National Geographic Society

In this exquisitely photographed and affordable keepsake book, esteemed National Geographic photographer Peter Essick pays tribute to Ansel Adams and the craggy California Sierra Nevada wilderness area named in his honor. Like Adams, Essick aims to instill respect for the awesome yet fragile beauty of the High Sierras; the stunning images in this book reinterpret this powerful landscape through the modern lens of digital photography. Interspersed with illuminating words from prominent naturalists and conservationists, these photographs offer a new view of one of the country's most timeless and striking national parks. Elegant and evocative, this modern tribute to one of photography's greatest masters will be treasured by camera buffs and nature lovers alike.

Visions of Earth raises a curtain on the wonders of the world and thrills us with nature's opulence and humanity's splendor. Each image alone exposes a nugget of our planet's magnificence; the totality of the collection goes beyond our imagination. Turning the pages, viewers are struck by the richness of life on Earth. One photograph is more awe-inspiring than the next — chosen by veteran National Geographic Magazine photo editors to present what is visually incredible. The photographs are drawn from the popular Visions of Earth feature in the magazine, (rated #1 by readers), from our own storied Image Collection, and from renowned photographers throughout the world, many never-before published. Enthralling images fill the book in a gallery of stunning landscapes, fascinating people, amazing animals, and unexpected glimpses of the usual and unusual. Puffins' beaks signal breeding time in Norway and a speckled emperor moth in South Africa diverts predators with an illusion. An elephant takes a morning dip in India's Andaman Sea while Siamese crocodiles race in Thailand and surfers in Australia relish a perfect day. Monks in Bhutan run to dinner and a little girl in red stands out among white-robed women in an Indonesian mosque. Spanish youth decked in colorful, oversize papier-mache heads celebrate a festival in Catalonia and a flower of flame blooms from a man's kerosene-filled mouth in a Sikh celebration in India. Around the globe, amazing moments are captured in time, from a spray of flash frozen petal fragments in California to a truck show of chrome-covered and gleaming neon rigs half the world away in Japan. Visions of Earth is a welcome escape from the news of natural disasters, conflict, political upheaval, and social unrest that fills our lives. The book delights our senses, ignites our emotions, and renews our optimism, showcasing the many ways that our world is a marvel to behold and a privilege to call home.

Life in Color is arranged by color in a rainbow of beauty. Each chapter, devoted to a color, begins with a short, inspiring essay that explores the qualities, meaning, and symbolism of that color, written in the same warm and lovely voice that guided the reader through Visions of Earth. Color chapters include photographs that are predominantly blue, orange, green, yellow, purple and red. Smaller sections present images in silver, brown, black, gold, white, and unseen color — not seen with the naked eye, such as laser, the universe, and microscopic images. Throughout, interesting quotes and surprising short insights in the captions give the reader an entirely new look at the color in the world around us. Chock full of beautiful, amazing, fun images, this eye-pleasing volume is sure to appeal to a wide variety of people, most especially to women.

Featuring show-stopping imagery and thrilling behind-the-scenes tales, National Geographic 125 Years captures the heart of National Geographic's fascinating history, from its earliest days as a scientific club to its growth into one of the world's largest geographic organizations. The book reveals how much we've come to know about our fascinating world through the pages and unforgettable imagery of National Geographic, and taps key voices from the forefront of ocean and space exploration, climate science, archaeology, mountaineering, and many other disciplines to peer with us over the horizon and see where we are heading in the future. Organized thematically, chapters focus on major accomplishments in each of the three realms of Earth, Sea, and Sky (featured on the National Geographic flag). Author Mark Collins Jenkins will present the subject matter chronologically, focusing on great leaps forward that dramatically changed our understanding of the planet, from summiting Everest to landing on the moon to discovering Titanic. Sidebars will feature famous names including Jared Diamond, Sylvia Earle, Buzz Aldrin, Bob Ballard, Jane Goodall and more, contributing thoughts about big questions of exploration, key frontiers in research, and enduring mysteries. We'll ask beloved characters like Zahi Hawass whether or not there's anything left to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings; Paul Sereno if we'll be able to create a dinosaur from DNA; Jared Diamond when society faces the next collapse; and many more questions designed to be relevant for many years to come. The focus throughout the book will be on the impact the National Geographic Society has made on the world and how it has reported and reflected a dramatically changing planet, not an insider's account of internal affairs. Special galleries between each of the sections will focus on storytelling techniques pioneered by National Geographic, including photography, television, and digital reportage. These will offer behind-the-scenes glimpses at the process of telling the greatest stories on earth.

Behind National Geographic's worldwide reputation as a powerhouse of photography lies one of the finest, most extensive, and most unique graphic resources on Earth: the National Geographic Image Collection. For the first time ever, readers will plumb the fascinating depths of this immense archive from the earliest photographs collected in the late 19th century to the cutting-edge work of today. Both iconic and never-before-seen images from virtually every corner of the globe, every species of wildlife, and amazing human achievements in exploration, adventure, science, and more are showcased and placed in historic, artistic, technical, and journalistic context. Following this lavish visual journey, readers will be awed by a behind-the-scenes profile of the entire collection, its size, its richly diverse character, and its special collections, ranging from delicate and beautiful Autochromes to the famous Alexander Graham Bell collection to the amazing stratosphere collection. Fine artwork and imaginative illustrations are also featured. Finally, a listing of photographers whose work is represented stands as a fitting tribute to those without whose tireless and brilliant efforts the Collection would not exist.

From the first civilizations to the 21st century, this wide-ranging, compulsively readable book encompasses all of world history — great ages and monumental events; the rise and fall of cultures; names, dates, and statistics, and stories galore. Designed as an authoritative reference that's also irresistible to browse, it's a brilliant blend of narrative, analysis, detailed facts, and visual variety including sidebars, time lines, and more than 200 maps and illustrations. The book offers four revealing ways to look at the human epic. In Milestones, 12 essays address key developments from agriculture to writing, globalization, and the revolution in communications that is changing the world and other important themes; next, Major Eras takes a chronological approach, examining 11 eras from prehistory to the present. World at a Glance traces specific subjects through the centuries, with entries on Wars, Religions, Human Accomplishments, Leaders, Artists, and more. An expansive appendix, listing presidents, popes, and other world figures, as well as a biography, a glossary, and index, round out this amazing reference. A book that meets the most demanding standards of accuracy and graphic excellence, this is an indispensable tool for students and an illuminating, engrossing exploration for anyone interested in the who, what, when, where and why of world history.

National Geographic is pleased to present our new Collectors Series. Each volume is a fresh presentation of one of our world-famous photography books. Our first volume, Work, showcases this most universal human pastime through images culled from National Geographic’s vast photographic archive as well as other important collections. This fascinating, wide-ranging volume presents a wonderfully varied group portrait of people at work—in great cities and tiny villages; in 19th-century China and 21st-century New York; in fields, factories, food carts, four-star restaurants, and just about everywhere else we earn our keep. Here are cowboys and clowns, shepherds and shopkeepers, street musicians and artists’ models all plying their assorted trades; on one page a professional quarterback fires off a pass as the crowd cheers him on, on the next a lone fisherman casts his net in the silent solitude of a Pacific lagoon, and on the next a nomadic tribesman erects a yurt on the Mongolian plain. From the glamour of a Parisian fashion show to the grit of an African diamond mine, there are countless ways to make a living. Work illuminates scores of them offering revealing glimpses into various eras and cultures and engaging the reader with entertaining text and informative captions. With a wonderful mix of the utterly unexpected and the instantly familiar, this vivid panorama takes an essential human activity and shows us myriad ways in which work is at once universal and delightfully, unforgettably unique.

Presents a collection of «National Geographic» magazine photographs, the facts behind them, and the inside stories of the men and women who took them. This book describes the photographers' achievements from technical, journalistic, and artistic points of view.

Just as its title indicates, National Geographic Simply Beautiful Photographs plumbs the depth of National Geographic's renowned Image Collection to highlight the loveliest and most appealing photographs from this impressive archive. The result is an experience of visual delight, whether from stunning landscapes, magnificent wildlife, fascinating people, or quaint locales. Award-winning National Geographic photographer Annie Griffiths Belt has chosen remarkable images from all of the Society's core mission areas: exploration, wildlife, cultures, science, nature. Each chapter showcases a specific aspect of what creates beauty in a photograph, whether light or color, or motion, and illuminates that quality in a splash of large-format images — most of which readers will be able to purchase as prints. Musings on visual beauty from scholars and poets enhance the experience, making this gorgeous collection a pleasure to look at again and again.

Culled from National Geographic's extraordinary archive, each of the 280 photographs in this wonderful book offers its own unique answer to the question, What makes a great portrait? In Focus is divided into periods that correspond roughly to changes in photographic equipment and techniques, from the cumbersome cameras and long exposures of early days to the advent of color film and the lightweight, modern gear that fostered a new, informal spontaneity in portraiture. The book traces the evolving roles and goals of photographers themselves, themes eloquently explored in the text by editor Leah Bendavid-Val and five of our finest contemporary photographers: Sam Abell, Stuart Franklin, Jodi Cobb, William Albert Allard, and David Alan Harvey. Through their essays and the ever evocative photographs, In Focus offers revealing insights on how photographers' work both reflects and influences how we see ourselves and the world.

For those who appreciate the pleasures of the table, there are no happier reasons to travel than to explore the world's great culinary traditions. Every cuisine tells a unique story about the local landscape, climate, history, and culture — «Food Journeys of a Lifetime» will introduce you to the farmers, fishermen, bakers, and chefs who transform nature's bounty into a thousand gustatory delights. And once you're appetite has been whetted, you'll be able to try your own hand at some of these culinary delights, as the book features recipes you can try at home. In addition, «Food Journeys of a Lifetime» will provide detailed, practical travel information to help make your dream food pilgrimage a reality. So what's your pleasure? A pastrami sandwich in one of New York's bustling delicatessens or homemade jerk chicken from a local street vendor in Jamaica? Learning to cook delicious Chinese dumplings in Beijing or munching on hand-picked apples amid Vermont's fall foliage? Whatever your taste, «Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe» will have something on the menu for you.

Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher have spent 30 years and travelled more than 270,000 miles to create this collection. Each image unfolds new and revealing perspectives; taken together, they create nothing less than the group portrait of a world that draws strength from shared values and common experiences even as it glories in the unique appeal of every individual. Exploring the vital importance of family and community; the central role of ceremony at every stage of life; and, the deep-rooted attunement to the African landscape and its rhythms — all evoked in text and captions that enhance over 250 stunning photographs with anecdote, information and insight.

»Visions of Paradise» is a panoply of experiences from the most peripatetic photographers on Earth — the photographers of «National Geographic Magazine». After all the stories and all the journeys, each man and each woman shares with us the place he or she found to be Heaven on Earth. The pictures come from all seven continents, from different times of year, in different climates. The stories are as minute as the glance of an amorous leopard seal before lunch or as vast as the landscape of Iceland during the days of the midnight sun. You will swim with penguins underneath the ice in the Antarctic, rest on a leaf in the Amazon with a dragonfly, and roam the forest floor in Borneo with a recognized scientist. By the end, you will know that very effort you make to treasure and preserve our planet is an effort to find your own place that feels like Heaven on Earth.

Fully indexed for ease of accessibility, this comprehensive, up-to-date family reference atlas encompasses more than 450 full-color political, physical, and thematic maps, as well as photographs and illustrations, that provide a wealth of information on the nations of the world, climate and weather.

»National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World» was recognized by the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping in the annual map design competition as the best in the atlas/book category. Now, the Second Edition--with more than 3,000 updates, 32 new pages of expanded content, and 500 maps, charts, graphs, flags, and illustrations--is the ultimate geographic reference for every home, office and classroom. The atlas opens with beautifully rendered, up-to-date, thoroughly indexed, political and physical maps of the world. Satellite mosaics depict the Earth from hundreds of miles above. World thematic maps follow, presenting plate tectonics, climate and weather, oceans, population, religion, energy, and the economy. Health and education, environmental stress, and conflict and terror are also covered, providing a review of the increasingly complex issues we face today. Informative, intriguing, and accessible, «National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World» visually portrays important aspects of the world in a way only maps can. Full-color physical and land cover maps enhance and enrich readers' understanding of the Earth's natural features. New continental maps cover water availability and natural events such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. Country profiles provide national flags and valuable facts for all 193 independent nations of the world.

Features ancient Egyptian history, focusing on the lifestyles and practices of the great pharaohs. This book chronicles 3,000 years of history, from the predynastic days to Tut and the golden age, circa 1355 BC, and on to Greek domination in the Ptolemaic period.

From the dawn of civilization to the first decade of the 21st century, this straightforwardly written, superbly accessible reference distills the concentrated essence of world history into a single compact, 544-page volume that fits in the palm of your hand. Featuring more than 1,000 illustrations, it's a book as vivid as it is definitive, with an innovative design that invites readers to envision the human epic from a wide variety of revealing perspectives. Here are history's greatest moments presented in self-contained, interactive spreads organized by epochal themes and cross-referenced to offer an in-depth and multi-dimensional view of major world events. The book is organized into eight fundamental eras from prehistory to the present day, with a timeline detailing each section and fascinating sidebars throughout which explore the full scope of the human experience. The illustrations offer a constant, vibrant counterpoint, carefully selected not only to complement the text and depict its important events and personalities, but also to provide the visual excitement that helps turn a wealth of informative facts into an irresistibly fascinating adventure. A casual browser's delight yet authoritative and wide-ranging enough to engage lifelong history buffs or enlighten students in search of a panoramic overview, this amazingly affordable book is truly what its title describes: essential.

Despite three revolutions and three name changes, Peter the Great's Venice of the North, the most European of Russia's cities, lives on gloriously. With exquisite photographs, detailed descriptions, and easy-to-read maps, the «National Geographic Traveler: St. Petersburg» brings you the best of this enchanted, canal-crossed city, plus hidden gems as well. Veteran writer Jeremy Howard, a long-time scholar of Russia and its arts, ably guides you through the city's long history, illuminating its love affair with baroque architecture, ballet, and painting. He details all the main sights — the formidable SS. Peter and Paul Fortress; the famed Hermitage Museum, which occupies the historic Winter Palace; Palace Square; St. Isaac's Cathdral; Nevsky Prospekt — plus lesser known ones as well — the Church of Spilled Blood, Peter the Great's cabin, and the fascinating Museum of Musical Instruments, to name a few. You will learn that St. Petersburg boasts a plethora of worthy excursions as well, among them Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo, and Novgorod. Each entry tells you how to get there, how to best visit, plus detailed background information for context. As in the entire «Traveler» series, popular features include in-depth, two-page discussions on matters of history and culture (House of Faberge, Rasputin, Russian iconography, the Kirov ballet, etc.); three-dimensional drawings of landmark buildings (including the Hermitage); mapped walking and driving tours; plus a detailed Travelwise section that includes the best hotels and restaurants in a variety of price ranges.

One hundred days have been identified by Getty and National Geographic to represent defining moments of the past 150 years. These moments are crystallised in images that leap from the page revealing joy, anger, despairsand triumph. An insightful text by photography historian Nick Yapp supports these images, which are accompanied by journals, excerpts and 'on-site' notes that offer the backstory of the image and how it was captured.Major events that have shaped our erascaptured in the book include, from the Getty historic archive, the 1848-9 revolution and riots in Europe; President Lincoln's assassination in 1865; the construction of the Eiffel Tower in 1889; the Potemkin Mutiny (1905) that launched the Russians Revolution; the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916; the Wall Street crash of 1929; Kristallnacht in Germany in 1938; the Bristish leaving India in 1947; through to the dawn of the new millennium in 2000.The National Geographic archives are used to illustratescultural geography, the changes in landscape, contemporary conflicts, Native America, and the civil rights movement among others, including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Scott and Amundsen reaching the South Pole in 1911; the Lascaux cave paintings discovered in 1940; the first heart transplant in 1967; the Chernobyl disaster of 1986; the cloning of sheep in 1997; the Twin Towers attack of 2001; and the global warming debate of 2007. The wonder of this book is in illustrating how an entire event or age can be captured in a single image — whether it be of a peasant's tears, two heads of state sharing a secret, or the triumph of an Olympic champion. Politics, war, crime, exploration, fashion and fads all make up these one hundred days: From the California Gold Rush of 1849 to the finished structure of the Three Gorges Dam in 2006.

»The Bigger Picture» is a book of portraits — but not just any portraits! These are pictures of people who have achieved greatness in every walk of life — politics, entertainment, art, music, science, and literature — from heads of state to Hollywood celebrities to giants of industry. But there are also people who would otherwise remain anonymous and their stories untold — coworkers, homeless people, and disaster victims. Diana Walker, a longtime photographer for «TIME» magazine, has gone behind the scenes and photographed her subjects repeatedly over time. Walker's way of engaging her subjects and inspiring trust results in that feels spontaneous and open, leaving viewers feeling that they've met Diana's subjects personally. Words by those in the pictures offer reminiscences about the experience of being photographed and tell of events surrounding the pictures.The book is organised into groupings of photographs, with the overall arrangement being both chronological and thematic. Walker writes about photographing her subjects in short texts throughout the book. The result is a layered story — the story of each subject from the point of view of the photographer, the viewer, and the subject him or herself.

Spanning the vast diversity of Earth's oceans, these fascinating ocean worlds occupy more than three quarters of our planet, and their natural richness is the source of life, yet they are still poorly understood. With through, accessible essays on topics ranging from aquaculture to global warming, and more than 400 exceptional photographs, authors Laurent Ballesta and Pierre Descamp lead readers on an exceptional voyage of discovery. Each page reveals an astonishing new marvel: from the exuberance of underwater forests to the delicate loves of the octopuses to the extreme survival of fish of the Antarctic. In addition to celebrating our planet's rich ocean life, Planet Ocean is designed to help us understand the great threats which weigh on the oceans and to appreciate the astounding diversity of our marine environment.

Marketing experts predict that by 2009, nearly 90% of all cell phones will contain a camera, as manufacturers race to create cheaper, easier-to-use models with more sophisticated cameras, more pixels, flash units and even multiple lenses. Already revolutionizing audiovisual communication, it's a trend that will only grow more explosively — and who better than National Geographic to create a how-to book aimed directly at the millions who carry a camera phone everywhere and want to make the most of it? Created by two top professionals, this generously illustrated nuts-and-bolts guide is the first of its kind to treat these units as genuine cameras instead of novelties, and the only one to include a full-color photo-essay demonstrating the full capabilities of the latest camera phones. In five easy-to-read chapters, the book explains how to choose good equipment; take better pictures; and store, print and send the best images. Readers will find practical tips on preventing or repairing water damage, protecting easily-scratched lenses inside pockets and purses, and retrieving accidentally-erased images. They'll also learn to access the events, advice, and opportunities of the burgeoning camera phone community, from film festivals to news organizations, moblogs, and more. Featuring the technical savvy of CNet.com's Aimee Baldridge and the creative skill of National Geographic photographer Robert Clark, a camera phone pioneer, this compact yet comprehensive reference combines up-to-the-minute expertise with superb examples, at an inexpensive price that makes it a perfect gift book — or an ideal impulse buy.