NATURAL HISTORY Allaby, Michael, Robert Anderson, and Ian Crofton Deserts and Semideserts 64 pp. Raintree LE ISBN 0-7398-5247-7 31.42 Published fall 2002. Day, Trevor Oceans and Beaches 64 pp. Raintree LE ISBN 0-7398-5512-3 31.42 Day, Trevor Taiga 64 pp. Raintree LE ISBN...

THE belief that, before Western contact shattered their traditional ways of life, "primitive" peoples lived in remarkable harmony is not only the stuff that Hollywood movies are made of (Dances with Wolves comes to mind), it is a taken-for-granted underpinning of much scholarly...

The skull of a large carnivorous dinosaur and the tusk of a shaggy-coated mammoth from the Ice Age sold for a combined $372,000 at a natural history auction Sunday, auction officials said.The auction, which also featured a meteorite and other items, brought in a total...

Harry Potter would probably feel right at home here.A new exhibit pairs an unusual subject _ dragons and other fantastic creatures _ with an unlikely location: a science museum. "Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids" opens Saturday at the American Museum of Natural History and...

In the following essay, Howe analyzes Pliny's vision of his own work as found in the Preface to Natural History, concluding that Pliny's defensive explanations of his historical recordings illustrate his lack of faith in the future.

In the following excerpt, Wethered uses extensive quotes from Natural History to highlight Pliny's contempt for what he considered superstition and to examine his beliefs regarding the "philosophical aspect of religion."