"The book tells the story of how an upstart planetary laboratory in Tucson, the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL), would help create the field of planetary science, breaking free from traditional astronomical techniques to embrace a wide range of disciplines necessary to study planets"--Provided by publisher.

President Kennedy’s announcement that an American would walk on the Moon before the end of the 1960s took the scientific world by surprise. The study of the Moon and planets had long fallen out of favor with astronomers: they were the stuff of science fiction, not science. An upstart planetary laboratory in Tucson would play a vital role in the nation’s grand new venture, and in doing so, it would help create the field of planetary science. Founded by Gerard P. Kuiper in 1960, the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) at the University of Arizona broke free from traditional astronomical techniques to embrace a wide range of disciplines necessary to the study of planets, including geology, atmospheric sciences, and the elegant emerging technology of spacecraft. Brash, optimistic young students crafted a unique sense of camaraderie in the fledgling institution. Driven by curiosity and imagination, LPL scientists lived through—and, indeed, made happen—the shattering transition in which Earth’s nearest neighbors became more than simple points of light in the sky. Under Desert Skies tells the story of how a small corner of Arizona became Earth’s ambassador to space. From early efforts to reach the Moon to the first glimpses of Mars’s bleak horizons and Titan’s swirling atmosphere to the latest ambitious plans to touch an asteroid, LPL’s history encompasses humanity’s unfolding knowledge about our place in the universe.

There comes a time in life when we find ourselves in the desert place of burning questions. Why? Why me? But even as we shake our fist heavenward, the heart whispers another question. Who? Who are you, God? It is a question of relationship, a question we all murmur in the hardest places. Against the backdrop of the Sonoran Desert, Lynne Hartke asks her own hard questions as cancer arrives like a thief with one goal: to take it all. Hair. The contents of a stomach. A marriage. A life. As her days become a blur of doctors' appointments, treatments, and surgeries, she wrestles with a tumble of tangled emotions, a shaken faith, and self-doubt. Cancer is now not only threatening her own life, but, in a surprising twist, the lives of both her parents as well. Through her raw, lyrical words, Hartke invites fellow sojourners to discover that in life's hardest places, they are not alone in their fear, they are not foolish to hope, and they are never forgotten by a loving, pursuing God. Never.

A race from danger?straight into the arms of love.In 1935, socialite Eva Fortier witnesses her grandfather's murder and must flee New York to ensure her safety. Leaving behind a life of wealth, she seeks refuge in the secluded high desert area of Ghost Ranch, New Mexico.Navajo doctor Tahoma Benally has his hands full caring for his people's medical needs. He certainly doesn't have time to fall in love. But when Tahoma's father asks him to help fulfill a vow he'd made to Eva's father, Tahoma has no choice but to oblige his father's request. In the process he finds himself drawn to the woman he's promised to protect.With an elusive killer stalking Eva, and barriers of race and culture standing between her and Tahoma, does love stand a chance of blooming in the desert?

Loosely based on real-life events, this suspenseful story, by a debut novelist, is also funny and touching and will have readers riveted from start to finish. Lucy's mother is the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, so Lucy's life must be one big adventure, right? Wrong. Lucy's worrywart mother keeps her locked up inside the ambassador's residence. All Lucy can do is read about the exotic and exciting world that lies beyond the compound walls and imagine what it would be like to be a part of it. That is, until one day Lucy decides she has had enough and she and a friend sneak off for some fun. But to their horror, Lucy gets kidnapped! With only herself to rely upon, Lucy must use her knowledge of African animals, inventiveness, will, and courage to escape, and in the process embarks on an adventure beyond her wildest imagination. Includes bonus material! - Book Club Discussion Guide

Nestled among the cactus thickets and dry washes of the Arizona desert lies an intriguing landscape of architectural experiments. Sometimes encompassing a paloverde tree or suspended many feet above the desert floor, these small dwellings, conceived by architecture students as alternatives to tents and dormitory rooms, embrace¿and in their own way, celebrate¿the natural, rugged terrain surrounding Frank Lloyd Wright¿s Taliesin West. The earliest shelters were created by adventurous apprentices at the Taliesin Fellowship, a school for architects established by Frank Lloyd Wright in the mid-1930s. After Wright¿s death, a more conventional school¿the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture¿was established, and the practice of designing and building a personal dwelling became a unique feature of the school¿s curriculum. Wright insisted that there would be no armchair architects at his school; apprentices would learn through hard work and first-hand experience. The response to this directive has been astonishingly creative. In addition to honing their design and drafting skills, students comb the desert for dwelling sites; consider the effects of extreme temperature change and winter rain; gather construction materials from surrounding hills and dry riverbeds; and thoroughly explore what Wright termed organic architecture. Collected in Under Arizona Skies are photographs and architectural plans of the most exemplary student shelters built at Taliesin West, as well as personal accounts written by Victor E. Sidy, Dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, and Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives.

From one of India's greatest photographers - this book offers exquisite images of Rajasthan that go beyond the usual forts and palaces. He captures rare moments and places with a wonderful sensibility

“Atkinson and Jewell invite each of us to reimagine one’s connection to the land while cultivating nature close to home. A must-read for anyone searching for inspired solutions for designing or refining a garden.” —Emily Murphy, founder of Pass the Pistil From windswept deserts to misty seaside hills and verdant valleys, the natural landscapes of the American West offer an astounding variety of climates for gardens. Under Western Skies reveals thirty-six of the most innovative designs—all embracing and celebrating the very soul of the land on which they grow. For the gardeners featured here, nature is the ultimate inspiration rather than something to be dominated, and Under Western Skies shows the strong connection each garden has with its place. Packed with Atkinson’s stunning photographs and illuminated by Jewell’s deep interest in the relationships between people and the spaces they inhabit, Under Western Skies offers page after page of encouraging ingenuity and inventive design for passionate gardeners who call the West home.

The saguaro, with its great size and characteristic shape—its arms stretching heavenward, its silhouette often resembling a human—has become the emblem of the Sonoran Desert of southwestern Arizona and northwestern Mexico. The largest and tallest cactus in the United States, it is both familiar and an object of fascination and curiosity. This book offers a complete natural history of this enduring and iconic desert plant. Gathering everything from the saguaro’s role in Sonoran Desert ecology to its adaptations to the desert climate and its sacred place in Indigenous culture, this book shares precolonial through current scientific findings. The saguaro is charismatic and readily accessible but also decidedly different from other desert flora. The essays in this book bear witness to our ongoing fascination with the great cactus and the plant’s unusual characteristics, covering the saguaro’s: history of discovery, place in the cactus family, ecology, anatomy and physiology, genetics, and ethnobotany. The Saguaro Cactus offers testimony to the cactus’s prominence as a symbol, the perceptions it inspires, its role in human society, and its importance in desert ecology.

Describes the physical and behavioral adaptations that some animals have adopted in order to survive in the desert.