Bassic introduction to earth science and ecology that encourages an appreciation of the environment.

Living Naturally and Practically in the 21st CenturyAlicia Bay Laurel's iconic Living on the Earth is finally back in print in a 50th anniversary edition, revised and updated with new material. This book hit the homesteading, back-to-earth crowd like a whirlwind in the 1970s and its elemental wisdom and advice hasn't diminished over the decades since. Widely acclaimed in such publications as The Village Voice and The Whole Earth Catalog-which stated "this may be the best book in the catalog"-Living on the Earth gives guidance on such things as: ·Backpacking·Making soap·Canning and drying·Herbal medicine·Gardening·First aid·Weaving and homemade dyes·Musical instruments·Making dress patternsAnd so much more-the variety of topics covered is astounding. Readers will be educated, enlightened and entertained perusing this landmark work.242 pages, original line illustrations throughout

Living Earth Community: Multiple Ways of Being and Knowing is a celebration of the diversity of ways in which humans can relate to the world around them, and an invitation to its readers to partake in planetary coexistence. Innovative, informative, and highly accessible, this interdisciplinary anthology of essays brings together scholars, writers and educators across the sciences and humanities, in a collaborative effort to illuminate the different ways of being in the world and the different kinds of knowledge they entail – from the ecological knowledge of Indigenous communities, to the scientific knowledge of a biologist and the embodied knowledge communicated through storytelling. This anthology examines the interplay between Nature and Culture in the setting of our current age of ecological crisis, stressing the importance of addressing these ecological crises occurring around the planet through multiple perspectives. These perspectives are exemplified through diverse case studies – from the political and ethical implications of thinking with forests, to the capacity of storytelling to motivate action, to the worldview of the Indigenous Okanagan community in British Columbia. Living Earth Community: Multiple Ways of Being and Knowing synthesizes insights from across a range of academic fields, and highlights the potential for synergy between disciplinary approaches and inquiries. This anthology is essential reading not only for researchers and students, but for anyone interested in the ways in which humans interact with the community of life on Earth, especially during this current period of environmental emergency.

A collection of photographs and short essays highlighting the plants and animals of the Earth's various ecosystems.

The Oldest Living Things in the World is an epic journey through time and space. Over the past decade, artist Rachel Sussman has researched, worked with biologists, and traveled the world to photograph continuously living organisms that are 2,000 years old and older. Spanning from Antarctica to Greenland, the Mojave Desert to the Australian Outback, the result is a stunning and unique visual collection of ancient organisms unlike anything that has been created in the arts or sciences before, insightfully and accessibly narrated by Sussman along the way. Her work is both timeless and timely, and spans disciplines, continents, and millennia. It is underscored by an innate environmentalism and driven by Sussman’s relentless curiosity. She begins at “year zero,” and looks back from there, photographing the past in the present. These ancient individuals live on every continent and range from Greenlandic lichens that grow only one centimeter a century, to unique desert shrubs in Africa and South America, a predatory fungus in Oregon, Caribbean brain coral, to an 80,000-year-old colony of aspen in Utah. Sussman journeyed to Antarctica to photograph 5,500-year-old moss; Australia for stromatolites, primeval organisms tied to the oxygenation of the planet and the beginnings of life on Earth; and to Tasmania to capture a 43,600-year-old self-propagating shrub that’s the last individual of its kind. Her portraits reveal the living history of our planet—and what we stand to lose in the future. These ancient survivors have weathered millennia in some of the world’s most extreme environments, yet climate change and human encroachment have put many of them in danger. Two of her subjects have already met with untimely deaths by human hands. Alongside the photographs, Sussman relays fascinating – and sometimes harrowing – tales of her global adventures tracking down her subjects and shares insights from the scientists who research them. The oldest living things in the world are a record and celebration of the past, a call to action in the present, and a barometer of our future.

What are the conceptions of the past civilizations and traditions from five continents on our relationships with nature? Do they cast a spiritual glance on those relationships? Could their ancestral wisdom have seen a sacred work in the universe? Why do they rather call it creation? This research will help the reader discover a real interreligious consensus: the main religions around the globe are unanimously aware and agree on principles such as the conservation of nature and the quality of the environment. A quite clear “green” message, revealed in the greatest beliefs, serves as a basis for a universal eco-ethic to adopt.