The skies above: storm clouds, blood moons, and other everyday phenomena

By Mersereau, Dennis

Publishing Date: [2022]

Classification: 500

Call Number: 551.5 MER

"From basics such as weather fronts and types of precipitation to more unusual occurrences like polar vortexes, meteor showers, solar eclipses, and the spectacular mammatus clouds that signify a supercell thunderstorm, Dennis Mersereau tracks key phenomena across the seasons and demystifies celestial events visible to the naked eye but still enigmatic to most. He also delves into how climate change affects weather, forecasts, and other events, such as devastating wildfires and historic hurricanes churning across the Atlantic Ocean. Includes full-color photographs and illustrations"--

Next of kin: great fossils at the American Museum of Natural History

By Dingus, Lowell

Publishing Date: 1996

Classification: 500

Call Number: 560.7474 DIN

This book, liberally illustrated with beautiful new color and archival photography, and artwork and graphics produced especially for the renovated exhibits, is an in-depth look at the evolution of vertebrate animals in the collection. In an incisive, behind-the-scenes text, paleontologist Lowell Dingus discusses the earliest specimens: fish, amphibians, and primitive reptiles that represent evolutionary starting points for major groups; the popular saurischian dinosaurs, including the seventeen-ton Apatosauris (once called Brontosaurus) skeleton; and ornithischian dinosaurs such as the horned Triceratops. He concludes with the mammal hills, where animals as diverse as the fin-backed Dimetrodon, mastodons, and, after primates, our closest "next of kin"--Bats - are shown to be related by one hole in the skull behind the eye socket.

Travels with the fossil hunters

Publishing Date: 2000

Classification: 500

Call Number: 560.922

Travels with the Fossil Hunters tells twelve stories of expeditions to remote parts of the world in search of diverse fossils such as dinosaurs and human ancestors. Palaeontologists relate the problems and curiosities they encounter whilst working in extreme conditions, from the deserts of the Sahara and Yemen to the frozen wastes of Antarctica, from the mountains of India to the forests of Latvia. They tell us what field expeditions are really like: dodging bullets in West Africa or rabid dogs in Pakistan, surviving yak-butter tea in Tibet or raw fish in China. Along the way they also describe the palaeontology and geology of the countries they visit and the scientific reasons for their expeditions. Copiously illustrated with spectacular colour photographs and with a foreword from David Attenborough and an introduction from Richard Fortey, this fascinating book will appeal to anyone interested in travelling and fossils, amateurs and professionals alike.

Magnificent majestic Mono Lake

By Smith, Andrew

Publishing Date: 2021,©2022

Classification: 500

Call Number: 577 SMI

A lake larger than the city of San Francisco and saltier than the ocean. Limestone towers jutting out of the water like alien beings. Endless vistas of blue skies and hi desert scrubland dotted with dormant volcanoes and sagebrush. This is California’s Mono Lake and the surrounding Mono Basin, a strange and extraordinary ecosystem. In the pages ahead you will learn about the erupting volcanoes which have left their imprint on Mono Lake, the lake’s simple ecosystem that provides food for millions of breeding and migrating birds, and some of the plants and animals that inhabit the Mono Basin. Finally, you will learn about ongoing threats to Mono Lake and its basin, and what you can do to help protect this magical place.

Audubon's elephant: America's greatest naturalist and the making of The birds of America

By Hart-Davis, Duff

Publishing Date: 2004

Classification: 500

Call Number: 598.092 HAR

"Audubon's Elephant was the nickname given to John James Audubon's masterpiece, The Birds of America--an oversized folio of 435 life-size ornithological prints that remains to this day the most compelling depiction of bird life in the United States. Born in Haiti and raised in France, Audubon spent much of his adult life as a struggling American businessman on the frontier, where his obsession with birds nearly brought him to financial ruin. In 1826, his ambitious project was also in a precarious position--his folio remained unfinished, without an American publisher willing to fund it. Had Audubon not set sail for England, his artistic triumph might easily have turned into failure"--Publisher's description.