All posts by Erin Thomas

BHL “Classic” as we often refer to ourselves, is pleased to introduce our latest global partner, BHL SciELO, from Brazil. Launched December 1st, 2010 in a public event at the Museum of Zoology of the University of Sao Paulo, BHL Brazil is implemented by the Scientific Electronic Library (SciELO) Program. Sharing BHL’s open access practices, they maintain an online multidisciplinary collection of quality journals which will total more than 700 titles by the end of this year.

As you may know, BHL recently acquired tens of thousands additional titles by ingesting open access texts supplied by the Internet Archive. Read the original announcement here.One title in particular stands out as one of those works that really highlights the passage of time, the evolution of scientific thought, and associative leaps we take for granted is Robert Lee Bates’ 1923 investigation “The effects of cigar and cigarette smoking on certain psychological and physiological functions”.

In advance of the upcoming Book of the Week by American entomologist Charles Valentine Riley (our 6th degree as generously provided by Robin Everly, Botany-Horticultural librarian at Smithsonian Libraries), here’s a brief primer on his contributions to biodiversity. His resume is long and includes improvements to the French wine industry as well as the citrus crops of the US. Chief among his pursuits was biological pest control. Just before industrial pesticides created their own large scale sets of woes, he was one of the first to successfully practice the introduction of natural predators to pests compromising crops near the end of the 19th century.

With well over 35,000 titles to choose from, the BHL book of the week selection can sometimes be a daunting task. (Each title more thrilling than the last!) So this week, I decided to play a game with you to arrive at the next selection. We’ll dig deep into the repository and maybe find a path to something unexpected. According to our most recent poll, Invertebrate Zoology beats out Botany by a nose as the most popular area of biodiversity research. So, because we need a 1st degree and a 6th degree, and it’s cheating to have the one making the connections do the picking, I humbly ask for your participation to test my librarian’s mettle. Please suggest (in the comments) an IZ scientist–or even a title–for me to connect with a Botanist’s work or otherwise significant figure.

This week, we highlight the botanical illustrations of Georg Dionysius Ehret.

Active during the 18th century, his illustrations became the must-have accompaniment for scientists interested in precise rendering of the species at hand. Born into a modest family of gardeners, his achievements (as they so often do) result from a combination of talent and circumstance.

The Edible Mollusca of Great Britain and Ireland with Recipes for Cooking Them is a delightful fusion of taxonomy, geography, and cooking! The author’s preface emphasizes the “hitherto almost entirely overlooked” edible mollusca that are abundantly and economically available on the coasts, a qualifying characteristic that retains its relevance in the 100 years plus since publication. Hungry? Have some Cockle Soup!