Author: John GouldPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Birds
Languages : en
Pages : 1204
Book Description
The Birds of Australia
Author: John GouldBirdman's Wife
Author: Melissa AshleyPublisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 192547528X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 467
Book Description
A woman overshadowed by history steps back into the light . . . Artist Elizabeth Gould spent her life capturing the sublime beauty of birds the world had never seen before. But her legacy was eclipsed by the fame of her husband, John Gould. The Birdman’s Wife at last gives voice to a passionate and adventurous spirit who was so much more than the woman behind the man. Elizabeth was a woman ahead of her time, juggling the demands of her artistic life with her roles as wife, lover, helpmate, and mother to an ever-growing brood of children. In a golden age of discovery, her artistry breathed wondrous life into hundreds of exotic new species, including Charles Darwin’s famous Galapagos finches. In The Birdman’s Wife, the naïve young girl who falls in love with a demanding and ambitious genius comes into her own as a woman, an artist and a bold adventurer who defies convention by embarking on a trailblazing expedition to collect and illustrate Australia’s ‘curious’ birdlife. In this indelible portrait, an extraordinary woman overshadowed by history steps back into the light where she belongs.
John Gould, Bird Man
Author: Maureen LambournePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Artists
Languages : en
Pages : 120
Book Description
Imperial Dreams
Author: Tim GallagherPublisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439191530
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 283
Book Description
A decade ago, Tim Gallagher was one of the rediscoverers of the legendary ivory-billed woodpecker, which most scientists believed had been extinct for more than half a century—now Gallagher once again hits the trail, journeying deep into Mexico’s savagely beautiful Sierra Madre Occidental, home to rich wildlife, as well as to Mexican drug cartels, in a perilous quest to locate the most elusive bird in the world—the imperial woodpecker. The imperial woodpecker’s trumpetlike calls and distinctive hammering on massive pines once echoed through the high forests. Two feet tall, with deep black plumage, a brilliant snow-white shield on its back, and a crimson crest, the imperial woodpecker had largely disappeared fifty years ago, though reports persist of the bird still flying through remote mountain stands. In an attempt to find and protect the imperial woodpecker in its last habitat, Gallagher is guided by a map of sightings of this natural treasure of the Sierra Madre, bestowed on him by a friend on his deathbed. Charged with continuing the quest of a line of distinguished naturalists, including the great Aldo Leopold, Gallagher treks through this mysterious, historically untamed and untamable territory. Here, where an ancient petroglyph of the imperial can still be found, Geronimo led Apaches in their last stand, William Randolph Hearst held a storied million-acre ranch, and Pancho Villa once roamed, today ruthless drug lords terrorize residents and steal and strip the land. Gallagher’s passionate quest takes a harrowing turn as he encounters armed drug traffickers, burning houses, and fleeing villagers. His mission becomes a life-and-death drama that will keep armchair adventurers enthralled as he chases truth in the most dangerous of habitats.
Upside Down World
Author: Penny OlsenPublisher: National Library Australia
ISBN: 0642277060
Category : Amphibians
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Eurocentric perceptions of natural history led to the flora and fauna of the new colony of New South Wales being viewed as deficient and inferior. The swans of the colony were black and eagles white, birds built shell-strewn avenues of sticks to cavort in and parrots walked on the ground. The mammals carried their young in a pouch and there were furred animals that laid eggs. This 'miscellany of the curious' fuelled the rage for Australian natural history amongst the upper classes of Europe, bringing income and, occasionally, fame to its collectors and documenters. On the ground, in the colony, it contributed to great change for the animals and, in some cases, extinction. In Upside Down World author Penny Olsen documents how our scientific knowledge evolved, using collectors' and naturalists' journals to enhance her stories.
Charles Darwin's Life with Birds
Author: Clifford B. FrithPublisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190240237
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 521
Book Description
Focuses exclusively on Darwin the ornithologist, not on biographical aspects of Darwin's life
Australia's First Naturalists
Author: Penny OlsenPublisher: National Library of Australia
ISBN: 0642279373
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
Would Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson have ever crossed the Blue Mountains without the help of the local Aboriginal people? The invaluable role of local guides in this event is rarely recognised. As silent partners, Aboriginal Australians gave Europeans their first views of iconic animals, such as the Koala and Superb Lyrebird, and helped to unravel the mystery of the egg-laying mammals: the Echidna and Platypus. Well into the twentieth century, Indigenous people were routinely engaged by collectors, illustrators and others with an interest in Australia's animals. Yet this participation, if admitted at all, was generally barely acknowledged. However, when documented, it was clearly significant. Penny Olsen and Lynette Russell have gathered together Aboriginal peoples' contributions to demonstrate the crucial role they played in early Australian zoology. The writings of the early European naturalists clearly describe the valuable knowledge of the Indigenous people of the habits of Australia's bizarre (to a European) fauna. 'Australia's First Naturalists' is invaluable for those wanting to learn more about our original inhabitants' contribution to the collection, recognition and classification of Australia's unique fauna. It heightens our appreciation of the previously unrecognised complex knowledge of Indigenous societies.
Gardens of the Colonists
Author: Vivian Roswell LudgatePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Gardens
Languages : en
Pages : 16
Book Description
Birdmen
Author: Lawrence GoldstonePublisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345538056
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 450
Book Description
From acclaimed historian Lawrence Goldstone comes a thrilling narrative of courage, determination, and competition: the story of the intense rivalry that fueled the rise of American aviation. The feud between this nation’s great air pioneers, the Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss, was a collision of unyielding and profoundly American personalities. On one side, a pair of tenacious siblings who together had solved the centuries-old riddle of powered, heavier-than-air flight. On the other, an audacious motorcycle racer whose innovative aircraft became synonymous in the public mind with death-defying stunts. For more than a decade, they battled each other in court, at air shows, and in the newspapers. The outcome of this contest of wills would shape the course of aviation history—and take a fearsome toll on the men involved. Birdmen sets the engrossing story of the Wrights’ war with Curtiss against the thrilling backdrop of the early years of manned flight, and is rich with period detail and larger-than-life personalities: Thomas Scott Baldwin, or “Cap’t Tom” as he styled himself, who invented the parachute and almost convinced the world that balloons were the future of aviation; John Moisant, the dapper daredevil who took to the skies after three failed attempts to overthrow the government of El Salvador, then quickly emerged as a celebrity flyer; and Harriet Quimby, the statuesque silent-film beauty who became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. And then there is Lincoln Beachey, perhaps the greatest aviator who ever lived, who dazzled crowds with an array of trademark twists and dives—and best embodied the romance with death that fueled so many of aviation’s earliest heroes. A dramatic story of unimaginable bravery in the air and brutal competition on the ground, Birdmen is at once a thrill ride through flight’s wild early years and a surprising look at the personal clash that fueled America’s race to the skies. Praise for Birdmen “A meticulously researched account of the first few hectic, tangled years of aviation and the curious characters who pursued it . . . a worthy companion to Richard Holmes’s marvelous history of ballooning, Falling Upwards.”—Time “The daredevil scientists and engineers who forged the field of aeronautics spring vividly to life in Lawrence Goldstone’s history.”—Nature “The history of the development of an integral part of the modern world and a fascinating portrayal of how a group of men and women achieved a dream that had captivated humanity for centuries.”—The Christian Science Monitor “Captivating and wonderfully presented . . . a fine book about these rival pioneers.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] vivid story of invention, vendettas, derring-do, media hype and patent fights [with] modern resonance.”—Financial Times “A powerful story that contrasts soaring hopes with the anchors of ego and courtroom.”—Kirkus Reviews “A riveting narrative about the pioneering era of aeronautics in America and beyond . . . Goldstone raises questions of enduring importance regarding innovation and the indefinite exertion of control over ideas that go public.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The Man who Loved Wasps
Author: Howard Ensign EvansPublisher: Big Earth Publishing
ISBN: 9781555663506
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 234
Book Description
Four pop-up games in this book: The Golden Apple, Apollo & Python, Hades & Persephone, and Hermes & the Monster Argus. Includes an attached 14-pages reading book telling the stories of the myths, an integrated spinner, and storage pocket. Educational and fun—and perfect for traveling.