Annually millions of people admire the Great Smoky Mountains National Park's primeval beauty - towering peaks, sparkling cascades, virgin forests, and remarkable variety of wildflowers and shrubs. One of the nation's most popular national parks did not just "come to be" a logical and natural development on federally-owned land. Instead, it was the first national park to be acquired from private owners and given by the people to the federal government. Establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park climaxed an unprecedented crusade that is a story of almost fanatic dedication to a cause, as well as one of frustration, despair, political bias, and even physical violence.

The Southern Appalachian Mountains include the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, and Blue Ridge Parkway, several National Forests, and numerous State and privately owned parks and recreation areas. The region is known worldwide for its great beauty and biological diversity. Why does this are have such beautiful scenery and a diversity of plants and animals that is greater than in all of Northern Europe? How do the Mountains, and the rocks and minerals of which they are made, affect the lives of people? How do people affect the mountains? To address these questions, we need to understand the geologic events that have shaped this region. We need to know how events that took place millions of years ago have influenced the landscape, climate, soils and living things we see today.

Mount Mitchell and the Black Mountains: An Environmental History of the Highest Peaks in Eastern America

The incredible story of the creation of a continent—our continent— from the acclaimed author of The Last Volcano and Mask of the Sun. The immense scale of geologic time is difficult to comprehend. Our lives—and the entirety of human history—are mere nanoseconds on this timescale. Yet we hugely influenced by the land we live on. From shales and fossil fuels, from lake beds to soil composition, from elevation to fault lines, what could be more relevant that the history of the ground beneath our feet? For most of modern history, geologists could say little more about why mountains grew than the obvious: there were forces acting inside the Earth that caused mountains to rise. But what were those forces? And why did they act in some places of the planet and not at others? When the theory of plate tectonics was proposed, our concept of how the Earth worked experienced a momentous shift. As the Andes continue to rise, the Atlantic Ocean steadily widens, and Honolulu creeps ever closer to Tokyo, this seemingly imperceptible creep of the Earth is revealed in the landscape all around us. But tectonics cannot—and do not—explain everything about the wonders of the North American landscape. What about the Black Hills? Or the walls of chalk that stand amongst the rolling hills of west Kansas? Or the fact that the states of Washington and Oregon are slowly rotating clockwise, and there a diamond mine in Arizona? It all points to the geologic secrets hidden inside the 2-billion-year-old-continental masses. A whopping ten times older than the rocky floors of the ocean, continents hold the clues to the long history of our planet. With a sprightly narrative that vividly brings this science to life, John Dvorak's How the Mountains Grew will fill readers with a newfound appreciation for the wonders of the land we live on.

In life, everyone climbs mountains. Jala A. McKenzie-Burns shares her story, Climbing Life's Mountains, which explores the many challenges that faced her from birth. As a biracial child, she was left in the hospital, then placed into foster care. Her education began from the time she was born through the reactions and events around her. Her education continued with the teachings of the Civil Rights Movement, watching the Civil Rights' marches on television and listening to the I-Have-a-Dream speech on the radio. Her early lessons taught her to stand up for her beliefs and soon paid off. After being adopted by an African-American family, she faced many confrontations from both white and black children. Along the way, she realized she was a female. Through her service in the U.S. Marine Corps, working in politics, gaining a college education, marrying a woman she loved, and raising their child, she tried to hide her feminine desires, but the pain never stopped at not being able to express who she really was. According to society, she was supposed to live her life as a male. While she participated in many activities to fight her inner conflict, she couldn't force a square peg into a round hole. When she shared her gender conflict with her adoptive mother, her mother kicked her out of her life. In her book, Jala discusses her full transition experience so that she can help others with their gender-identity conflict. During her transition, she fell into a deep depression. With this illness, she practiced many unhealthy coping mechanisms. During a major portion of her life, she had yearned to find her biological mother. After many attempts, she was finally reunited with her biological mother and sister. Years later, after reconnecting with both her biological and adoptive families, she began to overcome depression. She shares her story of depression, believing that if she can overcome it, so can others. She combines her autobiography and insights about gender identity transition with interviews from family members, other transgender females, and a psychologist who specializes in Gender Identity Disorder. In the section called "Adoption and Finding My Biological Family," she includes three special interviews. First, her adoptive brother, Derrick, is a highly successful individual who graduated from Princeton University. He shares their experiences of growing up together. Second, Karen, her biological sister, tells of her experience as being one of four siblings who were taken by the state of Georgia. And third, Patricia, the only child out of all six siblings who was raised by her biological family, tells of the pain she encountered, knowing her siblings were out there. Jala and her siblings share the steps they took to find their biological families. The story explores times of laughter and times of tears, hoping to help others overcome their personal challenges.

A comprehensive, visual reference, enhanced by two thousand photographs and illustrations, provides information on all major fields of knowledge and includes timelines, sidebars, cross-reference, and other useful features.