Going Back to Central: On the Road in Search of the Past in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Book Description

Going Back to Central -- On the Road in Search of the Past in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is a journey of discovery --connecting the present with the history of Cornish copper miners in the region. Although the purpose of the author's trip was to honor and celebrate the lives of his Cornish ancestors who came to Central Mine in the 1800s, along the way he savors the autumn splendors of a beautiful and rugged part of the north country and listens for tales of its unique and sturdy residents.

Includes 31 full color photos; 21 b/w historic photographs

Going Back to Central -- On the Road in Search of the Past in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has been selected as a Michigan Notable Book for 2004 by the Library of Michigan.

Customer Reviews:

Enchanted Peninsula.......2005-06-19

If you have spent any time in the Upper Pensinsula of Michigan, you will really appreciate this book. It's a splended blend of history and geography and the author's humor and insight are perfect! I have read the book 3 times - it is a pretty easy read - and it still transports me in spirit to this beautiful midwest area.

A combination travelogue and personal journey.......2003-05-22

Written by Lon L. Emeric (a fifth-generation descendant of Cornish copper miners), Going Back To Central: On The Road In Search Of The Past In Michigan's Upper Peninsula impressively presents a combination travelogue and personal journey through Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Colorful characters, breathtaking landscapes, and memorable pieces of folklore are all retold in captivating detail. Going Back To Central is especially commended to the attention of anyone with an interest in American History in general, and the Upper Peninsula country of Michigan in particular.

Book Description

Do you know what a bract is? Do you know where scarlet sage grows? Or why bluebells are becoming scarce? This colorful book answers those questions and more. Soon you will know all about the flowers that grow wild in Texas... including where and when to find them!

Book Description

Insight Pocket Guides are packed with loads of personal recommendations-- it's like having your own private tour guide. All the itineraries are tailor-made by seasoned travel writers and journalists living and working in the area. The free pullout map plots all the recommended tours so you can plan your day, take your map, and go!

Book Description

Humans have long been captivated by birds; they have been featured prominently in art, mythology, and folklore as symbols of wisdom and truth, strength and power, beauty and death. Humans are perhaps most in awe of birds' ability to fly. Flight has enabled them to colonize virtually every habitat. Birds also display a great diversity of color and form. They are united by the possession of feathers--the defining characteristic of birds.
Many species are threatened by habitat destruction and extinction, and their survival is dependent on our appreciation and understanding and the preservation of their habitats. This beautifully illustrated book, with more than 200 magnificent color photographs and 150 original paintings, maps, and diagrams, presents an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the natural history of birds. The authoritative text has been written by the world's leading ornithologists and includes the most recent scientific findings in a stimulating presentation.

Key Features
* Magnificently illustrated in full color
* Includes hundreds of color photographs and meticulously researched diagrams and maps
* Written by an international team of world recognized authorities

Customer Reviews:

This book is great for anyone interested in birds.......1999-07-29

This book is well-organized and informative. It has helped me with there vivid pictures and types of endangered species

This book is great for anyone interested in birds.......1999-07-29

This book is well-organized and informative. It has helped me with there vivid pictures and types of endangered species

This is an excellent for anyone intesrested in birds........1999-03-26

The book is well-organized an informative. This book has been a great help to mes with there vivid pictures and types of endangered species.

Book Description

Paperback. From the initial observation of proton magnetic resonance in water and in paraffin, the discipline of nuclear magnetic resonance has seen unparalleled growth as an analytical method. Modern NMR spectroscopy is a highly developed, yet still evolving, subject which finds application in chemistry, biology, medicine, materials science and geology. In this book, emphasis is on the more recently developed methods of solution-state NMR applicable to chemical research, which are chosen for their wide applicability and robustness. These have, in many cases, already become established techniques in NMR laboratories, in both academic and industrial establishments. A considerable amount of information and guidance is given on the implementation and execution of the techniques described in this book.

Customer Reviews:

Quality book, but can't compete with the original.......2003-03-16

Just a bit of material to supplement the earlier review... This is a very solid book for advanced users of NMR spectroscopy investigating organic compounds. However, if you can get your hands on it, Derome's "Modern NMR Techniques for Chemistry Research" is better written and clearer to understand. Unfortunately, that book has been out of print for some time and is now hard to find. That said, Claridge's book represents and extra decade's worth of material and you really can't go wrong with either book.

successor to classic.......2000-11-14

Many people have been waiting for the publication of this book. As the successor of one of the most beloved classic NMR texts "Modern Nmr Techniques for Chemistry Research - by A.E.Derome, 1987" it is nicely updated and still nice looking and easy to understand.

For those who want to get some insights on the NMR experiment, it would be a great help. This seems to target organic chemists who use NMR everyday and eager to know what is going on inside, but even serious NMR research may want to see this book. This book includes more recent technique and discussion on the solution NMR, and also some of bried overview on the solid state NMR. Easy to follow explanation, more intuitive and pictorial description would be very helpful to the chemistry student and researchers.

Average customer rating:
Modern Techniques in High Resolution Ft-Nmr
Narayanan Chandrakumar , and Sankaran Subramanian
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Analytic | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
Nuclear | Spectroscopy | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
Analytic | Chemistry | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0387963278

Average customer rating:
Techniques of High Resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
walter mcfarlane
Manufacturer: CRC Press,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FMPH9W

Average customer rating:
Techniques of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
Walter McFarlane
Manufacturer: Butterworths
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General & Reference | Chemistry | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Magnetism | Electromagnetism | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0408704144

Book Description

Evolutionäre Algorithmen als Optimierungsverfahren bieten vielfältige Anwendungsmöglichkeiten für ingenieurtechnische Lösungen industrieller Aufgaben. Dieses Buch dient in seiner Aufbereitung als praxisnahes Nachschlagewerk. In anwendungsorientierter Art und Weise werden, von einer einfachen Struktur Evolutionärer Algorithmen ausgehend, grundlegende Bestandteile, Verfahren, Operatoren und Erweiterungen beschrieben und in ihren Anwendungsmöglich- keiten analysiert. Durch die ausführliche Darstellung mehrerer ausgewählter Praxisbeispiele wird ein Einblick in die Anwendung Evolutionärer Algorithmen gegeben. Für den Einsatz in der Praxis ist dies von unschätzbarem Wert. Die dem Buch beiliegende Toolbox für Matlab bietet einen guten Einstieg in die Arbeit mit Evolutionären Algorithmen und kann sofort für die Lösung eigener Praxisprobleme genutzt werden. Der Benutzer erhält neben dem notwendigen Grundwissen ein wertvolles Arbeitsmittel an die Hand.

Book Description

These twenty-five short essays demonstrate the beauty of style, the wit, and the sensibility for which Woolf is admired. "This book contains...the same delicious things to read as always....Virginia Woolf was a great artist, one of the glories of our time, and she never published a line that was not worth reading" (Katherine Anne Porter). Editorial Note by Leonard Woolf.

The Captain's Death Bed and Other Essays

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The Captain's Death Bed and Other Essays
Virginia WOOLF
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

There are many heroes of the civil rights movement—men and women we can look to for inspiration. Each has a unique story, a path that led to a role as leader or activist. Death of Innocence is the heartbreaking and ultimately inspiring story of one such hero: Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till—an innocent fourteen-year-old African-American boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and who paid for it with his life. His outraged mother’s actions galvanized the civil rights movement, leaving an indelible mark on American racial consciousness.

Mamie Carthan was an ordinary African-American woman growing up in 1930s Chicago, living under the strong, steady influence of her mother’s care. She fell in love with and married Louis Till, and while the marriage didn’t last, they did have a beautiful baby boy, Emmett.

In August 1955, Emmett was visiting family in Mississippi when he was kidnapped from his bed in the middle of the night by two white men and brutally murdered. His crime: allegedly whistling at a white woman in a convenience store. His mother began her career of activism when she insisted on an open-casket viewing of her son’s gruesomely disfigured body. More than a hundred thousand people attended the service. The trial of J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant, accused of kidnapping and murdering Emmett (the two were eventually acquitted of the crime), was considered the first full-scale media event of the civil rights movement.

What followed altered the course of this country’s history, and it was all set in motion by the sheer will, determination, and courage of Mamie Till-Mobley—a woman who would pull herself back from the brink of suicide to become a teacher and inspire hundreds of black children throughout the country.

Mamie Till-Mobley, who died in 2003 just as she completed this memoir, has honored us with her full testimony: “I focused on my son while I considered this book. . . . The result is in your hands. . . . I am experienced, but not cynical. . . . I am hopeful that we all can be better than we are. I’ve been brokenhearted, but I still maintain an oversized capacity for love.” Death of Innocence is an essential document in the annals of American civil rights history, and a painful yet beautiful account of a mother’s ability to transform tragedy into boundless courage and hope.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

A Story Poignantly Told In The Voice of A Loving Mother.......2005-07-29

Mother Mamie Till-Mobley will forever be remembered as a paragon of love, forgiveness, and indomitable strength. This moving memoir was told as only a mother could tell it with both tenderness and the maternal fervor that is so distinctly and universally "Mother." She paints for the reader a portrait of who Emmett was from the time of his birth up to his brutal death, and beyond. For the manner in which this 14-year-old boy was murdered so affected the consciousness of this nation that Emmett became a symbol of how hatred and racism in America not only doesn't exempt Black children, but demonstrates that they are so disposible as human beings that crimes against them go unpunished. The Emmett Till tragedy will forever serve as a shameful commentary on race relations in America, and how the sin of racism has left a permanent stain on the very flag that we say represents "liberty and justice for all."

Mother Mobley gives the reader delicious slices of her own backstory: her close relationship with her mother, her religious upbringing, and the demise of her first marriage (to Louis Till, Emmett's father), and subsequent marriage to Gene Mobley. The book draws you into the life of Mamie Till-Mobley and her family; the love and dedication shown to her by her own mother is almost tangible. The essence of who she was comes off the page. Throughout the pages you can sense her warmth, gentleness, and her strength. From the very beginning of the book, the reader gets to know Mamie as a woman of great strength and stoicism for early on her husband, Louis Till, was lynched while on a tour of duty in the U.S. Army. She goes on to raise her son alone for a season, teaching him responsibility and strict moral values. He turns out to be an obedient and responsible son who loves and respects his mother and grandmother.

The most moving passage was when Emmett's body is shipped back to Chicago. Mother Mobley along with members of the Black clergy, go to Union Station to retrieve her son's remains. She describes in detail the look of the ghastly box that held her 14-year-old baby; the awful stench that emanated from the box; and the emotion that she felt during this horrible juncture. You could feel the wrenching agony of this mother's soul when she describes her screams at the sight of the terrifying box that held her child. She, the funeral director, and her other relatives were ordered by Mississippi law officials not to open the box or there would be consequences. Naturally, this mother ignores this insane command vowing to pry the box open herself if need be. Once Emmett's body arrives at A.A. Raynor Funeral Parlour, Mother Mobley (against the strict admonition of law authorities)meticulously examines the body of her son. So grotesque were his remains, the funeral director suggested a closed casket service. However, Mother Mobley insists that her son's battered and monstrously bloated body be put on display for the world to see. She decribes how she started the examination of Emmett at his toes, and inch by inch she painstakingly worked her way up his thighs, middle, chest, ears one of which had been cut off, his pertruding tongue, and eventually to his enormously swollen head. She decribes his knees with reminisces of how they had been when he was an infant. She decribes her relief that his manhood hadn't been severed for castration was the all-too-familiar calling card of a lynch mob. She exercises grace and modesty when she examines his private parts, explaining how "Emmett would have a fit if he knew [she] was looking at him like this." She had such a connection to her son that even while examining his corpse, she respected his privacy as would any other mother of her adolescent son.

Mamie Till-Mobley's story takes the reader on a journey of love, tragedy, and forgiveness. This woman's faith is evident in the pages of this book. She relies on her faith and is able to forgive the vicious beasts who mutilated her boy. She forgives a country and a justice system that not only acquitted these killers, but reprehensibly subjected her to ridicule and various indignities during that farce they called a trial. And she forgives a president who shows cold indifference when she turns to him for help after having exhausted all legal channels trying to get justice for Emmett. Her strength knew no boundaries. In her later years she dedicated herself to mothering the children of others by first becoming a public school teacher, serving as a church mother in her local church, and establishing a drama group for children. She traveled the country speaking out against hatred and violence. Her healing came through the avenue of giving and not allowing this tragedy, painful as it was, to cause her to withhold her love. She never gave up the fight to get justice for her son; she was in her eighties when she departed this life in January 2003, and she fought for Emmett until the very end. She showed the tenacity and the depth of a mother's love--a love so great, only God's is greater. She was a remarkable woman--a remarkable mother. This was a remarkable story.

Heartbreaking but wonderfully written........2005-07-15

Mamie Till Mobley is the mother of the Civil Rights Movement. I wish I had been able to give her a hug. This book should be required reading in every History class. I hope that the recent exhumation of Emmett's body will find evidence to bring some kind of justice to this most horrific tragedy.

Truly a Death of Innocence.......2005-05-20

I could not put this book down. My heart and soul wept for Mamie and her Mother. I felt as though I lived alongside them when reading each and every paragraph. I found myself living amongst them in Argo, Illinois. Watching each and every move they made from the moment of Emmett's birth to his death. This was such a very sad time for America. I still cannot comprehend how two grown men could be filled with so much hate that they would murder a child over an alleged whistle. Emmett grew up in Chicago with no fear at all. I thought about his last moments in Mississippi. Was he afraid? Did he think they would have let him go back to his granduncles home? This was truly a sad time in history and Mamie Till-Mosley suffered until her death at the loss of her son. I am happy that they have reopened Emmett's case and the 6 people still alive will be punished. He did not deserve to die this way. This book is a must read for every able bodied American to see how hate can destroy. Mamie fought each and everyday. Her speaking engagements throught the country. She refused to let Emmett's death be in vain. The next time I visit Illinois, I will make it a point of driving down Emmett Till Road. This book is a must read.

Worth the Money.......2005-03-22

I read this book over the weekend and I could not put it down. It's one thing to read a book from someone who puts together a story of what they heard what happen but to read a story from Mamie Till on how her son was murdered and to feel her pain is something totally different. She was a brave woman to do what she did and to write a book about her young son. Wonderfully written.

A Triumph Of Love Over Hatred And Despair.......2004-12-15

Have you ever picked up one of those books that is of such quality and intensity that you just couldn't put it down no matter what? Well, I just read one. And that was "Death Of Innocence" by Mamie Till-Mobley, mother of murdered teenager Emmett Till. I can't tell you how hard it was to not put this book down. Mrs. Till-Mobley tells in engrossing detail the path her life took after August 28, 1955 when, while on a vacation to visit relatives in Mississippi, Emmett Till (or "Bobo" as he was affectionately known) was kidnapped from the home of his great uncle and subsequently tortured and murdered. Mrs. Till-Mobley goes on to describe how she struggled to turn her own personal tragedy into a drive for freedom, dignity and understanding for everyone no matter the race, creed or color of the individual. She also describes the place that her faith in God had in enabling her to move on. It also shows what can happen when mankind allows its passions to overule its reason and common sense. I'd just like to conclude by saying that I enjoyed this book immensely and I would recommend that everyone with even an ounce of compassion to read this book with an open mind and an open heart. You'll be glad you did.

Average customer rating:

exceptional history of ships

Cogs, Caravels and Galleons: The Sailing Ship 1000-1650 (Conway's History of the Ship)

Manufacturer: Chartwell Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
History | Ships | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Ships | Transportation | World | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Earliest Ships: The Evolution of Boats into Ships (Conway's History of the Ship)

LINE OF BATTLE: The Sailing Warship 1650-1840 (Conway's History of the Ship Series)

AGE OF THE GALLEY: Mediterranean Oared Vessels Since Pre-Classical Times (Conway's History of the Ship Series)

Sail's Last Century: The Merchant Sailing Ship, 1830-1930 (Conway's History of the Ship)

Spanish Galleon 1530-1690 (New Vanguard)

ASIN: 0785812652

Book Description

COGS, CARAVELS AND GALLEONS traces the development of seagoing vessels from the traditions of late antiquity to the all-important emergence of the three-masted ship, undoubtedly the most significant innovation in the history of shipping before the steam engine. Without the three-masted ship the European age of exploration and expansion is almost inconceivable and there is no doubt that the subsequent evolution of the world would have been markedly different.
In recent years much original research has been done in this field, based on both documentary sources and archeology, but this is the first overall synthesis of the new material now available. The main chapters are devoted to the principal ship types, explaining the latest thinking on the characteristics of cogs, caravels, and hulks that have caused scholarly debate for decades.
There are also more general sections on essential background subjects like construction and guns and gunnery, as well as pertinent essays on the evidence -- from documentary sources, contemporary illustrations and archeology. All the contributors are foremost experts in their fields, but in presenting the fruits of their research at an approachable level, COGS, CARAVELS AND GALLEONS is a pioneering work in this area of maritime history.
Lavishly illustrated, this informative volume - the eighth in an ambitious series - includes over 50 black-and-white photos, 145 illustrations, and five tables.

Customer Reviews:

exceptional history of ships.......2007-03-12

I had an interest in navigation history since I was a kid. I read many books about this subject and Conway's History of the Ship is hands down the best of the bunch. The collection targets the technical aspects of the ship evolution, but there are plenty of old sailor stories for everyone interested.

This particlar volume covers the period of the european emergence and shows how the ships which were used to build the early colonial empires came into being.

However, not all the series is still in print, so you may have to hunt the used book sites if you want to assemble the whole set.

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Start with this book to understand the Yugoslavian conflict

Good intro to the Former Yugoslavia

Middle Ground

Balanced observations on an unbalanced land

Superb understanding of ethnic animosity

The Impossible Country: A Journey Through the Last Days of Yugoslavia
Brian Hall
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Yugoslavia | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Suitcase: Refugee Voices from Bosnia and Croatia

Yugoslavia: When Ideals Collide (The Making of the Twentieth Century)

The Balkan Express: Fragments from the Other Side of War

Bosnia: A Short History

Instant European History: From the French Revolution to the Cold War

ASIN: 0140249230

Customer Reviews:

Start with this book to understand the Yugoslavian conflict.......2006-01-15

This is my choice for the best introduction to the conflicts in what was Yugoslavian. When I was hosting an exchange student from the Balkans, I read 15 books in an effort to gain understanding. I was frustrated with blatantly one-sided books, and also books which had all the names, dates and horrors but did not help me understand. Hall's book was the best. While I will never truly understand the roots of the hatred, this thoughtful and amazingly non-partisan book opened windows for an uninvolved American into the psyches of that troubled region. I wish I had read it first.

Good intro to the Former Yugoslavia.......2004-02-26

This book is a very good introduction to most of the regions/republics which comprised Yugoslavia. The author is not a great writer or a fantastic historian, but he has created an extremely readable book which introduces the reader to many of the conflicts inherent in Yugoslavia and which caused its demise. The things I read in this book are supported by other works I have read (written after Hall's book) by scholars and Jugoslavian authors such as Slavenka Drakulic. I feel that this book better explains (to the casual reader) Jugoslavia's problems than does 'Balkan Ghosts' or other popular books I've read on the subject. I really enjoyed this book and think it is worth the purchase price for anyone interested in the current Balkan situation. Just about anyone can enjoy this book.

Middle Ground.......2000-05-25

I read Brian Hall's account of the Balkan conflict while in Zagreb on a language immersion program. I was incredibly impressed by his ability to give a balanced view on this incredibly difficult land. I felt his astute observations made it easier for me to remain neutral in my views and perceptions of the land, people and complicated situation. I was surrounded by ultra-nationalists, and honestly did not meet a single person in Croatia that could look at their role objectively. Brian Hall's insights helped me to step back and view the situation with a completely different outlook.

Balanced observations on an unbalanced land.......2000-01-09

Brian Hall knows there is no reasonable way to explain what happened in Yugoslavia, so he doesn't even try, at least not in this exciting if somber travelogue. What he does do is travel extensively in that country and engage in conversation with all sorts of people, many of them journalists who themselves are trying to figure out what is going on politically in their own country. Apart from a few wry comments and astute observations on some of the more glaring inanities and venalities he encounters, Hall refrains from expressing his own opinions, prefering to let his several interlocutors express the truth in their own words and ways. The difficulty is that there are several truths here, or versions of it. Croatians are Catholic and they think they hate the Serbs because they are Orthodox. They are unable to admit they hate Serbs because they feel dominated by Belgrade. On the other hand, Serbs think they despise Croatians because they are Catholics and because Croatians helped the Nazis when they came calling. They can't admit to a certain envy of Croatia's Western orientation. An underlying philosophical theme of this book is 'attitude to truth.' South Slavic culture seems to believe that one can be in possession of the truth absolutely and for all time. The idea of striking out independently and asking questions that might lead to more and more questions is simply not part of the Yugoslav mindset. Each group or 'republic' has its own view of reality and this is usually so out of sync with the rest of the country that there is no point in discussion or conversation. The only solution is force, or so each party thinks. If you can't make sense of your neighbor's point of view, kill him and his family and friends. This general outlook must have helped Milosevic in his sleazy rise to power. Most Yugoslavs, as Hall points out, believe that Serbian and Croatian are two distinct languages, which is completely at odds with what linguistics tells us. And then there is Bosnia and its overwhelmingly Muslim population, unloved by both the Croatians and the Serbs. In hindsight, one shudders to think... The journey described in this book took place in 1991, when things were starting to heat up in the Balkans. Slovenia had just separated. The author shows how ominous things were at that point, how one didn't need much imagination to foresee what the unhappy future would hold, including the sad Kosovo events. Hall has done a masterful job of describing Yugoslavia on the verge of disintegration. He includes excellent descriptions of buildings and landscapes, but his more important work is reporting on the interviews he conducted with real people in real situations of frustration, danger, and sometimes despair. Now that the NATO bombing of Serbia and Kosovo is just a puzzling memory, we should all go and read a lot of books that show how and why all that came about. Of all such books, this is one of the best I know of.

Superb understanding of ethnic animosity.......1999-10-14

Brian Hall has really open my eyes in understanding what triggers the Balkan war ie suspicious, revenge, fear, not understanding and non-tolerance among the ethnic. These are the traits that usually leads to a disaster, no matter which part of world you live in.

The Impossible Country, A Journey Through the Last Days of Yugoslavia

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The Impossible Country, A Journey Through the Last Days of Yugoslavia
Brian Hall
Manufacturer: David R. Godine Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0PRT0

Average customer rating:

The Impossible Country, A Journey Through the Last Days of Yugoslavia
Brian Hall
Manufacturer: David R. Godine Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0K9NE

Average customer rating:

The Impossible Country: A Journey Through the Last Days of Yugoslavia
Brian Hall
Manufacturer: David R Godine Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NRPFMI

Book Description

"Body is our first environment," writes Andrea Olsen. "It is the medium through which we know the earth." In a remarkable integration of environmental science, biology, meditation, and creative expression, Olsen, a dancer who teaches in the environmental studies program at Middlebury College, offers a guide to a holistic understanding of person and place. Part workbook, part exploration, Body and Earth considers the question of how we can best, most responsibly inhabit both our bodies and our planet.

Olsen displays an easy command of fields as diverse as geology, biochemistry, ecology, and anatomy as she explores the ways in which our bodies are derived from and connected to the natural world. But Body and Earth is not just a lesson, it is also an investigation. Arranged as a 31-day program, the book offers not only a wealth of scientific information, but also exercises for both exploring the body and connecting with place; illustrations and works of art that illuminate each chapter's themes; and Olsen's own meditations and reflections, connecting the topics to her personal history and experience.

Olsen insists that neither body nor landscape are separate from our fundamental selves, but in a culture which views the body as a mechanism to be trained and the landscape as a resource to be exploited, we need to learn to see again their fundamental wholeness and interconnection. Through hard data, reflection, exercises, and inspiration, Body and Earth offers a guide to responsible stewardship of both our planet and our persons.

Customer Reviews:

Body and Earth.......2002-12-02

Andrea Olsen's book wakes up your conscious being and brings back your connectedness to earth. It makes you grateful for gravity and the nature that surrounds you and you might begin to be in awe of yourself and others. As Bebe Miller already said, this book will be with you for a long time. Body and Earth touches all your senses with its beautiful art work and its suggested exercises are easy and joyful to complete if you wish to do so. Here are just some of the "exercises" the book suggests: Water - notice how just by sipping some nice clear water it transitions from an external to an internal state. Movement - imagine creating a short dance for every day of the week and how this might wake up your senses and might relate to your sense of space. Food - write your own story of digestion as food moves through you to nurture you. Oh, and your place. Choose a small area outside and investigate it: where is water, what insects live on it, how is life like from the perspective of an insect, what plants are on this chosen place of yours and how do they smell and even taste? The book truly invites you to investigate yourself and all that surrounds you. This book is so much fun and so enjoyable that you learn a lot along the way without even noticing. It's a great gift for anyone.

This is also a wonderful book for body workers and their students. As a Yoga teacher I have had the opportunity to work with Andrea and I know that her suggestions really work because you have a chance to experience yourself what she teaches. It brings anatomical teachings back to life. To paraphrase Andrea, this book will make you feel and as you feel you are becoming a caretaker of body, a caretaker of earth. I think we have already caused too much pain to both, so this book might encourage us to heal and act.

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