tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and enjoyment. Below the fold is this week's issue of The Birdbooker Report which lists ecology, environment, natural history and bird books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.
New and Recent Titles:
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Fagan, Brian (editor). The Complete Ice Age: How Climate Change Shaped The World. 2009. Thames & Hudson. Hardbound: 240 pages. Price: $40.00 U.S. [Amazon: $26.40].
SUMMARY: In this book, four leading scientists weave a seamless, compelling story out of the most up-to-date discoveries in the different fields of Ice Age research. They reveal the profound climatic fluctuations that were generated as ice sheet waxed and waned, and the myriad ways in which humans and animals coped with the changing world. The last chapter looks at future climate change.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with an interest in past and future climates. -
Prothero, Donald R. After The Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals. 2006. Indiana University Press. Hardbound: 362 pages. Price: $39.95 U.S. [Amazon: $26.37].
SUMMARY: This book examines The Age of Mammals, the Cenozoic Era, in which a wide assortment of bizarre animals evolved. They range from giant mammals and birds to humans. This book is well illustrated with black-and-white and color artwork and black-and-white photographs.
RECOMMENDATION: For those with a moderate to advance level interest in mammal paleontology and evolution.
You can read all the Birdbooker Reports in the archives on this site, and Ian now has his own website, The Birdbooker's Bookcase, where you can read his synopses about newly published science, nature and animal books. But Ian assures me that he still loves us here, so he'll still share his weekly Birdbooker Reports with us!
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I hope THE COMPLETE ICE AGE explains the cold, foggy July 4 holiday I once spent at Chatham on Cape Code in what is presumable a warm interglacial. Ditto the conversation I overheard between two men unloading a truck on or about August 28, 1985 in San Francisco, after a cold drizzle began: "Well, I guess summer's over." "Man, it never began."