Science Geography

Which country separates the United States of America from Central America? Where, on average, do people eat half a kilo of tortillas every day? And, where is home to the cactus and the Chihuahua? Mexico, of course! Mexico, or the United States of Mexico, is a federation of 31 sovereign states. Its land mass is almost three times that of Texas, which it borders. In fact, Mexico is the world’s 14th largest nation.

Director Solomon gives a guided tour of Star City Planetarium, where he explains such things as what equipment is used in a planetarium show and what some of the different objects in the night sky are.

In humanity’s more than 100,000 year history, we have evolved from vulnerable creatures clawing sustenance from Earth to a sophisticated global society manipulating every inch of it. In short, we have become the dominant animal. Why, then, are we creating a world that threatens our own species? What can we do to change the current trajectory toward more climate change, increased famine, and epidemic disease?

This new book by Spencer Wells, the internationally known geneticist, anthropologist, author, and director of the Genographic Project, focuses on the seminal event in human history: mankind's decision to become farmers rather than hunter-gatherers.

Entrepreneurs, educators, humanitarians: an entire province's worth of Canadian citizens live outside Canada. Some will return, others won't. But what they all share is the ability, and often the desire, to export Canadian values to a world sorely in need of them. And to act as ambassadors for Canada in industries and societies where diplomatic efforts find little traction. Surely a country with people as diverse as Canada's ought to plug itself into every corner of the globe. We don't, and sometimes not even when our expats are eager to help.

King cobras slither across the ground. Learn all about these venomous snakes and their habitats in King Cobras.

This entertaining book encourages young listeners to become creative thinkers. People with great ideas, some famous and some not so much, invented the things we use every day. Inventors like Ben Franklin, the Wright Brothers, Heddy Lamar, and Josephine Cochran dreamed the big dreams that led to lightning rods, airplanes, torpedoes, and dishwashers.

Several years ago, ecologist Lauren E. Oakes set out from California for Alaska's old-growth forests to hunt for a dying tree: the yellow-cedar. With climate change as the culprit, the death of this species meant loss for many Alaskans. Oakes and her research team wanted to chronicle how plants and people could cope with their rapidly changing world. Amidst the standing dead, she discovered the resiliency of forgotten forests, flourishing again in the wake of destruction, and a diverse community of people who persevered to create new relationships with the emerging environment.

In the 60,000 years since people began colonising the continents, a recurring feature of human civilisation has been mobility - the constant search for resources and stability. Seismic global events - wars and genocides, revolutions and pandemics - have only accelerated the process. The map of humanity isn't settled, not now, not ever. As climate change tips toward full-blown crisis, economies collapse, governments destabilise and technology disrupts, we're entering a new age of mass migrations - one that will scatter not just the dispossessed but all of us.

Perhaps the first environmental engineer at Hanford, Melvin R. Adams spent 24 years on its 586 square miles of desert terrain. His thoughtful vignettes recall challenges and sites he worked on or found personally intriguing - like the 216-U-pond, contaminated with plutonium longer than any other place in the world.

In light of concerns about food and human health, fraying social ties, economic uncertainty, and rampant consumerism, some people are foregoing a hurried, distracted existence and embracing a mindful way of living. Intentional residential communities across the United States are seeking the freedom to craft their own societies and live based on the values of nonviolence, self-sufficiency, equality, and voluntary simplicity.

What is a country? While certain basic tenets - such as the clear demarcation of a country's borders, and the acknowledgment of its sovereignty by other countries and by international governing bodies like the United Nations - seem applicable, journalist Joshua Keating's book explores exceptions to these rules. Through stories about these countries' efforts at self-determination, as well as their respective challenges, Keating reveals that there is no universal legal authority determining what we consider a country.

Journey without End chronicles the years-long journey of "extracontinentales"—African and South Asian migrants moving through Latin America, toward the United States. Based on five years of collaborative research between a journalist and an anthropologist, this book makes a narrative-driven critique of how state-level immigration policy fails extracontinental migrants.

Wheeler is Britain's foremost woman travel writer. Glowing Still is the story of her travelling life - what is 'important, revealing or funny' - in a notoriously testosterone-laden field. Growing up among blue-collar Conservatives in Bristol where 'we didn't know anyone who wasn't like us', Wheeler knew she needed to get away. In her twenties she began a dramatic escape: Pole to Pole, via Poland. Glowing Still recalls happy days on India's Puri Express; an Antarctic lavatory through which a seal popped up (hot fishy breath!); and the louche life of a Parisian shopgirl.

Explore the Keystone State! Learn about Pennsylvania's history, geography, weather, people, and more in this book that's all about our second state.

Human history mirrors the history of climate change. Human origins, for example, can be traced to five million years ago when the climate of East Africa became progressively hotter and drier. This caused the lush tropical jungles to disappear and be replaced by arid plains and savannahs. Our pre-human ancestors learned to exploit those new ecosystems by gathering the seed-bearing grasses, nuts, and tubers that thrived in these semi-arid conditions. Also, by foraging in the heat of the day, proto-humans could minimize unwelcome contact with nocturnal predators.

Una obra vívida y poética que recuerda los viajes alrededor del mundo y los encuentros humanos, animales y naturales que han dado forma a una vida extraordinaria. Llevándonos casi de polo a polo, desde las megaciudades modernas a algunas de las regiones más remotas de la Tierra, y durante décadas de experiencia vivida, Barry Lopez ofrece su trabajo más extenso y personal hasta la fecha, en un audiolibro que se mueve de manera indeleble, a través de sus viajes, a seis regiones del mundo.

Wer die Nachrichten von morgen heute schon verstehen möchte. Die großen internationalen Konflikte des 21. Jahrhunderts sind heute bereits angelegt. Mit bestechender Klarsicht identifiziert der Politikexperte Tim Marshall, welche zehn Regionen die größten Krisenherde der nächsten Zukunft darstellen. Er erklärt, welche Rolle geographische Faktoren spielen, wer in die Konflikte verwickelt ist und welche Lösungen es geben könnte.

The Four Points of the Compass takes the listener on a journey of directional discovery. Jerry Brotton reveals why Hebrew culture privileges east; why Renaissance Europeans began drawing north at the top of their maps; why the early Islam revered the south; why the Aztecs used five colour-coded cardinal directions; and why no societies, primitive or modern, have ever oriented themselves westwards. He ends by reflecting on our digital age in which we, the little blue dot on the screen, have become the most important compass point.

Gerald of Wales, also called Giraldus Cambrensis or Gerald De Barri ( c. 1146-c. 1223), was the archdeacon of Brecknock and a historian whose accounts of late 12th century Britain and France contain vivid anecdotes about the Christian church, the universities of Paris and Oxford, and about notable clerics. His work, Topographia Hiberniae, is an arresting account of his travels in Ireland, with vivid descriptions of the island’s fauna and flora and its natural beauty.