Ecologies of Disease Control
Ecologies of Disease Control explores the relationship between ecological conceptions of epidemics and forms of infectious disease control. Bringing historical, sociological, anthropological, and geographical case studies from the late eighteenth century to the present into dialogue, contributors unearth a multiplicity of spatial configurations in governing epidemics, putting contemporary health security regimes into historical perspective. Emerging infectious diseases--HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza, SARS, West Nile virus, Marburg virus--and the threat they posed to national security and geopolitical order have incentivized the development of global health security initiatives since the 1990s. Yet, as this volume reveals, various practices of disease control have made epidemic outbreaks a matter of ecological management as well. These practices involve ecosystems and infrastructures, more-than-human mobilities, disease landscapes, elemental atmospheres, metabolic entanglements, and real-time information systems. As scholars in the humanities and social sciences begin to adopt ecology as an analytical framework, this volume offers a critical perspective on the ecological concepts that inform historical and current practices of health security.
Red Flag Warning
Two survivors of California fires compile a guide for living physically, mentally, and emotionally amid ecological destruction.When warm temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds combine they produce an increased risk of fire danger called a "red flag warning"--a common event in Northern California. Through essays and interviews, Red Flag Warning sheds light on how wildfire impacts our communities and offers wisdom on living with fire from Indigenous Californians, community organizers, mental health care workers, environmentalists, fire analysts, sustainable loggers, parents, and more. The collection explores the ways these fires take root and impact rural and urban Northern California, it examines our relationships to place and community and to understand the importance of mutual aid, organizing, community care, land stewardship, and resilience. Red Flag Warning covers the stories not frequently found in the often disaster-porn obsessed media and exposes what is lost in the news written by parachute journalists. Readers are invited to examine what fire can and does mean to them, what it means for us to reimagine the world, to prepare for the worst, and to examine flames through different lenses. Contributors include Manjula Martin, Hiya Swanhuyser, Zeke Lunder, Lasara Firefox Allen, Margo Robbins, Kailea Frederick, Redbird Willie, and more.
We Loved It All
Across more than a dozen acclaimed works of fiction, readers have become intimate with Lydia Millet's distinctive voice and sly wit. We Loved It All, her first nonfiction book, combines the precision of fact with the power of narrative to evoke our enmeshment with the more-than-human world.Emerging from Millet's quarter century of wildlife and climate advocacy, We Loved it All marries scenes from her life with moments of nearness to "the others"-- the animals and plants with whom we share the earth. Accounts of fears and failures, jobs and friendships, childhood and motherhood are interspersed with exquisite accounts of nonhumans and arresting meditations on the power of story to shape the future.Seeking to understand why we immerse ourselves in the domestic and immediate, turning away from more sweeping views, she examines how grand cultural myths can deny our longing for the company of nature and deprive us of its charisma and inspiration. In a thrilling distillation of experience and emotion, she evinces the familiar sense of feeling both well-meaning and powerless--a creature subject to forces that are baffling in their immensity. The fear and grief of extinction and climate change, Millet suggests, are forms of love that might be turned to resistance. We Loved It All shimmers with curiosity and laconic humor yet addresses with reverence the most urgent crises of our day. An incantatory, bewitching devotional to the vast and precious bestiary of the earth, it asks that we extend to other living beings the protection they deserve--the simple grace of continued existence.
Orient
Join renowned author David Hinton on two walks into the wild beauty and archaeological ruins of the desert Southwest, where he maps the edges of consciousness and our place in the Cosmos. Walks in the desert and journeys through Ch'an (Zen) enlightenment. Meditations on the nature of perception and on the nature of ruins. Topographies of mind and of space-time. Poetry and prose. This talismanic book is all of these and more. In this poetic odyssey of nature writing that blurs the line between observer and landscape, Hinton's project is nothing less than to map our place in the cosmos and awaken to our interconnectedness with the wild spontaneity of the natural world. It is the culmination of Hinton's philosophical adventure, deeply informed by his nearly forty years of translating and contemplating China's ancient poets, Taoist sages, and Ch'an masters. Like Henry David Thoreau and other great literary walkers, Hinton joins philosophical meditations with a keen eye for the slightest of nature's details. In following these walks, we journey into wondrous and even ecstatic clarities about the nature of mind and existence itself.
I Told You So!
An energetic and impassioned work of popular science about scientists who have had to fight for their revolutionary ideas to be accepted--from Darwin to Pasteur to modern day Nobel Prize winners. For two decades, Matt Kaplan has covered science for the Economist. He's seen breakthroughs often occur in spite of, rather than because of, the behavior of the research community, and how support can be withheld for those who don't conform or have the right connections. In this passionately argued and entertaining book, Kaplan narrates the history of the 19th century Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, who realized that Childbed fever--a devastating infection that only struck women who had recently given birth--was spread by doctors not washing their hands. Semmelweis was met with overwhelming hostility by those offended at the notion that doctors were at fault, and is a prime example of how the scientific community often fights new ideas, even when the facts are staring them in the face. In entertaining prose, Kaplan reveals scientific cases past and present to make his case. Some are familiar, like Galileo being threatened with torture and Nobel laureate Katalin Karik籀 being fired when on the brink of discovering how to wield mRNA-a finding that proved pivotal for the creation of the Covid-19 vaccine. Others less so, like researchers silenced for raising safety concerns about new drugs, and biologists ridiculed for revealing major flaws in the way rodent research is conducted. Kaplan shows how the scientific community can work faster and better by making reasonably small changes to the forces that shape it.
Sunsets 2026 7 X 7 Mini Wall Calendar
PAINTED MAJESTY - From coastal retreats to mountain vistas, the 2026 Sunsets 7" x 7" Wall Calendar features stunning locations bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun. Each month invites you to witness the fleeting beauty of twilight hues, rippled reflections, and magical moments that make you grateful for the extraordinary wonders of our world.
Listening to Nature's Voice
Could a garden spider help you see your intrinsic beauty? Might flower seeds hold a key to inspiration and creativity? What if a rambling tomato vine provided insight on reaching your goals?These are just a few of the possibilities that naturalist and garden writer Pamela Baxter explores in this collection of 30 short essays, in which she takes every-day occurrences and decodes the hidden messages they contain. Each essay is based on a personal experience and reflects the deep connection Baxter shares with the natural world-from things as tiny and insignificant as caterpillars and moss to elements as large and obvious as trees and mountains. Accompanying each entry are curated questions that invite you to consider how these messages relate to your own life.
Lab Dog
Tracing over a century of transformation in the relationship between humans and our "best friend," from hunting companion to laboratory commodity to modern pet. Intrepid, docile, and cloaked in coats of white, black, and tan, beagles were one of the most popular breeds in the United States in the twentieth century. From Snoopy to dog shows, many Americans loved and identified with beagles. But during the same period, as scientists searched for a standard research dog, beagles emerged as something else: an ideal animal for laboratory experimentation. In Lab Dog, historian Brad Bolman explains how the laboratory dog became a subject of intense focus for twentieth-century scientists and charts the beagle's surprising trajectory through global science. Following beagles as they moved from eugenics to radiobiology, pharmaceutical testing to Alzheimer's studies, Lab Dog sheds new light on pivotal stories of twentieth-century science, including the Manhattan Project, tobacco controversies, contraceptive testing, and behavioral genetics research. Bolman shows how these experiments shaped our understanding of dogs as intelligent companions who deserve moral protection and socialization--and in some cases, daily medication. Compelling and accessible, Lab Dog tells the thorny story of the participation of beagles in science, including both their sacrifices and their contributions, and offers a glimpse into the future of animal experimentation.
Principles Of Airflow For Natural Ventilation; A Guide For Students Of Architecture And Environmental Design
Encountering Dragonfly
Following dragonflies into the territory between nature and the human psycheTwo decades ago, naturalist and environmental writer Brooke Williams had a powerful dream about a dragonfly, a dream that cracked open his world by giving rise to a steady stream of dragonfly encounters in his waking life.In the years since, he has delved deeply into the fascinating biology and natural history of dragonflies and made pilgrimages to see them (he now has 38 species on his life list) while also exploring their symbolic meaning and cross-cultural significance.Encountering Dragonfly is his account--related in a series of odonate encounters--of being drawn into a different kind of relationship with the natural world. By opening himself to the personal and mytho-poetic meanings of dragonfly, and patiently courting an understanding of these creatures that is built upon, but also transcends, a naturalist's observation, Brooke has come to believe in the importance of 're-enchantment.'Many scholars believe that for most of human history, we lived in an enchanted world in which myth and magic, ritual and stories and spirits informed every aspect of our lives. The enchantment ended with the Enlightenment and modernity, when reason and scientific discovery explained away the magic, commencing a commodification of nature that has flourished ever since.Brooke's personal re-enchantment has required of him a faith that material, biological reality isn't the only reality; it recognizes symbols and archetypes as remnants of a different understanding, which may--as perhaps they always have--play a role in our long-term survival.In many cultures, the dragonfly carries messages between the inner and outer world. For Brooke Williams the message of the dragonfly is to ask questions about synchronicity, awe and the collective unconscious, and how to engage with a world increasingly out of balance. What are the implications of following a path toward greater enchantment? In a time where engagement with the political and social realities of climate change and environmental degradation can't possibly be valued highly enough, can we afford to choose such a path? Perhaps more to the point, can we afford not to?
Land, Innovation and Social Good 2.0
The drive towards sustainable development is spurring technological innovations in land administration, seeking to better align land tenure, value, use, and development with societal needs. Advancements like volunteered geographic data, imagery-based mapping, and cloud storage have made land information collection faster and cheaper. New innovations, such as big data and AI, offer opportunities for automatic parcel boundary extraction, automated valuation models, and spatial decision support systems for smart cities. However, these innovations must address societal challenges like urbanization, food insecurity, and climate change. This Special Issue explores how these technological advancements in land administration can help tackle global issues, covering topics such as emerging technologies, participatory approaches, decision support systems, land value modeling, and tools to address challenges like urbanization, food insecurity, and disaster risk management, with a focus on the impacts of COVID-19 on settlement planning and property values.
The Sequence Theory Foundation of Cosmos Theory and Gambol Theory
