It was great; then it wasn't. I have mixed feelings about On Writing Well by William Zinsser. I love the first 94 pages, but the rest far less so. That's a 28 percent good book, and that makes my final three-star ratings more than generous. What Zinsser writes in the first 94 pages caters to … Continue reading Book Reflection: On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Your favorite civilian natural science book comes with prerequisites: vivid photos from altocumulus clouds to decomposition fungi, key hiding spots of small insects and charismatic critters, and nontechnical but curiosity-provoking descriptions of ecological concepts--all of which fill The Practical Naturalist. Edited by Chris Packham and written by a team of scientists, this book is detailed … Continue reading Book Reflection: The Practical Naturalist by Chris Packham
The American chestnut tree, Castanea dentata, was one of the first biological icons to be virtually vacated from an integral position in both the environment and American society. We knew little about accidental imports of exotic species, and the introduction of the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica spurred the discussion and action. I was fascinated with the topic when … Continue reading Book Reflection: American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree by Susan Freinkel
Patrons of my local library vie for this book. I waited several weeks before I got a chance, even though The Sixth Extinction was published over a year before this time. Then I couldn't renew it, because of course someone else was in line to read it. Several weeks later down the waiting list I … Continue reading Book Reflection: The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
While I've shared how the Voyage of the Turtle: in the Pursuit of the World’s Last Dinosaur took a broad-focused, holistic sweep of the world between humans and leatherbacks, it also tackled specifics of sea turtle’s physiology. Diving physiology is intricate and poorly understood. Considering that humans dwell on land and most animals that we … Continue reading Book Reflection: Voyage of the Turtle by Carl Safina (Part II: Physiology)
Likely the biggest decision I made this year, as superficial as it may sound, is join Goodreads—yes, a social media site. How did I let myself fall into the bottomless pit of neurotic status updates? Because books are cool. Duh. A function of Goodreads I take advantage of is the group. I joined a group … Continue reading Book Reflection: Voyage of the Turtle by Carl Safina (Part I: Human Dimensions)
In another time and if in the same place, Henry David Thoreau would have been a great family friend. So much of what he addresses in Walden resonates deeply with my dad and me. We frequently discuss the bizarre inconsistencies and illogical manners in much of our society (past and present), speculate the hows and whys as well … Continue reading Book Reflection: Walden or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau
From Part I: Growing, processing, and marketing the food items all in a single region mitigate many of those secondary issues, organic or not. It’s also worth mentioning that labels require hefty fees for each individual product to the government for licensing—fees that your small-scale organic farmer cannot pay for. Part II Do you want to … Continue reading Book Reflection: Folks, This Ain’t Normal by Joel Salatin (Part II)
Part I Caution: "Folks, This Ain't Normal" is a thought-provoker. If you are not intellectually qualified to discern fact from ideology and integrate that information into your brain without barfing it out because it challenges conceptions made from incomplete knowledge or pre-existing ideological leanings, you will likely flounder in this book. This is a playful … Continue reading Book Reflection: Folks, This Ain’t Normal by Joel Salatin (Part I)
After graduating college with a biology degree, I find most of my intellectual interest gearing toward subjects that were not integrated into my program. Conventionally this would mean biochemistry, soil science, water science, geomorphology--basically, environmental and related physical sciences. However, thanks to science nerd social media I jumped on the astrophysics bandwagon. Books I most … Continue reading Book Reflection: Studies in Astrophysics: Cosmos by Carl Sagan and A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Chestnut Leaf Media 