[Free eBook] Bats: A World of Science and Mystery by M. Brock Fenton & Nancy B. Simmons [Nature History & Biology]

Bats: A World of Science and Mystery by M. Brock Fenton, an emeritus professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Western Ontario, & Nancy B. Simmons, a curator-in-charge at the American Museum of Natural History, is their nature science book, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher the University of Chicago Press.

This is their featured Free eBook of the Month selection for October, and is a lavishly photo-illustrated accessibly-written quasi-textbook about bats, focusing mainly on their biology and how their bodies and flight and echolocation abilities work, but also covering their origins and evolution and related historical scientific discoveries, with little anecdotes scattered throughout of the authors’ encounters with the creatures while studying them in the wild over the past few decades.

Offered worldwide through the month of October, available directly from the publisher’s website.

[Free eBook] Ground Truth: A Guide to Tracking Climate Change at Home by Mark L. Hineline [DIY Ecology Conservation & Science History]

Ground Truth: A Guide to Tracking Climate Change at Home by Mark L. Hineline, an instructor in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science at Michigan State University, is a science history and advocacy book, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher the University of Chicago Press.

This is their featured Free eBook of the Month selection for August, and is an accessibly written natural history and DIY guide, with tips on how to keep track on the various flora and fauna in your local neighbourhood by recording everyday observations, as well as a philosophical meditation on the connections between the seasons and climate change and a primer on the history of phenology, which studies natural events and their timing. There’s also a brief Q&A with the author about this book on the UCP blog.

Offered worldwide through the month of August, available directly from the publisher’s website.

[Free eBook] Our Once and Future Planet: Restoring the World in the Climate Change Century by Paddy Woodworth [Science History & Conservation Travelogue]

Our Once and Future Planet: Restoring the World in the Climate Change Century by Irish journalist Paddy Woodworth is a science history and current affairs cum travelogue, free for a limited courtesy of publisher the University of Chicago Press.

This is their featured Free Book of the Month for April, and gives an overview, written for a popular audience, of ecological conservation worldwide as well as spotlighting current and historical issues and challenges, as the author travelled the globe over the course of 8 years to locations including South Africa, Australia & New Zealand, Costa Rica, Mexico, Chicago, Italy, and his own native Ireland, to look at and speak with various persons working on assorted projects attempting to restore the damaged environment.

Offered worldwide through April 30th, available from the publisher’s website.

[Free eBook] The Dawn of the Deed: The Prehistoric Origins of Sex by John A. Long [Paleontology & Evolutionary Biology]

The Dawn of the Deed: The Prehistoric Origins of Sex by John A. Long, a paleontologist affiliated with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, is a scientific history, free for a limited time courtesy of the University of Chicago Press.

This is their featured Free eBook of the Month for July, and is an accessibly and entertainingly written natural history account tracing the origins, evolution, and peculiar developments of mating and sexual reproduction in the animal kingdom, from ancient fossils through to modern oddities across many different species.

Offered free throughout July, available worldwide directly from the publisher’s website.

Currently free @ the publisher’s dedicated promo page (Adobe Digital Editions DRM-protected ePub format; requires newsletter signup with valid email address), and you can read more about the book on its regular catalogue page.

Description
We all know about the birds and the bees, but what about the ancient placoderm fishes and the dinosaurs? The history of sex is as old as life itself—and as complicated and mysterious. And despite centuries of study there is always more to know. In 2008, paleontologist John A. Long and a team of researchers revealed their discovery of a placoderm fish fossil, known as “the mother fish,” which at 380 million years old revealed the oldest vertebrate embryo—the earliest known example of internal fertilization. As Long explains, this find led to the reexamination of countless fish fossils and the discovery of previously undetected embryos. As a result, placoderms are now considered to be the first species to have had intimate sexual reproduction or sex as we know it—sort of.

Inspired by this incredible find, Long began a quest to uncover the paleontological and evolutionary history of copulation and insemination. In The Dawn of the Deed, he takes readers on an entertaining and lively tour through the sex lives of ancient fish and exposes the unusual mating habits of arthropods, tortoises, and even a well-endowed (16.5 inches!) Argentine Duck. Long discusses these significant discoveries alongside what we know about reproductive biology and evolutionary theory, using the fossil record to provide a provocative account of prehistoric sex. The Dawn of the Deed also explores fascinating revelations about animal reproduction, from homosexual penguins to monogamous seahorses to the difficulties of dinosaur romance and how sexual organs in ancient shark-like fishes actually relate to our own sexual anatomy.

The Dawn of the Deed is Long’s own story of what it’s like to be a part of a discovery that rewrites evolutionary history as well as an absolutely rollicking guide to sex throughout the ages in the animal kingdom. It’s natural history with a naughty wink.

[Free eBook] Elephants Are Not Picked From Trees by Liv Emma Thorsen [Nature Museum Exhibit History]

Elephants Are Not Picked From Trees: Animal Biographies in the Gothenburg Natural History Museum by Liv Emma Thorsen, a professor emerita at the University of Oslo in Norway, is her natural museum exhibit micro-history book, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Aarhus University Press in Denmark.

This is an accessibly-written academic history showcasing the origins of four of the subtitular Swedish natural history museum’s preserved animal exhibits. This is really very nifty, not only lavishly illustrated with period and modern photographs, but also with plenty of info explaining the historical cultural background surrounding the fad for taxidermied animal acquisition in past centuries, as well as quotes from original documents about the acquisition process and subsequent treatment and setup of the exhibits and their ensuing reception by the public. (Sadly, the notorious Gripsholm Lion, made memetically infamous as perhaps the worst ever historically taxidermied lion put on display, does not appear to be mentioned anywhere in its pages.)

Offered through the month of January, available worldwide DRM-free.