Böcker av John Muir

Go where you may within the bounds of California, mountains are ever in sight, charming and glorifying every landscape. Yet so simple and massive is the topography of the State in general views, that the main central portion displays only one valley, and two chains of mountains which seem almost perfectly regular in trend and height: the Coast Range on the west side, the Sierra Nevada on the east. These two ranges coming together in curves on the north and south inclose a magnificent basin, with a level floor more than 400 miles long, and from 35 to 60 miles wide. This is the grand Central Valley of California, the waters of which have only one outlet to the sea through the Golden Gate. But with this general simplicity of features there is great complexity of hidden detail. The Coast Range, rising as a grand green barrier against the ocean, from 2000 to 8000 feet high, is composed of innumerable forest-crowned spurs, ridges, and rolling hill-waves which inclose a multitude of smaller valleys; some looking out through long, forest-lined vistas to the sea; others, with but few trees, to the Central Valley; while a thousand others yet smaller are embosomed and concealed in mild, round-browed hills, each, with its own climate, soil, and productions.

Recovering from a factory accident that nearly claimed his eyesight, a young John Muir ventured into the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. The flowers, wildlife, and rock formations he saw during the summer of 1869 changed how he would look at nature forever. Recollected at the end of his life from early journals and sketches, this ecstatic personal narrative gives insight into the forward-looking nature lover who would become known as father of the nation's parks system. To read this book is to become Muir's hiking partner, sharing in "a glorious botanical and geological excursion" that would blaze the trail for the modern-day environmental movement.

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The Mountains of California is John Muir''s tribute to the beauties of the Sierra, in the book form. When he came to California and finally settled in San Francisco, John Muir immediately left for a visit to Yosemite, a place he had only read about. Seeing it for the first time, Muir noted that "He was overwhelmed by the landscape, scrambling down steep cliff faces to get a closer look at the waterfalls, whooping and howling at the vistas, jumping tirelessly from flower to flower." He climbed a number of mountains, including Cathedral Peak and Mount Dana, and hiked the old Indian trail down Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake. He vividly described not only his journeys through the mountains, valleys andglaciersof Sierra, but also the nature and geology of the area. John Muir (1838 - 1914) was a Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is a prominent American conservation organization.

The Mountains of California not only details John Muir's visits to the magnificent mountains along the Sierra Nevada Range, but also the stunning glaciers, forests and wildlife he encounters; the enthusiasm contained within these pages is infectious.

The Story of my Boyhood and Youth is the memoir of the now internationally renowned John Muir, a Scottish-American boy subject to a most unusual upbringing, his transition into adulthood, and the path that led him to petition for the concept of protected national parks.

Travels in Alaska details three of John Muir's trips to Alaska: 1879, 1880 and 1890, each one embedded with stunning metaphors, a dedicated love of Mother Nature and a desire to protect and preserve wildness, this book is an insight not only into Alaska, but into Muir himself.

Steep Trails is a mix of John Muir's essays and adventure narratives. As Terry Gifford writes in the foreword, 'Most of Steep Trails' chapters are dispatches from Muir as travelling correspondent with a mixture of insights into local cultures, criticism of pollution and enthusiasm for everything wild.'

First published in 1901, Our National Parks is possibly the bestselling book of John Muir's wilderness-discovery titles and was certainly the most influential published in his lifetime. Muir's conservationist essays were a first at the time of publication, and are still highly applicable to twenty-first life.

A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf is a classic travelogue by John Muir, charting his journeys through Kentucky, Tennessee, the Deep South, the Florida Keys and Cuba.Muir's journey took place in the late nineteenth century: we hear exquisite detail of the untouched countryside in each of the locales. The hanging mosses of Georgia, towering pines and vast marshes of Florida's Everglades region; the rugged foothills of the Cumberland Mountains; and the leisurely scene of Havana harbor are but a few of the destinations Muir tours and vividly describes. This book contains the original early photographs of the locales described, with specimens of tree and the landscapes depicted together with rivers and settlements. All chapters are presented complete with Muir's original notes, and it is through the author's concise observations that this travelogue retains a unique identity of its own.

A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf is a classic travelogue by John Muir, charting his journeys through Kentucky, Tennessee, the Deep South, the Florida Keys and Cuba.Muir's journey took place in the late nineteenth century: we hear exquisite detail of the untouched countryside in each of the locales. The hanging mosses of Georgia, towering pines and vast marshes of Florida's Everglades region; the rugged foothills of the Cumberland Mountains; and the leisurely scene of Havana harbor are but a few of the destinations Muir tours and vividly describes. This book contains the original early photographs of the locales described, with specimens of tree and the landscapes depicted together with rivers and settlements. All chapters are presented complete with Muir's original notes, and it is through the author's concise observations that this travelogue retains a unique identity of its own.

John Muir inadvertently traps us in his web of enthusiasm for the beauty and significance of Mother Nature. The Yosemite gives us the tools to construct a detailed mental map of the Sierra, and leaves us with the resolution to be more compassionate and environmentally mindful.

In the summer of 1869, John Muir joined a group of shepherds in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountains, that he might study and expand his knowledge of the plants, animals and rocks he found there. My First Summer in the Sierra is the colourful diary he kept while tending sheep and exploring the wilderness.

It is in A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf that we are given clues towards John Muir's future trailblazing movement for environmental conservation, and teaches us as much about Muir himself as it does the ecosystems in the wilderness across those 1,000 miles.

The great advocate for wilderness preservation wrote many letters extolling the wonders of Yosemite. His lyric, vividly written accounts describe sheep-herding, guiding visitors, and studying the region's diverse splendors.

John Muir: A Miscellany is a gathering together of a rich and hugely entertaining collection of Muir''s writings. Although he is famed in the USA for both his writing and his accomplishments in helping establish the US National Parks system, he is still relatively unknown this side of the Atlantic. This book may well change this.

The great naturalist and conservationist presents three essays on his formative life: the first 11 years in Scotland, a decade in the central Wisconsin wilderness, and four years at the University of Wisconsin.

Considered one of the patron saints of twentieth-century environmental activity, John Muir's appeal to modern readers is that he not only explored the American West but also fought for its preservation. My First Summer in the Sierra is Muir's account of his adventures and observations while working as a shepherd in the Yosemite Valley, which later became Yosemite National Park as a direct result of Muir's writings and activism. Muir's heartfelt and often humorous descriptions of his first summer spent in the Sierra will captivate and inspire long-time fans and novice naturalists alike.

The famed naturalist hiked through the rural American South in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, chronicling the Spanish moss, palmettos, magnolias, and other botanical wonders he encountered along the way.

A great hero of America's conservation movement, John Muir (1838-1914) was active in establishing the Yosemite Valley as a protected national park and in awakening interest in the importance of safeguarding natural resources. In this tribute to the grandeur of the Sierras, Muir recounts his journeys by foot through the Yosemite Valley, Mount Whitney, the famed sequoia forests, King's Canyon, and other wilderness areas. With a natural historian's keen eye for flora, geography, and geology, Muir describes glaciers, lakes, trees, and the daily lives of the region's inhabitants. His lyrical narrative, imbued with the deepest understanding and respect for nature, examines the ways in which natural forces shape the landscape and the effects of the changing seasons. The zesty travelogue is accompanied by splendid illustrations of maps, plants, and animals. Originally published in 1894, The Mountains of California continues to delight and inform readers.www.doverpublications.com

The Sierra Club founder and eminent conservationist narrates a memorable Alaskan travelogue. Muir's observations range from the geology of Glacier Bay to the history and culture of the Chinook people.