-
An introduction to tree-ring dating. Click here to buy
Stokes, Marvin A. and Terah L. Smiley.
$38.00
Octavo, paperback, 73 pp., illustrations.
This title is not held in stock but we are happy to supply on special order. Please contact us. Reprint of a seminal study originally published by University of Chicago Press in 1968, providing a concise, yet thorough explication of the discipline of dendrochronology. The authors explain the principles of tree-ring dating, then describe details of the process from sample collection to incorporation into a master chronology.
Darwin and his flowers: the key to natural selection. Click here to buy
Allan, Mea.
$50.00
Octavo, 318 pp., colour photographs, other black and white illustrations, good copy in dustwrapper.
(ISBN: 0571107834) (EAN: 9780571107834)
Demons in Eden: the paradox of plant diversity. Click here to buy
Silvertown, Jonathan.
$25.00
Octavo, paperback, 169 pp., colour illustrations. BRAND NEW.
Readers join Silvertown as he explores the astonishing diversity of plant life in regions as spectacular as the verdant climes of Japan, the lush grounds of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, the shallow wetlands and teeming freshwaters of Florida, the tropical rainforests of southeast Mexico, and the Canary Islands archipelago, whose evolutionary novelties - and exotic plant life - have earned it the sobriquet "the Galapagos of botany." Along the way, Silvertown looks closely at the evolution of plant diversity in these locales and explains why such variety persists in light of ecological patterns and evolutionary processes. In novel and useful ways, he also investigates the current state of plant diversity on the planet to show the ever challenging threats posed by invasive species and humans. Bringing the secret life of plants into more colorful and vivid focus than ever before, Demons in Eden is an empathic and impassioned exploration of modern plant ecology that unlocks evolutionary mysteries of the natural world. Also available in hardcover [stock id 24231]. (ISBN: 0226757722) (EAN: 9780226757728)
Demons in Eden: the paradox of plant diversity. Click here to buy
Silvertown, Jonathan.
$45.00
Octavo, dustwrapper, 169 pp., colour illustrations. BRAND NEW.
Readers join Silvertown as he explores the astonishing diversity of plant life in regions as spectacular as the verdant climes of Japan, the lush grounds of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, the shallow wetlands and teeming freshwaters of Florida, the tropical rainforests of southeast Mexico, and the Canary Islands archipelago, whose evolutionary novelties - and exotic plant life - have earned it the sobriquet "the Galapagos of botany." Along the way, Silvertown looks closely at the evolution of plant diversity in these locales and explains why such variety persists in light of ecological patterns and evolutionary processes. In novel and useful ways, he also investigates the current state of plant diversity on the planet to show the ever challenging threats posed by invasive species and humans. Bringing the secret life of plants into more colorful and vivid focus than ever before, Demons in Eden is an empathic and impassioned exploration of modern plant ecology that unlocks evolutionary mysteries of the natural world. Also available in paperback [stock id 27677]. (ISBN: 0226757714) (EAN: 9780226757711)
-
Methods of dendrochronology: applications in the environmental sciences. Click here to buy
Cook, E.R. and L.A. Kairiukstis.
$370.00
Octavo, dustwrapper, 408
This title is not held in stock but we are happy to supply on special order. Please contact us. Fifty chapters explore the new techniques and approaches to the analysis of tree rings that have developed as the science has grown from its initial application in archaeological dating to the provision of information on such environmental topics as forest decline, the sustainability of water supplies, prediction of agricultural crops, the adoption
Plants: diversity and evolution. Click here to buy
Ingrouille, Martin J. and Bill Eddie.
$99.00
Large octavo, paperback, 440 pp., colour photographs, text illustrations and diagrams.
Plants are so much part of our environment that we often take them for granted, yet beautiful, fascinating and useful plants are everywhere, from isolated moss colonies on stone walls to vast complex communities within tropical rainforests. How did this array of form and habitat come about, and how do we humans interact with the plant kingdom? This unique new textbook provides a refreshing and stimulating consideration of these questions and throws light in a new way on the complexity, ecology, evolution and development of plants and our relationship with them. Illustrated throughout with numerous line diagrams and beautiful colour photographs, the book provides a comprehensive introduction to the fascinating lives that plants lead and the way in which our lives are inextricably linked to theirs. It will be particularly useful to students seeking a more ecological and process-oriented approach than is available in other plant science textbooks.
The emerald planet: how plants changed earth's history. Click here to buy
Beerling, David.
$47.00
Octavo, dustwrapper, 304 pp., black and white illustrations. BRAND NEW.
In The emerald planet, David Beerling puts plants centre stage, revealing the crucial role they have played in driving global changes in the environment, in recording hidden facets of Earth's history, and in helping us to predict its future. His account draws together evidence from fossil plants, from experiments with their living counterparts, and from computer models of the 'Earth System', to illuminate the history of our planet and its biodiversity. This new approach, reveals how plummeting carbon dioxide levels removed a barrier to the evolution of the leaf; how forests once grew on Antarctica, how plants played a starring role in allowing spectacular giant insects to thrive in the Carboniferous; and strengthens fascinating and contentious fossil evidence for an ancient hole in, the ozone layer. Along the way, Beerling introduces a lively cast of pioneering scientists from Victorian times onwards whose discoveries provided the crucial background to these and the other puzzles. This new understanding of our planet's past sheds a sobering light on our own climate-changing activities, and offers clues to what our climatic and ecological futures might look like. There could be no more important time to take a close look at plants, and to understand the history of the world through the stories they tell. Also available in paperback [stock id 28286]. (ISBN: 0192806025) (EAN: 9780192806024)
-
The emerald planet: how plants changed earth's history. Click here to buy
Beerling, David.
$30.00
Octavo, paperback, 304 pp., black and white illustrations. BRAND NEW.
FORTHCOMING, due December 2008. Plants have transformed our planet over the last 400 million years as they invaded the land and diversified into the astonishing variety we know today. But their influence has reached even further: they have profoundly moulded the Earth's climate and the evolutionary trajectory of life. Far from being 'silent witnesses to the passage of time', plants are dynamic components of our world, shaping the environment throughout history as much as that environment has shaped them. In The Emerald Planet, David Beerling puts plants centre stage, revealing the crucial role they have played in driving global changes in the environment, in recording hidden facets of Earth's history, and in helping us to predict its future. His account draws together evidence from fossil plants, from experiments with their living counterparts, and from computer models of the 'Earth System', to illuminate the history of our planet and its biodiversity.This new approach reveals how plummeting carbon dioxide levels removed a barrier to the evolution of the leaf; how plants played a starring role in pushing oxygen levels upwards, allowing spectacular giant insects to thrive in the Carboniferous; and it strengthens fascinating and contentious fossil evidence for an ancient hole in the ozone layer., Along the way, Beerling introduces a lively cast of pioneering scientists from Victorian times onwards whose discoveries provided the crucial background to these and the other puzzles. This new understanding of our planet's past sheds a sobering light on our own climate-changing activities, and offers clues to what our climatic and ecological futures might look like. There could be no more important time to take a close look at plants, and to understand the history of the world through the stories they tell. Also available in hardcover [stock id 25849]. (ISBN: 0199548145) (EAN: 9780199548149)
The role of chromosomal change in plant evolution. Click here to buy
Levin, Donald A.
$30.00
WAS $95.00Octavo, paperback, 230 pp., diagrams.
WAS $95 The application of molecular technology has greatly increased our understanding of the role of chromosomal change in plant evolution. This book addresses issues such as heterogeneity, chromosomal rearrangements within species and phenotypic consequences of chromosome doubling., The application of molecular technology has greatly increased our understanding of the role of chromosomal change in plant evolution. There is now a broad database on genome size variation within and among species and a wide array of nuclear and cytoplasmic genetic markers. There is a variety of literatures addressing this subject but much of it is scattered. This book created a contemporary synthesis of work in this area and addresses issues such as heterogeneity, polyploidy, chromosomal rearrangements within species and phenotypic consequences of chromosome doubling.
-
Time, trees, and prehistory: tree-ring dating and the development of North American archaeology, 1914-1950. Click here to buy
Nash, Stephen Edward.
$70.00
Quarto, dustwrapper, 294 pp., illustrations, maps.
This title is not held in stock but we are happy to supply on special order. Please contact us. Dendrochronology, the science of assigning precise calendar dates to annual growth rings in trees, provided accurate dates at a time when North American archaeologists had no absolute dating techniques available to guide their analyses. Time, Trees, and Prehistory examines the growth, development, application, and interpretive implications of North American archaeological tree-ring dating from 1914 to 1950. The development of dendrochronology forced archaeologists to radically revise their understanding of the prehistoric past, compressing by nearly fifty percent the time scale of the archaeological record. Basketmaker sites, for instance, were once thought to be four thousand years old; tree-ring application demonstrated that these sites dated well into the present millennium. Classic sites in Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde were believed occupied for nearly a thousand years, but tree-ring dates demonstrated that such sites were often built, occupied, and abandoned in just over a century. Other similar changes in temporal scale forced archaeologists to reconsider their interpretations of the rate of prehistoric cultural change, population growth, and the degree of social and political complexity in the Southwest. Time, Trees, and Prehistory examines archaeological practices of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s and demonstrates that tree-ring dating set the stage that enabled revolutionary developments in archaeological method and theory in succeeding decades.
-
Tree rings and climate. Click here to buy
Fritts, Harold C.
$140.00
Octavo, paperback,
This title is not held in stock but we are happy to supply on special order. Please contact us. This classic title, originally printed in 1976, contains a lucid description and summary of basic dendrochronology, especially its application to climatic reconstructions that are now a highly valued and objective tool for putting future climatic changes in perspective with past climatic history for up to several thousand years. The book's author, Professor Harold Fritts, has been a leader and pioneer in dendrochronology, dendroclimatology and modeling the tree growth environmental response system for 35 years. He has over 100 publications including three books. Tree Rings and Climate was his second book, which was written for the non-botanist and non-statistician who wish to understand the principles governing tree ring formation and their analysis to reveal past history, climate and dating of past events. The basic botanical processes governing tree ring formation are covered in Chapters 1-5. Chapter 6 deals with some of the simple statistics and what they reveal about the tree response to environmental and physiological variables. This includes a very basic discussion of matrix algebra, eigenvectors and principal components as used in the early works of tree ring analysis. The last three chapters deal with calibration, interpretation, reconstruction and verification or climate reconstructions from tree-ring data. An appendix is included of scientific and common names of trees, bibliography to the pre-1976 literature, a glossary of terms, an author index and a subject index. Professor Fritts has captured and described the basic principles of the field in a way that has not lost value in the ensuing 25 years.