Inyo County Free Library - New Acquisitions
December 2023 - March 2024
These are books and media new to the library and cataloged by the Inyo County Free Library.
Additional information about each title can be found in the catalog (click on the title). For older acquisition lists choose from Select another list. To request any of these titles please contact your local library branch.
Non-Fiction | Computer science, information & general worksPhilosophy & psychologyReligionSocial sciencesLanguageScienceTechnologyArts & recreationLiteratureHistory & geography |
Bully for brontosaurus: reflections in natural history By Gould, Stephen Jay Publishing Date: [1991] Classification: 500 Call Number: 508 GOU Essays from the author's column This view of life, published in Natural history. |
The flamingo's smile: reflections in natural history By Gould, Stephen Jay Publishing Date: [1985] Classification: 500 Call Number: 508 GOU Evolutionary theory in the theme that binds together these essays on such seemingly disparate topics as the feeding habits of flamingos, flowers and snails that change from male to female and sometimes back again, and the extinction from baseball of the .400 hitter. |
By Rinella, Steven Publishing Date: [2022] Classification: 500 Call Number: 508 RIN "The average American spends ninety percent of their time indoors, and children are no exception. Today, kids can spend up to seven hours per day looking at screens. Not only does this phenomenon have consequences for our kids' physical and mental health, it calls into question their ability to understand and engage with anything beyond the built environment. We can talk about environmental stewardship, but until more people make meaningful contact with nature, the welfare of our planet is in jeopardy. Thankfully, with the right mindset, families can find beauty, meaning, and connection in a life lived outdoors. Now, outdoors expert Steven Rinella shares the parenting wisdom he has garnered as a father whose family has lived amid the biggest cities and wildest corners of America. Throughout, he offers practical advice for getting your kids radically engaged with nature in a muddy, thrilling, hands-on way, guided by black-and-white illustrations throughout-with the ultimate goal of helping them see their own place within the natural ecosystem. No matter their location-rural, suburban, or urban-caregivers and kids will bond over activities such as: Camping to conquer fears, build tolerance for dirt and discomfort, and savor the timeless pleasure of swapping stories around a campfire. Growing a vegetable garden to develop a capacity to nurture and an appreciation for hard work. Foraging for wild berries, nuts, and mushrooms as a way to experience the delight of discovery. Fishing local lakes and rivers to learn the value of patience while grappling with the possibility of failure. Cooking together with naturally sourced ingredients you procured. Hunting for sustainably managed wild game to face the realities of life, death, and what it really takes to obtain our food"-- |
NEW RELEASE By Boyle, Rebecca Publishing Date: [2024] Classification: 500 Call Number: 523.3 BOY "Far from being a lifeless ornament in the sky, the Moon holds the answers to some of science's central questions. Silent, dry, and barren, Earth's 4.34-billion-year-old companion is essential to life on earth. Its gravity stabilized the Earth's orbit, and, as it once guided evolution, its tide stirring up nutrients that fostered complex life, it now influences everything from animal migrations and reproduction to the movements of plants' leaves. More than 30,000 years before humans invented writing, they used the Moon's waxing and waning to track the passage of time, and, in a tectonic shift for human consciousness, used it to plan for the future. Unsurprisingly, the Moon was a primary feature of the first religions, written language, and philosophy. But our relationship to the Moon became more concrete when Apollo landed on it in 1969 in a moment of scientific and political triumph. And both engineering and politics promise to shape our relationship with it in the near future. Scientists advocate for a return to the moon to do research; governments and billionaires want to return to turn a profit from its mineral resources. Who gets to decide how we use a celestial body that, Boyle argues, belongs to everyone and no one? How can we learn to protect this beautiful, spectral thing that we all share?"-- |
QED: the strange theory of light and matter By Feynman, Richard P Publishing Date: 2006 Classification: 500 Call Number: 539.756 FEY "Celebrated for his brilliantly quirky insights into the physical world, Nobel laureate Richard Feynman also possessed an extraordinary talent for explaining difficult concepts to the general public. Here Feynman provides a classic and definitive introduction to QED (namely quantum electrodynamics), that part of quantum field theory describing the interactions of light with charged particles. Using everyday language, spatial concepts, visualizations, and his renowned "Feynman diagrams" instead of advanced mathematics, Feynman clearly and humorously communicates both the substance and spirit of QED to the layperson. A. Zee's new introduction places both Feynman's book and his seminal contribution to QED in historical context and further highlights Feynman's uniquely appealing and illuminating style."--Amazon.com |
QED: the strange theory of light and matter By Feynman, Richard P Publishing Date: 1988 Classification: 500 Call Number: 539.756 FEY Explains the principles of quantum electrodynamics in terms understandable to layman. |
By McClung, David Publishing Date: 1993 Classification: 500 Call Number: 551.57 MCC Classic and comprehensive reference on avalanches, their formation, and their effects. |
The Huxleys: an intimate history of evolution By Bashford, Alison Publishing Date: 2022 Classification: 500 Call Number: 576.8 BAS "This momentous biography tells the story of the Huxleys: the Victorian natural historian T. H. Huxley ("Darwin's Bulldog") and his grandson, the scientist, conservationist, and zoologist Julian Huxley. Between them, they communicated to the world the great modern story of the theory of evolution by natural selection. In The Huxleys, celebrated historian Alison Bashford writes seamlessly about these omnivorous intellects together, almost as if they were a single man whose long, vital life bookended the colossal shifts in world history from the age of sail to the Space Age, and from colonial wars to world wars to the Cold War. The Huxleys' specialty was evolution in all its forms--at the grandest level of species, deep time, the Earth, and at the most personal and intimate. They illuminated the problems and wonders of the modern world and they fundamentally shaped how we see ourselves, as individuals and as a species. But perhaps their greatest subject was themselves. Bashford's engaging, brilliantly ambitious book interweaves the Huxleys' momentous public achievements with their private triumphs and tragedies. The result is the history of a family, but also a history of humanity grappling with its place in nature. This book shows how much we owe-- for better or worse-- to the unceasing curiosity, self-absorption, and enthusiasms of a small, strange group of men and women."--Book jacket. |
Crossings: how road ecology is shaping the future of our planet By Goldfarb, Ben Publishing Date: [2023] Classification: 500 Call Number: 577.27 GOL "An eye-opening and witty account of the global ecological transformations wrought by roads, from an award-winning author. Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, but we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. In Crossings, Ben Goldfarb delves into the new science of road ecology to explore how roads have transformed our world. Millions of animals are killed by cars each day in the US alone, and roads fragment wildlife populations into inbred clusters, disrupt migration for creatures from antelope to salmon, allow invasive plants to spread and even bend the arc of evolution itself. But road ecologists are also seeking innovative solutions: Goldfarb meets with conservationists building bridges for mountain lions and tunnels for toads, engineers deconstructing logging roads, and citizens working to undo the havoc highways have wreaked upon cities. A sweeping, spirited and timely investigation into how humans have altered the natural world, Crossings also shows us how to create a better future for all living beings" -- |
Flowers in the snow: the life of Isobel Wylie Hutchison By Hoyle, Gwyneth Publishing Date: 2005 Classification: 500 Call Number: 580.92 HOY Over the course of a dozen years, Scottish plant collector Isobel Wylie Hutchison (1889–1982) explored northern latitudes from the Lofoten Islands of Norway to the far reaches of the American Aleutians. To achieve her goals, she traveled by any means available, from rowboats in Greenland to trading schooners and coast-guard vessels in Alaska. When necessary, she journeyed by snowshoe or sled in pursuit of her botanical specimens, accompanied only by strangers who served as guides. In Flowers in the Snow, Gwyneth Hoyle paints a vivid portrait of a woman gloriously out of the step with the conventions of her time. - (Univ of Nebraska) |
Bees, wasps, and ants: the indispensable role of Hymenoptera in gardens By Grissell, Eric Publishing Date: 2010 Classification: 500 Call Number: 595.79 GRI "Examples of nearly every kind of bee, wasp, and ant can be found somewhere in a garden, but they work in mysterious and wondrous ways, largely unknown to those of us who tend the land we live on. This book is an exploration of the group, discussing its importance, its biology, and methods of encouraging (or discouraging) them in the garden. It is also an openly impassioned plea for acceptance of life forms that are vastly greater in importance than most humans would imagine and hugely necessary to the world in which we live"--Page 2 of cover. |
Landscape with reptile: rattlesnakes in an urban world By Palmer, Thomas Publishing Date: 1992 Classification: 500 Call Number: 597.96 PAL A most unusual book; a skillful blend of literature, natural science, ecology, humor, people, and woodsy New England history and folklore ligatured by and tendered with Palmer's emphasis on a disappearing population of timber rattlesnakes in the Blue Hills near Boston, Massachusetts. As Palmer says, this "is a love story" about Crotalus horridus, the rattlesnake addressed in the narrative simply as "Crotalus." In 17 chapters topics such as snake evolution, snakebite, ophidian legends, New England settlement, destruction of forests, days wandering in the woods, and "war" on rattlesnakes are imaginatively blended with characters and commentaries. The book ends with an appendix on snakebite in the Blue Hills, a notes-section providing chapter-by-chapter documentation, and an index. Palmer is a competent writer and has researched his subjects well. Although tendencies for anthropopathic expressions abound, scientific and historical statements are accurately rendered. Commentaries and themes range widely within most chapters but Palmer's strong feelings for environmental preservation are always evident. Every page is entertaining and anyone who can read will enjoy the book. Highly recommended. General through professional. E.D. Keiser; University of Mississippi--Choice Reviews. |
The verb "to bird": sightings of an avid birder By Cashwell, Peter Publishing Date: 2003 Classification: 500 Call Number: 598 CAS All around the world, birds are the subject of intense, even spiritual, fascination, but relatively few people see the word "bird" as a verb. The author is one who does, and with good reason: He birds (because he can't help it) and he teaches grammar (because he's paid to). An English teacher by profession and an avid birder by inner calling, Cashwell has written a whimsical and critical book about his many obsessions--birds, birders, language, literature, parenting, pop culture, and the human race. |
The mysterious case of Rudolf Diesel: genius, power, and deception on the eve of World War I By Brunt, Douglas Publishing Date: 2023 Classification: 600 Call Number: 609.2 BRU "The hidden history of one of the world's greatest inventors, a man who disrupted the status quo and then disappeared into thin air on the eve of World War I--this book answers the hundred-year-old mystery of what really became of Rudolf Diesel. September 29, 1913: the steamship Dresden is halfway between Belgium and England. On board is one of the most famous men in the world, Rudolf Diesel, whose new internal combustion engine is on the verge of revolutionizing global industry forever. But Diesel never arrives at his destination. He vanishes during the night and headlines around the world wonder if it was an accident, suicide, or murder. After rising from an impoverished European childhood, Diesel had become a multi-millionaire with his powerful engine that does not require expensive petroleum-based fuel. In doing so, he became not only an international celebrity but also the enemy of two extremely powerful men: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil and the richest man in the world. The Kaiser wanted the engine to power a fleet of submarines that would finally allow him to challenge Great Britain's Royal Navy. But Diesel had intended for his engine to be used for the betterment of mankind and kept the technology out of the hands of the British or any other nation. For John D. Rockefeller, the engine was nothing less than an existential threat to his vast and lucrative oil empire. As electric lighting began to replace kerosene lamps, Rockefeller's bottom line depended on the world's growing thirst for gasoline to power its automobiles and industries. At the outset of this new age of electricity and oil, Europe stood on the precipice of war. Rudolf Diesel grew increasingly concerned about Germany's rising nationalism and military spending. The inventor was on his way to London to establish a new company that would help Britain improve its failing submarine program when he disappeared. Now, New York Times bestselling author Douglas Brunt reopens the case and provides an astonishing new conclusion about Diesel's fate." -- |
Healthy food for healthy kids: a practical and tasty guide to your child's nutrition By Swinney, Bridget Publishing Date: 1999 Classification: 600 Call Number: 613.2083 SWI Offers a resource for parents concerned with building a healthy attitude toward food in their children. |
By Pelz, Mindy Publishing Date: 2022 Classification: 600 Call Number: 613.25 PEL "A go-to fasting manual created specifically to address women's needs based on their hormones and menstrual cycle by Dr. Mindy Pelz, a well-known expert on women and fasting, whose fast-growing YouTube channel has become the destination for women who want to learn about fasting"-- |
Publishing Date: [2021] Classification: 600 Call Number: 613.2622 "A book on plant-based eating for middle America, using familiar, easy-to-find ingredients to help readers eat more healthfully. Eating a diet higher in plant foods and lower in animal products has been shown to provide many health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes as well as aiding in weight loss. Dietary guidelines and recommendations from nutrition experts reflect this, encouraging the adoption of diets such as the Mediterranean, Flexitarian, Vegan or DASH diet that are heavy on fruits and vegetables and reduce or restrict the consumption of meat and meat products. Whether folks are choosing to boost their nutritional intake by consuming more plants within their meat-based diets, or avoid animal product once a week such as Meatless Mondays, or go all out vegan, they need support in starting out with this new way of eating. Understanding the importance of the nutrients in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will help the reader grasp why eating more plants will improve their overall health." -- |
Peak: the new science of athletic performance that is revolutionizing sports By Bubbs, Marc Publishing Date: [2019] Classification: 600 Call Number: 613.7 BUB There is a revolution happening in sports as more athletes base their success on a unique combination of nutrition, training, recovery, and mindset. Peak is the groundbreaking book exploring these fundamentals of high performance, getting beyond the fads. It dissects the importance of consistency, not extreme effort, and it illustrates the value of patience, not rapid transformation. With input from leading experts who are influencing the top performers in team and individual sports on how to achieve world-class success, Dr. Marc Bubbs lays out how record-breaking feats of athleticism are rooted in this personalized approach. His performance protocol offers a way forward for the elite athlete, active individual, strength coach, nutritionist, or practitioner--anyone wanting to expand human potential. In Peak, Dr. Bubbs explains how creating personalized nutrition strategies for building muscle and burning fat contribute to success. He connects the importance of sleep, digestion, the microbiome, and blood glucose control metrics to performance. And he applies the new science of recovery and immuno-nutrition for optimal results, illuminating the path toward the next big breakthrough in athletic performance--Publisher's description. |
The yoga bible: the definitive guide to yoga postures By Brown, Christina Publishing Date: 2003 Classification: 600 Call Number: 613.7046 BRO A guide to yoga features 150 positions along with step-by-step instructions on how to achieve them, a summary of the various schools of yoga, and advice on breathing techniques, meditation, and the health benefits of yoga. |
The official body control Pilates manual By Robinson, Lynne Publishing Date: 2001, 2000 Classification: 600 Call Number: 615.82 ROB This is the complete color, illustrated guide to total well-being the Body Control Pilates way. Pilates is the fitness phenomenon of recent years and has gained widespread support from the worlds of sport and medicine. But how may of us really understand how to use it, and the full range of benefits it can offer? |