NEW LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS FOR MEMBERS' LENDING
December -- 2002

California Academy of Sciences Library

Books
Children's Books
Multimedia & Audio/Visual
Curriculum Guides

BOOKS

Pub GN281 .L487 1988
Bones of Contention: Controversies in the Search for Human Origins / Roger Lewin. New York: Touchstone, 1988.
This fascinating volume examines the controversies in the study of human origins. The book starts with a contentious dual interview by Walter Cronkite with Richard Leakey and David Johanson. They are both asked to defend their views of the human family tree, and they do not agree. From there, the author takes on a journey through paleoanthropology, touching on the Leakey's, Johanson's Lucy, the Taung child, and more.
Easy enough for a lay person to understand, yet still complicated enough to be hard to put down, this book will cause you to take a fresh look at your beliefs. Notes and an index are included.

Pub & Biodiv GC21.5 .B72 2001
Ocean Watch / Martyn Bramwell. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2001.
Environmental concerns surrounding the ocean are examined in this volume. Vivid color photographs highlight the issues, and create a sense of immediacy and currency. Another feature is the volumes list of organizations working to solve the problems, including contact information so that you can get involved.

Pub F868 .S5 T73 1983
A Treasury of the Sierra Nevada / Edited by Robert Leonard Reid. Berkeley, CA: Wildnerness Press, 1983.
This volume, a collection of works written on the Sierra Nevada, features writings by people like John Muir, Kit Carson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the United States Congress, Warren Olney, and a host of others. Some of the included works are diary entries, others travelogues, and still others include government mandates and articles of incorporation. It's a treat to sit with this volume and read of the Sierra Nevada.

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CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Pub Juv QH541.5 .D4 W35 1996
America's Deserts: Guide to Plants and Animals / Marianne D. Wallace. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 1996.
This fabulous book, part of a series, identifies the plants and animals that live in deserts in North America. Color illustrations, maps, and easy to understand informative text present the information. Each desert area is examined individually.
Lots of extras are available, including lists of common and scientific names, animal track information, an index, and more.

Pub Juv QH155 .W35 1999
America's Mountains: Guide to Plants and Animals / Marianne D. Wallace. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 1999.
This fabulous book, part of a series, identifies the plants and animals that live in the mountains of North America. Color illustrations, maps, and easy to understand informative text present the information. Each mountain area is examined individually, from Mexico through Canada to Alaska.
Lots of extras are available, including lists of common and scientific names, animal track information, an index, and more.

Pub Juv QH102 .W35 2001
America's Prairies and Grasslands: Guide to Plants and Animals / Marianne D. Wallace. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 2001.
This fabulous book, part of a series, identifies the plants and animals that live in praries and grasslands. Color illustrations, maps, and easy to understand informative text present the information. Each distinct area is examined individually.
Lots of extras are available, including lists of common and scientific names, animal track information, an index, and more.

Pub Juv QE861.5 .K47 2001
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins / Barbara Kerley. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2001.
If you lived in a world where no one knew what dinosaurs looked like, would you have the imagination and courage to create lifelife sculptures with only fossils as your guide? Waterhouse Hawkins did! The Victorian artist created sculptures of dinosaurs for museums in England and the United States during the late 1800s, and changed the face of paleontology forever.

Biodiv Juv T212 .K369 2002
Build a Better Mousetrap: Make Classic Invetions, Discover Your Problem-Solving Genius, and Take the Inventor's Challenge / Ruth Kassinger. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2002.
Learn about the process of invention in this fun book. The volume takes a variety of things that have already been invented, and has you re-invent them by presenting the problem the invention will solve, some observations to help you along the way, the materials you should use, and an examination of the actual process used to invent the item. The book then offers a challenge using your invention, something that takes you a little further, and with more originality, into the inventing process.
The final section actually challenges you to Build a Better Mousetrap, take your inventing to the next level and solve problems on your own! A glossary, an index, clear instructions, and more are provided.

Pub Juv QE570 .S65 2000
Earthsteps: A Rock's Journey through Time / Diane Nelson Spickert. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 2000.
250 million years ago, expanding ice broke a boulder off of a mountain. And thus begins our tale, following the boulder as it wears down to a grain of sand and then grows to boulder size again.
The science is cleverly hidden in this entertaining volume, indicating the passing of geologic time while still maintaining the charm of the story.

Pub Juv QL123 .C42 2001
Sea Soup: Zooplankton / Mary M. Cerullo. Gardiner, ME: Tibury House, Publishers, 2001.
Brilliant color photographs and engaging text are highlights of this book that examine the smallest animals in the sea, the zooplankton, or, as Cerullo calls them, the chunky part of the sea soup.
A glossary and a bibliography are included.

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MULTIMEDIA/AUDIO VISUAL

No titles for the month of December.

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CURRICULUM

No titles for the month of December.

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All of the materials above are available for loan to Academy members.

This page will not be complete until the end of December. Please check back for more materials and reviews.


 

 

 

 

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Last update: December 31, 2002