Some animals and plants injure or kill millions of people annually, others cause trillions of dollars in property damage and loss. Such harmful species are understandably hated. However, the vast majority of the planet’s millions of species are disliked simply because of how they look and act. This bias is endangering numerous species that play important roles in maintaining both the natural ecosystems and the human economies of the world. In Defense of the World’s Most Despised Specie...

A sniper’s bullet strikes a target deep in the heart of Cleveland, Ohio, causing major disruption to an already disruptive city.The Secret Service, FBI, and other government agencies are deployed, and with time not on their side, two detectives are forced to collaborate with them to bring down this serial killer. Neither of them have any idea of where or when this killer will strike next.Detective Eric Morris and Detective Sonya Lee thought they had these horoscope killings...

Many edible plants considered exotic in the Western world are actually quite mainstream in other cultures. While some of these plants are only encountered in ethnic food markets or during travels to foreign lands, many are now finding their way onto supermarket shelves. Top 100 Exotic Food Plants provides comprehensive coverage of tropical and semi

Flowers are universally admired. Flowers are the leading gift expressing love and respect. They prominently decorate our homes and cities, and they accompany all of the major events in human affairs, from birth through marriage and bereavement. Flowers are also of tremendous economic importance, representing billion-dollar industries in numerous countries. Hundreds of thousands of plant species produce flowers, but relatively few dominate the world of cultivated ornamental plants. Top ...

Cannabis sativa is best known as the source of marijuana, the world’s most widely consumed illicit recreational drug. However, the plant is also extremely useful as a source of stem fiber, edible seed oil, and medicinal compounds, all of which are undergoing extremely promising research, technological applications, and business investment. Indeed, despite its capacity for harm as a recreational drug, cannabis has phenomenal potential for providing new products to benefit society a...

Many North American plants have characteristics that are especially promising as candidates for expanding our food supply and generating new economically competitive crops. This book is an informative analysis of the top 100 indigenous food plants of North America, focusing on those species that have achieved commercial success or have substantial market potential. The book's user-friendly format provides concise information on each plant. It examines the geography and ecology, history, ec...

**A 2012 New York Times Notable BookA 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Award Winner in the Science & Technology categoryAn engaging narrative about an incredible, life-giving organ and its imperiled modern fate.**Did you know that breast milk contains substances similar to cannabis? Or that it’s sold on the Internet for 262 times the price of oil? Feted and fetishized, the breast is an evolutionary masterpiece. But in the modern world, the breast is chan...

An estimated 40 million Americans have medical symptoms that marijuana can relieve. Marijuana Medical Handbook is a one-stop resource that gives candid, objective advice on using marijuana for healing, understanding its effects on the body, safe administration, targeting illnesses, side effects, and the various delivery methods from edibles and tinctures to smokeless vaporizer pipes. The book also details supply issues, cultivation solutions (in a chapter by renowned expert Ed Ros...

Although the Western world has been undergoing its greatest herbal renaissance in over a century, the medicinal actions of trees are often overlooked, perhaps none more so than pine. Given the drive for a new herb-of-the-day that will simulate excitement in the general populace (e.g. rhodiola, maca), it is astonishing that pine has been unrecognized for so long. This is particularly perplexing since the pollen of pine trees has been used for millennia in China and Korea as both food and a ...

Marijuana Botany presents the scientific knowledge and propagation techniques used to preserve and multiply vanishing Cannabis strains. Also included is information concerning Cannabis genetics and breeding used to begin plant improvement programs. The book presents scientific and horticultural principles, along with their practical applications, necessary for the breeding and propagation of Cannabis and in particular, marijuana. It will appeal not only to the professional researc...

"Eyeopening... Fascinating... may presage a paradigm shift in medicine.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"Teeming with information and big ideas... Outstanding.”—Booklist (starred review)The origin of asthma, autism, Alzheimer's, allergies, cancer, heart disease, obesity, and even some kinds of depression is now clear. Award-winning researcher on the microbiome, professor Rodney Dietert presents a new paradigm in human biology ...

"Sure to become a game-changing guide to the future of good food and healthy landscapes." —Dan Barber, chef and author of The Third PlatePrepare to set aside what you think you know about yourself and microbes. The Hidden Half of Nature reveals why good health—for people and for plants—depends on Earth’s smallest creatures. Restoring life to their barren yard and recovering from a health crisis, David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé discover astoundi...