From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.” One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And... more...

In the past decades advances have been made in the research and practice on unsaturated soil mechanics. In 2000 the first Asia-Pacific Conferences on Unsaturated Soils was organized in Singapore. Since then, four conferences have been held under the continued support of the Technical Committee on Unsaturated Soils (TC106) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). The conferences provided an... more...

Deep-water (below wave base) processes, although generallyhidden from view, shape the sedimentary record of more than 65% ofthe Earth’s surface, including large parts of ancientmountain belts. This book aims to inform advanced-levelundergraduate and postgraduate students, and professional Earthscientists with interests in physical oceanography and hydrocarbonexploration and production, about many of the important physicalaspects of... more...

South Africa's Kruger National Park is one of the largest and most iconic conservation areas in Africa. Habitats range from wide-open savannah and rugged thornveld to broadleaved mopani woodland. This microhabitat variation gives Kruger a phenomenal diversity of some 520 bird species, half of which are resident. From Africa's most extraordinary eagles, like the scarlet-faced Bateleur, to electric-colored glossy-starlings and jewel-like... more...

This science comic presents the entire life cycle of the metro system in an accessible and fun way. Just like human beings, a metro system can get sick, and this book introduces its ailments, medical records along with experts’ diagnoses and available treatments. Using cartoons, it enables readers of all levels to quickly understand the scientific secrets behind the metro system. It is based on the results of China’s 973 program,... more...

Frogs are worshipped for bringing nourishing rains, but blamed for devastating floods. Turtles are admired for their wisdom and longevity, but ridiculed for their sluggish and cowardly behavior. Snakes are respected for their ability to heal and restore life, but despised as symbols of evil. Lizards are revered as beneficent guardian spirits, but feared as the Devil himself. In this ode to toads and snakes, newts and tuatara,... more...

This book is a compilation of recent developments in land, ecosystem, and water management in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. The state is located in the biodiversity hotspot of the Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica), a biome characterized by high biological diversity and endemism. At the same time the state of Rio de Janeiro emerged to one of the economic hubs in Latin America. This development process has... more...

In the arid American West, settlement was generally contingent on the availability of water to irrigate crops and maintain livestock and human residents. Early irrigation projects were usually the cooperative efforts of pioneer farmers, but by the early twentieth century they largely reflected federal intentions to create new farms out of the western public domain. The Yuma Reclamation Project, authorized in 1904, was one of the earliest federal... more...

Environmental themes are present in cinema more than ever before. But the relationship between film and the natural world is a long and complex one, not reducible to issues such as climate change and pollution. This volume demonstrates how an awareness of natural features and dynamics can enhance our understanding of three key film-studies topics―narrative, genre, and national cinema. It does so by drawing on examples from a broad historical and... more...

Shortlisted for the 2018 TWS Wildlife Publication Awards in the edited book category The various species of new world blackbirds, often intermingled in large foraging flocks and nighttime roosts, collectively number in the hundreds of millions and are a dominant component of the natural and agricultural avifauna in North America today. Because of their abundance, conspicuous flocking behavior, and feeding habits, these species... more...