Showing results by publisher "Wavesound from W. F. Howes Ltd" in Science

Is it too late to regenerate the earth? Call of the Reed Warbler shows the way forward for the future of our food supply, our Australian landscape and our planet. This ground-breaking audiobook will change the way we think of, farm and grow food. Author and radical farmer Charles Massy explores transformative and regenerative agriculture and the vital connection between our soil and our health.

Soil is the unlikely story of our most maligned resource as swashbuckling hero. A saga of bombs, ice ages and civilisations falling. Of ancient hunger, modern sicknesses and gastronomic delight. It features poison gas, climate collapse and a mind-blowing explanation of how rain is formed. For too long, we've not only neglected the land beneath us, we've squandered and debased it, by over-clearing, over-grazing and over-ploughing.

Milk. It's in our coffee, on our cereal. We see it in processed form. It's there in almond form, or made from oats or soy. Milk celebrates the majesty of this noble liquid, and delves into the pretenders to its throne, from formula to Mylk. It looks at the transformation of what a milk-producer eats into one of the most nutrient dense foods available, and how that can be transformed again into the butter, cheese and clotted cream that we know and love today. It's an exploration of the science, history and politics of what makes mammals different from every other life form on earth.

On 7 February 2009, Roger Wood was the police officer in charge of Kinglake, at the epicentre of the worst ever bushfire disaster in Australia's history, Black Saturday. As the firestorm engulfed the community, he risked his life again and again to try to save people. When he phoned home to warn his wife what was coming, she screamed that the fire had already hit their property. Then the line went dead.

Over 500,000 years ago, a single gene mutated. It spread over time, becoming critical in the journey transforming our earliest ancestors into fully modern humans, capable of navigating the entire planet and beyond. Then just a few thousand years ago, humans gradually outsourced knowledge to writing, and we displaced art and music from the heart of learning. This is the extraordinary story of the discovery of a supergene that makes us uniquely human.

Former food critic and chef, now farmer and restaurateur Matthew Evans grapples with the thorny issues around the ways we produce and consume animals. From feedlots and abattoirs to organic farms and animal welfare agencies, he has an intimate, expert understanding of the farming practices that take place in our name. Evans calls for less radicalisation, for greater understanding, and for ethical omnivores to stand up for the welfare of animals and farmers alike.

Our eyes have been drawn away from the skies to our screens. We no longer look to the stars to forecast the weather, predict the seasons or plant our gardens. Most of us cannot even see the Milky Way. But First Nations Elders around the world still maintain this knowledge, and there is much we can learn from them. Guided by six First Nations Elders, Duane Hamacher takes us on a journey across space and time to reveal the wisdom of the first astronomers.

Author Deb Hunt sets out to discover what makes our Australian farming families tick. Travelling to properties across the country - from a vast, dusty cattle run in outback Queensland to the wheat belt of Western Australia and dairy farms in Tasmania - and introducing us to eight different families who survive and thrive on the land, these stories provide a window into a way of life that defines the Australian spirit at its best.

Born in Darwin in 1929, Jacqueline's childhood was spent in a succession of bush towns before she was sent to school in Darwin. Returning to her beloved territory, Jacqueline met and married stockman Ken Hammar, and they moved to a vast property in one of the most inaccessible areas of Australia. With only a kerosene stove, scant possessions and a bed, Jacqueline’s determination and courage helped her survive many hardships as they created a prosperous 1,000,000 acre cattle station.

Fuelled by her biologist's background and deep curiosity, Danielle Clode delves into the world of koalas to discover what's behind the sweet face on thousands of postcards. From their megafaunal ancestors to the disastrous effects of colonisation, from remarkable conservation success in the 1920s to the devastating bushfires of 2019-2020, Clode tells the story of koalas and their complex relationship with humans.

Since the publication of her prize-winning memoir, Craft for a Dry Lake, writer and artist Kim Mahood has been returning to the Tanami desert country in far north-western Australia where, as a child, she lived with her family on a remote cattle station. The land is timeless, but much has changed: the station has been handed back to its traditional owners, the mining companies have arrived and Aboriginal art has flourished.

The joys and the harsh realities of farm life, from a writer whose family has farmed the same piece of land for five generations. Farmer Tim Saunders manages to incorporate some writing into his days, and here he describes his life through the seasons: summer, shearing, slaughter, crop harvest, conservation; autumn, floods, trading stock, drenching, dagging; winter, maize harvest, lambing; and spring, docking, pet sheep, weaning. It's a tough life, and through his powerful, poignant writing Tim tells of his connection to the land.

In What's Wrong with You? Dr Sarah Holper takes you on an extensive tour through your body, explaining how its failings cause your medical symptoms. Packed with memorable patient encounters, cultural diversions, historical oddities and insider doctor secrets, Dr Holper arms you with the knowledge you need to understand why your body reacts to illness the way it does.

Weaving the personal with the history of anatomy and the dissected, Jackie Dent explores the world of whole-body donation—all the while looking for answers as to what happened to her grandparents.