access and appreciation." True, but once you learn how to find one of these impressive remnant forests, you'll wonder how so many others could be squandered.

Book Description

Old-growth forests contain more than just the world's tallest trees. Interactions between trees, plants, insects, fungus, streams, fish, and animals create a unique and delicate ecosystem that develops over many hundreds of years. This unique guide includes maps and directions on where to find these ancient forests, plus a wealth of natural history information.

Customer Reviews:

more please!.......2004-02-29

Larry Eifert assumes that only Portlanders and Seattleites will be reading his book. This book only mentions the old growth forests closest to Seattle. It fails to mention any old growth locations North of Mt. Rainier. If you live in Bellingham you would find this book close to useless. Although Washington has more old growth locations, he seems to cover the old growth sites in Oregon with more depth. Keep searching, you'll find a better book.

Brings the magic alive.......2001-10-21

This slim volume is fascinating, easy to read and beautifully illustrated. While it is not a thorough scientific treaty on the subject and doesn't provide information on the locations of ALL old growth (something I kind of expected from the title) it is nevertheless an exquisite introduction.
Having contacted Larry Eifert about the book I have to also say that he and wife Nancy are extremely friendly and helpful, not only pointing me in the direction of other information and advising on the best places to visit but also sending me further of his works gratis! In particular, a wonderful little chart describing the creatures and plants of the Redwoods which was the perfect suppliment to the Field Guide.

Outstanding contribution to forestry & ecological studies........2000-06-04

Field Guide to Old Growth Forests isn't a scientific treatise on old growth forests, but a guide to accessing and appreciating them, blending a science guide with a travel handbook. A review of the natural history of old growth forests blends with the author's pen and ink drawings and tips on where to find the remaining old growth forests.

Forest Primeval: The Natural History of an Ancient Forest

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Forest Primeval: The Natural History of an Ancient Forest
Chris Maser
Manufacturer: Oregon State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Forests | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0870715291

Book Description

This unique 'biography' encompasses a thousand years of the natural history and evolution of an old-growth forest in the western Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Called an "estimable piece of work" by the Boston Globe, Forest Primeval traces the life cycle of a forest from its fiery inception in the year 987 to the present day, when logging threatens the forest and its inhabitants.

In Defense of Nature: The History Nobody Told You About

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What I've Been Waiting and Hoping For -- Bonanza!
A truly astounding read

In Defense of Nature: The History Nobody Told You About
Richard Michael Pasichnyk
Manufacturer: Writers Club Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0595255868

Book Description

In this book you will discover a history of humanity unlike anything you have ever heard of. Ever wonder what happened to all of the civilizations that have gone before us? Well, the events in history are continually repeated by different cultures throughout time with the same finale, affecting the entire globe in a relatively short time. From the ancient writings of all of the historians, religious scriptures and mythology, we also find the same understanding. And their writings unveil the true nature of the forces behind the events. Yet, we are not taught about these things in schools, universities or the media. The various types of natural disasters, terrorism and war always end up producing the same result. In fact, humans and Nature are so much a part of each other that we literally take turns in accomplishing the same objective, as part of an overall process involving a living Earth.

Our ancestors were not ignorant people, but were, in many cases, very capable and intelligent. They were also celestial observers and knew astronomy so well that they have even taught us things we did not know today. They also built structures that were used as astronomical observatories. Much of this was done in an attempt to fully understand what was taking place, for there were dramatic celestial events as well.

Natural disasters have been undergoing a steady climb, as things become more and more unstable – a process that has happened many times before. These and other observations indicate that we are about to undergo a major global transformation. Notwithstanding, we can stop many natural disasters, terrorism and war by understanding what took place.

"In Defense of Nature – The History Nobody Told You About" unveils a story of the human interaction with our living Earth and living Cosmos. To say that you will be truly surprised by what has been hidden from our historical perspectives is surely an understatement. Know what coming Earth changes are about to occur and why.

Customer Reviews:

What I've Been Waiting and Hoping For -- Bonanza!.......2003-05-27

This work is history at its finest! I've always loved to read about history, but this book is much more than just another book, it is "the living monument to life," surely to escalate to the greatest accomplishment for humanity of this century. I was extremely surprised, delighted, and astounded. As a previous librarian, and research scientist, I've never read a book so deep in understanding, so interesting, and so complete. In Defense of Nature-The History Nobody Told You About is authoritatively written by a historian with knowledge of the interdisciplinary sciences. How refreshing! This "book of books" provides tremendous insight that other works attempting to understand world and human history have failed to provide. What really touch me, I mean, really enlightened me, was to learn of the Ultimate Lesson of Humanity. I was inspired, to say the very least, when Pasichnyk concludes with an observation at the end of this masterpiece, in reference to civilization: "Nature, hostile to all waste, tirelessly reabsorbs the smallest remnants of anything which once lived and uses them again to produce more life." What caused me to shiver was the evidence he presents which substantiates the next historical period for the cycles of life-renewal. We all know what that means: overwhelming, historical evidence that IT's coming up soon-the Big One! Yet, this masterpiece concludes on a positive note, and brings hope to humanity. Pasichnyk boldly ushers forth the ultimate condition that brings world peace-an end to construction of buildings and bombs, the destruction of wilderness, and turning the weapons of war into plowshares and pruning hooks to establish wilderness. This is our most selfish and self-preserving act, this is in humanity's best interest to do. Also, this is altruistic, and this is most loving, and it will be humanity's greatest triumph over global degradation. The book really makes sense, of everything! Count me in!

A truly astounding read.......2003-02-21

This book is a total surprise... and a good one at that! If a history as interesting as this were taught in school, I would have done much better in my history classes. It amazes me just how much has been left out of our "accepted" history. There are global "catastrophes" that bring civlizations around the globe to an end in a very short time. Or as the book describes, times of life's renewal. One surprise -- there are many -- is that historical writings, religious writings and mythology all discuss these periods, but somehow they aren't discussed in schools and even universities. Another surpise is that natural disasters, terrorism and war have been undergoing a steady climb from the late 1700s to the present -- a sort of climax is occuring. Even more surprising is that when natural disasters go up, war and terrorism go down, and vice versa -- we and Nature take turns in acomplsihing the same objective. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you as to why, but you should read it. The most important thing is that this book is very timely, and it explains why the world is the way it is today. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

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