From the Bridger Wilderness to the Transcaucasus Railway, Morgan Hite observes, ponders and lets his imagination work on what he sees -- and the result is engaging essays and memoirs. Whether teaching students how to travel in the backcountry, prospecting for diamonds in the Canadian Arctic or trying to figure out why his mother-in-law’s toaster always dies, he is alert to intriguing nuances in the world around us. Juvenile delinquents run away across the Texas desert, search planes take nauseating turns and, nonetheless, children refuse to learn math.