Average customer rating:
- More Refreshing Than Strange
- a bit of a disappointment
- Ecological wit & wisdom
- A must read for students, scientists, and everyone else
- Botkin scores again
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Strange Encounters: Adventures of a Renegade Naturalist
Daniel B. Botkin
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1585423734
Release Date: 2004-08-05 |
Book Description
The warm, witty anecdotal adventures of a world-renowned scientist, spanning thirty years and dozens of countries.
Most people only dream of having the life Daniel B. Botkin has led. He has studied whales and elephants, tramped over high mountain passes and through rain forests, worked with NASA, and spent substantial time walking in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, and Henry David Thoreau. In Strange Encounters, Botkin does for the natural world what Richard Feynman did for physics and Oliver Sacks for human behavior.
Whether rebuilding an old mill in New Hampshire while ruminating on notions of "progress," researching the most weight-efficient high-protein food for space travel, or working in a radioactive forest on an early Cold War research project, Botkin experiences the kind of adventures that illuminate the complex and ever-changing relationship between human beings and their environment.
Customer Reviews:
More Refreshing Than Strange.......2005-02-16
There are a lot of really great books out there about natural history, but Botkin's approach is a little different. He includes anecdotes about New England water mills, and sounds a little like McKibben; then he crosses the continent to write about sea lions-now he sounds like Moore. He crosses the ocean to Africa in order to write about elephants, and one is reminded of Quammen's Natural Acts. Botkin is not copying the styles of other writers, he is simply exploring similar topics, but from a different perspective-that of an ecologist.
Through twenty-eight essays, and a poignant account of the ecology of his wife's battle with cancer, Botkin approaches each problem-whale hunting, sustainable salmon fisheries, forest management, endangered species, and more-with a completely open mind. He will not accept dogmatic explanations, and his inquisitiveness leads him on a life-long hunt to try to solve some-any-ecological problem. He writes in humorous tones of the slings and arrows of the idealist ecologist, and wonders how, as a forestry expert, he wound up with jobs trying to learn how long whales sleep (no one knew), or how much food an elephant ate (no one knew), or how many leaves are on a tree (no one knew). He despairs that he will ever make a positive contribution to ecology: "Ever the optimist, I had readily accepted the opportunity to work on the salmon issue. Perhaps this time I can really make a difference..." In each essay it appears as if his contribution is minor, until one takes in his body of work, over his long career, to discover that his contribution was actually enormous and invaluable.
The reader of natural history will enjoy Botkin's experiences and insights, but more importantly, those unfamiliar with ecology or natural history (reds, you know who I mean) will learn a great deal without feeling threatened.
a bit of a disappointment.......2004-02-08
As a long standing fan of Botkin's excellent DISCORDANT HARMONIES I looked forward to diving into this autobiographical account of this remarkable naturalist's career & thoughts. Alas, by about a third of the way through I found my attention drifting away & kept asking myself "Yeees... so what?" as essay piled on essay. Botkin has obviously done some really interesting things & has been to some odd and interesting places, but this book has far too much of the feel of satisfying a publisher's request of "why don't you root around in the attic & see if you can throw something together on sabbatical" & not enough of "so here's how my life informed my work & my work informed my life". I passed the book along to one of my best undergrads, and she said almost the same thing without prompting. Several essays seem to be heading for some sort of exciting peak, but then they sort of fizzle out & we are on to the next adventure without really understanding how to place what went before. This is too bad as I am confident that Botkin is capable of much much more. As an alternative, for folks interested in how the lives of ecologists affect their professional work I would suggest Dennis Chitty's excellent DO LEMMINGS COMMIT SUICIDE?
Ecological wit & wisdom.......2004-01-19
The book is an intriguing mixture of elements. On the one hand it describes the author's sometimes hilarious experiences as he seeks to answer such questions as "how long does a whale sleep," and "how much does an elephant eat." On the other hand he raises sobering questions about the capacity of the discipline of ecology to solve environmental problems. I enjoyed the book both for its human interest and for the author's reflections on the state of our understanding of nature.
A must read for students, scientists, and everyone else.......2003-11-05
Daniel Botkin's new book continues his string of must read books that provide a valuable perspective on the environment. His wealth of experience in field work and academic science is nicely complemented in this book through his reflections on a number of scientific issues with which he has engaged over his career. From the engineering of New England mills to studying ocean life, Botkin's reflections on his work will keep you engaged throughout the book and leave you looking for more. Whether you are an aspiring or practicing naturalist, or just looking for a good read, this book is a great choice.
Botkin scores again.......2003-10-20
A world-class ecologist, with a mind disciplined by the study of physics, recounts his experiences studying a wide-ranging array of environmental problems. With humor, incredulity and pathos he recounts examples of "ecological truth" which are based on untested assumptions. The recurring theme from beginning to end is: measure, measure, measure. This is a must read for students planning a career in science and young scientists just starting out. For this old forest ecologist, I hope the younger generation heeds the wisdom in this book.
Book Description
The recent interpretation of Maya hieroglyphs has given us the first written history of the New World as it existed before the European invasion. In this book, two of the first central figures in the massive effort to decode the glyphs, Linda Schele and David Freidel, make this history available in all its detail. A Forest of Kings is the story of Maya kingship, from the beginning of its institution and the first great pyramid builders two thousand years ago to the decline of Maya civilization and its destruction by the Spanish. Here the great historic rulers of pre-Columbian civilization come to life again with the decipherment of their writing. At its height, Maya civilization flourished under great kings like Shield-Jaguar, who ruled for more than sixty years, expanding his kingdom and building some of the most impressive works of architecture in the ancient world. Long placed on a mist-shrouded pedestal as austere, peaceful stargazers, the Maya elites are now known to have been the rulers of populous, aggressive city-states.
Hailed as "a Rosetta stone of Maya civilization" (Brian M. Fagan, author of People of the Earth), A Forest of Kings is "a must for interested readers," says Evon Vogt, professor of anthropology at Harvard University.
Customer Reviews:
A Very Useful Resource for Visiting Mayan Ruins.......2006-11-03
I bought this book prior to visiting the Mayan ruins at Copan, Honduras. I found it a very useful guide to the Mayan world. I have a purely amateur interest in the Mayas, with no academic background. I wish I had this book with me when I visited Tikal, Chichen Itza and other sites in Mexico. The book devotes a chapter each to the major Mayan sites such as the two I just mentioned, Palenque, Copan, and others. It provides basic cultural information about Mayan language and social structure, interspersed with interesting if unconventional narrative passages in which the writers imagine what a day in the life of a historical Mayan figure might have been like. Some might be put off by these passages, but I liked them well enough. You can read the book simply for general cultural background, or take it with you on a stela-by-stela tour of the ruins. At times, there was a bit too much detail for my purposes, but I would rather have too much information than too little, and mostly the amount of information was just right. The book also provides a few portraits of archaeologists who have devoted their lives to uncovering the history of the Mayas, including some discussion of the cracking of the Mayan Code. It was informative and a worthwhile read, particularly if you are planning a trip to see the ruins for yourself.
Dry But Worth It.......2004-04-04
Of the various books available on Mayan culture that a layman has any chance of engaging profitably, this is one of the best. Detailed and well-organized, it presents a wealth of material on the subject, with plenty of accompanying illustrations that are well linked to the text, unlike other books which drop in pictures seemingly at random or which fail to explain why they are placed as they are. (Or, my personal favorite, those that assume you know why the picture is there, and what it's of, and don't bother to provide captions.)
If you're not afraid of "tomes," this is an excellent book for you, though it's not an introductory text. I'd recommend starting with something a little more basic before you tackle this fellow. But once you've familiarized yourself with the lay of the land regarding the Mayas, you won't find many books that cover so many different aspects of their life and culture in such a deep, dense way. You can feel these authors' love for their subject.
However, that being said, I must warn you this is a fairly dry book, and I am a reasonably tolerant reader when it comes to subjects I enjoy such as this one. It's chock full of great stuff, but its tone and style are heavily scholastic, so be prepared. It's still worth it. I have read any number of books thicker than this in a few sittings, but I found I retained more of the material and stayed more engaged by taking small bites of it over a few weeks.
An eye opener.......2004-03-25
It was so surprising to me to find out how complex the Maya society was. To learn that about their wars, their kings, and their complex religion was fascinating. The illustrations were excellent.
Superlative book on Mayan culture - fascinating read.......2003-02-05
It is so sad that we have lost Linda Schele. But we can rejoice that we still have her wonderful books. This book is among her best. It is almost magical in the way she and David Freidel create the atmosphere of the Mayan culture. There are wonderful pictures and illustrations. She unfolds the stories of the archaeological discoveries and then helps us understand the real lives revealed in the evidence.
The book also shows how the Mayan glyphs and counting systems work. There are nowadays very good texts on the writing system itself, but this book shows us how the glyphs are woven into the culture and religion of these people. We learn how the lineage worked and how the monuments were used as what we would call propaganda to support one line over other possibilities. We learn about the role of magic and visions and the way the leaders were the empowered by those visions.
There is just so much here that any reader will be richly rewarded. The Mayan civilization is incredibly fascinating because it is so foreign to our own and yet it is a part of the heritage of the American continents.
This book isn't just a text, it is a work of art in itself. You will have a hard time putting it down.
Excellent Read with great info!.......2002-09-08
This has to be one of the best books written on the ancient Maya. You can really tell Linda not only has a great understanding of her subject, you can also tell she loves what she's doing.
The art work is great and ties to the text completely. Most books I buy now have Text text text with a few B&Ws in the middle, just so they can say they have pics, not this one. You'll find 100s of pics and believe it or not, their on the same page as the text that tells you about them.
The info contained in this book is up to date and pretty much uncontested. The book hits almost every subject possible with a few exceptions that only the very serious scholars would miss.
I really enjoyed the sections on temple design and how the Maya chose the locations for the temple sites. The section on the Mayan alphabet and it's symbology is very informative. Even though this book is quite long, it will keep you interested threw out.
If your a student in the history of the Americas or if your a casual reader with an interest in the ancient Maya, I think you'll find this book is for you.
Five Stars with two thumbs up!
Book Description
The Caspian Sea contains the world's largest amount of untapped oil and gas resources. It is estimated that there might be as much as 100 billion barrels of crude oil in the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan alone. Using the concept of the "Great Game" that Rudyard Kipling immortalized in his novel Kim, Lutz Kleveman has discovered a New Great Game raging in the region, a modern variant of the 19th century clash of imperial ambitions of Great Britain and czarist Russia. Only this time the stakes are higher. Desperate to wean itself from dependence on the powerful OPEC cartel, the United States is now pitted in a struggle against Russia and China, as all three nations compete for dominance in the Caspian region and access to its resources and pipeline routes. Complicating the playing field are transnational energy corporations with their own agendas and brash new entrepreneurs who have taken control after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Based on extensive research and travel in the regions, The New Great Game is a gripping narrative and a savvy analysis of the power struggle for the world's remaining energy resources.
Customer Reviews:
A Unique Perspective.......2007-02-15
Not being an expert on central Asia or U.S. oil policy, I can't comment on whether the author has all his facts straight. But he makes an excellent case that the U.S. may well be headed for deep kimchi in Asia and the Middle East with hubristic actions and attitudes. And I disagree that the average person will get as much from the newspaper as in this book. Kleveland provides a comprehensive overview of the what key people in the region are thinking about U.S. oil policy there, with lucid insight about oil politics in Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and other nations with a stake in Caspian sea oil. Since the author writes about his personal experiences as he visits key politicians, war lords and power brokers in many of these countries, the reader gets a bird's eye view of what may "really" be going on in the minds of leaders there. This perspective is unique, and one gets the sense that the truth is being told. It's not something you hear on the nightly news, and it's not pretty. The writing is exceptional - the book is hard to put down.
Excellent writing, well researched, very relevant.......2006-06-05
Lutz Kleveman's book "The New Great Game" explores the exciting world of money, oil, war, and political intrigue that is modern Central Asia. The title is a reference to the grandiose chess-like struggle between Russia and Britain for control over Central Asia in the 19th century, where possession of bountiful, empire-making India was at stake. In that time period, rogues and renegades, politicians and emmisaries, viceroys and emirs all charted out an extravagant drama that contributed immeasurably to the course of history. Kleveman argues "The Great Game" is far from over: there are new players and new stakes in the New Great Game of the 21st century.
Interviewing everyone from oilmen to military commanders to revolutionary leaders to madrassa students, Klevemen unravels a huge, complex net of motivations and intents that underlie the beehive of political and military activity that buzzes over Central Asia. It effectively digs beneath the veneer that is presented to us by the media which obscures the happenings of the region: true, there is a war on terror in the area, true, Muslim fundamentalism is a factor there. However, the everyday layman usually knows very little beyond this sensationalistic coverage from news outlets, and this does little justice to activity in Central Asia which may, as with the original Great Game, seriously determine the course of history. Looking back in time, we acknowledge soberly that economic factors have been one of the most enduring, reliable, and strong influences in determining historical events. The quest for tea, spices, and opium drove colonialization. Industrialization marks one of the most jarring technological shifts to have ever occured to mankind. Today, current events often is discussed in the language of globalization. However, it is very easy to forget that economics remains the preeminent determinant and that current events often have economic motivations that loom over ideological ones. Kleveman's book is superb in that it brings us back to this vital understanding.
New Great Game players like Iran, China, Russia, and the United States are poised to stake their claims on the world's last fronteir in oil reserves in Central Asia, and geopoltically, Central Asia is where the these powers' spheres of influence converge. A cultured awareness of the political, military, and economic undertakings that are being carried out in this area right now, and an understanding of the historical consequences of these events will make a person a more informed global citizen. Kleveman's "The New Great Game" is an excellent place to start in seeking this awareness.
Plus ça change..........2006-02-25
In the past Great Game, canny potentates, shahs and princes played Tsarist Russia and Imperial Britain one off the other through a series of proxy wars, treaties, and backdoor politicking that went on well into the twentieth century. Now, although the sun has set on the British Raj, the stakes are higher, and Russia and her "federation" continue to wheedle and deal, this time with oil as the prize. New players, namely the US and China, have stepped into the fray, and the Game has escallated into more than just a few stray spies skulking through the Hindu Kush.
Kleveman rightly sees the area of the Stans as being the new center of the world. He takes us through areas previously behind the Stalinist iron curtain--and fast becomming the Islamist curtain--to storied "countries", their people and leaders, and the iron grip that the past still imposes on the present. It's thrilling reading, and sobering, too. If politics and economics move too fast to make this book current in ten years, it will still maintain its place as one the best overviews of the central Asian geopolitical scene available to the lay reader in English.
Travelogue on Central Asia, Oil, and Conflict.......2006-02-04
Reading this book is an easy way to learn about Central Asia through the first-hand impressions of an intrepid journalist. Lutz Kleveman travels through dangerous countries, interviews ministers, ambassadors, and business executives, and also gathers impressions from men and women in the street. The themes of this narrative center on the rich oil and natural gas resources of the region, the prevalence of corruption, bad government, and ethnic tension, and the conflicting strategic interests of the US, Russia, China, and Iran.
The narrative starts on a depressing note. Kleveman visits Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where he finds that "upscale boutiques and picturesque minarets...cannot mask the strong stench of oil, that never dissipates, day or night." US firms hope to build a pipeline to Turkey, but political instability looms as a risk. The Azeris still seeth over the loss of Karabakh in the mid-90s war with Armenia, and Kleveman finds proud nationalists who advocate war to seize back the region.
Georgia is truly discouraging. Once the most beautiful of Caucasian cites, Tblisi now exudes at best a "moribund charm." The author discovers that "corruption and nepotism have reached catastrophic levels, destroying the country and society at almost every level." Kleveman tours Abkhazia, which he finds heavily garrisoned by Russian soldiers as a potential blocking move against Western-sponsored pipeline projects. The author visits with Chechnyan refugees in Ingushetia and hears nightmarish accounts of violence, chaos, and corruption in Chechnya.
On a more positive note, a side trip to Kashgar in China's Xinjiang province finds that Uighurs (indigenous Muslims) are benefiting from improved living standards in the booming economy, although ethnic tensions with Han Chinese persist. And Kazakhstan seems poised to benefit from the immense Kashagan and Tengiz oil fields, which between them may contain in excess of 50 billion barrels of crude. Kleveman wonders how much of this will trickle down to the people, the majority of whom live in poverty.
In Afghanistan, he finds disenchantment with the US. A tribal soldier tells him, "We Afghans know very well that the Americans did not come here to help us - they are here because they need Afghanistan to get access to the oil and gas at the Caspian Sea." As one might expect, anti-Americanism is rampant in Pakistan's tribal territories. Kleveman interviews a retired Pakistani general, the former US ambassador, and a senior leader of the country's Islamicist party. Surprisingly Kleveman reports pro-Western sentiment in Iran, where he senses that the revolution has discredited fundamental Islam in the people's eyes. But Iranian hopes for a pipeline to the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan run aground against US sanctions, which no oil firm dares break.
Kleveman ends the book with what some will take to be an anti-American diatribe. He argues that "American arrogance of power will not fail to affect relations" with the countries of the region, which now suspect that "the Bush administration [is] using its war against terror in Central Asia to seal the American Cold War victory against Russia, to contain Chinese influence, and to tighten the noose around Iran." He senses a huge change in perception of the US, which was "admired and loved" in the aftermath of the Cold War, but whose policies are now perceived as "arrogant, aggressive, and outright imperialist." He worries that "the region's impoverished populaces, disgusted with the United States' alliances with their corrupt and despotic rulers, [will] increasingly embrace militant Islam and virulent anti-Americanism."
Whether the reader agrees with Kleveman's conclusions or not, one has to respect his fieldwork. For those interested in this poorly understood but strategically important region of the world, the book provides useful data and impressions.
Old Game New Spoils.......2006-01-06
The Central Asia region, symbolically centered on the vast raw material resources in and around the Caspian Sea, was the subject of the "Great Game" struggle of colonial times, during which Russia and England spent generations trying to extend their influence into this mysterious, inaccessible, and often lawless region. In recent years, Central Asia has again been thrown into a battle among far greater powers, due to the international drive for new supplies of fossil fuels and the war against terrorism. The United States has taken England's place in machinations with the Russians, while the emerging regional powers of Iran and China are becoming involved, with everyone trying to extend their political influence in the region and to secure energy supplies. In this book Lutz Kleveman utilizes the historical concept of a "New Great Game" to describe how Central Asia is again looming large in the world's strategic geopolitics (and petropolitics). Kleveman's conceptions of a "New Great Game" are reasonably effective, but this background argument operates only as a rather thin shell around a travel diary and short-term war reporting.
Kleveman definitely traveled to many intriguing and downright dangerous locations while researching the book. He met with opposition leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan, dictators and demagogues in the former Central Asian Soviet Republics (including the bizarre personality cult in Turkmenistan and the shamefully overlooked human rights violators of U.S. ally Uzbekistan), and oil company plutocrats in Azerbaijan and Russia. Kleveman also took very intriguing forays into the not-so-axis-of-evil stability of Iran, and the obscure Uighur lands of Western China. Kleveman's politically-inclined travelogues to these dangerous or inaccessible trouble spots is highly reminiscent of the works of Robert D. Kaplan, though frankly Kaplan is better at it and has a keener eye for geopolitical realities. Overall, Kleveman misses many opportunities for larger informative insights, especially in the way he merely alludes to the true economic goals of the superpowers as they claim to be combating terrorism and stabilizing nations. Kleveman starts with some pretty believable arguments on these matters but fails to really support them with corroborating evidence. This is especially true in the book's problematic epilogue, in which Kleveman finally attempts to deliver the grand geopolitical and economic insights that he had been leading up to throughout his travel reporting, but unfortunately comes across as a rather opinionated second-guesser. [~doomsdayer520~]
Book Description
Startlingly beautiful in its content and powerfully eloquent in its message, Witness captures 100 species of North American animals and plants on the brink of extinction in a series of stunning color and duotone portraits. By photographing each imperiled creature against a stark black or white backdrop, photographers Susan Middleton and David Liittschwager visually remove the habitat that would ensure its survival and bring the plight of the individual species -- whether a majestic Florida panther or a delicate Tennessee purple coneflower -- closer to home. A bibliography and an index, a resource giude to additional information sources, an eloquent introduction by E. O. Wilson, and an essay on the Endangered Species Act complete this formidable volume, making it not only an elegant and moving documentary, but a valuable tool in the fight for the preservation of diminishing habitats and the species that depend on them.
Customer Reviews:
Artistically stunning! Biologically Accurate!.......1998-12-27
I find that this book is excellent for providing accurate background information on the animals and plants as well as portraying each species with characteristic body language. This is by far my favorite photography book as a piece of art as well as a biological reference tool.
Amazing, beautiful photos........1998-12-10
Amazing, beautiful photos of some of North Americas rarest species. A "must have" coffee-table book!
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