Author: Wilson Duff Publisher: Surrey, B.C. : Hancock House ISBN: Category : Art Languages : en Pages : 324
Book Description
Descriptive interpretation of northwest coast Indian art as represented by this collection of several previously unpublished works of Wilson Duff. The tragic death of Wilson Duff at the age of 51, cut short the life of one of the leading experts on the arts and culture of Native peoples of the Northwest Coast. An anthropology professor at the University of B.C, his death, by his own hand, terminated his uncommonly perceptive research into the philosophy and psychology of Native art. Bird of Paradox consists of unpublished works by Duff which present his unique theoretical ideas that contribute to art scholarship, as well as creative writings and poetry which expose his emotional experiences with and feelings toward Native art and culture. Editor E. N. Anderson has provided detailed introductory material recounting Duff's life and work, and puts Duff's final contributions in the context of Northwest Coast life.
Author: Judy Diamond Publisher: Univ of California Press ISBN: 0520920805 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 248
Book Description
The kea, a crow-sized parrot that lives in the rugged mountains of New Zealand, is considered by some a playful comic and by others a vicious killer. Its true character is a mystery that biologists have debated for more than a century. Judy Diamond and Alan Bond have written a comprehensive account of the kea's contradictory nature, and their conclusions cast new light on the origins of behavioral flexibility and the problem of species survival in human environments everywhere. New Zealand's geological remoteness has made the country home to a bizarre assemblage of plants and animals that are wholly unlike anything found elsewhere. Keas are native only to the South Island, breeding high in the rigorous, unforgiving environment of the Southern Alps. Bold, curious, and ingeniously destructive, keas have a complex social system that includes extensive play behavior. Like coyotes, crows, and humans, keas are "open-program" animals with an unusual ability to learn and to create new solutions to whatever problems they encounter. Diamond and Bond present the kea's story from historical and contemporary perspectives and include observations from their years of field work. A comparison of the kea's behavior and ecology with that of its closest relative, the kaka of New Zealand's lowland rain forests, yields insights into the origins of the kea's extraordinary adaptability. The authors conclude that the kea's high level of sociality is a key factor in the flexible lifestyle that probably evolved in response to the alpine habitat's unreliable food resources and has allowed the bird to survive the extermination of much of its original ecosystem. But adaptability has its limits, as the authors make clear when describing present-day interactions between keas and humans and the attempts to achieve a peaceful coexistence.
Author: Peter Trull Publisher: Schiffer Publishing ISBN: 9780764357640 Category : Bird watching Languages : en Pages : 96
Book Description
Nesting along the sandy fringe of the North American coast from Maine to Florida, terns are graceful symbols of our coastal beaches, yet they lead fragile and frantic lives. Join educator, storyteller, and photographer Peter Trull as he describes the physical and behavioral differences among the four types of terns that nest in the Cape Cod area, their migratory habits and predators, and why they are called birds of paradox. Both a photographic journey and an ornithological diary, Trull describes his ten-plus years watching, recording, and photographing these birds from Massachusetts to the coast of Guyana. More than 100 photographs depict day-to-day life and never-before-seen behaviors from inside the dynamic, noisy nesting colonies. This engaging book offers momentary glimpses into the complexities of these erratic, agile seabirds--seemingly carefree but always on the hunt--and their struggle to survive.
Author: Jack E. Davis Publisher: Liveright Publishing ISBN: 1631495267 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 432
Book Description
Best Books of the Month: Wall Street Journal, Kirkus Reviews From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Gulf, a sweeping cultural and natural history of the bald eagle in America. The bald eagle is regal but fearless, a bird you’re not inclined to argue with. For centuries, Americans have celebrated it as “majestic” and “noble,” yet savaged the living bird behind their national symbol as a malicious predator of livestock and, falsely, a snatcher of babies. Taking us from before the nation’s founding through inconceivable resurgences of this enduring all-American species, Jack E. Davis contrasts the age when native peoples lived beside it peacefully with that when others, whether through hunting bounties or DDT pesticides, twice pushed Haliaeetus leucocephalus to the brink of extinction. Filled with spectacular stories of Founding Fathers, rapacious hunters, heroic bird rescuers, and the lives of bald eagles themselves—monogamous creatures, considered among the animal world’s finest parents—The Bald Eagle is a much-awaited cultural and natural history that demonstrates how this bird’s wondrous journey may provide inspiration today, as we grapple with environmental peril on a larger scale.
Author: Joe Harkness Publisher: Unbound Publishing ISBN: 1783527749 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 214
Book Description
Longlisted for the 2020 Wainwright Prize 'I can't remember the last book I read that I could say with absolute assurance would save lives. But this one will' Chris Packham 'Fabulously direct and truthful, filled with energy but devoid of self-pity . . . I was impressed and enchanted. Highly recommended' Stephen Fry 'Succeeds – triumphantly – in articulating with great honesty what it is like to suffer with a mental illness, and in providing strategies for coping' Mail on Sunday When Joe Harkness suffered a breakdown in 2013, he tried all the things his doctor recommended: medication helped, counselling was enlightening, and mindfulness grounded him. But nothing came close to nature, particularly birds. How had he never noticed such beauty before? Soon, every avian encounter took him one step closer to accepting who he is. The positive change in Joe's wellbeing was so profound that he started a blog to record his experience. Three years later he has become a spokesperson for the benefits of birdwatching, spreading the word everywhere from Radio 4 to Downing Street. In this groundbreaking book filled with practical advice, Joe explains the impact that birdwatching had on his life, and invites the reader to discover these extraordinary effects for themselves.
Author: Raymond M. Smullyan Publisher: Knopf ISBN: 0307819795 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 200
Book Description
In this entertaining and challenging new collection of logic puzzles, Raymond Smullyan—author of What Is the Name of This Book? And The Lady or the Tiger?—continues to delight and astonish us with his gift for making available, in the thoroughly pleasurable form of puzzles, some of the most important mathematical thinking of our time. In the first part of the book, he transports us once again to that wonderful realm where knights, knaves, twin sisters, quadruplet brothers, gods, demons, and mortals either always tell the truth or always lie, and where truth-seekers are set a variety of fascinating problems. The section culminates in an enchanting and profound metapuzzle (a puzzle about a puzzle), in which Inspector Craig of Scotland Yard gets involved in a search of the Fountain of Youth on the Island of Knights and Knaves. In the second and larger section, we accompany the Inspector on a summer-long adventure into the field of combinatory logic (a branch of logic that plays an important role in computer science and artificial intelligence). His adventure, which includes enchanted forests, talking birds, bird sociologists, and a classic quest, provides for us along the way the pleasure of solving puzzles of increasing complexity until we reach the Master Forest and—thanks to Gödel’s famous theorem—the final revelation. To Mock a Mockingbird will delight all puzzle lovers—the curious neophytes as well as the serious students of logic, mathematics, or computer science.
Author: Alan Feduccia Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 9780300078619 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 490
Book Description
An exploration of all that is known about the origin of birds and of avian flight. It draws on fossil evidence and studies of the structure and biochemistry of living birds to present knowledge and data on avian evolution and to propose a new model of this evolutionary process.
Author: Jim Moir Publisher: Unbound Publishing ISBN: 1800180039 Category : Humor Languages : en Pages : 307
Book Description
Vic Reeves Art Book is an expedition through the mind of Jim Moir, aka the comedian, writer and artist and Vic Reeves. The first collection of his visual work in a decade, this book is a wild ride through subjects and media, ranging from sketches to paintings. Whether he’s depicting Sooty and Sweep unzipped and on the toilet, or grotesque versions of beloved TV personalities, Jim’s unmistakable humour shines through in every brushstroke. Featuring more than 200 images, this is the definitive compendium of Jim’s art, covering early work, some of his best-known pieces, and brand-new creations exclusive to the book.
Author: Liz Garton Scanlon Publisher: Beach Lane Books ISBN: 1534404430 Category : Juvenile Fiction Languages : en Pages : 40
Book Description
From award-winning author Liz Garton Scanlon and celebrated artist Frann Preston-Gannon comes a gorgeously illustrated, lyrical counting book that will have young readers’ imaginations taking flight. One dark bird is perched up high, with a view of the town and a taste of the sky. Then she’s joined by two more, then three, then four. Before long, there are hundreds of starlings dancing across the sky—and avoiding a hunting hawk with one of the most spectacular tricks in the animal kingdom. Then, when night comes, the starlings begin to depart, until finally there is just one dark bird perched way up high, with a view of the town and a taste of the sky.
Author: Wilson Duff
Author: Judy Diamond
Author: Peter Trull
Author: Robert Faggen
Author: Jack E. Davis
Author: Joe Harkness
Author: Raymond M. Smullyan
Author: Alan Feduccia
Author: Jim Moir
Author: Liz Garton Scanlon