To see accurate pricing, please choose your delivery country.
 
 
United States
£ GBP
All Shops

British Wildlife

8 issues per year 84 pages per issue Subscription only

British Wildlife is the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiast and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Published eight times a year, British Wildlife bridges the gap between popular writing and scientific literature through a combination of long-form articles, regular columns and reports, book reviews and letters.

Subscriptions from £33 per year

Conservation Land Management

4 issues per year 44 pages per issue Subscription only

Conservation Land Management (CLM) is a quarterly magazine that is widely regarded as essential reading for all who are involved in land management for nature conservation, across the British Isles. CLM includes long-form articles, events listings, publication reviews, new product information and updates, reports of conferences and letters.

Subscriptions from £26 per year
Good Reads  Earth System Sciences  Geosphere  Geography  Environmental Geography

Fire: A Very Short Introduction

Popular Science
By: Andrew C Scott(Author)
151 pages, 28 b/w photos and b/w illustrations, 6 tables
NHBS
A brief and accessible introduction to this topical subject, written by an expert on fire in our planet's history.
Fire: A Very Short Introduction
Click to have a closer look
  • Fire: A Very Short Introduction ISBN: 9780198830030 Paperback Jun 2020 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 6 days
    £8.99
    #248155
Price: £8.99
Delivery offer - ends 15th Dec. Mainland UK delivery just 1p for all in stock orders over £40*
About this book Contents Customer reviews Biography Related titles

About this book

Fire is rarely out of the headlines, from large natural wildfires raging across the Australian or Californian countrysides to the burning of buildings such as the disasters of Grenfell tower and Notre Dame. Fire on these scales can represent a serious risk to human life and property. But the advent of fire made and controlled by humans also represented a crucial point in our evolution, allowing us to cook our food, forge our weapons, and warm our homes.

This Very Short Introduction covers the fundamentals of fire, whether wild or under human control, starting with the basics of ignition, combustion, and fuel. Andrew Scott considers both natural wildfires and the role of humans in making and suppressing fire. Despite frightening reports of wildfire destruction, he also shows how landscape fires have been part of our planet's history for 400 million years, and do not always have to be extinguished. He also considers the problem of fires in urban settings, including new ways to prevent fires. The cost of wildfire can be steep – as well as the burning, post-fire erosion and flooding can have a great impact on both humans and the environment. It can also have a lasting effect in shaping ecosystems and plant life. Scott ends by examining the relationship between fire and the climate, and considering the future of wildfire in a warming world.

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations

1: The elements of fire
2: The deep history of fire
3: Fire and humankind
4: Containing and suppressing fire
5: New technologies and changing fire policies
6: Fire and climate change

References
Further reading
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Andrew C. Scott is a Distinguished Research Professor of Ancient and Modern Fire Systems at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research has dealt with aspects of palaeobotany, palynology, coal geology, petrology and geochemistry, the geological history of wildfire and the role of fire on Earth. He has appeared in numerous radio programmes for the BBC including In Our Time and The Forum. He has published more than 240 scholarly articles and written or edited 12 books, including Fire on Earth: An Introduction (2014) and Burning Planet (2018).

Popular Science
By: Andrew C Scott(Author)
151 pages, 28 b/w photos and b/w illustrations, 6 tables
NHBS
A brief and accessible introduction to this topical subject, written by an expert on fire in our planet's history.
Current promotions
New and Forthcoming BooksBest of WinterNHBS Moth TrapBuyers Guides