Product Description
In this text, the archaeologist, Bruce Smith, explores the initial emergence and early expansion of agriculture and the transformations in human society that made it possible. He charts the course of the agricultural revolution as it occurred in the Middle East, Europe, China, Africa and the Americas, showing how basic archaeological methods and modern technologies, such as plant analysis, radiocarbon dating and DNA sampling are used to investigate this event. Although in the agricultural mind, the agricultural revolution is often seen as a one-step transition from hunter-gatherer societies to farming ones, Smith shows how truly varied the patterns of animal and plant domestication were in different parts of the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good Illustrations
"The Emergence of Agriculture" tells the story of the transition of mankind from a hunter-gatherer existence to agriculture.This transition took place about 10,000 years ago in the Middle East and more recently in the other six areas in which farming and herding are believed to have developed independently.Chapters cover early agriculture in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, East Asia, Middle and South America, and North America.The domestication of wheat, rice, corn, livestock and other crops are discussed.

This is a well-produced, well-illustrated book with good color maps, photos, charts, and graphs.Those familiar with "Scientific American" magazine will recognize the reader-friendly style and format. However, I would have to agree with other readers that the prose is somewhat flat.That being said there's enough good information here to deserve a top rating.

What I found most interesting about the book was the discussion of the development of crops no longer significant for agriculture such as Chenopodium (pigweed) in the Americas.Unrecognized by archaelogists as a crop for many decades, the cultivation of Chenopodium pushes the earliest date of agriculture and urbanization in the United States back to about 5,000 years ago.The author's description of the discovery of early agriculture in North America is vivid and personal because he was a participant in the investigation. Likewise, his description of the development of corn (maize) as a crop is very good.

The agricultural revolution was one of the most -- if not the most --important step forward in the development of civilization.This book does an excellent job examining how agriculture became a reality in several different civilizations around the world.

Smallchief

Interesting account of the origins
The book was a little slow going.The topic is probably not noted for its exciting appeal.I did enjoy the new information that it provided.The concept of an almost natural change from wild harvested to domesticatedcultigen by virtue of an interface of plant and human needs rather than byconscious efforts on the part of the harvester was interesting.It almostmade the process seem inevitable.The information regarding wild plantancestors of modern domestics, the likely site of origin for and the pathof spread of these plants were also interesting.For some reason I foundthe domestication process of animals somewhat less so.Overall I think thebook would be best used as a resource for information rather than anafternoon read.

Dry but very interesting.
This colorful book uses a lot of information and statistical facts to bring the development of agriculture ot light in many regions of the world, even often forgot Africa.Plenty of pictures of the changes in plants andplenty of graphs and charts to help simplify all the information.A goodover view of agriculture without getting into individuals findings on thisday or that.A good read.

Excellent survey of the beginnings of farming
The beginnings of farming c. 10,000 years ago fundamentally changed human societies. Collaboration between archjaeologists and natural scientists has done a remarkable job in unravelling the where, when and whys of this story, but previous publications have concentrated on just or a few oneregions. This is the first truly global survey of the domestication ofplants and animals. It is up-to-date and well written and illustrated, andwould be an excellent starting point for anyone interested in this topic.Readers should note that the paperback edition issubstantially revisedand is therefore preferable to the hardback, which still contains theoriginal text.

Anyone who enjoys this book will also like JaredDiamond's Guns, germs and steel. ... Read more

Product Description
Rudolf Steiner, the often undervalued, multifaceted genius of modern times, contributed much to the regeneration of culture. In addition to his philosophical teachings, he provided ideas for the development of many practical activities including education—both general and special—agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, religion, and the arts. Today there are thousands of schools, clinics, farms, and many other organizations based on his ideas.

Steiner's original contribution to human knowledge was based on his ability to conduct spiritual research, the investigation of metaphysical dimensions of existence. With his scientific and philosophical training, he brought a new systematic discipline to the field, allowing for conscious methods and comprehensive results. A natural seer from childhood, he cultivated his spiritual vision to a high degree, enabling him to speak with authority on previously veiled mysteries of life.

Topics include: the evolving human being; cosmos as the source of life; plants and the living earth; farms and the realms of nature; bringing the chemical elements to life; soil and the world of spirit; supporting and regulating life processes; spirits of the elements; nutrition and vitality; responsibility for the future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

mind opening
When I first read this book several years ago, I couldn't stop laughing it seemed so absurd. For example, the passage on gnomes as living beings that are imprisoned in the earth but in love with the cosmos. I still do not know what to think. One of my skeptical psychiatrist friends,who nonetheless appreciates the depth of his insight,accuses Steiner of "overspiritualizing".
However, if you accept another more gnostic oriented view of reality, it no longer seems absurd at all. That the material world we look at can also be seen as more of a surface structure underlying "more real" reality. Does Steiner's ability to see the various spiritual entities at work in nature mean that he can see through the matrix and you can't? The thought is worth considering.

From a practical point of view, the book itself was of limited use for me as a gardener. For the actual practical application of bio-dynamics, I would recommend other books such as Thun's , biodynamic calendar or just about anyone who has built on the foundations Steiner laid. It is not a "how to" book. But I value this book for the understaning imparted of the principles behind bio-dynamics.

Steiner has influenced the manner in which I look at my garden,which seems much more a place full of mystery and poetry. I was also intrigued enough to do further research and apply their astrological calendar and utilize their various sprays and treatments which I purchased from a place called the Josephine Porter Institute.

And my garden the past few years has indeed been much more productive and this year more than ever. Was it just luck or weather? Or can I thank the spiritual and cosmic forces that were brought down from the heavens in concentrated form into the vortex which formed whileI was mixing the various sprays?

I have read some critics who refer to Steiner as a crackpot due to some of his apparently whackier ideas. However, I personally plan to do more bio-dynamically inspired zodiac planting next year, and I intend to use the horned silica and their various sprays.I will also be scattering the ashes of Japanese beetles and other pests when the stars and planets indicate thaat it is an auspicious time astrologically for the proper alchemical interactions with the group souls of these beings so that their intrusion into my gardening space can be deterred.


Yes, go ahead and laugh. But personally,I am also pleased to see that more and more stores such as Whole Foods and many farmer's markets are selling more bio-dynamic products.

Can we thank the gnomes, sylphs and undines for this success?

Agriculture and Nutrition
This book contains a wide range of topics relevant to the subject of agriculture and nutrition.
What interests me greatly includes the chapters on nutrition and vitality. In response to a question concerning people's lack of will and progress in spiritual activites despite Rudolf Steiner's guidance, Rudolf's answer pointed to the problem of nutrition at that time which did not supply the strength necessary for those spiritual activities. I have also came across other articles which said that highly processed food, most of them grown chemically (using chemical fertilizers and pesticides) have a negative impact on the mind's will power and can lead to conflicts among human beings.
Another point I like to highlight is the topic on the nutrition of animals as discussed in this book. In 1923, Rudolf had already warned that if the ox would to consume meat, it's body would produce all kinds of harmful substances such as uric acid and urates. The urates would enter the brain and the ox would go crazy. These remarks had great relevance to the modern history of mad cow disease.

organic farmer POV
The only reason I haven't given 5 stars is because Steiner's writing is not the easiest to read and most translations are somewhat clumsy.

As to Christian values from an earlier review, I suggest that dogma and doctrine which disallow plants and animals from God's kingdom are not what the Bible says. We are all part of God's creation (Genesis books 1 and 2) and all beings are worthy of respect and sympathetic care.

To be able to grow food and raise animals without depleting the earth's resources has been my family's work for generations. Biodynamic agriculture is the equivalent of homeopathy for the soil. It not only doesn't damage the soil but replenishes it. It stops pests without chemicals.

Conventional agriculture methods compress the soil, lock up nutrients and destroy friability. It' chemical add salts and residues that continue to damage for years.

We will be paying the price for their use in lower nutrition and higher health costs.

The future standard of feeding the world
I very much disagree with the previous reviewer. Saying that Steiner's methodology is incompatible with Christian values makes me think that the reviewer has absolutely no idea about how Christianity relates to agriculture.

Plants and animals are living creates and are aware of their surroundings and likely to be influenced by them as much as humans are. You can ask any pet owner if this is true.

Biodynamic farming maybe the only way out of a sick system of conventional (read: chemical) farming that is slowly poisoning the soil and it's crops and inevitably: ourselves. Much agricultural land (and there is not much of it. Think about it: Most of our earth is not suitable for agriculture) is absolutely depleted of any fertility and most of that is due to chemical farming. It is one reason for the global price insurge of basic foods (wheat, dairy, vegetables) this year.

In the future, knowing how to grow food maybe the most valuable commodity. This method is an introduction to growing food the most sustainable way and may save many lives in the days to come.

I burned this book
Before reading this book, I had been intrigued at the idea of Biodynamic Agriculture.My thought was to learn about Biodynamics from the source- Rudolph Steiner.
I couldn't even stomach reading this book.It is so New Age.It talks about plants and animals having spirits, and other things that are too dangerous to one's soul to read or mention.This book is incompatible with Christian values.I burned it. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1916.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
By setting industrialization against the background of wider processes of economic growth, recent trends in economic history have once again placed agriculture at the center of debate on the formation of modern economies.The nine essays in this volume examine the broader terms and implications of this new emphasis, and reassess the contribution of agriculture to economic growth in contexts that range from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries and from Europe to Russia and Asia. The essays are tightly focused around a set of central themes.Emphasizing how contexts of time and place have determined the relationship between agricultural change and economic growth, they explore comparatively such issues as the problems of interpretation and methodology posed by the close inter-dependence between agriculture and social organization, the critical role of political intervention in agricultural change, as well as the technical difficulties involved in measuring changes in productivity and their wider impact on economic growth.As a result the volume offers a uniquely broad but coherent and critical assessment of current trends in the interpretation of agriculture's major but complex historical role in modern economic growth. ... Read more

Product Description
The energies in fertilizers and in the cosmos do not often move needles, but they preside over crop production. As this manual makes clear, through learning to tap and use "life-force energy" it is possible to develop food production practices that are both high quality and nondestructive. Since high sugar and mineral levels confer immunity to bacterial, insect and fungal attack, a complete Brix chart on crops is included. Andersen’s chapters outline in detail the difference between deadly slow-kill agribusiness farming and farming as it should be. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Land minding
Again, like the previous book a must for looking after the land and looking outside the chemical square.

Incredible knowledge,USE it.
I am a third generation farmer and have been using Dr. Andersen's knowledge
for three years. I am amazed at the increase in quality and quanity of
my crops, with less costly and poisonous inputs.
Please, read this book and gain a new look on life, food and our
place in this world.

Thought-provoking in many new directions.
This book is a very insightful look at agriculture today. The author writes so that people who are younger can understand about the science involved in agruculture and has very interesting knowledge to support his statements. ... Read more

Product Description
How does Nature work? When one looks closely at the enormously complex web of life, it is impossible not to be caught by the wonder of how all living things - yes including rocks and crystals - are interconnected. Just as there is thought behind action, so there is energy behind matter. Schauberger is able to demonstrate how Nature works because he has been able to observe and describe how its energies manifest and produce the material world. This, the third volume in the eco-technology series, contains Schauberger's writings on trees, biodynamic agriculture and subtle energies in nautre. It answers questions like why are so many species of plant and animal disappearing? 'Industrial civilisation lurches towards ecological meltdown, Schauberger's prescient ideas and discoveries will be closely examined by all who seek to find a way for humanity to live in harmony, rather than conflict, with Nature.' - Ralph Metzner Other books by Viktor Schauberger Energy Evolution Nature as Teacher The Water Wizard. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

interesting but very scientific
A bit hard to read if you are not into reading a lot scientific information... but its a good book if you can get past that... slow read.

Viktor Schauberger was a Genius!
Viktor not only knew about water, unlike most people today, but he was a genius in regards to farming as well.When you live close to Nature, like Viktor did, you uncover a lot of truths about the world around you.This book is well written and was a pleasure reading.Without the forests we have no water and with poorly treated soil we end-up with poor quality food and more illnesses.If you care about the earth buy this book and spread the word. Cheers to Viktor Schauberger and all his insights, and to Callum Coats for translating it into English

Are you trying to save Mother Earth?
If you are in any way interested in the environement, then this book will appeal to you. This is the third book in the highly acclaimed "Eco-Technology" series by Callum Coats. Not only does the book delve into what man is doing to harm the environement, it also offers "fresh" ideas on what we can and should DO about it. I can't believe "Green Peace" or some other pro-environmental group doesn't have this book as part of their by-laws! Fascinating. Of coarse, the entire book is based on the revolutionary work of Viktor Schauberger. This one, if you are into farming, just have a back-yard garden, or are a hard core pro-earth person, will keep you reading till the end...and want to read the entire series. A very well written and inspiring book. A differnent view of natural phenomena, the influence of temperature and water movement, forestry, agriculture, the energy industry, the dying forest, timber and water in the building industry, soil fertilisation, increased productivity...wow! Again, whether you are just into learning what's happening to the earth, and why, or you are serious about trying to DO something to stop the damage already done, this book will open your eyes. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Finance & Development, published by International Monetary Fund on March 1, 1995. The length of the article is 3602 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Conventional wisdom in the 1960s and 1970s held agriculture to be a sector fairly unresponsive to economic incentives. In the 1980s, however, this piece of conventional wisdom was placed to a test as it became apparent that it was not always true since events showed that agriculture could be influenced by events external to the sector such as exchange rates and industrial policy. A reassessment of agriculture's role in developing countries has since revealed that excessive government intervention in the agricultural sector has had a much more negative effect than previously assumed. According to recent research, government-imposed price interventions, have had a negative consequences on income distribution, the budget, growth and income transfers.

Citation Details
Title: The plundering of agriculture in developing countries. (Latin America and the Caribbean: The Challenges Ahead)
Author: Maurice Schiff
Publication: Finance & Development (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 1995
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Volume: v32Issue: n1Page: p44(4)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
To an increasing number of American families the CSA (community supported agriculture) is the answer to the globalization of our food supply. The premise is simple: create a partnership between local farmers and nearby consumers, who become members or subscribers in support of the farm. In exchange for paying in advance—at the beginning of the growing season, when the farm needs financing—CSA members receive the freshest, healthiest produce throughout the season and keep money, jobs, and farms in their own community.
In this thoroughly revised and expanded edition of a Chelsea Green classic, authors Henderson and Van En provide new insight into making CSA not only a viable economic model, but the right choice for food lovers and farmers alike. Thinking and buying local is quickly moving from a novel idea to a mainstream activity. The groundbreaking first edition helped spark a movement and, with this revised edition, Sharing the Harvest is poised to lead the way toward a revitalized agriculture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

csa info
Had lots of information if you are a group trying to start a CSA.We are farmers and need more of the nuts and bolts of organization.Not quite as helpful on this topic, but I did get a few bits of valuable information.

A MUST-have for CSA farmer wannabes
Comprehensive look at the ins and outs of CSA farming, including pitfalls to avoid.Really, a must have resource for those interested in CSA farming.

Keeping a conscious connection to the land and your food
I've been a member of a CSA for the past several years and read this book because I wanted to become a more active participant in the movement. No, this book is not an operations manual on how to run a farm and distribute shares. I'd classify it more as an inspiration manual with examples and case studies of how other CSA formed (and failed), obtained financing and land, found shareholders and labor, all for the purposes of giving people an alternative to being dependent on big agribusiness and live a more sustainable lifestyle.

In the true spirit of a co-op, this book provides an introductory education to CSA newbies on the history of food co-ops, community-building and food systems. For those looking for more hands-on or operations-oriented guides to CSA farming, I'd encourage you to review the rather exhaustive reference section in this book and contact someone near you. For me, I found this book perfect for gaining a comprehensive understanding of CSAs overall, which is helping me increase me evolve from passive shareholder into a more active, participatory role.

Heavy on philosophy, light on practicality
If you're new to market gardening and looking for solid info on how to run a CSA, this is *not* the book for you. For example, the chapter on harvesting and processing is only 2 1/2 pages long and boils down to "it can't be explained in a book, you need hands on experience". The majority of the book is self-congratulatory prose about how CSAs are saving the world. I support the CSA concept, but found this book a big disappointment. There are a few useful charts for determining share size and how much to grow, they are the only thing that prevents me from giving this book zero stars.

A Solution to a Problem!!! - This book made me optimistic.
This book describes many problems of the current food production & distribution system.More importantly, it provides a solution using Community Supported Agriculture. The book outlines the steps necessary toset up a CSA, discusses options and issues for each step, and includesexamples from CSAs all over the country.Many references and a resourcelist guide readers to other sources of information in a variety of media.I am a CSA consumer, not a farmer or an organizer;I enjoyed the book andam much more optimistic about the power groups of individuals have tochange the system ... Read more

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Discusses agricultural technology in various cultures from the Stone Age to 476 A.D., including China, Egypt, Mesoamerica, and Greece. ... Read more

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Shows how the processes of globalization threaten to undermine all three dimensions, and calls for immediate action. ... Read more

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When other nations are forced to rethink their agricultural and food security strategies in light of the post-peak oil debate, they only have one living example to draw from: that of Cuba in the 1990s. Based on the first and, up till now, only systematic and empirical study to come out of Cuba on this topic, this book examines how the nation successfully headed off its own food crisis after the dissolution of the Soviet Bloc in the early 1990s. It identifies the policies and practices required for such an achievement under conditions of petroleum-scarcity, and in doing so it challenges the more common, free market development approach as encouraged in other food-insecure countries and regions.

Paradoxically, the book debunks the myth that Cuba turned to a widespread organic approach to agriculture, a myth that is perpetuated by the majority of visitors to the country, who only encounter urban gardens. In rural regions, to which the author had authorized access, high-input and integrated agriculture was the intention, although practice was hampered by the fluctuations in availability of agrochemicals and fuel. Cuban institutions and individuals were confronted with a series of challenges to going down the organic route, and these challenges are identified as those that other countries will also have to face as they attempt to develop more sustainable, organic farming systems.

The book counters the rhetoric of international policy on achieving sustainable agriculture and food security for developing countries in the context of dwindling global supplies of fossil fuels, and provides useful learning material for the current fledgling attempts at energy descent plans and the mainstreaming of eco-living in industrialized nations.
... Read more

Product Description
In 1652 Robert Cole, an English Catholic, moved with his family and servants to St. Mary's County, Maryland.Using this family's story as a case study, the authors of Robert Cole's World provide an intimate portrait of the social and economic life of a middling planter in the seveneenth-century Chesapeake, including work routines and agricultural techniques, the upbringing of children, neighborhood relationships and community formation, and the role of religion.

The Cole Plantation account, a record that details what the plantation produced, consumed, purchased, and sold over a twelve-year period, is the only known surviving document of its kind for seventeenth-century British America.Along with Cole's will, it serves as the framework around which the authors build their analysis.Drawing on these and other records, they present Cole as an exemplar of the ordinary planter whose success created the capital base for the slave-based plantation society of the eighteenth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Robert Cole's World: Agriculter and Society in Early Maryland
Before the widower, Robert Cole, traveled from the "New World" of Maryland back to England, he appointed a guardian to care for his property and children. This required an inventory.While in England, Robert Cole died. To settle his estate, there was a second inventory.When the Cole children reached adulthood, they sued their guardian, which generated a third inventory.

These three inventories gave us a unique view into the lives of early Marylanders.It has been especially valuable for me with the genealogical research I have been doing on my family's colonial life and times.

Robert Cole's World
Robert Cole's World is a great book. Covering the history of Robert Cole and his family from England to their immigration to Lord Baltimore's Colony of Maryland, the book is a must for anyone interested in early American history. Background on the Cole family, 17th century tobacco cultivation, and daily life in 17th century Maryland are all incorporated into this interesting and nicely written book. Included are copies of the Cole family's inventory, as well as Robert Cole's will. For anyone interested in colonial American history and what life was like before American slavery took hold, Robert Cole's world is for you. ... Read more

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Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Sustainable agriculture is a discipline that addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, poor-nation starvation, rich-nation obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control, and biodiversity depletion. Novel, environmentally-friendly solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from sciences as diverse as agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, and social sciences. Indeed, sustainable agriculture decipher mechanisms of processes that occur from the molecular level to the farming system to the global level at time scales ranging from seconds to centuries. For that, scientists use the system approach that involves studying components and interactions of a whole system to address scientific, economic and social issues. In that respect, sustainable agriculture is not a classical, narrow science. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach that treats only negative impacts, sustainable agriculture treats problem sources. Because most actual society issues are now intertwined, global, and fast-developing, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book series gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge, then propose alternative solutions. It will therefore help all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians who wish to build a safe agriculture, energy and food system for future generations.

Product Description
When Rudolf Steiner gave these lectures eighty years ago, industrial farming was on the rise and organic methods were being replaced in the name of science, efficiency, and technology. With the widespread alarm over food quality in recent years, and with the growth of the organic movement and its mainstream acceptance, perceptions are changing. The qualitative aspect of food is on the agenda again, and in this context Steiner’s only course of lectures on agriculture is critical to the current debate.

With these talks, Steiner created and launched "biodynamic" farming—a form of agriculture that has come to be regarded as the best organically produced food. However, the agriculture Steiner speaks of here is much more than organic—it involves working with the cosmos, with the earth, and with spiritual beings. To facilitate this, Steiner prescribes specific "preparations" for the soil, as well as other distinct methods born from his profound understanding of the material and spiritual worlds. He presents a comprehensive picture of the complex dynamic relationships at work in nature and gives basic indications of the practical measures needed to bring them into full play.

These lectures are reprinted here in the "classic" translation made by Rudolf Steiner's English interpreter, George Adams. This edition also features a preface by Steiner's colleague the medical doctor Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, as well as eight color plates.

This is the course that began the biodynamic movement. This is the essential work for anyone wanting to understand and use Steiner's methods of food production. ... Read more

Product Description
The subject of Nature’s Matrix is conservation of biodiversity, but it differs from other books by proposing a radically new approach based on recent advances in the science of ecology plus certain political realities.

The analysis in Nature's Matrix is based on the linking of three key political issues that are intimately related, yet often treated in isolation. The first is the crisis of biodiversity loss, universally acknowledged as a major contemporary problem. The second has to do with food and agriculture, a crisis issue for the past two decades. The third is the political unrest in rural areas, engendered most recently by a collapse in rural product markets, resulting in massive rural-urban and international migration. This book shows how these three issues are interrelated in complex ways, focusing on the need to understand that interrelationship for the generation of effective conservation programs.

These ideas challenge some in the conservation community since they are at odds with the major trends of some of the large conservation organizations that emphasize targeted land purchases of protected areas. They argue that recent advances in ecological research make such a general approach anachronistic and call, rather, for solidarity with the small farmers around the world who are currently struggling to attain food sovereignty. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Small Farmers are the Future
The park system is the prevailing model for biodiversity protection in the world - think Teddy R. and the US National Park Service; think Tanzania's Selous National Park, the biggest in the world.Armed guards, strict rules, "nature here, humans there". Biologists have long recognized that local extinctions were common, even in these big, dynamic parks, so "corridors" were the rage a few years ago, little pathways that would connect two "natural" areas to each other to allow migration (the solution to local extinction) - bridges over busy highways, for example.Most ecologists have found this approach hasn't worked.

Using a dazzling array of different disciplinary perspectives (biology, history, politics, anthropology), Perfecto et al. propose a "matrix" model of biodiversity protection that recognizes humans as potential stewards of the environment right where they live and work.Conservationists, they argue, have been blind to the political realities that drive extinction in the most sensitive regions, regions that happen to be in the poorest areas of the world.They focus their attention on agriculture, which has been such a destructive force in places like Brazilian Amazon.But they draw an important distinction between the Green Revolution-style industrial system usually encouraged by the global economic powers and the farming practiced by smallholders around the world.The latter, they argue, actually contribute to this matrix of biodiversity by showing more care for the land and thus conservationists should support and work closely with rural social movements that advocate for them.

The book cites two large case studies from Latin America from coffee farms in Central America and cocoa farms in Brazil.In both cases, the authors found a rich diversity of species living in and migrating through the farms.These farms practiced traditional and/or sustainable methods that involved the use of naturally occurring shade trees. Examples of maize farming in Mexico and wetland protection via rice fields in Southeast Asia are also provided. The authors make a well-developed argument that supporting such farms should be central to any conservation plan, especially in the developing world.

One minor criticism I have is the authors' somewhat incongruous choice of cash crop farms as a case study in arguing for food sovereignty. The methods practiced by these farmers is admirable, but they're still at the whim of global markets to a large extent. Farms provisioning food for local markets should play a bigger role in any discussion of food sovereignty.Nevertheless, the findings are hopeful and paradigm-rattling and will likely make conservationists and rural development practitioners rethink their methods.

A strong addition to environmental history collections
People go where there is food. "Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation, and Food Sovereignty", the collaborative work of Ivette Perfecto, John Vandermeer, and Angus Wright, is an intriguing history that discusses humanity, and how agriculture drives development through ecological effects on earth. Calling upon modern research on the subject, Ivette Perfecto and his associates, professors on the subject, enlighten and intrigue readers about nature's invisible mathematical hand and its impact on human society. "Nature's Matrix" is a strong addition to environmental history collections. ... Read more

Product Description
In the past half century, filamentous fungi have grown in commercial importance not only in the food industry but also as sources of pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of infectious and metabolic diseases and of specialty proteins and enzymes used to process foods, fortify detergents, and perform biotransformations. The commercial impact of molds is also measured on a negative scale since some of these organisms are significant as pathogens of crop plants, agents of food spoilage, and sources of toxic and carcinogenic compounds. Recent advances in the molecular genetics of filamentous fungi are finding increased application in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, and enzyme industries, and this trend promises to continue as the genomics of fungi is explored and new techniques to speed genetic manipulation become available.This volume focuses on the filamentous fungi and highlights the advances of the past decade, both in methodology and in the understanding of genomic organization and regulation of gene and pathway expression. ... Read more

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