New Titles

                                                                                                                                                             
1) Dutson, Guy. Birds of Melanesia: Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. 2012. Princeton University Press. Paperback: 447 pages. Price: $49.95 U.S.
SUMMARY: Melanesia harbors an amazing range of endemic bird species and subspecies, many of which are poorly known. Birds of Melanesia is the first comprehensive field guide to all 501 species found in the Bismarck Archipelago, Bougainville, the Solomons, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. This beautifully illustrated guide features 86 color plates that depict almost every species--including many endemic subspecies--and many of the plates are arranged by island group for easy reference. Detailed species accounts describe key identification features and distribution, as well as key features for all subspecies. Distribution bars are also given for all species except extreme vagrants. This title includes:

*Covers all 501 species recorded in Melanesia, 204 of which are endemic
*Features 86 color plates that illustrate almost every species
*Provides detailed species accounts
*Includes distribution bars for all species except extreme vagrants

RECOMMENDATION: A must have for those birding the region!

                                                                               
2) Grimmett, Richard, Carol and Tim Inskipp. Birds of India (with Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and The Maldives) Second Edition. 2012. Princeton University Press. Paperback: 528 pages. Price: $39.50 U.S.
SUMMARY: The best field guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent is now even better. Thoroughly revised, with 73 new plates and many others updated or repainted, the second edition of Birds of India now features all maps and text opposite the plates for quicker and easier reference. Newly identified species have been added, the text has been extensively revised, and all the maps are new. Comprehensive and definitive, this is the indispensable guide for anyone birding in this part of the world.

     The leading field guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent--now thoroughly revised and improved. This title includes:

*1,375 species illustrated and described, including all residents, migrants, and vagrants
*226 color plates--including 73 new ones--depict every species and many distinct plumages and races
*Concise text and accurate distribution maps opposite plates for easy reference
*Includes newly identified species

RECOMMENDATION: A must have for those birding the Indian Subcontinent!

New Title

                                                                              
1) Shuker, Karl P.N.. The Encyclopedia of New and Rediscovered Animals. 2012. Coachwhip Publications. Paperback: 368 pages. Price: $64.95 U.S.

SUMMARY: The Encyclopaedia of New and Rediscovered Animals is the third, wholly-updated edition of the very first—and still the definitive—book to be devoted to the spectacular zoological discoveries and equally amazing rediscoveries of the 20th century, which attracted international acclaim and exemplary reviews following its original publication in 1993 (when it was entitled The Lost Ark), and its subsequent republication in 2002 as an updated, greatly-expanded second edition (entitled The New Zoo). This latest edition also contains an in-depth survey of the 21st century’s most celebrated discoveries and rediscoveries made during its first decade, plus an exhaustive, significantly-increased bibliography, as well as the only comprehensive collection of colour and b/w illustrations of these spectacular animal species ever published (including new, previously-unpublished photographs, and several exclusive, specially-commissioned full-colour paintings).
     Unquestionably, The Encyclopaedia of New and Rediscovered Animals provides good reason indeed for believing that our world continues to holds many more animal surprises in store for future revelation.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in cryptozoology.

New Titles

                                                                              
1) Fagan, Brian. The First North Americans: An Archaeological Journey. 2012. Thames and Hudson. Paperback: 272 pages. Price: $26.95 U.S.

SUMMARY: This new history of North America is based mainly on archaeology, but also on cutting-edge research in many scientific disciplines, from biology and climatology to ethnohistory and high-tech chemistry and physics. Brian Fagan describes the controversies over first settlement, which likely occurred via Siberia at the end of the Ice Age, and the debates over the routes used as humans moved southward into the heart of the continent. A remarkable diversity of hunter-gatherer societies evolved in the rapidly changing North American environments, and the book explores the ingenious ways in which people adapted to every kind of landscape imaginable, from arctic tundra to open plains and thick woodland.
     Professor Fagan recounts the increasingly sophisticated acclimation by Native Americans to arctic, arid and semiarid lands, culminating in the spectacular Ancestral Pueblo societies of the Southwest and the elaborate coastal settlements of California and the Pacific Northwest. He then traces the origins of the Moundbuilder societies of the Eastern Woodlands, which reached their apogee in the flamboyant Mississippian culture of the South and Southeast and the mounds of the ancient city of Cahokia. The book ends with a description of the Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples of the Northeast and St. Lawrence Valley, and an epilogue that enumerates the devastating consequences of European contact for Native Americans.
RECOMMENDATION: A good introduction on the subject.

                                                                              
2) Manley, Bill. Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners. 2012. Thames and Hudson. Paperback: 160 pages. Price: $16.95 U.S.
SUMMARY: An original and accessible approach to learning hieroglyphs, written by an experienced teacher and author.
     This is the first guide to reading hieroglyphs that begins with Egyptian monuments themselves. Assuming no knowledge on the part of the reader, it shows how to interpret the information on the inscriptions in a step-by-step journey through the script and language of ancient Egypt.
     We enter the world of the ancient Egyptians and explore their views on life and death, Egypt and the outside world, humanity and the divine. The book draws on texts found on some thirty artifacts ranging from coffins to stelae to obelisks found in museums in Egypt, America, and Europe, and selected across two thousand years. The texts are then explained clearly, and are supported by full translations, photographs, and line drawings.
RECOMMENDATION: Ever wanted to learn about Egyptian hieroglyphs? Here's the book for you!

                                                                              
3) Stringer, Chris and Peter Andrews. The Complete World of Human Evolution (2nd edition). 2012. Thames and Hudson. Paperback: 240 pages. Price: $26.95 U.S.
SUMMARY: Human domination of the earth is now so complete that it is easy to forget how recently our role in the history of the planet began. The earliest apes evolved around twenty million years ago, yet Homo sapiens has existed for a mere 160,000 years. In the intervening period, dozens of species of early ape and human have lived and died out, leaving behind the fossilized remains that have helped to make the detailed picture of our evolution revealed here.
     Since this book was first published in 2005 there have been exciting new developments in the story of ape and human evolution, and the authors take account of them in this revised edition. The big gap in the fossil record in Africa is beginning to be filled with the discovery of several new species of apes in Kenya and Ethiopia that date from ten to nine million years ago. There are new discoveries of Australopithecus, updates on the dating of hominin sites, results of new DNA analyses, and much more.
     Illustrated with photographs, diagrams, and reconstruction drawings, this is essential reading for anyone interested in human origins.
RECOMMENDATION: Ever wondered about our ancestors? Here's a readable introduction to human evolution.

The Weekly Birdbooker Report

                                       Photo copyright: Joe Fuhrman                      

My WEEKLY Birdbooker Report can be found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2012/feb/05/1

New Title

                                                                              
1) Meyers, Amy R.W. (editor). Knowing Nature: Art and Science in Philadelphia, 1740-1840. 2012. Yale University Press. Hardbound: 417 pages. Price: $65.00 U.S.

SUMMARY: Philadelphia developed the most active scientific community in early America, fostering an influential group of naturalist-artists, including William Bartram, Charles Willson Peale, Alexander Wilson, and John James Audubon, whose work has been addressed by many monographic studies. However, as the groundbreaking essays in Knowing Nature demonstrate, the examination of nature stimulated not only forms of artistic production traditionally associated with scientific practice of the day, but processes of making not ordinarily linked to science. The often surprisingly intimate connections between and among these creative activities and the objects they engendered are explored through the essays in this book, challenging the hierarchy that is generally assumed to have been at play in the study of nature, from the natural sciences through the fine and decorative arts, and, ultimately, popular and material culture. Indeed, the many ways in which the means of knowing nature were reversed—in which artistic and artisanal culture informed scientific interpretations of the natural world—forms a central theme of this pioneering publication.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in early American scientific history.

New and Recent Titles

                                                                              
1) Crane, Jeff. Finding the River: An Environmental History of the Elwha. 2011. OSU Press.  Paperback: 250 pages. Price: $24.95 U.S.

SUMMARY: In 1992 landmark federal legislation called for the removal of two dams from the Elwha River to restore salmon runs. Jeff Crane dives into the debate over development and ecological preservation in Finding the River, presenting a long-term environmental and human history of the river as well as a unique look at river reconstruction.
     Finding the River examines the ways that different communities—from the Lower Elwha Klallam Indians to current-day residents—have used the river and its resources, giving close attention to the harnessing of the Elwha for hydroelectric production and the resulting decline of its fisheries. Crane describes efforts begun in the 1980s to remove the dams and restore the salmon. He explores the rise of a river restoration movement in the late twentieth century and the roles that free-flowing rivers could play in preserving salmon as climate change presents another set of threats to these endangered fish.
     A significant and timely contribution to American Western and environmental history—removal of the two Elwha River dams began in September 2011—Finding the River will be of interest to historians, environmentalists, and fisheries biologists, as well as to general readers interested in the Puget Sound, the Olympic Peninsula, and environmental issues.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in river restoration projects and/or Olympic Peninsula history.

                                                                              
2) Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. 2003. OSU Press. Paperback: 168 pages. Price: $18.95 U.S.
SUMMARY: Winner of the 2005 John Burroughs Medal Award for Natural History Writing
     Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.
     In this series of linked personal essays, Robin Wall Kimmerer leads general readers and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings. Kimmerer explains the biology of mosses clearly and artfully, while at the same time reflecting on what these fascinating organisms have to teach us.
     Drawing on her diverse experiences as a scientist, mother, teacher, and writer of Native American heritage, Kimmerer explains the stories of mosses in scientific terms as well as in the framework of indigenous ways of knowing. In her book, the natural history and cultural relationships of mosses become a powerful metaphor for ways of living in the world.
RECOMMENDATION: Most people only think of moss as something you get rid of. That should change after reading this book.

                                                                              
3) Li, Judith L. and Michael T. Barbour (editors). Wading for Bugs: Exploring Streams with the Experts. 2011. OSU Press. Paperback: 160 pages. Price: $19.95 U.S.
SUMMARY: In Wading for Bugs, nearly two dozen aquatic biologists share their memorable encounters with stream insects. The contributors, based primarily in North America, work in diverse environments – from arctic to desert, from mountain streams to river valleys. They represent a wide range of expertise as authors of standard field texts, leaders in biomonitoring and assessment programs, directors of major laboratories, and specialists in aquatic ecology and taxonomy.
     The writings in Wading for Bugs allow readers to experience – through the eyes of the scientists – what it’s like to study stream insects and to make discoveries that could help develop biological indicators for stream health. General summaries introduce each insect order. Elegant insect drawings accompany each story, along with morphological, life history, and habitat information for each species or family.
     Wading for Bugs will appeal to general readers as well as students, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts curious about streams and the insects that live in them.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in aquatic entomology.

New Title

                                                                              
1) Milner, Richard. Charles R. Knight: The Artist Who Saw Through Time. 2012. Abrams. Hardbound: 180 pages. Price: $40.00 U.S.

SUMMARY: American wildlife artist Charles R. Knight (1874–1953) spent a lifetime creating some of the first paintings and sculptures of dinosaurs, mammoths, and cavemen that were both spectacularly beautiful and scientifically accurate. For generations, his work has inspired scientists, artists, and filmmakers all over the world. This richly illustrated celebration of Knight’s artwork gathers together famous and never-before-seen paintings, sculptures, sketches, and murals. In addition to a new biographical essay, it also features excerpts from Knight’s extensive writings about extinct and modern animals. Above all, it provides a refreshing new look at Knight’s lifelong quest to depict the range of animal species, his struggles with failing eyesight, his desire for artistic independence, and his deep sense of kinship with Ice Age cave artists.
RECOMMENDATION: A must have for those with an interest in paleoart!

                                                    Leaping Laelaps

                                                       Cave Painting