NEW LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS FOR MEMBERS' LENDING
September -- 2000

California Academy of Sciences Library

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

BOOKS

Pub. QL686 .H65 1999
A Bird-Finding Guide to Mexico / Steve N. G. Howell. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1999.

If I were going to Mexico to bird-watch, I would definitely take this excellent book! Covering the whole county, the book provides both general information about the regions as well as specific site information. The maps included in the work are also both general and site specific. Itineraries for birding holidays are provided, along with tips on travel and birding in Mexico. The information in Howell's book has been gathered over the course of seventeen years and the dates the site was last checked are provided.

Highlights of the book include:

Pub. KF5635 .A314 A168 1999
California Desert Miracle: The Fight for Desert Parks and Wilderness / Frank Wheat. San Diego, CA: Sunbelt Publications, 1999.

Frank Wheat is a former president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, a conservationist, and a trustee of the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. He was actively involved in the campaign to pass the California Desert Protection Act. The book he has authored is the story of how volunteers fought for preservation of the last large area of wildland left in California. The fight lasted for more than 20 years, and culminated in the passage of the California Desert Protection Act of 1994.
The book includes a chronology of important events in the fight ranging from 1967-1996, separate authors for each chapter, photographs, maps, a glossary, a list of people and organizations involved, footnotes, an index, and the basic provisions of the Act.

Pub. GV838.673 .C29 P54 2000
Diving and Snorkeling Cayman Islands / Jean Pierce & Kris Newman. Melbourne, Australia; Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet, 2000.

A typically wonderful offering from Lonely Planet, this snorkeling and diving guide is incredibly useful. Along with useful maps, information about the areas, and basic "what-to-bring" information, the guide offers in-depth examinations of snorkeling and diving sites with easy to read icons indicating experience needed, depth, and more. More detailed maps are provided, along with color photographs of many dive sites and the marine life you're likely to encounter. Hazardous marine life is also examined and presented in full color.
If you're planning a trip to the Cayman Islands, the guide includes information on Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, you want to take a look at this book.

Pub. GV838.63 .K5 R63 2000
Diving and Snorkeling Chuuk Lagoon, Pohnpei & Kosrae / Tim Rock. Melbourne, Australia; Oakland, CA: Lonely Planet, 2000.

Heading out to the Federated States of Micronesia for a little fun in or under the water? Don't forget your Lonely Planet guide to diving and snorkeling! The top shipwreck and coral reef sites are given the in-depth treatment you would epect from this publisher.
Background information and helpful travel tips are given, as well as beautiful color photographs and information specific to your time in the water. Don't forget to check out the photographs of hazardous marine life! We don't want to lose you!

Pub. QC944 .R68 1999
Eye of the Storm: Inside the World's Deadliest Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and Blizzards/ Jeffrey Rosenfeld. New York, NY: Plenum Publishing Corporation, 1999.

Jeffrey Rosenfeld spoke at a recent Academy members' lecture about this book. The volume discusses the way that people view weather, how that view was originated, how it changed, and how the science of weather has changed through the centuries. Rosenfeld also discusses what it is like to study weather now, and he uses individual storms and events to introduce his examinations of theory and science.
The book contains photographs, illustrations, an index, and notes by chapter.

Pub. QH15 .F27 2000
Finding Order in Nature: The Naturalist Tradition of Linnaeus to E.O. Wilson / Lawrence Farber. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.

This slim volume traces the development of the naturalist tradition from the Enlightenment to the present day. It also considers the relationship of that tradition to other research areas in the life sciences.
The book is intended for the general reader or student. Each chapter covers a span of years, with many of the years overlapping as a sign of change or a new or dying movement. The book contains illustrations, photographs, "suggested further reading" by chapter, and an index.

Pub. QL212 .Y38 1988
Marine Wildlife of Puget Sound, the San Juans, and the Strait of Georgia / Steve Yates. Chester, CT: The Globe Pequot Press, 1988.

This volume is a portable guidebook. It's relatively small, light, and easy to use. It is designed to add to a person's travels around the inland waters, be it through a beach walk, sailing, diving, or kayaking.
It is not often that a guidebook will bring together marine mammals, sea birds, fish, invertebrates, and seaweed in the same book. Yates has done this, however, and the result is impressive. The author also includes a section on "seashore manners." Illustrations of the described species are included, along with identification tips. Some of the species included in the book are the minke whale, river otter, ruddy duck, osprey, spotted ratfish, sockeye salmon, water jellyfish, clown nudibranch, chain bladder, and bead coral. There is also a bibliography and an index.

Pub. GR307 .S86 M66 1995
Spell of the Tiger: The Man-Eaters of Sundarbans / Sy Montgomery. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995.

The huge swampy area of Sundarbans covers portions of India and Bangladesh on the Bay of Bengal. It is the largest mangrove forest in the world, and, in that forest, tigers eat men.
The book discusses the relationship of fear and worship that has developed between man and tigers and tigers and their pray. The tiger is seen as sacred. They are not hunted, and the worship of the big cats is a form of earth worship. The volume is an examination of the landscape and the religion, the people and the tigers. An interesting theory in the book is that the reason the mangrove forest is as unspoiled as it is is because the tigers protect the forest by keeping people out. Due to fear, the trees aren't harvested.
The book contains a selection of photographs and a bibliography.

Pub. Q175 .R39 1991
The Virgin and the Mousetrap: Essays in Search of the Soul of Science / Chet Raymo. New York, NY: Viking, 1991.

A professor of physics and astronomy at Stonehill College in Massachusetts, Chet Raymo has put together a collection of essays that seek the soul of science. By examining people's fears and doubts about science, Raymo eases them through an examination of our thoughts and scientific evidence. Taking on topics as diverse as atomic power, creationism, and the Shroud of Turim, the author uses history, art, and science to examine our society's thoughts and feelings about science, technology, progress, and belief.

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CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Pub. Juv GT4995 .A4 J63 1997
Day of the Dead / Tony Johnston & Jeanette Winter. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1997.

This nicely illustrated children's book follows a family as they prepare for the festival of Day of the Dead. "Espérense," the children are repeatedly told, "Wait!" The children want to eat the tamales, oranges, and empanadas right away. What are all the marigolds for? Finally, the day arrives, and everyone in the town makes their way to the cemetery to remember their loved ones with marigolds, the flowers of the dead, feast, and celebrate life.

Pub. Juv GT4995 .A4 A75 1993
Pablo Remembers: The Fiesta of the Day of the Dead / George Ancona. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1993.

Two years ago, Pablo's Abuelita, his grandmother, passed away. But it's October 31, All Hallows Eve, and that means it is time for the Day of the Dead celebrations. He will be able to remember Abuelita and celebrate life during the three day celebration of All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day.
All of the family helps to prepare, and the reader can look at the photographs of the marigolds, sugar skulls, tamales, and pan de muertos (bread of the dead). The reader looks on as the children prepare an altar, the family shops, and other preparations are made. It all culminates in a feast of love and remembrance at the cemetery, visiting the graves of Abuelita and others.

Pub. Juv QL521 .M58 1998
True Bugs: When is a Bug Really a Bug? / Sara Swan Miller. New York: Lothrop, Grolier Publishing, 1998.

"Is that really a bug?" The main purpose of this children's book is to help you tell the difference between a true bug and all the other creepy crawly critters we call bugs. The first portion of the book discusses what an insect needs to have to be called a bug. All true bugs, for instance, have beaks!
Many different kinds of bugs are examined in the book, including stink bugs, damsel bugs, giant water bugs, and flat bugs. Each of the different kinds of bugs are written about next to large photographs. If you want to know, a bibliography is provided, along with glossary and an index.

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MULTIMEDIA/AUDIO VISUAL

No titles in September.

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CURRICULUM

Pub. QH77 .C2 T46 2000
S.O.S - Saving Our Species: Activities to Teach About Endangered Species and Habitat Preservation / Gareth Thomson & Peter Lenton. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society, Calgary/Banff Chapter, c2000.

Fifteen activities for students are provided by this useful guide from the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society. Each activity contains information on materials needed, instructions for teachers, and worksheets. Many of the worksheets and other information provided by this guide are also available through the web site http://www.rockies.ca/cpaws/education.
An added feature of the guide is the COSEWIC list. COSEWIC stands for Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. In 1999 there were 307 species on the list. The 1999 list is provided in the book, along with 32 additions for the year 2000. Species are listed under the headings of extinct, extirpated, endangered, threatened, and vulnerable. Definitions, contact organizations, and useful web sites are also provided.

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All of the materials above are available for check-out to Academy members.


 

 

 

 

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Last update: October 3, 2000.