Edited by A. Paul Hare and Gideon M. Kressel

This book shares the responses of settlers, artists, poets, scientists, and educators who lived near the Blaustein Institute in the Negev Desert of Israel as they answer the question, 'What difference has living in the desert year round made in your work?'

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 1. The Desert Experience Part 3 Part 1: Communities in the Desert Chapter 4 2. A Call for Desert Communities and Science Chapter 5 3. The First Days at Kibbutz Revivim Chapter 6 4. The Pioneer at Kibbitz Sde Boqer Part 7 Part II: What is a Desert? Chapter 8 5. Midbar, Shmama, and Garbage Can Chapter 9 6. The Conquest of the Desert and the Settlement Ethos Chapter 10 7. The Perception of the Four Winds Part 11 Part III: Inspiration Chapter 12 8. Religion and the Desert Chapter 13 9. The Arts Part 14 Photographs Part 15 Angels in the Desert - A visit with Binah Kahana by Gretel Rieber, Translated from the German by Wolfgang Motzafi-Haller Part 16 Theater Part 17 Literature Part 18 Sculpture Part 19 Sculpture Part 20 Poetry Part 21 Poetry Part 22 Bedouin Poetry Chapter 23 10. Linguistic and Ethnographic Observations on the Color Categories of the Negev Bedouin Part 24 Part IV: Research Chapter 25 11. Founding of the Institute for Desert Research Chapter 26 12. Desert Research Part 27 Solar Power Research Part 28 Solar Surgery Part 29 Fossil Water Part 30 Microalgae Part 31 Runoff Agriculture Part 32 Fish Part 33 Desert Architecture Part 34 Apology for Architecture, or The Planner's Craft Part 35 Part V: Education and Scholarship Chapter 36 13. Environmental High School Chapter 37 14. Field School Chapter 38 15. Ben-Gurion Research and Heritage Institutes Chapter 39 References Chapter 40 Name Index Chapter 41 Subject Index Chapter 42 About the Contributors