“It is now so warm that I am in only my Shirt and the Frogs are in full Tune.” —Mark Catesby in South Carolina and the Caribbean, 1722-26 Henrietta McBurney– The English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749) wrote to his sponsor the botanist, William Sherard, about the extreme weather conditions in
Patrick J. Lynch— The outstanding feature of the Middle Atlantic Coast is a segment of the world’s longest string of barrier islands, with the sounds and bays that separate these islands from the mainland Atlantic coast. The barrier islands of the Mid-Atlantic Coast are part of a series of sand
Dr. Toby Musgrave— Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820) was only twenty-five years old when in 1768 he convinced both the prestigious Royal Society and the bureaucratic Admiralty that he should join HMS Endeavour as expedition natural historian. He personally paid a fortune to undertake the three-year voyage led by Lieutenant James
Peter E. Kukielski— Rosa sancta, also known as Rosa sancta Richard, Rosa richardii, Freya, Heilige Rose, and the Holy Rose of Abyssinia, is a species cross and is closely associated with the gallica class of roses. Rosa sancta Richard was described by Richard in 1848 in his Flora of Abyssinia under the name of Rosa sancta as it was observed
Jon Willis— “So you want to fly to an iron ore mining town in the NW of Australia, drive 200 km into the desert to the Outback’s hottest town, then follow a 4WD track to a rock outcrop in the middle of nowhere, all to look at some wavy lines
Pop the cork on your favorite bottle of wine, kick back, and enjoy a timeline of wine from 60 million years ago to today. Further Reading:
Follow @yaleSCIbooks In celebration of Earth Day, we thought you’d enjoy a selection of new Yale University Press books covering naturalism, climate change, community activism, environmentalism, natural history, and more. Enter with your Goodreads account for a chance to win My Backyard Jungle: The Adventures of an Urban Wildlife Lover Who
Follow @yaleSCIbooks There are more than 40,000 spider species on planet Earth, occupying habitats from North America to Africa and from the desert to the rainforest. Yet in spite of their vastly different living conditions, all spiders have a similar body structure. How is this possible? Spider silk. It is