Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place

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The only constants in nature are change and death. Terry Tempest Williams, a naturalist and writer from northern Utah, has seen her share of both. The pages of Refuge resound with the deaths of her mother and grandmother and other women from cancer, the result of the American government's ongoing nuclear-weapons tests in the nearby Nevada desert. You won't find the episode in the standard history textbooks; the Feds wouldn't admit to conducting the tests until women and men in Utah, Nevada, and northwestern Arizona took the matter to court in the mid-1980s, and by then thousands of Americans had fallen victim to official technology. Parallel to her account of this devastation, Williams describes changes in bird life at the sanctuaries dotting the shores of the Great Salt Lake as water levels rose during the unusually wet early 1980s and threatened the nesting grounds of dozens of species. In this world of shattered eggs and drowned shorebirds, Williams reckons with the meaning of life, alternating despair and joy.

Book Description

In the spring of 1983 Terry Tempest Williams learned that her mother was dying of cancer. That same season, The Great Salt Lake began to rise to record heights, threatening the herons, owls, and snowy egrets that Williams, a poet and naturalist, had come to gauge her life by. One event was nature at its most random, the other a by-product of rogue technology: Terry's mother, and Terry herself, had been exposed to the fallout of atomic bomb tests in the 1950s. As it interweaves these narratives of dying and accommodation, Refuge transforms tragedy into a document of renewal and spiritual grace, resulting in a work that has become a classic.

Customer Reviews:

Nothing Unnatural About It; It's Sacred.......2006-10-28

The first time I went to Utah, I read Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire" and loved it. This time, at a bookstore in Moab, I picked up Williams' "Red" for a contemporary view of the ecological issues around this gorgeous desert landscape, which is unlike any place I have been. Although I liked "Red," people told me "Refuge" was even better.

This is a very special book. I'm no birdwatcher, but it made me want to be. I'm no scientist, but I wished I were. I'm no Mormon, but it gave me respect for a religion I have never been able to fathom. Terry Tempest Williams has profound insights into the natural world. Her observations of the Great Salt Lake and the many migratory birds that visit it are as moving as her account of the death by cancer of her mother and grandmothers. Not surprisingly, they taught Williams awe of birds and sunsets and their own bodies. All of them are brave and spiritual women, and we would be wise to learn from them.

I think what I most admire about Williams as a writer is her emotional courage. Time and time again, she strikes out where more conventional writers would hesitate. She finds redeeming passages from the Book of Mormon. She follows her mother through her long and circuitous spiritual journey with cancer. She follows her grandmother as she moves into Eastern thought and modern physics. She dips respectfully into ancient Indian and Mexican culture. She walks in the desert at some peril to her well-being. She speaks of the intimacy of her marriage and about her decision not to bear children.

Yet his is not a book "about" the desert or cancer or birds or Mormonism, but about life and how it can be richly observed, experienced. shared and redeemed. It's one brave woman's answer to "Desert Solitaire."

This verse unlocks the heart........2006-10-16

Terry Tempest Williams is a national treasure. Her unvarnished verse carries one deep into the mystery of the Earth and sends us helplessly into the depths of our own hearts. The landscape of wildness breaths a spectacular wisdom under the watchful eyes of this keen observer of wind, rock, desert, sky, sage, along with the birds who soar and dance and play in a benediction to non-sentient life.

When I need to recapture my own mortality along with my own humility, I always return to the verse of this elder of silence and truth. Williams stands alone in the power to convey both outer and inner wildness. Her verse is poetic and healing. One does not read these words but are instead initiated into the heart beat of wild nature. Savor its beauty as you might a calming sunset or a wind swept sea shore calling you ever deeper into your own soul.

Read everything she writes and find peace deep within.

If you have been affected by cancer it is worth reading!!!.......2006-06-26

I loved and hated this book. It is beatifully written. I found the author frustrating at times. Some parts got a little long winded about the birds. It takes you on a emotional rollercoaster but the pay off of finishing this book is worth it. Any one who has been affected by cancer will find this book very inciteful to the process of going through treatment and also the death process. Terry Tempest gives the most authentic and honest account of what life is like living through cancer I have every read. She put into words thought and feelings I could never express fully.
The research of the history of the Great Salt Lake was very fun to read about. I have lived in Utah all my life, but I have never been to the Lake I now am very curious to see it and the bird refuge. I think I will find the trip much more interesting now than if I had gone before reading this book.

Suprising turn of events.......2006-03-02

Terry Tempest Williams is a naturalist living in Utah who has the history of cancer in her family. Cancer in this novel is paralleled with the flooding of the neighboring Great Salt Lake. Overall this book goes to show that cancer goes deeper than the person who it is diagnosed to. I would suggest this book on limited circumstances: One-if you can get past the strong feminine presence and domination of this novel. Two-do not read the last 60 or so pages. I approved of this book up until that point. If the book ended at that point, leaving out the harassment of the government it would be ten times better. To anyone who is in the process of reading Refuge, you won't want to read past around page 230. Enough said.
My rating(first 230 or so pages): 7.5/10
My rating(after page 230 or so) 2.5/10

Disappointed.......2006-02-03

Although I found the passages about Ms. Williams relationships with her mother and grandmother and their struggles with cancer to be well-written and moving, I am surprised that she and many other reviewers imply that the cancers were the consequences of nuclear testing. I think of myself as an environmentalist, and I believe that such testing is likely to have been harmful to human health; however, the striking family history of breast and ovarian cancer in this case strongly suggests that there is a genetic disorder (mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene) that was responsible for the cancer in these women. I was living in Salt Lake City during the spring of 1983, and the flooding was indeed dramatic, but I was bored by the rather repetitious descriptions of the refuge and the birds.

Unnatural Landscapes: Tracking Invasive Species

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Her journeys read like a blend of scientific investigation and travelogue

Unnatural Landscapes: Tracking Invasive Species
Ceiridwen Terrill
Manufacturer: University of Arizona Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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American Perceptions of Immigrant and Invasive Species: Strangers on the Land
Invasive Terrestrial Animals (Invasive Species)
Alien Species in North America and Hawaii
Alien Species and Evolution: The Evolutionary Ecology of Exotic Plants, Animals, Microbes, and Interacting Native Species
The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants

ASIN: 0816525234

Book Description

Louisiana crawfish, cheatgrass, Russian thistle, Hottentot figs, rats, and sweet fennel. These and dozens of other seemingly benign flora and fauna have become some of the worst culprits in the destruction of ecosystems and native wildlife in the American Southwest and Baja California. Although widely publicized threatsÂ—such as pollution, land development, changes in the atmospheric condition, fire, and droughtÂ—are frequently credited with posing the greatest danger to indigenous animals and plants, invasive species are quickly becoming a far more insidious peril to the survival of native wildlife. A result of both accident and human intervention, the frequency with which exotic species are being introduced into nonnative environments is increasing at an alarming rate. In Unnatural Landscapes, Ceiridwen Terrill combines lucid science writing with first-person tales of adventure to provide a compelling introduction to invasion ecology and restoration management. Traveling aboard her trusty kyak, The Grebe, Terrill brings readers on a firsthand tour of various Â“islandsÂ” in the Southwest and MexicoÂ—both actual islands and self-contained habitat communities. From the islands of Anaho, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa to Isla TiburÃ³n in the Sea of Cortez, Mexicali irrigation canals, and Pyramid Lake, Terrill takes an in-depth look at the damage that invasive species cause. Drawing on field observations, research, and interviews with scientists, resource managers, and local residents, this book provides readers with the background and knowledge they need to understand and to begin combating what is quickly becoming the most important environmental crisis facing the fragile ecosystems of the Southwest.

Customer Reviews:

Her journeys read like a blend of scientific investigation and travelogue.......2007-06-09

Any collection strong in biological science - particularly college-level holdings - will want UNNATURAL LANDSCAPES: it blends science writing and research with first-person stories of adventure to provide a lively introduction to invasion ecology and restoration management, and uses the author's own kayak trips as a basis for considering invasive species in the Southwest and Mexico regions. Her journeys read like a blend of scientific investigation and travelogue and thus serve as a fitting introduction to habitat management issues.

Blood Orchid: An Unnatural History of America

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IT JUST DOES NOT HAVE IT
Blood Orchid gets hammered.
7,000 miles to coherency
A wild ride
The newest "notes from the underground" by Charles Bowden

Blood Orchid: An Unnatural History of America
Charles Bowden
Manufacturer: North Point Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Blues for Cannibals: The Notes from Underground
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ASIN: 0865476292

Book Description

In this ground-shaking, breath-taking cri de coeur, Bowden delves with love-driven fury for the roots of our brutal history in this once-brave New World. The figures he casts before us-from Pancho Villa to a modern-day drug lord, from General Sherman to a skid-row Sioux named Robert Sundance-trace a story not so much of rapaciousness as of fear and loathing. Bowden twines it with the natural history of the hammer orchid, a carnivore whose deceptive delicacy comes to stand for the terror and hypocrisy that have perverted our love of the land, its peoples, and our very natures.

Customer Reviews:

IT JUST DOES NOT HAVE IT.......2005-04-02

Very few books I start that I just cannot finish. This, I admit, was one of them. I did give it two stars because the author does have a way with words, but that is about it. This is quite typical of some of the junk writing which came out of the 60s and 70s as a result of one too many acid trips. You kind of have to feels sorry for the author. He must be a rather sad and miserable sort of an individual. Just about anyone with an ounce of observance in them can find things to whine and rant about...the author takes this to new heights. I would strongly suggest the author drive another 7,000 thousand miles and take another look. I suppose if you are a sort of "anti-everything-guy or gal" type, you might find this work interesting. Myself, I found the work to be depressing and not all that coherent. I cannot recommend this one.

Blood Orchid gets hammered........2002-11-22

Blood Orchid is filled and covered with blood. But blood brings healing. It is hard to write a good review when I have some mixed feelings about this book. I have read a few books with similar topics this past summer and they leave me numb, but I am captivated by Bowden's metaphor, whether I like it or not. He definitely has a way with words and word pictures.

In the midst of his openness and honesty he sounds as if he is regurgitating a bitter pill someone has given him to swallow. This makes the book even more compelling and hard to put down, always returning to the lesson in botany and zoology provided by the wasp and the hammer orchid. After all, are we not biological beings also? Is not everything connected by a thin cord? It is like the picture of Coyote Man being the trickster and the tricked, with irony everywhere.

7,000 miles to coherency.......2002-11-22

Blood Orchid is a work that defies categorization, it is as much a history of America as it is a piece of philosophy. Bowden writes in his introduction, "I have clocked 7,000 miles by truck in the last thirty days and I am hunkered in a motel room high in the Rocky Mountains and yet no nearer to God." Nor to a concrete point either it would seem. Bowden writes about war, and how we go about perpetuating our own destruction through it. It is in this social critique that I see Bowden's rant moving with a purpose. That purpose is to reveal life for what it really is, and he does so successfully. Blood Orchid is a piece of philosophy of life, albeit a fairly depressing one, Bowden writes about life as we have made it, and in that does an excellent job.

A wild ride.......2002-11-22

I'd be lying if I said this was an easy read, but Bowden warns the reader from the beginning that he travels fast. The subject matter is more than brutal and disturbing. It is enough to make you regret that you are a human being, but I am not sure that Bowden's goal is too make you feel hopeless. In many ways he is optimistic about the future in spite of the bloody past he graphically offers to the reader. He wants to move beyond explaining the past because as he says, "What is explained can be denied but what is felt cannot be forgotten." It would be impossible to read this book and not feel something, but the bigger sin in Bowden's eyes would be forgetting what you felt. The rawness and 85 mph pace of the prose alone makes this a difficult book to forget, but the subject matter and content moves you to question the deeper issues that plague a society that has forgotten how to feel, how to love, and how to live. I found portions of the book difficult to grasp and the book is mentally and emotionally exhausting in many ways. This does not diminish the importance of Bowden's message, but as a reader you need to be prepared to spend some time digesting the material.

The newest "notes from the underground" by Charles Bowden.......2002-11-22

Charles Bowden's "Blood Orchid" saturates his readers with honest,stream of consciousness reality from the depths of his cynical,twisted mind.Graphic sexual references hide around every corner tempting readers to find out what is this guy up to.Injections of candid truths relating Charles Keating are fascinating forays into our economic standards and the monsters created by a free market society.Stories don't get more brutal that this without real blood.A good read for those that understand their own capabilities,limitations,and appreciate the ugly potential of being human.Dostoyevsky would have been proud.

Unnatural Disasters: Case Studies of Human-Induced Environmental Catastrophes

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Unnatural Disasters: Case Studies of Human-Induced Environmental Catastrophes
Angus M. Gunn
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0313319995

Book Description

This reference resource describes both the scientific background and the economic and social issues that resulted from environmental disasters resulting primarily from human activity. Categorized by the type of tragedy--including coal mine tragedies, dam failures, industrial explosions, and oil spills--this one-stop guide provides students with descriptions of some of the world's most tragic environmental disasters. Entries clearly describe each disaster by defining the cause, the consequences, and the clean-up efforts. Readers will learn who the responsible parties were, the effect on the environment and people living in the immediate area, and the economic impact of each disaster. In addition, the long-term consequences, the likelihood of a repeat disaster in the same area, and the measures that have been taken to prevent a repeat incident are discussed. Entries include the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion, the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, the atomic bomb at Hiroshima, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Hudson River: A Natural and Unnatural History (The Norton Library ; N 844)

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Influential milestone in raising awareness of HV ecology.
This book gives a deep history of the Hudson River struggle.

The Hudson River: A Natural and Unnatural History (The Norton Library ; N 844)
Robert H. Boyle
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393008444

Customer Reviews:

Influential milestone in raising awareness of HV ecology........2000-04-13

In the early chapters Boyle paints an idyllic picture of aprimeval forest paradise with sparse native population that livedmainly off the land and needed to engage in limited amount of agriculture. The arrival of the Europeans spelled immediate eruption of violence. Not that there was none among the native tribes.... Boyle continues with a twenty page historical sketch of the HV during the 400 years and the Valley's ecology was affected. After these two chapters he proceeds to describe each stretch of the Hudson starting with the Adirondack region along with the beauty and problems each area. At this point it becomes apparent that Boyle's main interest is fish because of good half of the book is devoted to angling and description of fish. This is somewhat puzzling in this edition in view of the preface that he wrote in 1979, ten years after the first publication of the book that (he) does not "eat any waterfowls taken from the Hudson River south of Hudson Falls because of likely contamination by PCB's or other chemicals." That part is explained in the Epilogue, 1968-1978. The amount of attention devoted to fishing and the warning in the end makes the book seem irrelevant or else a historical curiosity. In addition to the fishing lore which is at times interesting and informative--there are pages devoted to a single species, sturgeon, for example, including a recipe for making caviar, or bass, there is wrangling with industrial polluters, Con Edison, governments, State, Federal, Local who are always in cohoots with those they were to watch. There is the Storm King Mountain fiasco though the first edition of the book came out before that blew over.

This book gives a deep history of the Hudson River struggle........1999-04-28

Boyle's The Hudson River gives the amazing story of the Hudson River. Just about every species of animal life (fish, insects, and birds) from the rivers' origin to its mouth are disgussed. The Storm King plant and ConEd struggle surfaces. A chapter is devoted to a local fisherman who knows more about the river than anyone else. It is too bad that this classic is out of print, for I suggest that any ecologist at heart should own a copy. (My copy was "borrowed" from my teacher, and shall return home come the end of school.) Even if you do not live in New York State, or have no plans to ever go there, this book is an ecologist's dream. Not to put any other rivers down, but the Hudson River has the most incredible history around. If you can actually find this now-rare book I strongly urge you to buy it.

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History of the Unnatural Demise of the Sea
The Unnatural History of the Sea

The Unnatural History of the Sea
Callum Roberts
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Most Important Fish in the Sea: Menhaden and America
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ASIN: 1597261025

Book Description

Humanity can make short work of the oceans’ creatures. In 1741, hungry explorers discovered herds of Steller’s sea cow in the Bering Strait, and in less than thirty years, the amiable beast had been harpooned into extinction. It’s a classic story, but a key fact is often omitted. Bering Island was the last redoubt of a species that had been decimated by hunting and habitat loss years before the
explorers set sail.

As Callum M. Roberts reveals in The Unnatural History of the Sea, the oceans’ bounty didn’t disappear overnight. While today’s fishing industry is ruthlessly efficient, intense exploitation began not in the modern era, or even with the dawn of industrialization, but in the eleventh century in medieval Europe. Roberts explores this long and colorful history of commercial fishing, taking readers around the world and through the centuries to witness the transformation of the seas.

Drawing on firsthand accounts of early explorers, pirates, merchants, fishers, and travelers, the book recreates the oceans of the past: waters teeming with whales, sea lions, sea otters, turtles, and giant fish. The abundance of marine life described by fifteenth century seafarers is almost unimaginable today, but Roberts both brings it alive and artfully traces its depletion. Collapsing fisheries, he shows, are simply the latest chapter in a long history of unfettered commercialization of the seas.

The story does not end with an empty ocean. Instead, Roberts describes how we might restore the splendor and prosperity of the seas through smarter management of our resources and some simple restraint. From the coasts of Florida to New Zealand, marine reserves have fostered spectacular recovery of plants and animals to levels not seen in a century. They prove that history need not repeat itself: we can leave the oceans richer than we found them.

Customer Reviews:

History of the Unnatural Demise of the Sea.......2007-10-02

This book asserts that the sea life we see today is but a shadow of the life that existed in North American waters at the time of The Discovery. As a result of (over)fishing we have seriously depleted fish stocks.

It is hard to argue against this premise. The data imply that populations of many commercial species are down to around 10% of those levels, world-wide.

I live in the Florida Keys. Our reef suffers from the lack of the fishes that are no longer there. There is a telling photograph in the book taken in Key West around 1950-1955. Fish like those may never be seen here again.

I dunno. I love fish -- Mahi, Grouper, Snapper. Surely there is a way to satisfy our need for protein without destroying the sea bottom? We stopped hunting wildlife for food long ago; we farm crops and raise livestock. Can we not do the same for seafood?

Anyone who loves the sea should read this book. The author's style is engaging and kept me turning pages. More maps would be nice, but I have an atlas so no problem.

The Unnatural History of the Sea.......2007-08-27

I gave this to my grandson as a gift. He hasn't told me what he thought of it. It had a very good review in The Economist.

An Unnatural Order: Roots of Our Destruction of Nature

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As a Biologist, I Had my Head Turned around by this Book
An Unnatural Order should be required reading in highschool.
Brilliant...
A roadmap for the 21st Century
A 'must read' for anyone who cares about nature and animals

An Unnatural Order: Roots of Our Destruction of Nature
Jim Mason
Manufacturer: Lantern Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1590560817

Book Description

"An eloquent, important plea for a total rethinking of our relationship to the animal world. Mason analyzes the West's 'dominionist' worldview, which exalts humans as overlords and owners of other life.... His powerfully argued manifesto will change many readers' attitudes toward hamburgers, animal experimentation, hunting, and circuses." -Publishers Weekly First published by Simon & Schuster in 1993 and then by Continuum in 1998, Jim Mason's An Unnatural Order has become a classic. Now in a new Lantern edition, the book explores, from an anthropological, sociocultural, and holistic perspective, how and why we have cut ourselves off from other animals and the natural world, and the toll this has taken on our consciousness, our ability to steward nature wisely, and the will to control our own tendencies Jim Mason is an attorney, journalist, lecturer, and coauthor (with Peter Singer) of Animal Factories (1990) and The Ethics of What We Eat (2005).

Customer Reviews:

As a Biologist, I Had my Head Turned around by this Book.......2005-11-22

This book influenced me more than any book I've read in the last several years. It profoundly changed the way I understand our culture's treatment of animals and our alienation from nature. As a biologist and a writer, I've spent my life thinking and writing about nature and animals. But Mason caused me to reflect differently on many of the experiences I had at universities, caused me to understand differently the detachment that many science professionals practice when studying their subject animals, even in relatively humane ways.

Mason examines the origins of the myths that sustain our need to dominate and control nature, and our separation from nature. Before I read this book, I regarded Americans' abuse of animals as a self-contained problem. Now I understand it to be just one facet of our estrangement from our own basic needs, and from nature, that has led not only to the grossest mistreatment of animals, but to racism and misogyny. Mason pulls it all together in a brilliant cohesive portrait of perhaps our most serious modern dilemma.

An Unnatural Order should be required reading in highschool........2005-06-10

Jim Mason is a intellectual visionary - ahead of his time.

Very rarely does a book come along, you read it and then think - wow this single book really could make a difference if enough people read it.

Unnatural Order analyzes the West's dominionist world view which exalts humans as overlords and the rightful owners of all other life on our planet.

Through very astute analyst, Mr. Mason explains how our society came up with this "might is right / bullying" attitude and how this same archaic and selfish mindset is not only adversely effecting every living thing on this planet but the very planet itself.

I would suggest that if you're a high school teacher and you really want to "make a difference" to some young minds buy a copy for each of your students to read and discuss. This is that powerful of a book.

Without being preachy, Mr. Mason has shown a keen insight into some very challenging problems we as a species are now facing and how we can address those challenges for a better future.

Brilliant..........2004-06-08

Buy a copy of this book for everyone you know!!!

A roadmap for the 21st Century.......2000-08-25

In 1892, Henry Salt published the book Animals' Rights. While it was not totally ignored, it took nearly another century for the modern "Animal Rights" movement to begin, after the appearance of Peter Singer's Animal Liberation in 1975.

When reading An Unnatural Order it will be difficult to not get the impression that Jim Mason is a visionary, on par with Henry Salt. We are privileged to have Mason as a contemporary. Years from now people could easily look back on him as the spark that helped reverse the course of destruction humans were on at the end of the 20th Century. Unfortunately, as with the ideas in it-and like Salt's work-An Unnatural Order has been largely ignored. Like a great movie that no one has seen, the fault for this must lay with lack of promotion. This review is appearing several years after the book's publication. This is unfortunate. An Unnatural Order is an important book.

"This book is written in hope and celebration. My hope is that we have the strength to rid ourselves of the destructive strands in Western culture," Mason begins. These destructive strands manifest themselves in the "Nature Question." Grossly simplified, the Nature Question is the intellectual belief that somewhere in our evolutionary past our ancestors broke their bonds with the living earth and put Homo sapiens above all other life on the planet, resulting in our species having no sense of kinship with other life nor any sense of belonging. The earth is beneath us; we are alienated from nature.

Mason continues "It is now time to bring this question into popular discussion, and I hope this book is a start." The roots of our alienation are deep-and deeply explored. Thirty pages are devoted to identifying dominionism. A picture of the world before agriculture-the seed of dominionism-is painted. Using current research and extensive references, a vivid portrait results that is as believable as any anthropologist's.

An all-things-are-connected web is spun, touching animal-human history and relationships; the crossover to agriculture; misogyny and misothery (the author's invention for "an attitude of hatred and contempt for animals and nature"); racism, colonialism, and dominionism. The breadth of his discussion is extensive and not every reader will agree with all of Mason's personal viewpoints. It irrelevant. In the long run one will feel certain that the book hits the mark of verity.

The final chapter brings it all together and offers Mason's broad outline for what needs to be done to turn dominionism around. He shows how the awareness of our social and environmental problems is widely known, citing the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, quoting political leaders and scholars, and referencing a who's who list of environmental writers, who he concludes all have the same message: "Humanity needs fundamental changes in its relationship with nature."

Supplying the missing piece, Mason states: "All having laid down such strong rhetoric, however, the movers and shakers, with rare exceptions, stop dead in their tracks when they approach the Animal Question. The Animal Question is regarded as illegitimate, silly, peripheral." To address the Animal Question reduces ones credibility. Driving home the point, Mason ponders how Christopher Stone's landmark 1972 article "Should Trees Have Standing?" would have been received had he written "Should Chimpanzees Have Standing?" He concludes that the Animal Question "is the very heart" of the Nature Question. The two cannot be separated. In order to make any progress toward healing our dominionist worldview, this gap must be bridged.

In the last few years some headway seems to have been made in this area. For too long the wedge that existed between "animal" and "environmental" groups has done all harm and no good. Since An Unnatural Order's publicatiom, there has been a call for unity as well as a more serious acceptance of the "Animal Question." Peter Singer's 1993 book and continued efforts with The Great Ape Project; the publication of When Elephants Weep by Jeffrey Masson and Susan McCarthy; and E magazine, which, beginning with its September/October 1995 issue, published a three-part series "to promote a dialogue between these two disparate communities," are just a few. Hopefully this is the start of serious progress.

In 1993, Jim Mason's An Unnatural Order appeared. While not totally ignored, there may never be a "modern dominionism" movement. If the message in his book is even remotely accurate, our culture cannot wait 80 years for some as-yet-unborn author to rediscover An Unnatural Order's message.

Joseph Connelly

A 'must read' for anyone who cares about nature and animals.......2000-08-22

Why are we the most violent and destructive species on this planet? In "An Unnatural Order", Jim Mason tells us. He opens with a clarification of the philosophy of 'dominionism' as expounded in most religions, and declares it as the principle at the root of human violence and warfare. He presents the case that there was a time when humans got along rather well with each other and the rest of nature. It was the time of the forager, mistakenly called the time of the hunter/gatherer by those looking through the filter of western philosophy and religion. For many thousands of years, Homo sapiens did not do much meat-eating or hunting, until widespread, organized hunting appears some 20,000 years ago. When foragers became hunters, and hunters became herdsmen, their view of nature changed from one of provider to one of enemy, and the notion of human supremacy was born. The non human animals, once seen as ancestors, neighbors, teachers and kin, began to be thought of as inferior, dangerous and evil, or simply commodities. With the advent of agriculture, and especially animal agriculture, ideas about a hierarchy of being, ownership of property, patriarchy, domination and exploitation begin to take over human culture. The idea of a male god, with man just below, and women, 'primitive' people and the other animals, below men, became the mindset of the "northern tribes." It was eventually sanctified by western religions and remains the dominant worldview today. Mason takes us on a journey through human history, unfettered by human ego, thoroughly explaining our dissociation from nature and animals, and the resulting losses, both pyschologically and spiritually. He probes deep, and finds the origins of warfare, racism, sexism, religionism and colonialism. He challenges the idea that agriculture was a great human achievement, arguing that it gave us repeating cycles of increased production and growth only at the expense of the environment and the animals that we enslaved. The result has not been success for all humans, but actually an increase in human starvation and suffering, caused by the human population explosion and the misuse of resources. Enslavement of non humans and then humans, followed by the introduction of organized warfare, are the results of the hunter / herder mentality that replaced the original cooperative, egalitarian nature of human culture. Mason, does not simply chronicle our mistakes, he seeks out causes, and offers solutions. He does not blame farmers for the disasters of agriculture, nor does he call for an end to religion. Instead he calls for a new approach to farming, and the return to the family farm, by the re-introduction of sustainable, humane farming methods. Likewise, he calls for a re-discovery of the suppressed voices of progressive theologians who have spoken out against dominionism for centuries. He asks us to re-evaluate our ideas of human supremacy and accept our proper role as a part of nature, not something above it. His approach is unique among most writers -- the preservationists, environmentalists or even the deep ecologists -- as he dares to ask "the animal question." When will we admit to the psychological lives of the other animals, and take this into consideration in our dealings with them? Do they exist just for us? Or are they part of our family, deserving every bit as much consideration as those of "our own kind."

Average customer rating:

Common sense.

The Unnatural Nature of Science
Lewis Wolpert
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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The New World of Mr Tompkins: George Gamow's Classic Mr Tompkins in Paperback
In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality
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Uncommon Sense: The Heretical Nature of Science

ASIN: 0674929810

Book Description

How is it that nobody--except maybe scientists--sees science for what it is? In this entertaining and provocative book, Lewis Wolpert draws on the entire history of science, from Thales of Miletus to Watson and Crick, from the study of eugenics to the discovery of the double helix. The result is a scientist's view of the culture of science, authoritative and informed and at the same time mercifully accessible to those who find cohabiting with this culture a puzzling experience. Science is arguably the defining feature of our age. For anyone who hopes to understand its nature, this lively and thoughtful book provides the perfect starting point.

Customer Reviews:

Common sense........2002-10-22

Excellent essay about the real nature of science and the fact that day-to-day common sense will never give an understanding of the nature of science.
Absolutely to the point are his analyses of science and technology (science produces ideas whereas technology results in the production of usable objects), science and philosophy (science has been immune to philosophical doubts) & science and morality (decisions are political and economic).
His viewpoint on genetic engineering is 'common sense': "... genetic engineering ... has so far damaged no one. By contrast, smoking, AIDS, drugs and alcohol have caused massive damage to children in utero." (p.168)
Particularly impressive are the chapters on 'Science and religion' (7) where the author defends secularism, and on 'Moral and Immoral Science' (8).
This book contains some very painful paragraphs on Konrad Lorenz.
A must read for everybody interested in western and scientific culture.

The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History

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Golly Gee a Feejee
A REMARKABLE BOOK ABOUT NATURAL WONDERS
FEEJEE mermaid holds many curiosities

The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays in Natural and Unnatural History
Jan Bondeson
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities
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Step Right Up: Stories of Carnivals, Sideshows, and the Circus

ASIN: 0801436095

Book Description

In his new collection of essays, Jan Bondeson tells ten fascinating stories of myths and hoaxes, beliefs and Ripley-like facts, concerning the animal kingdom. Throughout he recounts--and in some instances solves--mysteries of the natural world which have puzzled scientists for centuries. Heavily illustrated with photographs and drawings, the book presents astounding tales from across the rich folklore of animals: a learned pig more admired than Sir Isaac Newton by the English public, an elephant that Lord Byron wanted to employ as his butler, a dancing horse whose skills in mathematics were praised by William Shakespeare, and, of course, the extraordinary creature known as the Feejee Mermaid. This object became the foremost curiosity of London in the 1820s and later in the century toured the United States under the management of P. T. Barnum. Bearing a striking resemblance to a wizened and misshapen monkey with a fishtail, the mermaid was nonetheless proclaimed a genuine specimen by "experts." Bondeson explores other zoological wonders: toads living for centuries encased in solid stone, little fishes raining down from the sky, and barnacle geese growing from trees until ready to fly. In two of his most fascinating chapters, he uncovers the origins of the basilisk, considered one of the most inexplicable mythical monsters, and of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary. With the head and body of a rooster and the tail of a snake, the basilisk was said to be able to kill a person with its gaze. Bondeson demonstrates that belief in this fabulous creature resulted from misinterpretations of rare events in natural history. The vegetable lamb, a mainstay of museums in the seventeenth century, was allegedly half plant, half animal: it had the shape of a little lamb, but grew from a stem. After examining two vegetable lambs still in London today, Bondeson offers a new theory to explain this old fallacy.

CONTENTS Prelude The Dancing Horse Lament of the Learned Pig The Feejee Mermaid Obituary of an Elephant Jumbo, King of Elephants Animals on Trial The Riddle of the Basilisk Spontaneous Generation Odd Showers Toad in the Hole

Customer Reviews:

Golly Gee a Feejee.......2004-10-05

Not many pictures in this book - but lots of words - good words.
The subject is handled with respect - which is not always done with topics such as this. The photos and illustrations are not reproduced very well so don't buy it for the pictures. There are some good essays and it reads fast. I have studied this topic for many years so I was prepared for the worst - meaning i wouldn't find much new stuff here - but hey I DID. New info about some old things I have been studying always impresses me and tells me that the writer(s) did their homework.

A REMARKABLE BOOK ABOUT NATURAL WONDERS.......2001-01-14

If you have any interest in the history of biology, this book is for you. It contains ten investigations into natural history at its most weird: learned pigs, barnacle geese growing from trees, vegetable lambs, showers of fish and toads, and the world's cleverest performing horse. The Feejee Mermaid of the title, half a monkey and half a salmon, had a long career in 19th century show business and beyond. A remarkable chapter deals with the criminal prosecution of animals for a variety of offenses, from the middle age onwards. One of the book's great strengths is that it successfully couples a wealth of historical data with modern science; this enabled Bondeson to actually solve the riddle of the Basilisk, a mythical creature born from the egg of a cockerel.

Jan Bondeson is apparently a British physician, and not a full-time historian of science. This would explain the book's vivid and readable prose, far from the normal turgid jargon of the 'academic'. Most of the essays are beautifully written, with contemporary quotations in poetry and prose effortlessly woven into the text. Sometimes I found, however, that the book had a lack of cohesion and overall theme. But in the book's best chapter, about spontaneous generation throughout the ages, Bondeson provides a remarkable and unique contribution to the history of biology. He uses his up-to-date knowledge of science to demonstrate that the same long-lasting ideas about generation of living tiaaue can be found in Aristotle's writings and in modern theories about the origins of life.

FEEJEE mermaid holds many curiosities.......2000-06-10

If you are at all interested in medical oddities, natural history, or a sideshow history, this is very interesting. It goes through the histories of a few oddities: the title character, the lerned pig, animals in rocks, and smart mules. it also reconstructs a continuum, especially in the case of the mermaid, of how these artifacts and oddities have been used and why people are interested in them. Also it explains how these seemingly impossible things have happened. Very interesting to anyone of a science or social science background.

Mysterious Creatures: Intriguing Torah Enigmas of Natural and Unnatural History

Average customer rating:

Very good.
A view of crypto-zoology

Mysterious Creatures: Intriguing Torah Enigmas of Natural and Unnatural History
Nosson Slifkin
Manufacturer: Targum Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Theology | Judaism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1568712480

Book Description

This book explores conflicts between the Talmud and science in the context of Torah mysteries of zoology. The Talmud and Midrash discuss a wide range of bizarre creatures, including mermaids, unicorns, griffins, dragons, sea-serpents and phoenixes, as well as strange biological concepts such as spontaneous generation. Mysterious Creatures discusses these cases in detail and brings a range of different approaches for understanding them. It is an essential book for any student or educator who has ever struggled with conflicts between the Talmud and science. Strikingly designed, and including extraordinary photographs and illustrations, this is a truly stimulating work.

Customer Reviews:

Very good........2006-05-09

This is a wonderful book. The author did not intend to say if these animals exist or not, but how they impact Halacha (Jewish law). He does explore if they exist or not because this impacts Halacha, but that is not his goal. He is trying to get to the root of why the sages thought these animals existed or if they indeed did. It seems obvious that the sages did not believe that certain of the creatures existed but used them to make a point. Other times, like with the fire dwelling salamadar they did probably believe they existed, but it wasn't for them to search out - only to decide what Halacha would say if they did. So this just explores what proofs there are only so far as is necessary to provide context for the discussion of Halacha. If you are interested in these creatures in this context then this book is excellent. If you want cryptozoology then read something like "The Feejee Mermaid and Other Essays" or "Natural History Lore and Legend" that he cites.

A view of crypto-zoology.......2004-12-29

A very interesting book to read. It seems to suggest that most of the creatures discussed do not and never did exist exactly as described. Unfiortunately, the author constantly tries to "cover his back" by suggesting as a parting shot in each case that PERHAPS the creature did exist at some time but does not now, nor are any remains available. to me, it seems to be science tinged with mythology and no clear distinction. In some cases, this degenerates into mere superstition. I certainly would not recommend this book for children or young adults who lack the experience or scientific knowlege to assess this material in its true light.

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