Topic: Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEW

The Naturalist's Guide to the Atlantic Seashore: Beach Ecology from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras

Editor's note: The following review will be published in an upcoming RHODORA. The editors of the periodical graciously gave permission to include it here.

The Naturalist's Guide to the Atlantic Seashore by Dr. Scott W. Shumway is an excellent introductory guide to the natural history of the plants and animals found in coastal environments from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras. With high quality illustrations and clear, inviting text, the guide offers an introduction to many of the major habitat types found along the coast of North America. Included in the guide are chapters on the natural history of rocky shores, sand dunes, coastal beaches, salt marshes, estuaries, tidal flats, seagrass meadows, and the open ocean. Within each chapter, one is introduced to the plants and animals one may encounter in these various habitats. The chapter on the sand beach describes the animals able to live in this high-energy environment, such as the Mole Crab (Emerita tapoida). Dr. Shumway describes how these small pinkish colored crustaceans burrow and feed in the surf zone and how they are able to move up and down the beach slope with the tides in order to position themselves so that they can feed in the more preferred habitats. The crabs’ ability to survive under the constant pounding of the waves is just fascinating.

In the more protected environments, such as the sand dunes, we are introduced to the plants of the sand dune and the interdunal swales or dune slacks, where carpets of American cranberry may occur with insectivorous plants, such as the Spatulate-leaved Sundews (Drosera intermedia) and several species of orchids, such as the Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides) and the Grass Pink (Calopogon puchellus). The interdunal swales or “wetland oases” are usually just given a fleeting mention in most guides, but here they are covered thoroughly. The chapter on the salt marsh is also very rewarding, where the discussion of marsh plants and animals is very complete. Those with an interest in marine mammals will enjoy the chapter on the open ocean, where the cetaceans are discussed.

One real plus found in the guide is the list of references available to the reader wishing to know more about the natural history and biology of the plants and animals mentioned in each of the chapters. It was especially pleasing to find that the list included current journal articles and one of my favorite old standards, Fishes of the Gulf of Maine by H. B. Bigelow and W. C. Schroeder (1953) included in the list of general references.  This text is one of the most informative manuals that one can find for those wanting to know more about the distribution, abundance, natural history and occurrence of fish species in the Gulf of Maine. Another nice feature is the index.

This guide is very informative and will be a useful guide to those teaching marine science classes or wishing to learn more about our coastal environments.

- Donald Schall

THE NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE ATLANTIC SEASHORE: BEACH ECOLOGY FROM THE GULF OF MAINE TO CAPE HATTERAS  by Scott W. Shumway, 2008. vii + 232 pp. 300+ color photographs. $24.95 (paper). The Globe Pequot Press (FalconGuide), Guildford, CT.

BOOK REVIEW

The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk by Thornton Burgess

When Jimmy Skunk is angry

Then everyone watch out!

It's better by far at such a time

To be nowhere about.

And so,Thornton Burgess presents Jimmy Skunk. Originally published in 1918, as a part of the Bed-Time Storybook series,THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY SKUNK was reissued by the Flying Chipmunk Publishing Co in 2010. It includes two of the many hundreds of stories Burgess told about Old Mother Westwind and the “lesser folk of fur and feathers.”

Although Jimmy Skunk is introduced to us when he was very angry, this is not very typical. “You know he is one of the very best-natured little fellows in the world, ordinarily. He minds his own business, and if no one interferes with him, he interferes with no one...” Burgess credits him with a great sense of humor.

In this particular story, Jimmy Skunk was happily curled up in an old barrel taking a wonderful nap. The “Imp of Mischief”, Peter Rabbit, comes along, sees Jimmy Skunk and prepares to play a joke on Reddy Fox. He entices Reddy to chase him, leaps over the barrel at the last minute and Reddy plows right into the barrel, sending it rolling down the hill. Reddy, then, from curiosity, goes after the barrel. Of course, Jimmy after a wild and scary ride, emerges quite upset and Reddy receives the benefit of his anger.

Yet Jimmy quickly recovers his good humor. After talking it over with Sammy Jay, he realizes he had sprayed the wrong animal and decides that Peter Rabbit should be taught a lesson. But there is no revenge in his plan; he simply feels that Peter should not get away with pulling dangerous jokes on others.

...

The stories I heard at bed-time when I was little were primarily from Thornton Burgess and Beatrix Potter with a healthy dose of Robert McCloskey's MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS. Rereading a few of Potter's, I remember the images but also remember the confusion with the story. For instance with THE TALE OF PIGGLING BLAND... I couldn't quite understand why he was going to market with a license - Was he going to be eaten or was he supposed to buy something? But I did catch the excitement when he and Pig-wig ran away and “over the hills and far away she danced with Pigling Bland.” For an adult, the story is delightful. And the illustrations are marvelous.

Burgess's stories, while not so cleverly done, are very understandable. He repeats himself and talks to the reader. For instance when Peter Rabbit is trying to avoid running into Reddy Fox or Jimmy Skunk after his joke, he pops into Johnny Chuck's old house – now occupied by yellow jackets – and is badly stung.

“Oh, dear, I wish I had never thought of such a joke,” moaned Peter, trying in vain to find a comfortable position. “I guess I am served just right.”

I rather think he was, don't you?

The information about animals gathered in his childhood years spent wandering and observing in the fields and woods of Sandwich pour into his stories. As well, he takes every opportunity to pass on a lesson or two:

Keep your word, whate'er you do,

And to your inmost self be true.

The CCMNH is exhibiting memorabilia of Thornton Burgess and his superb illustrator, Harrison Cady through November, 2010. Many of his books are available in the Library and in the Museum gift shop. Make yourself and a little child happy by reading to him/her about the creatures of the Green Meadow, the Green Forest and Shining Pool.

Reviewed by Susan W. Carr, July 14, 2010

BOOK REVIEW

A Year on the Wing: Four Seasons in a Life with Birds by Tim Dee

Not the rollicking ride of Kenn Kaufman’s KINGBIRD HIGHWAY nor the romantic travelogue of Pete Dunne’s THE FEATHER QUEST, Tim Dee’s story unfolds as an etherealessay slowly revealing the life of the author along with the birds he observes.

Set mostly in Great Britain, with some time in Africa and the U.S., the book has a tone and reference points quite distinct from typical American writings.  Words like quiddity, splenetic typify the language.  Places like moors, cliffs, British islands and seacoast, indeed the sea itself, serve as settings.  The recollections are often melancholy, frequently literary, and consistently beautiful.

A striking passage is about spring:

“The earth is stretching.  The world has a new growing edge.  Every twig now holds a hundred leaves, every branch a thousand more, and the black ink line must extend around each leaf as it opens.  The surface of the world has massively increased.  ….the black pen must be swapped for a green brush.”

Throughout much of the book, the author remains elusive, unknown to us, except for his astounding ease with poetry, ancient writings, philosophies and history.  But about halfway through this work, Dee begins to tell us about himself as he observes birds.

He remembers a terrifying ride with his boozy father, when an owl appears.  “The owl knew where to go and my father sobered for a moment.”  He continues: where people clashed and collided, birds always seemed to know where to go and never bumped into one another.

Much of the book is filled with death, but this passage particularly stood out for the reviewer, as it was an experience I had never considered:

“Only once have I seen a bird simply die.  In another March on my way to Chew Valley Lake, I watched a black-headed gull fall dead from the sky onto a road in south Bristol.  It was part of a flock heading from their overnight roost on the reservoir back toward the city I was coming from.  Its falling flailing wings caught my eye as I drove beneath it.  The flock opened slightly around it, just enough to let it fall through them as they flew on.  None looked anywhere other than where they were going.”

Dee speaks best for himself.  In capturing the experience of bird-watching, he says:

“To be forgotten before you are even known is how almost all bird-watching is.  This doesn’t stop me from wanting to reach after the birds- it makes it more poignant.  Bird-watchers are observers of exits, stewards holding open doors to freer places.  Though many birds live alongside us, fostering our illusion they’ve elected to, we are on our own.  The house martins don’t need us.”

Reviewed by Lynn Sarda

BOOK REVIEW

Sustaining Life edited by Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein

If you look at only one scientific, natural history book this year...let it be this one!

SUSTAINING LIFE is not a tight-little-tuck-in-your-back-pocket-type of book, but a large, over-powering collection of writings from the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School on the subject of biodiversity and sustaining life on this earth. No less than that...sustaining life on this earth.

As the editors write in their preface:

“The general neglect of the relationship between biodiversity and human health, we believe, is a very serious problem, for not only are the full human dimensions of biodiversity loss failing to inform policy decisions, but the general public, lacking an understanding of the health risks involved, is not grasping the magnitude of the biodiversity crisis and not developing a sense of urgency to address it.”

They explain biodiversity, and its importance with eco-system services, (such as cleaning the air, purifying water, controlling erosion,) food production, providing medicine – to name a few important activities. One of the featured wildlife examples that they present is the horseshoe crab. This unique species has been on earth for a very long time (250-300 million years); they survived the great Permian extinction that eliminated an estimated 95% of all marine species.

Besides their allowing us a window into ancient times, the horseshoe crab makes two other important contributions. Their eggs laid on the shore are the main food source for millions of shorebirds, especially the North American red knot. As the population of horshoe crabs has decreased, so have the red knots – They are down 98% since the 1980s!

Their contribution to human health is exceptional – providing blood which kills bacteria, and aids in the treatment of major diseases (There are indications that it inhibits replication of the HIV virus.) and “shows promise in preventing the spread of leukemia, prostate cancer and breast cancer and as a possible treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.” Their blood forms clots, is used to detect endotoxins, and their eyes are being studied...!

Although SUSTAINING LIFE is large and imposing with an unbelievable amount of information, the book is very readable. The examples that the authors use to illustrate their points are fascinating. The coverage is exhaustive. The illustrations are interesting and “diverse”.

The book can be enjoyed in various degrees: Reading the foreword (by EO Wilson)/ Prologue (by Kofi Annan)/ Preface - only; surveying the Table of Contents - only; reading one or two chapters; or reading the whole thing. Whatever your approach, you will be well rewarded.

As my mother used to say when talking about a wonderful book, “Don't let another day go by before you pick up that book.”

- Reviewed by Sue Carr

BOOK REVIEW

BECAUSE THE CAT PURRS: How We Relate to Other Species and Why It Matters By Janet Lembke

What...

• Along with the cockroach, may be a life form that owns the world?
• Is found on every continent but one?
• Has found a home in caves, huts, vegetable patches, and fields, and has travelled in wagons, travois, rafts, and wheelbarrows?
• Has a genome that is ‘essentially a reference manual for understanding the human genome’?
• And, has been important to studies of memory storage, the pathogenesis of muscular dystrophy, the potential toxicity of artificial sweeteners, and the effects of light on the circadian rhythms?  (Lembke, 119-130)

Answer...

• The mouse!

In fifteen chapters and an afterword, author Janet Lembke explores human relationships with a variety of animals and plants.  Her framework, them and us, much of which is developed through observations made in her own garden in North Carolina, deals with commensalism (a Plus-Zero relationship), mutualism (Plus-Plus), predation (Plus-Minus) and amenalism (Zero-Minus).  Relationships are described by how humans and non-human creatures benefit from, depend on, disable, or destroy, one another.

Lembke explores why we worship the cat; she talks of the bargain she has made with a chicken.  She relates accounts of humans and deer, drawing from old literature and historic tales.  Tales of eight different named turtles are told, stories - ranging from that of Gilbert White’s famous she-tortoise, Timothy to the contemporary house turtle, Wumpus.  Observations and research about carpenter bees, house sparrows, slugs and snails and a fallen red maple tree are recorded in this volume.  Even the real story of the holiday groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, where he really lives, and his surrounding human cadre is included.

The illustrations are charming and the text is comfortable to read.  The message - that we humans have a variety of relationships with others and they with us - is nicely captured in her closing thoughts:

“At rock bottom, we are Them and they are Us.  There is no basic difference in our capacities for suffering and pleasure.  But we have opportunities that they do not: the ability to reflect on what we do, the power to act humanely, the obligation not to waste a whit of what we take, and the grace to be thankful.”

- Reviewed by Lynn Sarda

BOOK REVIEW

ANT by Charlotte Sleigh,
     DUCK by Victoria deRijke and 
          OYSTER by Rebecca Stott...
               ...three books from the Reaktion Books, Ltd,
               series on ANIMALS, edited by Jonathan Burt.

Included in this series are many of the "usual suspects" like, bear, dog, and horse - but also some unexpected ones such as cockroach, rat, and oyster. Presenting birds, mammals, insects, et al, the animal kingdom is well represented by qualified and fascinating experts. The Clarence Hay Library has recently purchased 10 of these books.

ANT

In ANT, Charlotte Sleigh, from the University of Kent at Canterbury, covers every philosophical treatise, piece of literature, work of art, or film that have used ants. Remember King Solomon?: "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise..." or from Henry McCook, veteran of two wars: "Among our ants...duty is never dodged. There are no desertions. Lazy, cowardly and skulking ants one does not see. With heartiest good-will the call to service is met..."

She pulls it all together at the end by summarizing the different approaches of EO Wilson of Harvard and Deborah Gordon of Stanford and a review of the movie "AntZ" Her work is thorough and scholarly - perhaps "more than you ever wanted to know..." - but also thought-provoking, with its comparisons with human society.

The timeline at the back of the book is particularly helpful...listing all of the important works relating to ants.

DUCK

DUCK, by Victoria deRijke, is a small volume, jam-packed with interesting facts and stories about this ubiquitous waterfowl.  There is an abundance of drawings, illustrations, photographs, and other visuals that enliven the text.

In tracing the natural history of ducks, deRijke introduces fascinating tidbits- the first duck-droving dog was a poodle; in ancient times, duck meat was just for emperors; a warmed duck embryo in its egg is an Asian treat; and duck has been the specialty of the Parisian restaurant Tour d'Argent since 1582.  She writes of duck hunting, duck domestication, the duck's quack, duck toys, animated ducks, quackery, and even avian flu.

By the time you finish this little book, you will recognize that hearing a loud "ruck ruck" or "wot wot wot" or an "ek ek" is nothing of which to be afraid.  It is merely the sound a duck makes in another language!  And, as deRijke fondly suggests:

 "Be kind to your web footed friends........"

OYSTER 
              
Lovely photographs, illustrations, paintings or prints adorn almost every page of this little volume, making it a delight to hold and to read.  It is a book about a creature unlike the mammals in the series, as this has "no recognizable head, legs, eyes, mouth, skin, hands or arms......(it is) alien to human form and experience."  It is.....the oyster!
 
Using humor, literature, science and history, the author traces the evolution of the oyster.  Stott describes the oyster's sexuality (did you know an oyster can change its sex up to four times a year?), its defense mechanisms, and its relationship to humans.  From the discovery of shell middens through oyster cultivation and pearl production, to descriptions of oyster feasts and accompanying recipes, this little book is full of fascinating pieces of information.  Oysters are captured in poetry, prose bits, paintings. and sculpture in luscious ways. 
 
This reviewer is repulsed by "the soft, bloodless, gelatinous pulp flesh of oysters", and, in spite of that, found the book to be utterly delicious.  You might not think a book about oysters could be so much fun, but this one is!

Reviewed by Susan Carr and Lynn Sarda

BOOK REVIEW

Mudflat Mania! Exploring the Ocean When the Tide Pulls Out

Written by Irene Ledwith for the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History

As Betsy and Bud Ferris say, in their introduction to Mudflat Mania!, 

"Animals appear or don't appear, according to their own ways. That makes each walk out on the mudflats an adventure, where the wonder of discovery waits for everyone who comes along."

Mudflat Mania! is a little book that fits right in your pocket. It includes pictures and descriptions of many of the creatures invertebrates - that you are apt to see on the mudflats at low tide in Brewster. Easy to use and fun to read, it is begging to go along to go out on the flats to help you find the obvious and the not so. Add knowledge and excitement to your adventure with Mudflat Mania! a real gem!
 
Available in the Clarence Hay Library and at the Museum's Gift Shop.

BOOK REVIEW

One Well: the story of water on earth

Author:  Rochelle Strauss
Illustrator:  Rosemary Woods

Becoming "well aware" is the central theme of this colorful 32 page children's book.  Strauss characterizes the water on earth as "one well", a global well from which all sustenance is drawn.  She notes that the amount of water on earth has never changed, that it has remained the same for billions of years.  But how it is distributed, how it is utilized, how it is treated is ever changing.

A drop of water may have been:

• Rain in the Amazon - 5 years ago
• Steam from an India teapot - 100 years ago
• An underground river - 10,000 years ago
• Embedded in a glacier - 100,000 years ago
• A drink for a dinosaur - 100,000,000 years ago 

Two pages (one predominantly text and one predominantly illustration) are devoted to a series of interesting topics such as the water cycle, use of water by plants and animals and humans, watery habitats, access to water, pollution, and saving water in the well.  Interesting facts and useful information accompany these topics with vivid illustrations that engage the reader's eye.

The book stresses the importance of reducing water pollution so that more clean water will be available.  Balancing human demands on water and the amount of water available is also emphasized.

In the section "Saving the Water in the Well", Strauss says:

Water has the power to change everything.  A single splash can sprout a seed, quench a thirst, provide a habitat, generate energy and sustain life.  It also has the power to unite- or divide- the world.  

She urges the reader to become "well aware" and to take action to conserve water and help save the well.

The Notes to Parents, Guardians and Teachers at the end of the book provide further helpful suggestions.  Though the text seems best suited for upper elementary children, many of the concepts can easily be used with younger children.  The lively illustrations offer a chance for a wonderful reading/talking/pointing time with a lap-sitting child or grandchild. 

Reviewed by Lynn Sarda

BOOK REVIEW

THE GREAT WARMING: climate change and the rise and fall of civilizations By Brian Fagan

This is a book to read twice: the first time to grasp the big themes and ideas, and the second time to look at the supporting historical and scientific details. Focusing on the Medieval Warm Period (ninth through the fourteenth century), Fagan traces how climate change - global warming - affected societies and the behaviors of humans throughout the world. Both famous and more obscure cultures are examined taking the reader from Western Europe into Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Arctic regions and the Pacific islands. Fagan claims that we can learn from these tales of earlier cultures about how climate change can affect our own future. He also applauds the flexibility of the human mind in being able to adapt to climatic crises.

Each society is introduced with a short vignette, a day in the life, a provincial scene, showing how people in that particular culture lived. He then traces how climate change affected that culture. For example, in Western Europe the warming produced longer growing seasons and dependable harvests. It stimulated trade with its subsequent warfare. Population grew; towns and then cities developed; and with that, massive deforestation of Europe occurred. Eventually population growth exceeded agricultural production capabilities. Finally, heavy rains, mildew and other diseases, famine, and the plague contributed to the decimation of the society.

The empire of Ginghis Khan, the gold trade of West Africa, the cold world of the Inuit and Qadlunaat, the megadroughts of the AmericanWest, and the Mayan culture are all examined in this book, exploring the effects of climate change on each. Fagan alerts us to the similarities between the water system failures in the past to the diminishing aquifers and lowering water tables around Tuscon and Los Angeles. Today enormous numbers of people live in areas that are highly vulnerable to drought and that number is increasing. Drought, claims Fagan, is the silent killer in global warming. Rising temperatures with their rising sea levels have the potential to greatly affect our industrialized societies. Fagan ends with a plea, a plea for international, long term, massive intervention and “political and social thinking that barely exists today.” His final statement is: “Let us think of ourselves as partners with rather than potential masters of the changing natural world around us.”

Book Review

THE REVENGE OF GAIA: EARTH'S CLIMATE CRISIS AND THE FATE OF HUMANITY

By James Lovelock

James Lovelock, described as the founder of the concept of Gaia, is an award winning British scientist known for his work as an inventor, researcher, author, environmentalist. A prominent contemporary thinker, Lovelock and his postulations are to be regarded with serious consideration.

In this brief book (177 pages including index, glossary, and further readings), Lovelock defines Gaia- the living Earth- and lays out his ideas about the Earth’s present sickness.  He speaks, in his words, “as a planetary physician whose patient, the living Earth, complains of fever.”  This fever is brought on by “a plague of people” and their foolish exploitation of the Earth to meet human needs.  We are near a tipping point, according to Lovelock.  If all the human activity that is contributing to global heating at this point in time were stopped, it would still take the Earth more than 1000 years to recover.  He rallies readers to stop thinking selfishly and to begin to think about how we have harmed the Earth and how we need to “make peace with Gaia.”

Read full article: 'Book Review: "The Revenge of Gaia: Earth's Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity"' (1996 bytes more)