A portrait of the German naturalist reveals his ongoing influence on humanity's relationship with the natural world today, discussing such topics as his views on climate change, conservation, and nature as a resource for all life. Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. In North America, his name still graces counties, towns, a river, parks, bays, lakes, and mountains. His restless life...

"Thure Kumlien was a Swedish American settler who studied birds and plants in the forests, swamps, and prairies near Lake Koshkonong, Wisconsin, from the mid- to late 1800s. Though he never became as famous as John Muir, Increase Lapham, or Aldo Leopold, he was similar to these naturalists in that he possessed an unparalleled knowledge of (and respect for) the natural world in this part of Wisconsin. He made an indelible impression on many, including...

"With masterful storytelling, Bergland and Hayes demonstrate how Lapham blended his ravenous curiosity with an equable temperament and a passion for detail to create a legacy that is still relevant today. -John Gurda In this long overdue tribute to Wisconsin's first scientist, authors Martha Bergland and Paul G. Hayes explore the remarkable life and achievements of Increase Lapham (1811-1875). Lapham's ability to observe, understand, and meticulously...

Nineteenth-century scientist David Starr Jordan built one of the most important fish specimen collections ever seen, until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake shattered his life's work.

Describes the life and career of Steve Irwin, famously known as the Crocodile Hunter, from his childhood and early love of animals to his rise in popularity as a film and television star and naturalist.

As a young boy, Charles Darwin hated school and was often scolded forconducting “useless” experiments. Yet his passion for the natural world was so strong that he suffered through terrible seasickness during his five-year voyage aboard The Beagle. Darwin collected new creatures from the coasts of Africa, South America, and the Galapagos Islands, and expanded his groundbreaking ideas that would change people's understanding of the natural...

Kenny Salwey is a modern-day American hermit who has lived most of his life in the Mississippi river bottoms, coming to know the river ecosystem with an intimacy unavailable to most. Now, Kenny shares his love of, and knowledge about, the mighty river. The Last River Rat is a seasonal look at Kenny's unique life. Each chapter covers a month of Kenny's year and starts by detailing his activities—such as deer hunting, ginseng digging,

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Sir Alistair Munroe, horribly maimed during his service in the French and Indian War, lives a near solitary existence in a crumbling Scottish castle until Helen Fitzwilliam, former mistress of the Duke of Lister, and her two children arrive one night and change his life forever. When the Duke steals his children away from Helen, forcing her to reveal her true past to Alistair, and a friend from Alistair's army past is back from the dead--and quite...

This is the story of John Muir's adventurous lie, from his wild and playful boyhood in Scotland to his legendary exploits in America, where he became an inventor, a global explorer, and the first modern environmentalist--and even made friends with a president! His heart was always in the outdoors and he aimed to experience all he could. He swung through a windstorm at the top of a tall tree, clilmbed too many mountains to count, and rode an avalanche...

"It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson--a sensible schoolmarm and lonely spinster-- is just trying to get through life. But one day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and her tidy, circumscribed life, to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of an insect that may or may not exist: the golden beetle of New Caledonia, Margery's childhood obsession ever since her father...