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More About This Textbook
Overview
Why would a grown man chase hornets with a thermometer, paint whirligig beetles bright red, or track elephants through the night to fill trash bags with their prodigious droppings? Some might say—to advance science. Heinrich says—because it's fun.
Bernd Heinrich, author of the much acclaimed Bumblebee Economics, has been playing in the wilds of one continent or another all his life. In the process, he has become one of the world's foremost physiological ecologists. With In a Patch of Fireweed, he will undoubtedly become one of our foremost writers of popular science.
Part autobiography, part case study in the ways of field biology, In a Patch of Fireweed is an endlessly fascinating account of a scientist's life and work. For the author, it is an opportunity to report not just his results but the curiosity, humor, error, passion, and competitiveness that feed into the process of discovery. For the reader, it is simply a delight, a rare chance to share the perceptions of an unusual mind fully in tune with the inner workings of nature. Before his years of research in the woodlands and deserts of North America, the New Guinea highlands, and the plains of East Africa, Heinrich had a sense of the wild that few people in this century can know. He tells the whole story, from his refugee childhood hidden in a German forest, eating mice fried in boar fat, to his ongoing research in the woods surrounding his cabin in Maine.
Editorial Reviews
New York Times Book Review
In this autobiographical reflection...[Heinrich] is intent on explaining why he became an insect physiologist and ecologist. In the process, he gives us a winning portrait of a fine scientific mind at work...There is a fine balance here between intellection and practical experience, speculation and discovery. This is a book that sends you right outdoors.
— Barry Lopez
San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle
Heinrich's stated purpose is to 'tell about the natural links forged between one's life and a life in science.' He succeeds magnificently. His prose reflects Thoreau's empathy with nature and the contemporary naturalist's technical knowledge...This meticulously observed book will please scientists, but it will also delight non-scientist readers who wonder what, in this increasingly polymerized world, is truly human and truly natural.
— John Wilkes
The Atlantic
[Heinrich's] memoir explains, with great charm, how he came to devote his life to such projects as measuring the temperature of wasps and swindling gullible beetles with phony dungballs...[He is] delightful company.
New York Times Book Review
In this autobiographical reflection...[Heinrich] is intent on explaining why he became an insect physiologist and ecologist. In the process, he gives us a winning portrait of a fine scientific mind at work...There is a fine balance here between intellection and practical experience, speculation and discovery. This is a book that sends you right outdoors.— Barry Lopez
The Atlantic
[Heinrich's] memoir explains, with great charm, how he came to devote his life to such projects as measuring the temperature of wasps and swindling gullible beetles with phony dungballs...[He is] delightful company.San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle
Heinrich's stated purpose is to 'tell about the natural links forged between one's life and a life in science.' He succeeds magnificently. His prose reflects Thoreau's empathy with nature and the contemporary naturalist's technical knowledge...This meticulously observed book will please scientists, but it will also delight non-scientist readers who wonder what, in this increasingly polymerized world, is truly human and truly natural.— John Wilkes
Booknews
Part autobiography, part case study in the ways of field biology, this is a fascinating account of Heinrich's (zoology, U. of Vermont, Burlington) life and work, as he reports not just his results but the curiosity, humor, error, passion, and competitiveness that feed the process of discovery. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Product Details
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Table of Contents
Flight into the Forest
Maine
Tanganyika Bird Hunt
The Thesis Hunt
In a Patch of Fireweed
Capitalist Bees
Honeybee Swarms
Africa Dung Beetles
Whirligigs
Caterpillar Diners
Pit Trappers
Bald-Faced Hunters
Counting Yellowjackets
Hunting Winter Moths
Life on My Hill