BOOK


A BOND WITH THE MOUNTAINS Ruskin Bond
The author’s love and respect for the mountains is clearly seen in this collection of mountain stories and poems.
AN ISLAND OF TREESRuskin Bond
His deep attachment to the hills and to nature is clearly seen in this book where he shares his joy of living with the whole world.
TIGERS FOREVERRuskin Bond
A blend of nature and adventure fill collection of poems and stories.
PANTHER'S MOON AND OTHER STORIESRuskin Bond
Ten stories of man’s encounters with animals and birds.
IN SEARCH OF WATERDilip M. Salvi
When an Alien comes in search of clean water Tina tries to help him but finds it difficult to get even a drop of clean water on earth.
MADAM AIR WANTS A CHANGEDilip M. Salvi
Air wants a change but find out what happens when she goes to look for a new form.
MR. SUN TAKES A HOLIDAYDilip M. Salvi
In this book on one of the elements he manages to weave an interesting tale about the sun.
OCEANS OMNIBUBMamata Pandya & Meena Raghunathan
Gives a great deal of information on oceans with special emphasis on India's rich coastline. It includes maps
WHERE'S AWAY?Mamta Pandya
A well written book on the environment. Various concepts on conservation like recycle, reuse, etc. are discussed.
FOREST TALESMamata Pandhya & Others
A collection of forest tales and their inhabitants and includes activities.
PUZZLING OUT POLLUTIONMamta Pandya & Others
This book helps to create an awareness on the problems of pollution.
MOTHS OF INDIAIsaac Kehimkar
A book on moths with accompanying photographs.
KAZIRANGA TRAILArup Dutta
A group of children fight off poachers at the Kaziranga Game Sanctuary
TALES FROM THE INDIAN JUNGLESKenneth Anderson
Animal stories set in the jungles of India
ENDANGERED ANIMALS OF INDIA AND THEIR CONSERVATIONS.M. Nair
National book trust of India.
THE SNAKES AROUND USZai and Rom Whitakar
Detailed account on snakes, the types, their usefulness the myths, with beautiful photographs and illustrations.
LISTEN TO THE ANIMALSShubita Punja
Enjoyable animal stories with beautiful sketches.
NAINA'S VILLAGEFeisal Alkazi & Others
A series of books for children on environment.
LANSCAPES: CHILDREN'S VOICEGita Wolf (Ed.)
Based on the ancient Tamil system of thinais or ecosystems this book is about nature, cultures and attitudes. Educators' guide to this book is also available
THE INDIAN ELEPHANTAjay Desai
Due to his extensive research on elephants, he has been able to make this account of the life and times of elephants more interesting.
MYSTERIOUS INTRUDERJaya Paramasivan
The risk of collision with a comet or of an invasion by forms from other planets is what gives substance to this tale.
PREDATORS AND PREYK. Ullas Karanth
Interesting questions are answered such as - Why do animals attack people? How do predators find their prey?
THE VISITORPratibha Nath
Through this story the author has managed to weave facts about migration and birds.
EXTINCTION IS FOREVERJ. C. DanielSanctuary Magazine
This book tells us about the extinction of species from the dawn of life to recent times.
EVOLUTIONRenee Borges
Thoughtfully written, it answers some of the complex questions regarding the origin of life, animals and plants.
DIVERSITYMadhav Gadgil
This story starts with the beginning of life, how the diversity was preserved by our ancient culture and how it is slowly being lost.
CELESTIAL HIDE AND SEEKNirupama Raghavan & Rajesh Harsh
This book unravels the mystery of eclipses with beautiful illustrations. There are activities at the end of each chapter
COMMON TREESH. Santapau
It tells you about the common, indigenous and some exotic species.
FORESTS AND FORESTRYK.P.Sangreiya
It discusses various types of forests and their importance and throws light on the technique and practice of forestry.
INSECTSM.S.Mani
The exciting world of insects, with special reference to India.
OUR ENVIRONMENTLaeeq Futehally
Gives details on the environment in India and the damage that is being inflicted to it.
ENERGYA.K.Bakshi
THE MONSOONSP.K.Das
It gives a detailed account of the monsoons and there affects of the climate of India.
ENDANGERED ANIMALS OF INDIA AND THEIR CONSERVATIONS.M.Nair
Detailed account of the rich wildlife of our country and an understanding of their conservation. Information has also been provided on the endangered and rare species.
OUR WATER RESOURCESRama
India’s water resources and the means and necessity of conservation.
WAYS OF THE WEATHERP.A.Menon
The concepts and practices in observing and forecasting weather. The impact of weather and climate on life in the Indian context.
WIND ENERGYS.A.Athawala
Through a series of diagrams and illustrations it introduces this form of energy to the readers.
LITTLE TOYSArvind Gupta
It teaches children how to make low cost and eco-friendly toys from materials such as tetra packs, camera roll cases and other junk.
ADVENTURES OF A WILD LIFE WARDENE.R.C.Davidar
Exciting encounters with wild animals and poachers narrated by the author who was a wild life warden.
POLLUTIONN.Seshagiri
With colouful illustrations, this book gives an account of the different kinds of pollution – river, atmosphere etcand their impacts.
THE STORY OF OUR RIVERS (PART 1)Lila Majumdar
This part tells us about the rivers if North India.
THE STORY OF OUR RIVERS (PART 2)A.L.Vallappa
Relates the story of the rivers of South India.
WATER Rama
An instructive book on the uses, pollution, sources and supply of water. Well illustrated.
THIS EARTH IS OURSLaeeq Futehally
About the role played by water, soil, trees etc in sustaining life on earth.
OUR TREEPranab and Smita Chakarvati
A seed becomes a tree and every part of it has some form of life. Beautifully shown in pictures.
A WILD ELEPHANT AT CAMPAnupama Mohorkar
Set in a wildlife sanctuary, this book contains information on sanctuaries, elephants and mahouts.
A TREE IN MY VILLAGEParitosh Sen
The renowned painter records the variety and interdependence of all living things.
HAROUN AND THE SEA OF STORIESSalman Rushdie
A classic adventure novel of a father and son.
THE DANGER WITHINFeisal Alkazi

Nuclear energies

Nuclear energy is the energy that is trapped inside each atom. The ancient Greeks believed that the smallest part of nature is an atom. But they did not know 2000 years ago that atoms are made up of further smaller particles—a nucleus of protons and neutrons, surrounded by electrons, which swirl around the nucleus much like the earth revolves around the sun.
One of the laws of the universe is that matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed. But they can be changed in form. Matter can be changed into energy. Albert Einstein’s famous mathematical formula E = mc2 explains this. The equation says: E [energy] equals m [mass] times c2 [c stands for the speed or velocity of light]. This means that it is mass multiplied by the square of the velocity of light.
Scientists used Einstein's equation as the key to unlock atomic energy and to create atomic bombs.
An atom's nucleus can be split apart. This is known as fission. When this is done, a tremendous amount of energy in the form of both heat and light is released by the initiation of a chain reaction. This energy, when slowly released, can be harnessed to generate electricity. When it is released all at once, it results in a tremendous explosion as in an atomic bomb.
Nuclear energy can also be harnessed by fusion. A fusion reaction occurs when two hydrogen atoms combine to produce one helium atom. This reaction takes place at all times in the sun, which provides us with the solar energy. This technology is still at the experimental stage and may become viable in future.
Uranium is the main element required to run a nuclear reactor where energy is extracted. Uranium is mined from many places around the world. It is processed (to get enriched uranium, i.e. the radioactive isotope) into tiny pellets. These pellets are loaded into long rods that are put into the power plant's reactor. Inside the reactor of an atomic power plant, uranium atoms are split apart in controlled chain reaction. Other fissile material includes plutonium and thorium.
In a chain reaction, particles released by the splitting of the atom strike other uranium atoms and split them. The particles released by this further split other atoms in a chain process. In nuclear power plants, control rods are used to keep the splitting regulated, so that it does not occur too fast. These are called moderators.
The chain reaction gives off heat energy. This heat energy is used to boil heavy water in the core of the reactor. So, instead of burning a fuel, nuclear power plants use the energy released by the chain reaction to change the energy of atoms into heat energy. The heavy water from around the nuclear core is sent to another section of the power plant. Here it heats another set of pipes filled with water to make steam. The steam in this second set of pipes rotates a turbine to generate electricity. If the reaction is not controlled, you could have an atomic bomb.
But in atomic bombs, almost pure pieces of uranium-235 or plutonium, of a precise mass and shape, must be brought together and held together with great force. These conditions are not present in a nuclear reactor.
The reaction also creates radioactive material. This material could hurt people if released, so it is kept in a solid form. A strong concrete dome is built around the reactor to prevent this material from escaping in case of an accident.
Experiences with nuclear programmes differ and the future of nuclear power remains uncertain because of public reaction. But in the past few years the capacity of operating nuclear plants has increased more than twentyfold. There are more than 400 nuclear power plants providing about 7% of the world's primary energy and about 25% of the electric power in industrialized nations.
The growth of nuclear power combined with the shift from carbon-heavy fuels such as coal and oil to carbon-light gas contribute to the gradual ‘de-carbonization’ of the world energy system.
Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and other nuclear accidents have increased the fear of harnessing nuclear energy. Another issue with international and local implications is the storage and disposal of radioactive wastes: both from nuclear reactors making electricity and from the production of military weapons. Earlier disposal practices, such as dumping of nuclear waste at sea, have been completely stopped by formal treaty because of environmental concerns (and by cessation of furtive scuttling of nuclear submarines). Regimes for transport and temporary storage of civil and defence nuclear wastes now function, although sites and designs for permanent disposal have yet to be accepted.
People are concerned about both low- and high-level radioactive wastes; the latter, though smaller in volume is more technically problematic. With the rise of nuclear electrification, the volume of spent fuel and other wastes has risen substantially; but is still small. In some countries such as the US, the volume of high-level waste from commercial power plants has now reached hundreds of millions of tonnes.