Technology & Engineering

"A perfect entry point for jumping into all things apiary."―Saveur

Showcases the wonderful world of honey from hive to jar.
 
A beautifully illustrated global survey of the flavor of honey, The World Atlas of Honey includes:

• Profiles of more than 80 countries and their botanical sources of honey
• The global history of honey production, from the earliest beekeepers to today’s harvest
• Text, illustrations and photos celebrating the exceptional range and diversity of honey
• The methods used by honey sommeliers to taste and evaluate honey

This colorful guide celebrates the exceptional range and diversity of honey, revealing how terroir—the environment in which a food is produced—influences honey's qualities just as it does for wine, olive oil, coffee, and chocolate.

Unique and authoritative, The World Atlas of Honey puts honey on the culinary map and elevates it to an epicurean treasure.
 

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1983.

The Compleat Plattmaker is a rich collection of essays delving into the art and science of cartography in England during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Drawing upon the extensive resources of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at UCLA, this volume offers insights into the intricate world of map, chart, and globe creation—a field that blended artistry, geography, and scientific inquiry during a transformative period of exploration and intellectual development.

The essays examine the evolution of cartographic practices, focusing on key figures like Edmond Halley, a pioneer in thematic mapping, and the Thames School of chartmakers, whose work bridged the transition from manuscript to printed maps. Topics include advancements in surveying and engraving techniques, the role of colonial mapping in expanding geographic knowledge, and the interplay between scientific innovation and artistic expression. Compiled from the Clark Library’s programs and seminars, this volume is a testament to the interdisciplinary exploration of cartography and its enduring impact on cultural and scientific history.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1978.

Beryllium: Its Metallurgy and Properties is a comprehensive exploration of the metal's characteristics, processing, and applications, based on lectures delivered at the University of California, Los Angeles, in March 1963. The book focuses on beryllium as a construction material, recent advancements in its technology, and efforts to improve its ductility through advanced processing techniques. It highlights the growing significance of beryllium oxide as an engineering material and addresses health hazards associated with handling beryllium, offering guidance on mitigation strategies. Appendices include information on electron probe microanalysis and metallography, providing further technical insights.

The chapters are authored by experts from government agencies, academic institutions, and industry, all actively engaged in beryllium research, development, fabrication, and application. The book emphasizes the need for continued research and development to advance the material’s usability and safety, reflecting its critical role in modern engineering. By combining technical detail with practical applications, the text serves as a vital resource for professionals and researchers in metallurgy and materials science.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1965.

Anyone who travels California's byways sees the many faces of agriculture. A huge entwined business, farming and ranching are the state's dominant land use. Yet few Californians understand what animals and crops are raised or how agriculture reflects our relationship with nature. This fascinating and gorgeously illustrated field guide gathers essential information about agriculture and its environmental context, and answers the perennial question posed by California travelers: "What is that, and why is it growing here?" Paul F. Starrs's lively text explores the full range of the state's agriculture, deftly balancing agribusiness triumphalism with the pride of boutique producers, sketching meanwhile the darker shadows that can envelop California farming. Documented with diverse maps and Peter Goin's insightful photographs, A Field Guide to California Agriculture captures the industry's energy and ingenuity and its wildly diverse iconography, from the mysteries of forbidden crops (like marijuana) to the majesties of scale in food production.

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org.

Discourse about water and power in the modern era have largely focused on human power over water: who gets to own and control a limited resource that has incredible economic potential. As a result, discussion of water, even in the humanities, has traditionally focused on fresh water for human use. Today, climate extremes from drought to flooding are forcing humanities scholars to reimagine water discourse.

This volume exemplifies how interdisciplinary cultural approaches can transform water conversations. The manuscript is organized into three emergent themes in water studies: agency of water, fluid identities, and cultural currencies. The first section deals with the properties of water and the ways in which water challenges human plans for control. The second section explores how water (or lack of it) shapes human collective and individual identities. The third engages notions of value and circulation to think about how water has been managed and employed for local, national, and international gains. Contributions come from preeminent as well as emerging voices across humanities fields including history, art history, philosophy, and science and technology studies. Part of a bigger goal for shaping the environmental humanities, the book broadens the concept of water to include not just water in oceans and rivers but also in pipes, ice floes, marshes, bottles, dams, and more. Each piece shows how humanities scholarship has world-changing potential to achieve more just water futures.

This book is an interdisciplinary primer on critical thinking and effective action for the future of our global agrifood system, based on an understanding of the system’s biological and sociocultural roots. Key components of the book are a thorough analysis of the assumptions underlying different perspectives on problems related to food and agriculture around the world and a discussion of alternative solutions. David Cleveland argues that combining selected aspects of small-scale traditional agriculture with modern scientific agriculture can help balance our biological need for food with its environmental impact—and continue to fulfill cultural, social, and psychological needs related to food.

Balancing on a Planet is based on Cleveland’s research and engaging teaching about food and agriculture for more than three decades. It is a tool to help students, faculty, researchers, and interested readers understand debates about the current crisis and alternatives for the future.
 

A Bibliography on Grapes, Wines, Other Alcoholic Beverages, and Temperance Works Published in the United States Before 1901 is an essential resource for scholars, historians, and enthusiasts of American viticulture and the temperance movement. Compiling decades of meticulous research, this bibliography offers an unparalleled catalog of works on grape growing, wine making, alcoholic beverages, and temperance, documenting the early development of these subjects in the United States.

This bibliography builds on earlier works and benefits from the world-renowned collection at the University of California, Davis. With comprehensive records sourced from the National Union Catalog and the Melvyl Online Union Catalog, it offers a rich and diverse selection of publications. It serves as an indispensable tool for anyone researching the evolution of American viticulture, enology, and the historical discourse surrounding alcohol and temperance prior to 1901.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1996.

When city-dwelling journalist Kiera Butler visits a county fair for the first time, she is captivated by the white-uniformed members of the 4-H club and their perfectly groomed animals. She sets off on a search for a "real" 4-H’er, a hypothetical wholesome youth whom she imagines wearing cowboy boots and living on a ranch. Along the way, she meets five teenage 4-H’ers from diverse backgrounds and gets to know them as they prepare to compete at the fair. Butler’s on-the-ground account of the teens’ concerns with their goats, pigs, sheep, proms, and SAT scores is interwoven with a fascinating history of the century-old 4-H club as it solicits corporate donations from top agribusiness firms such as DuPont, Monsanto, and Cargill. Her quest takes her from California’s cities and suburbs all the way to Ghana, where she investigates 4-H’s unprecedented push to expand its programs in the developing world—and the corporate partnership that is supporting this expansion.

Raise masterfully combines vivid accounts from a little-known subculture with a broader analysis of agriculture education today, using 4-H as a lens through which to view the changing landscape of farming in America and the rest of the world. Lively, deeply informed, and perceptive in its analysis, Raise provides answers to complex questions about our collective concern over the future of food.

Photographs by Rafael Roy.

In the blizzard of attention around the virtues of local food production, food writers and activists place environmental protection, animal welfare, and saving small farms at the forefront of their attention. Yet amid this turn to wholesome and responsible food choices, the lives and working conditions of farmworkers are often an afterthought.

Labor and the Locavore focuses on one of the most vibrant local food economies in the country, the Hudson Valley that supplies New York restaurants and farmers markets. Based on more than a decade’s in-depth interviews with workers, farmers, and others, Gray’s examination clearly shows how the currency of agrarian values serves to mask the labor concerns of an already hidden workforce.

She also explores the historical roots of farmworkers’ predicaments and examines the ethnic shift from Black to Latino workers. With an analysis that can be applied to local food concerns around the country, this book challenges the reader to consider how the mentality of the alternative food movements implies a comprehensive food ethic that addresses workers’ concerns.

Harvesting the Air: Windmill Pioneers in Twelfth-Century England examines the emergence of the Western windmill in the early twelfth century, highlighting its transformative effects on society. This study weaves together the stories of forgotten yet influential figures who championed, exploited, or resisted this groundbreaking technology, which revolutionized land reclamation and agricultural productivity. The invention of the windmill spurred debates on topics ranging from ecclesiastical authority to labor distribution, illustrating the profound and multifaceted impacts of this mechanical innovation. By tracing these debates and the individuals who influenced them, the book provides a vivid narrative of four generations navigating the winds of change.

Although windmills largely vanished with the advent of electricity, the energy crisis of 1973 sparked renewed interest in their potential. Research into Anglo-Norman documents reveals a treasure trove of information about the earliest windmills and the visionaries behind them. These medieval pioneers—both altruistic and opportunistic—pioneered labor-saving techniques and fostered commercial enterprise, embodying a deep-rooted belief in the connection between mechanical ingenuity and communal well-being. Despite their humility preventing significant recognition in their era, their contributions are more relevant than ever as we strive for energy independence. This work celebrates their legacy, connecting the past’s ingenuity to present-day sustainability efforts.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1987.

In this groundbreaking study of organic farming, Julie Guthman challenges accepted wisdom about organic food and agriculture in the Golden State. Many continue to believe that small-scale organic farming is the answer to our environmental and health problems, but Guthman refutes popular portrayals that pit "small organic" against "big organic" and offers an alternative analysis that underscores the limits of an organic label as a pathway to transforming agriculture.

This second edition includes a thorough investigation of the federal organic program, a discussion of how the certification arena has continued to grow and change since its implementation, and an up-to-date guide to the structure of the organic farming sector. Agrarian Dreams delivers an indispensable examination of organic farming in California and will appeal to readers in a variety of areas, including food studies, agriculture, environmental studies, anthropology, sociology, geography, and history.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1970.

Food's Frontier provides a survey of pioneering agricultural research projects underway in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, India, China, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru by a writer both well-grounded technically and sensitive to social and cultural issues. The book starts from the premise that the "Green Revolution" which averted mass starvation a generation ago is not a long-term solution to global food needs and has created its own very serious problems. Based on increasing yields by extensive use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and monoculture--agribusiness-style production of single crops--this approach has poisoned both land and farm workers, encouraged new strains of pests that are resistant to ever-increasing amounts of pesticides, and killed the fertility of land by growing single crops rather than rotating crops that can replenish nutrients in the soil. Solutions to these problems are coming from a reexamination of ancient methods of agriculture that have allowed small-scale productivity over many generations. Research in the developing world, based on alternative methods and philosophies, indigenous knowledge, and native crops, joined with cutting edge technology, offer hope for a more lasting solution to the world's increasing food needs.

Featuring more than 250 color photographs of pests and crops, and more than 100 drawings, this book, with its authoritative text, enables you to identify pests quickly—and to prevent, correct, or live with most common pest problems. Crop tables at the end of the book describe major pests on 30 vegetable and fruit tree crops and refer you to specific pages for more detail. The book's approach minimizes the use of broad spectrum pesticides, relying primarily on alternatives such as: biological control; resistant varieties; traps and barriers; less toxic pesticides such as soaps, oils, and microbials; changing planting, irrigation, or cultivating procedures; and other preventive measures. Includes: landscape designs that prevent pests; planting, irrigating, other plant care activities that prevent potential problems; resistant varieties; biological controls (use of parasites, predators, or pathogens); less-toxic pesticides such as soaps, oil, and microbials; mulches and other physical and mechanical controls; references, suppliers list, and glossary.Now in an extensively revised new edition, the highly successful Pests of the Garden and Small Farm adapts scientifically based integrated pest management techniques to the needs of the home gardener and small-scale farmer.