Throughout the nineteenth century, swarms of locusts regularly swept across the continent, turning noon into dusk, demolishing farm communities, and bringing trains to a halt as the crushed bodies of insects greased the rails. In 1876, the U.S. Congress declared the locust "the single greatest impediment to the settlement of the country." From the Dakotas to Texas, from California to Iowa, the swarms pushed thousands of settlers to the brink of starvation, prompting the federal government to enlist some of the greatest scientific minds of the day and thereby jumpstarting the fledgling science of entomology. Over the next few decades, the Rocky Mountain locust suddenly -- and mysteriously -- vanished. A century later, Jeffrey Lockwood set out to discover why. Unconvinced by the reigning theories, he searched for new evidence in musty books, crumbling maps, and crevassed glaciers, eventually piecing together the elusive answer: A group of early settlers unwittingly destroyed the locust's sanctuaries just as the insect was experiencing a natural population crash. Drawing on historical accounts and modern science, Locust brings to life the cultural, economic, and political forces at work in America in the late-nineteenth century, even as it solves one of the greatest ecological mysteries of our time.

This book tells the story of the locust plague that struck Jerusalem in the early 20th century. The author, John D. Whiting, provides a detailed account of the devastation caused by the plague and the efforts to control it. Anyone interested in the history of Jerusalem or the history of pest control will find this book to be a fascinating read. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The award-winning president of the National Book Critics Circle examines the astonishing growth of email—and how it is changing our lives, not always for the better. John Freeman is one of America’s pre-eminent literary critics; now in this, his first book, he presents an elegant and erudite investigation into a technology that has revolutionized the way we work, communicate, and even think. There’s no question that email is an explosive phenomenon. The first email, developed for military use, was sent less than forty years ago; by 2011, there will be 3.2 billion users. The average corporate employee now receives upwards of 130 emails per day; by 2009 that number is expected to reach nearly 200. And the flood of messages is ceaseless: for increasing numbers of people, email means work now occupies home time as well as office hours. Drawing extensively on the research of linguists, behavioral scientists, cultural critics, and philosophers, Freeman examines the way email is taking a mounting toll on a variety of behavior, reducing time for leisure and contemplation, despoiling subtlety and expression in language, and separating us from each other in the unending and lonely battle with the overfull inbox. He enters a plea for communication which is slower, more nuanced, and, above all, more sociable.

A plague of everyday violence lies beneath the surface of the world's poorest communities. Common violence-- like rape, forced labor, illegal detention, land theft, police abuse and other brutality-- has become routine and relentless. Basic public justice systems in the developing world have descended into a state of utter collapse. Haugen and Boutros offer a searing account of how we got here-- and what it will take to end the plague.

What Do the Five Points of Calvinism Really Mean? Many have heard of Reformed theology, but may not be certain what it is. Some references to it have been positive, some negative. It appears to be important, and they'd like to know more about it. But they want a full, understandable explanation, not a simplistic one. What Is Reformed Theology? is an accessible introduction to beliefs that have been immensely influential in the evangelical church. In this insightful book, R. C. Sproul walks readers through the foundations of the Reformed doctrine and explains how the Reformed belief is centered on God, based on God's Word, and committed to faith in Jesus Christ. Sproul explains the five points of Reformed theology and makes plain the reality of God's amazing grace.

In the late eighties large-scale control operations were carried out to control a major desert locust upsurge in Africa. For the first time since the banning of organochlorine pesticides these operations relied mainly on non-persistent pesticides such as organophosphates and pyrethroids. The amount of pesticides sprayed and the area covered were probably the highest in the history of locust control and raised criticism with respect to efficacy, economic viability and environmental impact. As a consequence, applied research into the problem was intensified, both at the national and the international level, with the goal of finding new and environmentally sound approaches and solutions to locust and grasshopper control. Emphasis was laid on developing new control agents and techniques.

For thousands of years, humans have found themselves vulnerable to plagues of desert locusts. Some fifty countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia have been ravaged, at one time or another, by huge, devouring swarms of locusts. With the consequent, often total, destruction of crops and grazing, widespread hunger and starvation ensued. Colin Everard's book takes as its geographical focus the Horn of Africa, an area which throughout history has suffered catastrophically from locust plagues. Based on his own extensive experience in the region, Everard describes one of the greatest (albeit unsung) triumphs of the twentieth century, namely, how the desert locust scourge has, at last, been virtually brought under control.