With 900 full-color photographs and illustrations, this book takes the reader on a tour of the natural world, from appreciating the mechanics of a bird's flight to mass migrations of land mammals to explanations of tsunamis and volcanoes.

By explaining how to sire multicolored horses, produce nuts without shells, and create an egg the size of a human head, Giambattista Della Porta's Natural Magic (1559) conveys a fascination with tricks and illusions that makes it a work difficult for historians of science to take seriously. Yet, according to William Eamon, it is in the "how-to" books written by medieval alchemists, magicians, and artisans that modern science has its roots. These compilations of recipes on everything from parlor tricks through medical remedies to wool-dyeing fascinated medieval intellectuals because they promised access to esoteric "secrets of nature." In closely examining this rich but little-known source of literature, Eamon reveals that printing technology and popular culture had as great, if not stronger, an impact on early modern science as did the traditional academic disciplines.

Describes the complexities of animal behavior, including social interaction, food gathering, defense, mating, communication, and migration, and looks at a variety of species

A fresh look at the role of astrology and alchemy in Renaissance thinking and everyday life.

Learn how to navigate through any landscape—forests, deserts, even your own backyard—through observation of the world around you! Put away your map, look up from your phone, and let nature be your guide. Rediscover nature’s hidden signs as you delve into the amazing science of natural navigation. Meet two young adventurers, as they discover the joy of finding their way using nature’s clues. From worms, honeybees, and spiders to trees, flowers, and clouds, young adventurers are shown what to look and listen for wherever they are—whether in the back garden, a vast meadow, or the open sea. Top wilderness trainer Craig Caudill shares more than 200 tips for reading nature from decades spent walking the land around his home and around the world. So, whether you’re walking in the country, along a coastline, or out at night, this is the ultimate guide on what the land, sky, plants, animals, and weather can reveal—if you only know where to look! By opening our senses to the unfolding world of nature all around us, this visual compendium can be enjoyed by all the family to transform the way the natural world is experienced.

“As you read these pages you will understand why I so admire [Peter Wohlleben] and am so in love with his work.”—JANE GOODALL Nature is full of surprises: deciduous trees affect the rotation of the Earth, cranes sabotage the production of Iberian ham, and coniferous forests can make it rain. But what are the processes that drive these incredible phenomena? And why do they matter? In The Secret Wisdom of Nature, master storyteller and international sensation Peter Wohlleben takes readers on a thought-provoking exploration of the vast natural systems that make life on Earth possible. In this tour of an almost unfathomable world, Wohlleben describes the fascinating interplay between animals and plants and answers such questions as: How do they influence each other? Do lifeforms communicate across species boundaries? And what happens when this finely tuned system gets out of sync? By introducing us to the latest scientific discoveries and recounting his own insights from decades of observing nature, one of the world’s most famous foresters shows us how to recapture our sense of awe so we can see the world around us with completely new eyes. Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.

1906 Lady Elizabeth "Libby" Sinclair, with her love of microscopes and nature, isn't favored in society. She flees to the beautiful Isles of Scilly for the summer and stumbles into the dangerous secrets left behind by her holiday cottage's former occupant, also named Elizabeth, who mysteriously vanished. Oliver Tremayne--gentleman and clergyman--is determined to discover what happened to his sister, and he's happy to accept the help of the girl now living in what should have been Beth's summer cottage . . . especially when he realizes it's the curious young lady he met briefly two years ago, who shares his love of botany and biology. But the hunt for his sister involves far more than nature walks, and he can't quite believe all the secrets Beth had been keeping from him. As Libby and Oliver work together, they find ancient legends, pirate wrecks, betrayal, and the most mysterious phenomenon of all: love.