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Acridids (grasshoppers and locusts) can range from being rare
curiosities to abundant menaces. Some are threatened with
extinction and become subjects of intensive conservation efforts,
while others are devastating pests and become the objects of
massive control programmes. Even within a species, there are times
when the animal is so abundant that its crushed masses cause the
wheels of trains to skid (the Rocky Mountain grasshopper,
Melanoplus spretus Walsh in western North America in the 1860s and
I 870s), while at other times the animal is alarmingly scarce (the
Rocky Mountain grasshopper went extinct in the early 1900s). Why
are there these extremes in one insect family, and even in a single
species? The NATO workshop examined this paradox and its
implications for Environmental Security, which must address both
the elements of land use (agricultural production and pest
management) and conservation of biodiversity. The reconciliation of
these objectives clearly demands a critical assessment of current
knowledge and policies, identification of future research, and
close working relationships among scientists. Insects can present
two clear faces, as well as the intervening gradation. These
extremes require us to respond in two ways: conservation of scarce
species and suppression of abundant (harmful) species. But perhaps
most important, these opposite poles also provide the opportunity
for an exchange of information and insight.
Ecologists use a remarkable range of methods and techniques to
understand complex, inherently variable, and functionally diverse
entities and processes across a staggering range of spatial,
temporal and interactive scales. These multiple perspectives make
ecology very different to the exemplar of science often presented
by philosophers. In Philosophical Foundations for the Practices of
Ecology, designed for graduate students and researchers, ecology is
put into a new philosophical framework that engages with this
inherent pluralism while still placing constraints on the ways that
we can investigate and understand nature. The authors begin by
exploring the sources of variety in the practice of ecology and how
these have led to the current conceptual confusion. They argue that
the solution is to adopt the approach of constrained perspectivism
and go on to explore the ontological, metaphysical, and
epistemological aspects of this position and how it can be used in
ecological research and teaching.
Feminist Ecocriticism examines the interplay of women and nature as
seen through literary theory and criticism, drawing on insights
from such diverse fields as chaos theory and psychoanalysis, while
examining genres ranging from nineteenth-century sentimental
literature to contemporary science fiction. The book explores the
central claim of ecofeminism that there is a connection between
environmental degradation and the subordination of women with the
goal of identifying and fostering liberatory alternatives. Feminist
Ecocriticism analyzes the work of such diverse women writers as
Rachel Carson, Barbara Kingsolver, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Mary
Shelley. By including chapters from a comparable number of women
and men, this book dispels the notion that ecofeminism is relevant
to and used by only female scholars. After uncovering the
oppressive dichotomies of male/female and nature/culture that
underlie contemporary environmental problems, Feminist Ecocriticism
focuses specifically on emancipatory strategies employed by
ecofeminist literary critics as antidotes, asking what our lives
might be like as those strategies become increasingly successful in
overcoming oppression. Thus, ecofeminism is not limited to the
critique of literature, but also helps identify and articulate
liberatory ideals that can be actualized in the real world, in the
process transforming everyday life. Providing an alternative to
rugged individualism, for example, ecofeminist literature promotes
a more fulfilling sense of interrelationship with both community
and the land. In the process of exploring literature from
ecofeminist perspectives, the book reveals strategies of
emancipation that have already begun to give rise to more hopeful
ecological narratives. Feminist Ecocriticism provides a novel
integration of two important strands of contemporary literary
criticism that have often failed to make contact: feminist
criticism and ecocriticism. The openness of both feminist criticism
and ecocriticism to multiple, even incompatible perspectives,
without the insistence on unitary definitions of their fields, has
given rise to a new hybrid discipline: feminist ecocriticism."
Feminist Ecocriticism examines the interplay of women and nature as
seen through literary theory and criticism, drawing on insights
from such diverse fields as chaos theory and psychoanalysis, while
examining genres ranging from nineteenth-century sentimental
literature to contemporary science fiction. The book explores the
central claim of ecofeminism-that there is a connection between
environmental degradation and the subordination of women-with the
goal of identifying and fostering liberatory alternatives. Feminist
Ecocriticism analyzes the work of such diverse women writers as
Rachel Carson, Barbara Kingsolver, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Mary
Shelley. By including chapters from a comparable number of women
and men, this book dispels the notion that ecofeminism is relevant
to and used by only female scholars. After uncovering the
oppressive dichotomies of male/female and nature/culture that
underlie contemporary environmental problems, Feminist Ecocriticism
focuses specifically on emancipatory strategies employed by
ecofeminist literary critics as antidotes, asking what our lives
might be like as those strategies become increasingly successful in
overcoming oppression. Thus, ecofeminism is not limited to the
critique of literature, but also helps identify and articulate
liberatory ideals that can be actualized in the real world, in the
process transforming everyday life. Providing an alternative to
rugged individualism, for example, ecofeminist literature promotes
a more fulfilling sense of interrelationship with both community
and the land. In the process of exploring literature from
ecofeminist perspectives, the book reveals strategies of
emancipation that have already begun to give rise to more hopeful
ecological narratives. Feminist Ecocriticism provides a novel
integration of two important strands of contemporary literary
criticism that have often failed to make contact: feminist
criticism and ecocriticism. The openness of both feminist criticism
and ecocriticism to multiple, even incompatible perspectives,
without the insistence on unitary definitions of their fields, has
given rise to a new hybrid discipline: feminist ecocriticism.
Acridids (grasshoppers and locusts) can range from being rare
curiosities to abundant menaces. Some are threatened with
extinction and become subjects of intensive conservation efforts,
while others are devastating pests and become the objects of
massive control programmes. Even within a species, there are times
when the animal is so abundant that its crushed masses cause the
wheels of trains to skid (the Rocky Mountain grasshopper,
Melanoplus spretus Walsh in western North America in the 1860s and
I 870s), while at other times the animal is alarmingly scarce (the
Rocky Mountain grasshopper went extinct in the early 1900s). Why
are there these extremes in one insect family, and even in a single
species? The NATO workshop examined this paradox and its
implications for Environmental Security, which must address both
the elements of land use (agricultural production and pest
management) and conservation of biodiversity. The reconciliation of
these objectives clearly demands a critical assessment of current
knowledge and policies, identification of future research, and
close working relationships among scientists. Insects can present
two clear faces, as well as the intervening gradation. These
extremes require us to respond in two ways: conservation of scarce
species and suppression of abundant (harmful) species. But perhaps
most important, these opposite poles also provide the opportunity
for an exchange of information and insight.
Ecologists use a remarkable range of methods and techniques to
understand complex, inherently variable, and functionally diverse
entities and processes across a staggering range of spatial,
temporal and interactive scales. These multiple perspectives make
ecology very different to the exemplar of science often presented
by philosophers. In Philosophical Foundations for the Practices of
Ecology, designed for graduate students and researchers, ecology is
put into a new philosophical framework that engages with this
inherent pluralism while still placing constraints on the ways that
we can investigate and understand nature. The authors begin by
exploring the sources of variety in the practice of ecology and how
these have led to the current conceptual confusion. They argue that
the solution is to adopt the approach of constrained perspectivism
and go on to explore the ontological, metaphysical, and
epistemological aspects of this position and how it can be used in
ecological research and teaching.
The book, Estimation and Analysis of Insect Populations, is about
estimation of population parameters in stage frequency structured
populations and the subsequent use of this information in
development of mathematical and computer models. The unique
contribution of this work is the extensive, comparative review of
statistical methods used in the estimation of stage frequency
parameters, the review of modeling techniques, and presentation of
new approaches to both parameter estimation and modeling. Thus,
this book will be of value in both pedagogic and research
applications. This book will be of interest to advanced
undergraduate students, graduate students, and research scientists
in the fields of statistics, entomology, and other areas of applied
population ecology. It could well serve as either the primary text
or as an important reference in courses involving estimation,
analysis, and modeling of stage frequency structured populations.
As such, advertisement should be directed toward academic,
departments and research laboratories involved in natural resource
management (e.g. Fisheries and Wildlife, Entomology, Forestry), or
applied mathematics (e.g. Statistics).
In Six-Legged Soldiers, Jeffrey A. Lockwood paints a brilliant
portrait of the many weirdly creative, truly frightening, and
ultimately powerful ways in which insects have been used as weapons
of war, terror, and torture. He concludes with a critical analysis
of today's defenses--and homeland security's dangerous
shortcomings--with respect to entomological attacks.
Beginning in prehistoric times and building toward a near and
disturbing future, the reader is taken on a journey of innovation
and depravity. Lockwood, an award-winning science writer, begins
with the use of "bee bombs" in the ancient world and explores the
role of insect-borne disease in changing the course of major
battles, from Napoleon's military campaigns to the trenches of
World War I. He explores the horrific programs of insect
weaponization during World War II: airplanes designed to drop
plague-infested fleas, facilities rearing tens of millions of
crop-devouring beetles, and prison camps where doctors tested
disease-carrying lice on inmates. The Cold War saw secret
government operations involving the mass release of specially
developed strains of mosquitoes on an unsuspecting American
public--along with the alleged use of disease-carrying and
crop-eating pests against North Korea and Cuba. Lockwood reveals
how easy it would be to use insects in warfare and terrorism today,
pointing to how domestic eco-terrorists in 1989 extorted government
officials and wreaked economic and political havoc by threatening
to release the notorious Medfly into California's crops.
A remarkable story of human ingenuity--and brutality--Six-Legged
Soldiers is the first comprehensive look at the use of insects as
weapons of war, from ancient times to the present day.
Exploring censorship imposed by corporate wealth and power, this
book focuses on the energy industry in Wyoming, where coal, oil,
and gas are pillars of the economy. The author examines how
governmental bodies and public institutions have suppressed the
expression of ideas that conflict with the financial interests of
those who profit from fossil fuels. He reveals the ways in which
university administrations, art museums, education boards, and
research institutes have been coerced into destroying artwork,
abandoning studies, modifying curricula, and firing employees. His
book is an eloquent story of the conflict between private wealth
and free speech. Providing more of the nation's energy than any
other state, Wyoming is a sociopolitical lens that magnifies the
conflicts in the American West. But the issues are relevant to any
community that is dependent on a dominant industry-and wherever the
liberties of citizens and the ethics of public officials are at
risk.
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Anomie (Paperback)
Jeffrey A. Lockwood
bundle available
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R723
Discovery Miles 7 230
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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