Richard Ellis

Presents a study of the mythology and biology of the real deep sea monster Architeuthis

The Search for the Giant Squid

The celebrated authority on marine biology presents this tour de force of natural history, in which he chronicles more than three billion years of aquatic history, revealing the deep evolutionary mysteries of the sea. Line drawings.

The Origin and Evolution of Life in the Sea

Aquagenesis

In Monsters of the Sea, Richard Ellis casts his net wide in search of the most unusual aquatic creatures, from mermaids to manatees to the Loch Ness Monster and the mythical sea serpent for whom the giant squid has frequently been mistaken. Ellis examines the literary sources of sea-monster lore, from The Odyssey to Jules Verne to Peter Benchley. Highly entertaining, packed with curiosities, and backed by the author's impeccable scientific credentials.

Monsters of the Sea

John E. McCosker

Shares the latest findings on the great white shark's size, ancestry, relatives, breeding, and feeding habits

Great White Shark

Famed marine researcher and illustrator Richard Ellis brings us a work of scientific achievement that will forever change the way we think about fish, fishing, and the dangers inherent in the seafood we eat. The bluefin tuna is one of the world's biggest, fastest, and most highly evolved marine animals, as well as one of its most popular delicacies. Now, however, it hovers on the brink of extinction. Here Ellis explains how a fish that was once able to thrive has become a commodity—and how the natural world and the global economy converge on our plates. With updated information on mercury levels in tuna, this is at once an astounding ode to one of nature's greatest marvels and a serious examination of a creature and world at risk.

Love, Death, and Mercury

Tuna

Reiki is a unique system of healing that allows you to harness and transmit energy through your hands, restoring balance and harmony within the body and bringing relief to a wide range of physical and emotional problems. This book, by renowned Reiki teacher Richard Ellis, illustrates all the hand positions used for the first level of Reiki, but it goes much further and shows them in their relation to the seven chakras. Chakras are the main energy points of the body and provide the anatomy of energy healing. These are different for everyone, and so to practise Reiki effectively you need to understand a person's chakras, which will in turn explain the type of person they are and the health problems they are vulnerable to. For example, one person may have an excessive first chakra, making them prone to obesity or digestive problems, and to pessimism, while another may be deficient, making them vulnerable to anorexia and restlessness. You would therefore approach these two people differently. Reiki and the Seven Chakras captures the feeling of wonder that surrounds Reiki, but it is also an immensely practical guide. So many of the current books on Reiki are very dry, following a formula of detailing the history of Reiki healing and then showing you how to do it. This one breaks the mould and is written from a very personal point of view, which makes it incredibly interesting to read and also very accessible – essential if you are to understand the true nature and potential of Reiki.

Your Essential Guide to the First Level

Reiki And The Seven Chakras

The Intimate Confessions of a Boy Lover

In this "paleohistorical equivalent of "Jaws," modern-day sharks are anchovies compared to the monstrous great reptiles of the prehistoric seas" (Peter Benchley, author of "Jaws" and "Shark Trouble"). 51 line drawings.

Predators of the Prehistoric Oceans

Sea Dragons

Tony Allen

Andrew Tuson

The papers in this volume are the refereed application papers presented at AI-2006, the Twenty-sixth SGAI International Conference on Innovative Techniques and Applications of Artificial Intelligence, held in Cambridge in December 2006. The papers present new and innovative developments in the field. The series serves as a key reference as to how AI technology has enabled organisations to solve complex problems and gain significant business benefit.

Proceedings of AI-2006, the Twenty-sixth SGAI International Conference on Innovative Techniques and Applications of Artificial Intelligence

Applications and Innovations in Intelligent Systems XIV

Ann Macintosh

Frans Coenen

The papers in this volume are the referred Applications papers presented at ES 2002, the Twenty-second SGES international Conference on Knowledge Based Systems and Applied Artificial Intelligence, to be held in Cambridge during December 2002. The Application stream is the largest annual showcase in Europe of real applications using AI technology. Papers presented in this volume describe the application of AI to address real-world problems, including commerce, manufacturing and defence and every major AI technique; and highlight critical areas of success (and failure) and present the benefits and lessons of value to other developers. This is the tenth volume in the Applications and Innovations in Intelligent Systems series. The series serves as a key reference as to how AI technology has enabled organisations to solve complex problems and gain significant business benefits. The Technical Stream papers are published as a companion volume under the title Research and Development in Intelligent Systems XIX.

Proceedings of ES2002, the Twenty-second SGAI International Conference on Knowledge Based Systems and Applied Artificial Intelligence

Applications and Innovations in Intelligent Systems X

"From a group of variously ambitious friends delighted to find a luxurious sublet just across from the World Trade Canter in the year 2000; to a family whose tranquillity is strangely poisoned by its years spent in poor foreign lands; to the too-painful love of a brother for his schizophrenic sister, whose life embitters him to the very idea of family, Deborah Eisenberg widens her range to focus her impeccable eye on a terrifying contemporary world in which "everything that happens is out there waiting for you to come to it"."--BOOK JACKET.

A perfect fish in the evolutionary sense, the broadbill swordfish derives its name from its distinctive bill—much longer and wider than the bill of any other billfish—which is flattened into the sword we all recognize. And though the majesty and allure of this warrior fish has commanded much attention—from adventurous sportfishers eager to land one to ravenous diners eager to taste one—no one has yet been bold enough to truly take on the swordfish as a biographer. Who better to do so than Richard Ellis, a master of marine natural history? Swordfish: A Biography of the Ocean Gladiator is his masterly ode to this mighty fighter. The swordfish, whose scientific name means “gladiator,” can take on anyone and anything, including ships, boats, sharks, submarines, divers, and whales, and in this book Ellis regales us with tales of its vitality and strength. Ellis makes it easy to understand why it has inspired so many to take up the challenge of epic sportfishing battles as well as the longline fishing expeditions recounted by writers such as Linda Greenlaw and Sebastian Junger. Ellis shows us how the bill is used for defense—contrary to popular opinion it is not used to spear prey, but to slash and debilitate, like a skillful saber fencer. Swordfish, he explains, hunt at the surface as well as thousands of feet down in the depths, and like tuna and some sharks, have an unusual circulatory system that gives them a significant advantage over their prey, no matter the depth in which they hunt. Their adaptability enables them to swim in waters the world over—tropical, temperate, and sometimes cold—and the largest ever caught on rod and reel was landed in Chile in 1953, weighing in at 1,182 pounds (and this heavyweight fighter, like all the largest swordfish, was a female). Ellis’s detailed and fascinating, fact-filled biography takes us behind the swordfish’s huge, cornflower-blue eyes and provides a complete history of the fish from prehistoric fossils to its present-day endangerment, as our taste for swordfish has had a drastic effect on their population the world over. Throughout, the book is graced with many of Ellis’s own drawings and paintings, which capture the allure of the fish and bring its splendor and power to life for armchair fishermen and landlocked readers alike.

A Biography of the Ocean Gladiator

Swordfish

A history of deep-sea exploration and research into the vast unknown world of the Atlantic Ocean examines the undersea world's strange and wonderful fauna and flora and their unique environment. 15,000 first printing. Tour.

Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss

Deep Atlantic

Complemented by maps and more than fifty photographs, a fascinating investigation into the lost city of Atlantis traces the legend's development from the literature of the ancients to the popular culture of contemporary America. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

Imagining Atlantis

An impassioned profile of the habitat and life cycle of the polar bear includes coverage of such topics as the species' venerated position in Inuit culture, its reproductive habits, and the environmental factors that are compromising its ability to survive.

The Changing World of the Polar Bear

On Thin Ice

Simon Ravenscroft

Plato’s Symposium, composed in the early fourth century BC, demonstrates how powerful the skills of reasoning and evaluation can be. Known to philosophers for its seminal discussion of the relationship of love to knowledge, it is also a classic text for demonstrating the two critical thinking skills that define Plato’s whole body of work. Plato’s philosophical technique of dialogue is the perfect frame for producing arguments and presenting a persuasive case for a given point of view, and at the same time judging the strength of arguments, their relevance and their acceptability. Staging a fictional debate between characters (wealthy Athenians at a dinner party) who must respond in turn to each others’ arguments and points of view means that, at every stage, Plato evaluates the previous argument, assesses its strength and relevance, and then proceeds (through the next character) to reason out a new argument in response. Exerting unparalleled influence on the techniques of philosophical thought, Plato’s use of dialogue is a supreme example of these two crucial critical thinking skills.

Symposium

From Richard Ellis, Americas foremostpainter and chronicler of undersea life, comes Big Fish, a natural history ofthelargestfish on Earth. For eons, thesepowerful animals have captivated our collective imagination, and for good reason: Theyare touchstones in fishing lore, mythology, religion, literature, cuisine, and pop culturefrom Jonah to Jaws. Blending natural history, art, and science with historical, cultural, and personal stories, Ellis describes the giants of the sea, weaving in anecdotes, archival images, and photos related to legendary catches and discoveries. Along the way, we meet big-game fishermen like Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey, as well as naturalists and explorers. We also meet all manner of tuna, from bluefin and yellowfin to albacore and bigeye; marlins, from black, blue, and striped to spearfish; and sharks, from the long-extinct megamouth to the frightful great white. Perfect for all those enchanted by the mysteries of the deep, Big Fish illuminates natural history with wit, charm, artistry, and humor.

Big Fish

In parts of Korea and China, moon bears, black but for the crescent-shaped patch of white on their chests, are captured in the wild and brought to "bear farms" where they are imprisoned in squeeze cages, and a steel catheter is inserted into their gall bladders. The dripping bile is collected as a cure for ailments ranging from an upset stomach to skin burns. The bear may live as long as fifteen years in this state. Rhinos are being illegally poached for their horns, as are tigers for their bones, thought to improve virility. Booming economies and growing wealth in parts of Asia are increasing demand for these precious medicinals. Already endangered species are being sacrificed for temporary treatments for nausea and erectile dysfunction. Richard Ellis, one of the world's foremost experts in wildlife extinction, brings his alarm to the pages of Tiger Bone & Rhino Horn, in the hope that through an exposure of this drug trade, something can be done to save the animals most direly threatened. Trade in animal parts for traditional Chinese medicine is a leading cause of species endangerment in Asia, and poaching is increasing at an alarming rate. Most of traditional Chinese medicine relies on herbs and other plants, and is not a cause for concern. Ellis illuminates those aspects of traditional medicine, but as wildlife habitats are shrinking for the hunted large species, the situation is becoming ever more critical. One hundred years ago, there were probably 100,000 tigers in India, South China, Sumatra, Bali, Java, and the Russian Far East. The South Chinese, Caspian, Balinese, and Javan species are extinct. There are now fewer than 5,000 tigers in all of India, and the numbers are dropping fast. There are five species of rhinoceros--three in Asia and two in Africa--and all have been hunted to near extinction so their horns can be ground into powder, not for aphrodisiacs, as commonly thought, but for ailments ranging from arthritis to depression. In 1930, there were 80,000 black rhinos in Africa. Now there are fewer than 2,500. Tigers, bears, and rhinos are not the only animals pursued for the sake of alleviating human ills--the list includes musk deer, sharks, saiga antelope, seahorses, porcupines, monkeys, beavers, and sea lions--but the dwindling numbers of those rare species call us to attention. Ellis tells us what has been done successfully, and contemplates what can and must be done to save these animals or, sadly, our children will witness the extinction of tigers, rhinos, and moon bears in their lifetime.

Richard Ellis

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