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Well versed in natural history, particularly geology and ornithology, Hugh Edwin Strickland (1811-53) became fascinated by the dodo and mankind's influence on its extinction. Seeking to investigate this flightless bird and other extinct species from islands in the Indian Ocean, he invited the comparative anatomist Alexander Gordon Melville (1819-1901) to help him separate myth from reality. Divided into two sections, this 1848 monograph begins with Strickland's evaluation of the evidence, including historical reports as well as paintings and sketches, many of which are reproduced. Melville then analyses the osteology of the dodo and Rodrigues solitaire, describing his findings from dissections of the few available specimens and making comparisons with similar species. A seminal work, it correctly concluded that the dodo was more closely related to pigeons than vultures, and the book also inspired others to take up the search for new fossil evidence.
Environmental challenges are defining the twenty-first century. To fully understand ongoing debates about our current crises—climate change, loss of biological diversity, pollution, extinction, resource woes—means revisiting their origins, in all their complexity. With this ambitious, highly original contribution to the environmental history of global modernity, Frank Uekötter considers the many ways humans have had an impact on their physical environment throughout history. Ours is not a one-way trajectory to sudden collapse, he argues, but rather death by a thousand cuts. The many paths we’ve forged to arrive in our current predicament, from agriculture to industry to infrastructure...
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This book is a combination of 365 Things People Believe That Aren't True 365 More Things People Believe That Aren't True Another 365 Things People Believe That Aren't True 500 Things People Believe That Aren't True The world map is inaccurate. Silencers don't exist. Everyone mispronounces "Mt. Everest." Samurais rarely used swords. The Wild West was nothing like you would imagine. The Illuminati only existed for eight years. Satanists don't worship the Devil. Abraham Lincoln didn't care about black people. Amelia Earhart did not mysteriously vanish. Egypt doesn't have the most pyramids nor the biggest. Radiation isn't dangerous. We don't know anything about Druids. Not all pirates were criminals. Some of them were government agents. Rastafarians don't call themselves Rastafarians. The Sun is not on fire. Hamlet wasn't a popular play during Shakespeare's time. Archeologists know who built the Easter Island heads. The Amish do use electricity. Nazis never called themselves Nazis.