Walden first published in 1854 as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and-to some degree-a manual for self-reliance. Walden details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months,...

"A collection of essays on prairie wildlife and ecology"-- "A respected author and scholar, Paul A. Johnsgard has spent a lifetime observing the natural delights of Nebraska's woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands. Seasons of the Tallgrass Prairie collects his musings on Nebraska's natural history and the issues of conservation facing our future. Johnsgard crafts essays featuring snow geese, owls, hummingbirds, and other creatures against the backdrop...

Ted Kooser describes with exquisite detail and humor the place he calls home in the rolling hills of southeastern Nebraska, an area known as the Bohemian Alps. Nothing is too big or too small for his attention, including memories of his grandmother's cooking. And Kooser reminds us that the closing of local schools, thoughtless county weed control, and irresponsible housing development destroy more than just the view.

What makes life meaningful

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One of the greatest experimental scientists of all time, Michael Faraday (1791–1867) developed the first electric motor, electric generator, and dynamo - essentially creating the science of electrochemistry. This book, the result of six lectures he delivered to young students at London's Royal Institution, concerns another form of energy - candlelight. Faraday titled the lectures "The Chemical History of a Candle," choosing the subject because,...

"Zoologist Bill Schutt delivers a look at hearts from across the animal kingdom, from insects to whales to humans. Illustrated with black-and-white line drawings"--

Get the Summary of Stephen C. Meyer's Return of the God Hypothesis in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: Beginning in the late 19th century, many intellectuals began to insist that scientific knowledge conflicts with traditional theistic belief-that science and belief in God are "at war." Philosopher of science Stephen Meyer challenges this view by examining three scientific discoveries...

Get the Summary of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: Did you know that: • Every atom in your body has almost certainly passed through several stars and been part of millions of organisms on its way to being you? • If you are an average-sized kid, you have enough potential energy inside you to explode with the force of several...

Get the Summary of David Wallace-Wells's The Uninhabitable Earth in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: An "epoch-defining book" (The Guardian) and "this generation's Silent Spring" (The Washington Post), The Uninhabitable Earth is both a travelogue of the near future and a meditation on how that future will look to those living through it-the ways that warming promises to transform global...

Get the Summary of Jennifer A. Doudna and Samuel H. Sternberg's A Crack in Creation in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. Not, that is, until the spring of 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the new gene-editing tool CRISPR - a revolutionary...

Get the Summary of Avi Loeb's Extraterrestrial in the Room in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary and not the original book. Original book introduction: In Extraterrestrial, Loeb takes readers inside the thrilling story of the first interstellar visitor, to be spotted in our solar system. He outlines his controversial theory and its profound implications: for science, for religion, and for the future of our species and our planet. A mind-bending...