The Sacred Balance : Rediscovering Our Place in Nature

Table of Contents

• T h e S ac r e d B a l a n c e 1
• I n T r o d u c T I o n 9
• T o T h e r e v I S e d e d I T I o n 9
• P r o l o g u e 17
• B o r n o f T h e e a r T h 27
• The Sun Is My Father the Earth Is My Mother 33
• The Truffle-EucalyptusPoteroo Connection 38
• Reading the Book of Life 42
• Consumer World 51
• T h e B r e aT h 58
• What You Cant See Might Kill You 60
• The anatomical path of a breath of air. 64
• The detailed anatomy of an alveolus. 66
• Coping with Hypoxia 68
• The absorption of heat by greenhouse gases. 72
• Window on the Past 75
• Relative Proportions of Gases in the Lower Atmosphere 78
• The layers within the atmosphere. 80
• The Grasshopper Effect 82
• T h e o c e a n S f l oW I n g 89
• T h r o u g h o u r v e I n S 89
• Hypersea An Ocean Flowing through the Land 91
• The hydrologic cycle. 93
• The Life of Aqua a Molecule of Water 95
• Proportion of Weight in Water for Humans Grouped by Age and Gender 99
• Follow the Water 102
• The atomic structure of a water molecule. 104
• The formation of hydrogen bonds between water molecules. 106
• The basis for waters ability to dissolve salt. 108
• Distribution of Water on Earth 110
• Ocean currents of the mid-latitudes. 113
• Message in a Bottle 117
• The Loss of Life in Lake Erie 121
• Life from Clay 125
• Relative Number of Soil Flora and Fauna in Surface Soil 129
• The Living Underworld 130
• Biomass of Soil Animals under Forest and Grassland Cover 131
• The increase in surface area after fragmentation. 135
• The Greek myth of Gaia 136
• The Balance between Life and Death 139
• Networking for Life 140
• Profile of fertile soil. 142
• The four horizons of soil. 143
• The components of the digestive system. 147
• Fine structure of villi and microvilli. 149
• Fire and Farming 154
• The Aral Sea Disaster 158
• The changed shape of the Aral Sea since 1960. 159
• T h e d I v I n e 164
• Typical Fuel Requirement for a 70-Kilogram Man 167
• Hypothermia as Healer 169
• The Promethean Bargain 171
• The atp cycle. 175
• Tapping Chloroplasts for Fuel 181
• P r o T e c T e d By 191
• A food chain in a temperate ecosystem. 196
• Tinkering with Life 198
• Groups of organisms classified by food consumption. 201
• Salmon Forests 202
• The spread of human beings across the planet. 211
• The continents as an island in a planet of water. 218
• James Lovelock and the Concept of Gaia 220
• A Day in the Life 230
• T h e 235
• Animal Friends 258
• S ac r e d m aT T e r 272
• Beyond Economic Value 298
• T h e B a l a n c e 301
• T h e dav I d S u z u K I 368