Nature Books

Spark your child's fascination with the natural world through "Rocks and Minerals" by National Geographic. With uncomplicated text paired with stunning visuals, it's like a treasure hunt on paper, perfect for budding geologists. The interactive element at the end is a clever touch to reinforce learning.

If you're looking to reduce your environmental footprint and simplify your cleaning routine, "Green Clean" can be your guide. It's practical, offering ways to maintain a sparkling home using just a handful of natural ingredients. This could be the nudge you need towards a more sustainable lifestyle, starting with the cleanliness of your own home.

If you've ever been curious about the intricate wonders inside our cells, 'The Machinery of Life' is a unique exploration that blends scientific detail with captivating artwork. David S. Goodsell offers a window into the molecular machines that power life, making complex biochemistry accessible and visually engaging. This book could be a delightful find for anyone who appreciates the art in science and the science in art.

If you're passionate about the vibrant world of discus fish, Bernd Degen's "Degen Discus Book" is an indispensable companion. It tackles the essentials of discus care, from nuanced water chemistry advice to practical feeding strategies. More than a basic guide, it delves into the complexities of breeding and disease management, crucial for anyone serious about maintaining or developing a thriving discus aquarium. With a showcase of popular varieties, it's both an educational tool and a visual pleasure for hobbyists.

If you're fascinated by underwater ecosystems and want to ensure your marine aquarium thrives, "Marine Chemistry" by Chris Brightwell is a must-read. It provides a comprehensive dive into the nuances of water chemistry, crucial for both newcomers to the hobby and seasoned aquarists. The book's depth, from covering fundamental concepts to tackling advanced topics, ensures your underwater world remains as vibrant and stable as the ocean itself.

This book would be a great read for students pursuing a degree in environmental sciences as it provides a detailed understanding of the underlying principles of analytical measurements, their limitations, and interpretations. The explanation of complex chemical techniques is done in a simpler way, making it easy for beginners to grasp. The book also exemplifies how these techniques can be used to solve specific environmental problems.

If you're delving into the intricate world of methanogenic archaea, this encyclopedia is indispensable. Not only does it cover the ecological aspects of these microorganisms, but it dives deep into their physiology, biochemistry, and genetics. You'll come away with a robust understanding that could propel your research or studies in microbial ecology and biotechnology.

This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in understanding the sources and effects of aquatic pollution. It provides practical, science-backed solutions for preserving the health of our waters. Users will appreciate its thorough coverage of diverse sources of water pollution, from pesticides to sewage treatment, and its emphasis on actionable measures to mitigate the harms of contaminated water.

This book is recommended for students and professionals in environmental sciences and related fields. It provides comprehensive coverage of microchemical processes of trace elements in natural water bodies, including geological and biological interactions, analytical aspects, concentration levels, and physicochemical forms of trace elements in different natural water systems. The book thoroughly investigates important fields of future research.

If you're passionate about environmental conservation and looking for an insightful read, "The Hydrogen Age" could be just the book for you. It could offer a deep dive into hydrogen as a clean energy source and its potential impact on our planet. The authors, Holland and Provenzano, present how this element can contribute to solving global energy challenges, which can be enlightening for anyone interested in sustainable technologies and the future of energy.

This book is a comprehensive guide for those interested in improving the quality of community water supplies. With contributions from experts in environmental engineering, water chemistry, and water purification and treatment, readers can expect to gain knowledge on the health and aesthetic aspects of water quality, water treatment process selection, water quality management, and water treatment plant waste management. The American Water Works Association is a respected organization in the field, making this handbook a reliable resource for anyone interested in water treatment.

Recommended for students seeking a thorough understanding of basic chemical principles, with a particular focus on solving environmental problems. The book offers concise coverage of various aspects of chemistry, including physical, equilibrium, organic, biochemistry, colloid, and nuclear chemistry. It is also a reliable resource to lay the groundwork for understanding water and wastewater analysis. Overall, the book is ideal for senior and graduate students in environmental engineering seeking to build their skills in chemistry.

This book is an ideal reference for science students and non-scientists. It provides comprehensive coverage of various aspects of science including physics, biology, and astronomy. The dictionary features recommended web links for many entries, accessed and updated via the Dictionary of Science companion website. It includes short biographies of leading scientists, full-page illustrated features on subjects such as the Solar System and Genetically Modified Organisms, and chronologies of specific scientific subjects including plastics, electronics, and cell biology. The expanded coverage of global warming, forensic science, astrophysics, quantam theory, and the solar system makes it a must-read for those interested in science.

Excerpted from the Mineralogy is the science of minerals. To the uninitiated, mineralogy can appear to be a very complicated subject. Many of the disciplines that form its core, such as chemistry, crystallography, physics and mathematics, can constitute forbidding barriers to understanding this fascinating natural science. This book endeavors to eliminate such barriers and to accompany the reader seeking to enter the world of minerals. The primary goals of this introduction are to illustrate some of the principal properties of minerals, present the modern tools used in their study, describe the natural environments in which minerals are formed, and explain the criteria by which minerals are classified. The main section of this book is an illustrated guide to 288 mineral species, all of them illustrated with unique photographs taken by nature photographer Roberto Appiani. Special thanks go to Dr. Federico Pezzotta, Curator of Mineralogy and Petrography at the Museum of Natural History in Milan, Italy, who wrote the section of this introduction that deals with the environments in which minerals are formed. Minerals are crystalline substances that are found in their natural state. Minerals are familiar to everyone, as they compose the rocks and mountains around us, as well as the sand on our beaches and the soil in our gardens. Many of the products we use every day are composed of toothpaste, for example, contains microcrystals of mica, calcite and fluorite, while detergents contain such mineral additives as calcite, dolomite, clays and zeolites. Minerals are components of meteorites and planets, while gemstones are nothing more than rough fragments of crystals, unusually transparent or colorful, that have been cut to emphasize their brilliance and transparency. Minerals have always had great importance in our world; from the dawn of history, each step in mankind's development can be measured by the use of metals. Today, minerals are the principal elements of steel and special alloys, and are integral to electronic and communication devices; they ace also used in the space industry and in the manufacture of a great many everyday items. The science of mineralogy came into being in relatively recent times. In order to understand the scientific criteria that governs its principles, one needs to trace the most important steps along its path over the centuries. The oldest use of minerals is related to primitive humans used natural pigments, hematite reds and manganese oxide blacks, to paint the walls of the caves in which they lived. About 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians were making objects from precious metals, using such colored minerals as malachite, lazurite and the emerald variety of beryl. The first texts to deal with mineralogical subjects were those of the Greek Theophrastus, around 370 B.C., and Pliny the Elder 400 years later. With Historio Naturalis , Pliny describes the perfect geometric shapes of crystals, laying the basis for the science of mineralogy. However, it is the German physician and scientist Georgius Agricola who is considered the father of mineralogy. In De Re Metallica ("On Metals"), first printed in 1556, Agricola describes the mining practices of his day in great detail, especially the techniques for exploiting and refining minerals and the procedures involved in the use of fusion to extract metals. Modern crystallography, the study of the forms that compose crystals, was born between the second half of the 1600s and the end of the 1700s, thanks to the contributions of Nicholas Steno, Carangeot and Romé de l'Isle. In 1801, Abbé René-Just Haüy discovered that minerals are composed of countless "molecules" that exactly reproduce the shape of their crystals, anticipating important discoveries that would only be confirmed a century later. During the 19th century, numerous scientists investigated the chemistry of minerals, among them Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius, who established the princip1es of modern mineral classification. The beginning of the 20th century marks a fundamental step in the history of mineralogy, with the dlscovecy of the structure of minerals by German physicist Max von Laue in 1912. Experiments performed using X-rays proved for the first time that minerals are composed of atoms precisely arranged according to exact rules. In the early 1960s, electronic microprobe analysis made possible the study of the chemical composition of minerals, and in comparatively short periods of time, enabled accurate chemical analysis of mineral fragments of even the smallest size (down to 4/100,000 of an inch or 0.001 mm). In the early 1970s, another highly advanced instrument, the transmission electron microscope, went into common use in laboratories and universities (at least those able to afford its high cost). Capable of magnifying millions of times, this tool opened a new frontier in mineralogy, allowing the direct observation of the atoms and the structures that compose minerals.

Anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste as such or together with food waste, press water or patatoes sludge was investigated to equilibrate methane production within a day or over the weekend, when no OFMSW was available. A stable co-digestion process could be achieved with COD degradation between 60 and 80 %. The max. organic loading rates were 28 kg COD/L, d. For stable methane production the OLR during Co-digestion should not excede 22,5 kg/L,