Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf book club choice New York Times bestseller 'Fascinating.' Sunday Times 'Thrilling.' Mail on Sunday All they wanted was the chance to shine. Be careful what you wish for... 'The first thing we asked was, "Does this stuff hurt you?" And they said, "No." The company said that it wasn't dangerous, that we didn't need to be afraid.' As the First World War spread across the world, young American women flocked to work in factories, painting clocks, watches and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous - the girls shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in dust from the paint. However, as the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. It turned out that the very thing that had made them feel alive - their work - was slowly killing them: the radium paint was poisonous. Their employers denied all responsibility, but these courageous women - in the face of unimaginable suffering - refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead became determined to fight for justice. Drawing on previously unpublished diaries, letters and interviews, The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative of an unforgettable true story. It is the powerful tale of a group of ordinary women from the Roaring Twenties, who themselves learned how to roar. Further praise for The Radium Girls 'The importance of the brave and blighted dial-painters cannot be overstated.' Sunday Times 'A perfect blend of the historical, the scientific and the personal.' Bustle 'Thrilling and carefully crafted.' Mail on Sunday

Mathematical modeling of atmospheric composition is a formidable scientific and computational challenge. This comprehensive presentation of the modeling methods used in atmospheric chemistry focuses on both theory and practice, from the fundamental principles behind models, through to their applications in interpreting observations. An encyclopaedic coverage of methods used in atmospheric modeling, including their advantages and disadvantages, makes this a one-stop resource with a large scope. Particular emphasis is given to the mathematical formulation of chemical, radiative, and aerosol processes; advection and turbulent transport; emission and deposition processes; as well as major chapters on model evaluation and inverse modeling. The modeling of atmospheric chemistry is an intrinsically interdisciplinary endeavour, bringing together meteorology, radiative transfer, physical chemistry and biogeochemistry, making the book of value to a broad readership. Introductory chapters and a review of the relevant mathematics make this book instantly accessible to graduate students and researchers in the atmospheric sciences.

Hurricanes menace North America from June through to November every year, each as powerful as 10,000 nuclear bombs. These megastorms will likely become more intense as the planet continues to warm, yet we too often treat them as local disasters and TV spectacles, unaware of how far-ranging their impact can be. As best-selling historian Eric Jay Dolin contends, we must look to our nation's past if we hope to comprehend the consequences of the hurricanes of the future. With A Furious Sky, Dolin has created a vivid, sprawling account of our encounters with hurricanes, from the nameless storms that threatened Columbus's New World voyages to the destruction wrought in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria. Weaving a story of shipwrecks and devastated cities, of heroism and folly, Dolin introduces a rich cast of unlikely heroes, such as Benito Vines, a nineteenth-century Jesuit priest whose innovative methods for predicting hurricanes saved countless lives and puts us in the middle of the most devastating storms of the past, none worse than the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed at least 6,000 people, the highest toll of any natural disaster in American history. Dolin draws on a vast array of sources as he melds American history, as it is usually told, with the history of hurricanes, showing how these tempests frequently helped determine the nation's course. Hurricanes, it turns out, prevented Spain from expanding its holdings in North America beyond Florida in the late 1500s and they also played a key role in shifting the tide of the American Revolution against the British in the final stages of the conflict. As he moves through the centuries, following the rise of the United States despite the chaos caused by hurricanes, Dolin traces the corresponding development of hurricane science, from important discoveries made by Benjamin Franklin to the breakthroughs spurred by the necessities of World War II and the Cold War. Yet after centuries of study and despite remarkable leaps in scientific knowledge and technological prowess, there are still limits on our ability to predict exactly when and where hurricanes will strike and we remain vulnerable to the greatest storms on earth. A Furious Sky is, ultimately, a story of a changing climate and it forces us to reckon with the reality that, as bad as the past has been, the future will probably be worse unless we drastically re-imagine our relationship with the planet.

Why is natural resource exploitation not yielding greater benefits for the poor economies? In this second edition of his landmark book, Barbier explores this paradox in three parts. Part I gives a historical review of resource use and development, examining current theories that explain the under-performance of today's resource-abundant economies, and proposing a hypothesis of frontier expansion as an alternative explanation. Part II develops models to analyse the key economic factors underlying land expansion and water use in developing countries. Part III explores further the structural pattern of resource dependency, rural poverty and resource degradation within developing countries, and through illustrative country case studies, proposes policy and institutional reforms necessary for successful resource-based development. First published in 2005, each chapter in this new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated, with new material, tables, figures and supporting empirical evidence. It will appeal to graduate students and scholars researching environmental and developmental economics.

Nuclear power is not an option for the future but an absolute necessity. Global threats of climate change and lethal air pollution, killing millions each year, make it clear that nuclear and renewable energy must work together, as non-carbon sources of energy. Fortunately, a new era of growth in this energy source is underway in developing nations, though not yet in the West. Seeing the Light is the first book to clarify these realities and discuss their implications for coming decades. Readers will learn how, why, and where the new nuclear era is happening, what new technologies are involved, and what this means for preventing the proliferation of weapons. This book is the best work available for becoming fully informed about this key subject, for students, the general public, and anyone interested in the future of energy production, and, thus, the future of humanity on planet Earth.

"Through a globe-circling tour of the planet, a conservation ecologist checks environmental statistics and reveals the importance of understanding where these numbers come from in order to evaluate current awareness of the planet's potential environmental peril."-Forecast Praise for the hardcover edition (published as The World According to Pimm) "Among ecologists who can apply their understanding of basic science to the modern human predicament, Stuart Pimm is one of the very best in the world today. He writes clearly, interestingly, and understandably. This book will interest literally everyone "-Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel "A dazzling tour d'horizon of the twenty-first century environment. The author informs us of the approaching fate of the natural world (including our own species) with uncommon scientific authority, style, and wit."-Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor, Emeritus, Harvard University "A born storyteller, Pimm takes us on a world tour to reveal how people are adversely affecting their environment-a tour de force in more than one sense."-Thomas E. Lovejoy, chief biodiversity advisor to the president of the World Bank Humans use 50 percent of the world's freshwater supply and consume 42 percent of its plant growth. We are liquidating animals and plants one hundred times faster than the natural rate of extinction. Such numbers should make it clear that our impact on the planet has been, and continues to be, extreme and detrimental. Yet even after decades of awareness of our environmental peril, there remains passionate disagreement over what the problems are and how they should be remedied. Much of the impasse stems from the fact that the problems are difficult to quantify. How do we assess the impact of habitat loss on various species, when we haven't even counted them all? And just what factors go into that 42 percent of biomass we are hungrily consuming? In this book, Stuart Pimm appoints himself "investment banker of the global, biological accounts," checking the environmental statistics gathered by tireless scientists in work that is always painstaking and often heartbreaking. With wit, passion, and candor, he reveals the importance of understanding where these numbers come from and what they mean. To do so, he takes the reader on a globe-circling tour of our beautiful, but weary, planet from the volcanic mountains and rainforests of Hawai'i to the boreal forests of Siberia. Stuart L. Pimm is Doris Duke Chair of Conservation Ecology at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University. He is the author of more than 150 scientific papers, as well as three books, and numerous articles in publications such as New Scientist, The Sciences, Nature, and Science.

Read the Sunday Times bestseller that reveals the Earth’s awesome impact on the shape of human civilisations.

‘Stands comparison with Sapiens… Thrilling’ Sunday Times

Human evolution in East Africa was driven by geological forces. Ancient Greece developed democracy because of its mountainous terrain. Voting behaviour in the United States today follows the bed of an ancient sea.

Professor Lewis Dartnell takes us on an astonishing journey into our planet’s past to tell the ultimate origin story. Blending science and history, Origins reveals the Earth’s awesome impact on the shape of human civilisations – and helps us to see the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Melissa Walker set out on a journey that many women of her generation have mapped only in their dreams. Like many American chroniclers before her who have surrendered to the aimless pleasures of the road, Walker had no geographical destination in mind, but she did have two definite goals--one personal, one political--for her journey. She was looking for the peace and solitude of the backcountry, certainly, but she also wanted to learn the dynamics of preserving wild places and to devote herself to that cause. In the Sky Islands of southern Arizona, on the banks of the Popo Agie River and the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming, in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, and Olympic National Park, in Gila and Glacier Peak Wilderness, she encountered the hazards of wild animals and extreme weather, and she began to reassess what parts of her life she could control.

Living on Wilderness Time is a book for those who have visited wild places and want to return, and for others whose overcommitted urban lives make them long for land where time is measured differently and human beings are scarce. Above all it is a call to join those who, like Aldo Leopold, see wilderness as vital to the human community.

Melissa Walker is vice president of National Wilderness Watch, chair of the Georgia chapter of Wilderness Watch, serves on the Southern Appalachian Council of the Wilderness Society, and is the author of Reading the Environment and Down from the Mountaintop. She has been Professor of English at the University of New Orleans and Mercer University and a fellow of Women's Studies at Emory University. Walker lives with her husband in Atlanta, Georgia.

Cloud research is a rapidly developing branch of climate science that's vital to climate modelling. With new observational and simulation technologies our knowledge of clouds and their role in the warming climate is accelerating. This book provides a comprehensive overview of research on clouds and their role in our present and future climate, covering theoretical, observational, and modelling perspectives. Part I discusses clouds from three different perspectives: as particles, light and fluid. Part II describes our capability to model clouds, ranging from theoretical conceptual models to applied parameterised representations. Part III describes the interaction of clouds with the large-scale circulation in the tropics, mid-latitudes, and polar regions. Part IV describes how clouds are perturbed by aerosols, the land-surface, and global warming. Each chapter contains end-of-chapter exercises and further reading sections, making this an ideal resource for advanced students and researchers in climatology, atmospheric science, meteorology, and climate change.

Marli's Tangled Tale takes you to the cool and green cliffs where Marli the Puffin lives with her soon to hatch egg until one day the excitement of the far away town visits in an unexpected way. As hope starts to fade her tangled tale takes a twist just in time for the surprise waiting for her back at home! Marli's Tangled Tale is based on true events and it is this powerful message which invites children and adults alike to question the impact of ocean plastic on our environment. With ideas and activities which reinforce the story this is a book which will inspire children to make changes to the world around them. There is a huge growing national and international consciousness about the dangers of palm oil and deforestation and it is important to teach children about this devastating global issue without overwhelming them or shocking them. The Wild Tribe Heroes series of books guides young readers through the issues in a gentle and friendly way together with further information to inspire children to make changes to their own and their families lives. Sold over 30,000 books in the series in just 2 years ; No 1 bestselling books ; Personal letters of congratulations from Sir David Attenborough and Prince Charles ; All books are based on true stories which means that children are more connected to the issue. ; Featured in national media - BBC, ITV, Guardian, Huffington Post and Mail on Sunday ; Sold by WH Smiths, Waterstones, National Trust, RNLI, Surfers Against Sewage, #2MinuteBeachClean. ; Stocked by over 250 museums, national libraries, bookshops and gift shops, zero waste and farm shops and major tourist attractions such as The Eden Project and London & Chester Zoos ; Reached over a million children worldwide in schools ; Translated into 15 different languages so far

"Green Politics, Green Economics" analyzes the dominant model of economic growth promoted everywhere and shows how it can be seen to account for the general crisis humanity faces as nature everywhere is in retreat. There are two intersecting economic reasons for the current situation: the changing world economy and the experience of reaching the limits of capitalist production and growth. The responses of governments and corporations to the weaknesses of the prevailing economic practices are noted and a critique is lucidly presented, which minimally includes the reorganization of work, the future of professional relations, the basic reform of the welfare state, the development of free time, the democratization of urban society, and the changes in international power relations.

This brilliant work probes the many facets of capitalism's ecological contradictions and dares to ask the basic question: Is sustainable development possible under market capitalism? It is a sobering and timely antidote to the current rash of publications touting a successful marriage of the corporate marketplace with the goals of environmental quality and social justice, in a context where corporations, big and small, are tripping over each other to wash themselves green. The economic system is also examined in the light of the liberal democratic state's inability to manage environmental problems domestically or internationally, whether managed by the right wing or the left wing. How to come out of this impasse is what this rigorous text examines.

M.Athena Palaeologu is a long-time researcher and activist, exploring solutions reflecting social ecology. She holds a PhD in politics and economics.

From the vantage point of a nearby pond in Newton, Massachusetts, Diana Muir reconstructs an intriguing interpretation of New England's natural history and the people who have lived there since pre-Columbian times. Taking a radically new way to illustrate for general readers the vast interrelationships between natural ecology and human economics, Muir weaves together an imaginative and dramatic account of the changes, massive and subtle, that successive generations of humankind and such animals as sheep and beavers have worked on the land.
Her compelling narrative takes us to a New England populated by individuals struggling to make a living from a land not generously endowed by nature. Yankee history, she argues, was a string of ecological crises from which the only escape lay in creating radical new solutions to apparently insurmountable problems. Young men and women coming of age in the 1790s faced a bleak future. In a time when farming was virtually the only occupation, a burgeoning population meant that there was not enough land to go around. Worse, such land as there was had been worn out by generations of careless use. With no prospects and no options, young men like Eli Whitney and Thomas Blanchard might have resigned themselves to a life of poverty. Instead, they started an industrial revolution, the power of which astonished the world.
Reflections in Bullough's Pond is history on a grand scale. Drawing on scholarship in fields ranging from archaeology to zoology, Muir offers an exhilarating tour of Paleolithic megafauna, the population crisis faced by New England natives in the pre-Columbian period, the introduction of indoor plumbing, and the invention of the shoe-peg. At the end, we understand ourselves and our world a little better.

Uranium, the most atomically unstable natural element on earth, has a unique place in the global geopolitics of resources. It provides energy to millions of people and its isotopes are used to power spacecraft and in nuclear medicine. But it is also at the heart of many of the planet's most deadly threats, including nuclear devastation and radioactive waste. Its mining has caused bitter conflict with indigenous peoples and its testing in nuclear weapons has left a toxic legacy. Yet the nonproliferation regime which aims to phase out nuclear weapons and manage the risks of nuclear energy is at risk of unravelling. In this book, Anthony Burke explores the geopolitical intrigue around uranium and the dilemmas of justice and security to which its development has given rise. The twenty-first century, he cautions, will be a time of reckoning and new reserves of political will must be found to manage the impact of this extraordinary mineral. Only by cooperating to achieve multilateral disarmament and greater international control over nuclear power can we ward off nuclear catastrophe and harness the potential of nuclear energy to help address, rather than create, some of the world's most pressing problems.

This book takes a new approach to understanding primate conservation research, adding a personal perspective to allow readers to learn what motivates those doing conservation work. When entering the field over a decade ago, many young primatologists were driven by evolutionary questions centered in behavioural ecology. However, given the current environment of cascading extinctions and increasing threats to primates we now need to ensure that primates remain in viable populations in the wild before we can simply engage in research in the context of pure behavioural ecology. This has changed the primary research aims of many primatologists and shifted our focus to conservation priorities, such as understanding the impacts of human activity, habitat conversion or climate change on primates. This book presents personal narratives alongside empirical research results and discussions of strategies used to stem the tide of extinction. It is a must-have for anyone interested in conservation research.

When American explorers crossed the Texas Panhandle, they dubbed it part of the ""Great American Desert."" A ""sea of grass,"" the llano appeared empty, flat, and barely habitable. Contemporary developments - cell phone towers, oil rigs, and wind turbines - have only added to this stereotype. Yet in this lyrical ecomemoir, Shelley Armitage charts a unique rediscovery of the largely unknown land, a journey at once deeply personal and far-reaching in its exploration of the connections between memory, spirit, and place. Armitage begins her narrative with the intention to walk the llano from her family farm thirty meandering miles along the Middle Alamosa Creek to the Canadian River. Along the way, she seeks the connection between her father and one of the area's first settlers, Ysabel Gurule, who built his dugout on the banks of the Canadian. Armitage, who grew up nearby in the small town of Vega, finds this act of walking inseparable from the act of listening and writing. ""What does the land say to us?"" she asks as she witnesses human alterations to the landscape - perhaps most catastrophic the continued drainage of the land's most precious resource, the Ogallala Aquifer. Yet the llano's wonders persist: dynamic mesas and canyons, vast flora and fauna, diverse wildlife, rich histories. Armitage recovers the voices of ancient, Native, and Hispano peoples, their stories interwoven with her own: her father's legacy, her mother's decline, a brother's love. The llano holds not only the beauty of ecological surprises but a renewed realization of kinship in a world ever changing. Reminiscent of the work of Terry Tempest Williams and John McPhee, Walking the Llano is both a celebration of an oft-overlooked region and a soaring testimony to the power of the landscape to draw us into greater understanding of ourselves and others by experiencing a deeper connection with the places we inhabit.

Duffy's Lucky Escape will transport you to a tropical paradise where Duffy the Sea Turtle lives amongst beautiful coral reefs and colourful fish only for Duffy to learn that not all that floats is food. As time is running out Duffy has a lucky escape when kind people step in to save the day. Duffy's Lucky Escape is based on true events and it is this powerful message which invites children and adults alike to question the impact of ocean plastic on our environment. With ideas and activities which reinforce the story this is a book which will inspire children to make changes to the world around them. There is a huge growing national and international consciousness about the dangers of ocean plastic and it is important to teach children about this devastating global issue without overwhelming them or shocking them. The Wild Tribe Heroes series of books guides young readers through the issues in a gentle and friendly way together with further information to inspire children to make changes to their own and their families lives. Sold over 30,000 books in the series in just 2 years ; No 1 bestselling books ; Personal letters of congratulations from Sir David Attenborough and Prince Charles ; All books are based on true stories which means that children are more connected to the issue. ; Featured in national media - BBC, ITV, Guardian, Huffington Post and Mail on Sunday ; Sold by WH Smiths, Waterstones, National Trust, RNLI, Surfers Against Sewage, #2MinuteBeachClean. ; Stocked by over 250 museums, national libraries, bookshops and gift shops, zero waste and farm shops and major tourist attractions such as The Eden Project and London & Chester Zoos ; Reached over a million children worldwide in schools ; Translated into 15 different languages so far

All across the world, irreplaceable habitats are under threat. Unique ecosystems of plants and animals are being destroyed by human intervention. From the tiny to the vast, from marshland to meadow, and from America to England, Greece, and India, they are disappearing. Irreplaceable is not only a love letter to the haunting beauty of these landscapes and the wild species that call them home, including prairie chickens, nightingales, lynxes, hornbills, redwoods, and elephant seals, it is also a timely reminder of the vital connections between humans and nature, and all that we stand to lose in terms of wonder and well-being. This is a book about the power of resistance in an age of loss; a testament to the transformative possibilities that emerge when people come together to defend our most special places and wildlife from extinction. Exploring treasured coral reefs and remote mountains, tropical jungle and ancient woodland, urban gardens and tallgrass prairie, Julian Hoffman traces the stories of threatened places around the globe through the voices of local communities and grassroots campaigners as well as professional ecologists and academics. And in the process, he asks what a deep emotional relationship with place offers us-culturally, socially, and psychologically. In this rigorous, intimate, and impassioned account, he presents a powerful call to arms in the face of unconscionable natural destruction.

Water shapes our landscapes and sustains life on Earth. It also influences our emotions and inspires imagination and creativity. Yet we take it for granted, treating it as a convenience or for cleansing. In this comprehensive new book, Alick Bartholomew argues controversially that water is the medium of communication between all living organisms. He suggests that only through understanding water's true role in Nature can we begin to live responsibly and sustainably. The book covers all aspects of water, from water in the cosmos and solar system, through the Earth's water cycles, to water in our bodies and in plants. It goes on to consider the larger picture as well: water's cosmic role, the memory of water, and its crucial relationship to the quantum field. Finally, the author addresses the future: the global water crisis and how to access the best quality of living water for human health. This is a serious but popularly-written illustrated book which offers an original and fascinating study of water as a vital dimension that interconnects all life on Earth.

This book calls for the progressive creation of supra-national institutions intended to protect life on Earth against natural threats, be these terrestrial (pandemics, super-volcanoes, major earthquakes.) or celestial (comets, asteroids, meteor storms). The protection proffered would need to be pre-emptive though also responsive, reducing the number of adverse events but also their specific consequences. Rancid though the world scene currently looks, this may actually be a good time to look towards a planetary security programme that can build up over a century or more. It would need special international institutions that are sufficiently integrated to cope with the celestial and terrestrial contingencies anticipated yet not so much a class apart as to be a law unto themselves, a military regime able to ride roughshod over general world opinion. Such an holistic approach to planetary security might prove to be a definitive substitute for war between nations. Professor Brown comes to such questions from a broad career background. His lead qualifications are a Masters degree from Oxford in Modern History and a Doctorate of Science from Birmingham (UK) in Applied Geophysics. He has been a naval meteorologist; staff college instructor; part-time but pro-active as a defence correspondent for several of the West's leading journals; and political consultant. From 1980 to 1986, he was Chairman of the Council for Arms Control. From 1993 to 1997 he worked half-time in the Sensors and Electronic Systems directorate of Britain's Ministry of Defence. This was as the Academic Consultant in a small task force specifically created to advise the government of the day apropos what British policy to Strategic Ballistic Missile Defence should be. A declassified rendering of his 90,000-word report (published by Mansfield College, Oxford, in 1998) argued firmly against our going down this path. It could lead to a catastrophic arms race.