NEW LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS FOR MEMBERS' LENDING
JULY -- 2000

California Academy of Sciences Library

BOOKS

Pub. SK592 .U6 G74 1999
Animal Underworld: Inside America's Black Market for Rare and Exotic Species / Alan Green and The Center for Public Integrity. New York, NY: PublicAffairs, 1999.
This work is an examination and exposé of the illegal trade in exotic and sometimes endangered species. What makes this volume different from other works on the same subject is, the author alleges, the complicity of world renowned zoos and research institutions. The black market in animals is investigated, including how they get their animals and what becomes of them.
The book includes an index and photographs.

Pub. QB121 .L57 1986
Astrophotography: A Step-by-Step Approach / Robert T. Little. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986.
Featuring amazing color photographs from the author as examples, this book is a guide for amateurs interested in astrophotography. It provides information on how to take photographs of constellations, comets and meteors, lunar and solar eclipses, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, nebulae, galaxies, and more.
An equipment guide is provided in the book, including information on cameras, film, film processing, tripods, and telescopes. Clear and concise step-by-step instructions are given with pictures as examples.

Pub. QE862 .D5 D47 1999
Dinosaur Digs / Blake Edgar, Editor. Bethesda, MD: Discovery Communications, 1999.
Are you looking for something a little different for your next vacation? More exciting? More educational? More fun? You might want to take a look at this handy guide to digging for dinosaurs in the United States and Canada. The United States has more dinosaur remains than any other nation, and Canada is within the top five, so checkout this book and plan to have a blast.
The volume examines the history of paleontology, how to search for remains, including the legalities of fossil hunting, and the kinds of tools you might need for a dig. One of the great things about this book is that it provides information about how you can join a professional dig. Contact information, cost, and other details are provided.
If you'd rather enjoy dinosaurs and fossils from inside a building, you don't want to miss the museum guide section! The California Academy of Sciences is proudly featured on pages 206 and 207. A resource directory with further readings on the history of paleontology, natural history, guidebooks, magazines and journals, and contact information for museums, fossil sites, and dig programs are also provided, along with an index and some absolutely fantastic photographs.

Pub. QH455 .G46 1999
Genetics and the Extinction of Species: DNA and the Conservation of Biodiversity / Laura F. Landweber and Andrew P. Dobson, Editors. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.
The chapters in this book are based on talks given at the October 4, 1996 symposium at Princeton University on Genes, Species, and the Threat of Extinction: DNA and Genetics in the Conservation of Endangered Species. Each chapter is its own self-contained article that includes references and is likely to include charts or figures.
Samples of the articles include "Genes, Demes, and Plant Conservation," "Parasites and Conservation of Hawaiian Birds," and "Two Problems with the Measurement of Genetic Diversity and Genetic Distance." An index relating to all of the articles is also included in the volume.

Pub. GB843 .L58 1997
Living on Karst: A Reference Guide for Landowners in Limestone Regions / Edited by Carol Zokaites. Richmond, VA: Cave Conservancy of the Virginias, 1997.
Produced by the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias, this guide is meant to provide residents of karst areas with an awareness of how day-to-day activities impact groundwater and fragile ecosystems in a karst region. Why should you care about living in karst? Well, 10% of the Earth's surface, 20% of the United States are made up of karst. 25% of the world's population lives on that 10%.
A karst region is defined as a landscape with topographic depressions such as sinkholes and caves that are caused by an underground base of limestone bedrock. A karst region also features underground streams and aquifers. These areas are particularly susceptible to pollution of groundwater that is used for both public and private water supply.
The guide contains tips on water wells, sinkhole management, erosion and sediment control, septic systems maintenance tips, references, illustrations, and much more.

Pub. E98 .A3 C24 1996
Native American Gardening: Stories, Projects and Recipes for Families / Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 1996.
Among the varied information included in this volume are Native American stories linked with activities for gardening. Children and gardens are particularly emphasized and tips for parents are included in the book, as well.
Tips are given for choosing a site, how to work outdoors, including safety, fears, and conduct, choosing seeds, tools needed, and understanding of other cultures. Would you like to grow a traditional Three Sisters Garden? When you get your seeds make sure you get corn, beans, and squash. You can then use them in recipes included in the book for tortillas, bean bread, and yellow squash soup.
This book not only discusses gardening, but also a way and cycle of life. The book includes notes by chapter, a glossary and pronunciation key, an index, illustrations, and photographs.

Pub QH84 .C678 1999
Panbiogeography: Tracking the History of Life / Robin C. Craw, John R. Grehan, and Michael J. Heads. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1999.
This book is an exploration of the roles of geology, ecology, and evolution in biogeography. "Panbiogeography is an attempt to reintroduce and reemphasize the importance of the spatial or geographical dimension of life's diversity for our understanding of evolutionary patterns and processes." It is also the focus of locality and place in the history of life and evolution.
The sections of the book include What is Panbiogeography, Life as a Geological Layer, Ecology, History, and the Panbiogeography of Africa, Mapping the Trees of Life, Tracking the Trees of Life, Revival of Biogeographical Classification, and Tracks, Nodes, Biodiversity, and Conservation.
The book includes a glossary of technical terms, references, and an index.

Pub. QL737 .C425 D44 2000
Saving the Gray Whale: People, Politics, and Conservationi n Baja California / Serge Dedina. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press, 2000.
The author holds a Ph.D. in geography and is the current executive director of WildCoast, an international conservation team preserving the last coastal wildlands of the Californias. In June he was the featured speaker at the Academy's Member's Lecture.
The book explores the reasons behind Mexico's efforts protect the gray and its habitat in Baja California Sur. The author examines the historical reasons behind protection of the gray whale and tracks gray whale conservation policies in Mexico. Particular attention is paid in the book to a recent conservation issue concerning a planned saltworks plant and its effect on the whales. This was a case of one segment of the government advocating economic progress while another government segment was fighting tooth and nail to preserve the habitat of the gray whale.
The book contains notes by chapter, a bibliography, an index, and a few color photographs.

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CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Pub. Juv GE115 .S86 2000
Dr. Art's Guide to Planet Earth: For Earthlings Ages 12 to 120 / Art Sussman, Ph.D. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2000.
Dr. Art Sussman is known for using innovative ways to show that science is fun, understandable, interesting, and relevant. By examining the topics of Earth, Matter, Energy, Life, Globally, and Locally, he takes on the theme that the "Earth is whole." In other words, all the planet's physical features and living things are connected and intertwined. Everything on the Earth works together to create the environment in which we live.
Dr. Sussman examines many topics, including the water cycle, the greenhouse effect, ecosystems, extinction, and reduce-reuse-recycle under the idea of Earth Systems Science, where many scientific disciplines are used to create a whole theory.
The book includes many images, charts, connections to a web guide, a glossary, and and an index.

Pub. Juv QL88 .P34 1993
The Extinct Alphabet Book / Jerry Pallotta. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing, 1993.
More than 99% of all living things that ever lived on Earth are now extinct. This book offers a look at twenty-six of those animals )no dinosaurs allowed!) by following them with the alphabet. X is for Xerces Blue, a butterfly that lived on one small hill in San Francisco until its habitat was destroyed. B is for Blue Buck, F is for Four-toed horse, and I is for Irish Elk.
The book features beautiful illustrations and is an interesting and educational look at extinction.

Pub. Juv QE570 .C27 1995
One Grain of Sand / Eileen Campbell with Katherine Whitney. San Francisco, CA: Golden Gate National Park Association, 1995.
This charming book follows the formation of a grain of sand. 200 million years ago, a chunk of granite broke from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The granite was carried downstream in a river where it gradually was broken up more and more by tumbling and knocking and going over waterfalls. By the time the rock makes it into San Francisco Bay, it's a tiny grain of sand waiting to be carried out into the Pacific Ocean and swept along in the current past the Golden Gate Bridge. It is eventually deposited by a wave on a beach, where it joins with other grains of sand to become a sand dune.

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MULTIMEDIA/AUDIO VISUAL

Pub. AV&M QL81 .E52 1997
Endangered Animals. New York, NY: DK Vision, 1997.
Our last Endangered Animals video from Henry the Lizard was so loved, we had to buy a new one! Henry and the narrator discuss why animals become endangered, including climate change, habitat change, and pollution. Henry also learns the difference between endangered animals and dangerous animals!
To make understanding extinction a little easier, references are made to dinosaurs, perhaps the best known extinct animals in a child's world. Another emphasis in the video is how humans effect animals, from needing more land as population grows to the use of bug spray. If a frog eats bugs that have been poisoned, and the frog is eaten by the endangered blue heron, the heron is also being poisoned!
Henry and the narrator also supply a special report on the passenger pigeon and talk about some of the thigns things that humans are doing to help endangered animals, like a rope bridge for monkeys and people teaching orangutans to live in the wild after they've been taken from their homes to be pets.

Pub. AV&M T212 .E94 1998
Everyone Is An Inventor. Washington, D.C.: Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, 1998.
Everyone Is An Inventor is a great look at how teachers are using activities to teach invention. The video is also an introduction to two of the other videos reviewed this month, Mind's Eye, Mind's Invention and Sound! Light! Edison! Celebrating 150 Years of Invention. Information from both of the videos are incorporated into the lessons that the teachers use.
The theme of the video is Start, Create, Celebrate. Students use materials in real classroom settings to build a mousetrap, "de-engineer" a radio, and make a light bulb. Experiments are shown, including learning to see what a dog sees by using filters. Inventors speaking about how they invent are also featured in the video. They include a guitar maker and a spinner who works with natural cottons that she helped to create. Young inventors are featured with their own inventions, and the video is designed to inspire students to use their creativity and skills to invent.

Pub. AV&M QH86 .M36 1997
Manu: Peru's Hidden Rain Forest. Burbank, CA: PBS Home Video, 1997.
Narrated by Edward James Olmos, this video on Peru's hidden rain forest comes from the popular "The Living Edens" series on PBS. The filmmakers spent a great deal of time in a barely explored and remote area of Peru along the river Manu in the Manu Biosphere Reserve. Interesting facts are revealed throughout the video, including that there are thirteen species of monkey in Manu, more than anywhere else in the world.
This video includes beautiful footage of wild parrots in flight, caciques, sloths, howler and spider monkeys, jaguar, and the giant anteater. Giant river otters, also known as river wolves, are predators in the Manu, social carnivores. Time-lapse footage of leaf cutter ants destroying a plant is a fascinating segment, and the crew followed a harpy chick from its helpless dependence to branch-walking to first flight.

Pub. AV&M T212 .M56 1998
Mind's Eye, Mind's Invention. Washington, D.C.: Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, 1998.
If you went shopping last year during the holidays, you've seen at least one of Chuck Hoberman's inventions. He designed and created the expanding plastic ball made up of six concentric rings that collapses into what looks like a frightened porcupine. Hoberman is the artist and inventor featured in this thirty minute video.
This video not only includes interviews with his family, but also features footage from the Innovative Lives Lecture Demonstration at the Smithsonian. Hoberman describes how his interest in art and math led to degrees in art and mechanical engineering. He began to focus on folding and unfolding structures. He is interested in the process of change from shape to shape and size to size. He describes the way he invents, and how he sees the world.
Hoberman easily demonstrates and brings across the concept of shapes as math. He also discusses the stability of structure, and how he tries to keep stability and still allow motion. He has metal installations at various museums around the country, and some of them are visited in the video. He also answers questions from the children in the audience and discusses his five patents.

Pub. AV&M T212 .S68 1997
Sound! Light! Edison! Celebrating 150 Years of Invention. Washington, D.C.: Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, 1997.
This entertaining and educational 30 minute video is full of information about Thomas Alva Edison. Partially filmed during a 150th birthday celebration for Edison, children in the audience ask questions of the moderators, use some of the original inventions, make a light bulb, and have some myths about Edison debunked.
Did you know that Edison cement was used to build Yankee Stadium? Did you know that the first Edison invention to receive a patent was the Electronic Vote Recorder? The first modern movie was made by Edison. It is called The Great Train Robbery and images of the film are used in the video. Also highlighted is Lewis Howard Latimer, an African American inventor who worked for both Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. One of the many things he did was help with the development and improvement of the carbon filament used in the light bulb He also worked in Edison's patent division.

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CURRICULUM

Pub. QH353 .I578 1998
Introduced Species. Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association, 1998.
According to the publishers, the activities in this book are designed to provide students with the necessary scientific tools and skills for comprehending what introduced species are, how they impact the natural and human environment and habitat, and what can be done about them.
The book follows the stages an introduced species goes through by following specific species through the changes. A constant throughout the volume is the red fire ant, who is featured in every section to provide continuity. Each of the seven activities provides an objective, time management information, materials needed, and suggestions for further study. Other resources mentioned include classroom organization and teaching notes.
The publishers also provide access to a resources list that includes NSTA publications, books and articles, U.S. government and international agencies, organizations, web sites, and a student evaluation sheet.

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August 1, 2000