The Death and Life of Monterey Bay Anyone who has ever stood on the shores of Monterey Bay, watching the rolling ocean waves and frolicking otters, knows it is a unique place. But even residents on this idyllic California coast may not realize its full history. Monterey began as a natural paradise, but became the poster child for industrial devastation in John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, and is now one of the most celebrated shorelines in the world. It is a remarkable story of life, death, and revival—told here for the first time in all its stunning color and bleak grays. The Death and Life of Monterey Bay begins in the eighteenth century when Spanish and French explorers encountered a rocky shoreline brimming with life—raucous sea birds, abundant sea otters, barking sea lions, halibut the size of wagon wheels, waters thick with whales. A century and a half later, many of the sea creatures had disappeared, replaced by sardine canneries that sickened residents with their stench but kept the money flowing. When the fish ran out and the climate turned, the factories emptied and the community crumbled. But today, both Monterey’s economy and wildlife are resplendent. How did it happen? The answer is deceptively simple: through the extraordinary acts of ordinary people. The Death and Life of Monterey Bay is the biography of a place, but also of the residents who reclaimed it. Monterey is thriving because of an eccentric mayor who wasn’t afraid to use pistols, axes, or the force of law to protect her coasts. It is because of fishermen who love their livelihood, scientists who are fascinated by the sea’s mysteries, and philanthropists and community leaders willing to invest in a world-class aquarium. The shores of Monterey Bay revived because of human passion—passion that enlivens every page of this hopeful book. Island Press
The Future is Wild An exploration into the way evolution may shape the animals and plants of the world 5 million, 100 million and 200 million years in the future Written by a team of international scientists, based on biological and evolutionary principles. Take a walk in a forest anywhere in the world today and you'll see the same basic types of animals and vegetation- birds, mammals and flowering plants. But a forest two hundred million years ago was a very different place. There were no birds. Mammals and flowering plants had only just begun to evolve. Who would have thought that, in the last 200 million years - a mere fraction of the time that life has graced our planet, so many completely new organisms would have evolved and thrived? So what does evolution have in store for life on Earth over the next 200 million years? What creatures will roam the land or swim in the oceans? The Future is Wild draws on an international team of experts who bring to life a world of amazing organisms, setting them loose in our imaginations. But the rules are strict. The organisms you'll encounter in this book are based on fundamental biological and evolutionary principles. They could, and may yet, exist. Table of Contents
Firefly Books The Evolution Explosion How Humans Cause Rapid Evolutionary Change Stephen R. Palumbi A critical look at the intersection of evolution and Evolution is not only the slow process that ruled the rise and fall of the dinosaurs over hundreds of millions of years. It also happens quickly &endash; so quickly and frequently that it changes how all of us live our lives: drugs fail because diseases evolve; insects overcome the most powerful pesticides; HIV and tuberculosis develop resistance to the newest drugs in a few months. This is evolution with teeth. While the ecological scars of human technology have been well publicized, the broad consequences of antibiotic and antiviral use, insecticide applications, and herbicide bioengineering are largely unexplored. Does the human impact on evolution falter at the borders of our own species? Or do we, in fact, generate our own evolutionary pressure? Enthusiastically written for a wide audience, The Evolution Explosion examines these practical and critical aspects of modern evolution with simplicity, force and humor. Table of Contents
W.W. Norton & Company
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