Most of what you expect to get from a Mary Roach book is here: a curious person investigating areas they don't know much about, conversations with expMost of what you expect to get from a Mary Roach book is here: a curious person investigating areas they don't know much about, conversations with experts in areas it perhaps had not previously occurred to you there would be experts in, and lots of engaging/funny anecdotes you will want to repeat to those around you.
That said, a lot of what humans do in the name of animal control is just depressing, and some of that wore on me after a while. Also, this felt less structured than Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, still my favorite book of hers that I've read, and I sometimes wondered where we were going and why. ...more
I loved this book so hard and was converted to all its causes. I want to be growing experimental mushrooms in my basement. I regretted life choices whI loved this book so hard and was converted to all its causes. I want to be growing experimental mushrooms in my basement. I regretted life choices where I could have been studying fungi in cave systems as a career now. But mostly I just existed in a state of wonder reading this book, which is something I think we all need more of.
My experience of this book was undoubtably enhanced by choosing this for a "book read outside" prompt -- so I read this one chapter at a time, mostly in my own backyard, but a few bits in a National Park on vacation. It was a great choice. ...more
This was engrossing from beginning to end, but especially for me in the beginning. I loved the section on eating seaweed the most, and am ready to scoThis was engrossing from beginning to end, but especially for me in the beginning. I loved the section on eating seaweed the most, and am ready to scour the local Asian markets to see what new seaweeds we can add to our diet. The final section is on climate change, and while I understand why the book was structured that way, I got overwhelmed and struggled to finish the book for a while. It's real information! It's important information! It just also hurts. But there are real cool things scientists are doing about it using algae, and hopefully it will help....more
I read this book on vacation, and it did exactly what I hoped for when I put it in my vacation pile: as a history of science/medicine, it provided dozI read this book on vacation, and it did exactly what I hoped for when I put it in my vacation pile: as a history of science/medicine, it provided dozens of harrowing/fascinating anecdotes to read aloud to my husband as he drove. We met up with my parents on vacation, and when I finished it I immediately lent it to my dad, who started reading it in the quiet evenings back at our cabin after spending the day at Yellowstone -- then he took it home with him to finish reading it.
Sort of an impulse purchase, as I hadn't heard anything about this book, but a book about evolution with the improbability of it leading to us as the Sort of an impulse purchase, as I hadn't heard anything about this book, but a book about evolution with the improbability of it leading to us as the frame rather than the teleological "people as pinnacle" simplification was an easy sell. Evidently it was an easy sell to my kids, too, as I put this on the bedtime story shelf and one of the kids picked it out.
I love including science non-fiction into family story time, and this was mostly at an appropriate level for our crew (one 10, one 14/15 at the time.) There were a few parts that got a little dry/theoretical, but the diagrams helped. My youngest did get squeamish during the discussion of the development of sex organs, but we all survived.
I hadn't really done much reading on embryology -- on just how an embryo transforms into an actual human, so there was even more new information for me here than I expected.
This book was a bit of a mixed bag, but mostly positive. The jellyfish science was fascinating, and some of the memoir bits really resonated (I starteThis book was a bit of a mixed bag, but mostly positive. The jellyfish science was fascinating, and some of the memoir bits really resonated (I started as a marine biology major, and while I switched majors, I did end up with two science M.S. degrees, and I often miss academia), but perhaps because it was so close, it also grated. Like, it must be nice to be able to decide to just fly to Japan because you want to see jellyfish. Maybe sour grapes? I don't know. But overall it felt like the author tried to fit her experiences to a narrative frame that didn't always work and was unsatisfying in the end....more
I received this for Christmas and immediately dove into reading it. It's one of those books I like to savor -- As a collection of essays, I would readI received this for Christmas and immediately dove into reading it. It's one of those books I like to savor -- As a collection of essays, I would read an essay or two at a time, then set it aside for a bit. It's really beautiful nature writing that made me long to summer at biological research stations -- but I'm sure that also has something to do with being stuck mostly inside for a year.
A deft weaving of the biological, personal, and cultural. Also, I will never look at mosses the same....more
An impulse checkout when we were browsing the library. Filled with all kinds of interesting anecdotes about fig trees that have been important in histAn impulse checkout when we were browsing the library. Filled with all kinds of interesting anecdotes about fig trees that have been important in history, religion, ecology, and why. While I knew some of the bits about its complicated relationship with wasps, I knew almost none of the rest of this going in.
Shanahan is clearly in love with his subject and thus sometimes comes off more proselytizer than scientist (figs are amazing, yes, but really more amazing than any other group of trees?), but that can be mostly forgiven. A short and engaging work that will leave you craving Fig Newtons. ...more
I bought this book on one of my first trips back to the bookstore during the pandemic (for obvious reasons), but I didn't read it right away. As it tuI bought this book on one of my first trips back to the bookstore during the pandemic (for obvious reasons), but I didn't read it right away. As it turns out, I am glad that I didn't, as I talked my dad into choosing this for our ongoing buddy read project, and it was definitely better that way. Both on the chapter-a-week pace and having someone to dissect this with.
I did get a lot out of this book, though I often thought I would like it better if it had a better editor and/or it had been written by a scientist rather than a journalist. Still, this book is definitely framed around personal stories, and as a reporter he was well suited to telling those (though some of his little offhand societal observations provoked big eyerolls from me.)
I probably would have been more annoyed reading this alone, but this was good enough. ...more
I was at the library where I was innocently seduced by this shiny foil cover. Then I picked it up when I was feeling stuck on another book. I am sorryI was at the library where I was innocently seduced by this shiny foil cover. Then I picked it up when I was feeling stuck on another book. I am sorry to say that I was not particularly impressed. It was written by two neuroscientists, so I am sure that the information was good, but the framing story was so tired and heteronormative, and EVERY authority was an old white/European man (I know that the authorities were based on the actual scientists who made the discoveries, but you couldn't find ONE woman or BIPOC or visibly disabled person who made a contribution?) But there was a topless mermaid and a boobs-and-butt posing neurotransmitter in skin-tight clothes and OH WAIT, THE ENTIRE PLOT IS DRIVEN BY NAMELESS DUDE'S QUEST TO FIND NAMELESS GIRL HE BRIEFLY SAW IN A PARK, SO I GUESS CHICKS ARE IMPORTANT!
Maybe I'm being overly harsh. I'm just TIRED....more
The cover on this was so charming that I just had to pick it up at the library -- and when I saw that it was by the same cartoonist who had done some The cover on this was so charming that I just had to pick it up at the library -- and when I saw that it was by the same cartoonist who had done some comics I'd previously seen on social media and loved, I had to check it out.
The book was, of course, utterly charming to a biology/nature geek like me. There were quite a few comics on birds, as suggested by the title, but there were also plenty of skinks, snakes, insects, small mammals, ocean creatures... Good blend of cuteness/humor/science info. I really should get a copy to keep or see if I can get some prints. ...more
This book caught my eye at my favorite used bookstore last year, and I had to buy it. This summer I grabbed it to take with me on vacation. I found itThis book caught my eye at my favorite used bookstore last year, and I had to buy it. This summer I grabbed it to take with me on vacation. I found it so fascinating that I ended up reading probably at least half of the book out loud to my husband in the car, and what bits I didn't read to him directly I later recounted.
de Waal has spent countless hours observing chimpanzees and bonobos, and here he brings tales of moral and ethical behavior in our ape (and monkey) kin in order to build a bottom-up explanation of morality -- one that relies on evolutionary biology and observation rather than a top-down mandate from a deity on high. That said, I wouldn't call this work anti-religious, in fact, de Waal spends some time gently mocking the dogmatically anti-religious.
This book does sometimes feel a bit scattered -- de Waal seems to be building to some larger point then suddenly moves on, letting the momentum collapse. The book seems to clearly be aiming to make some mark in the atheists versus literal fundamentalists cultural debate, but that point isn't as sharp or well-driven as one might like.
That said, his anecdotes are so fascinating, and it's hard not to come away from this book with a profound understanding that moral behavior is something that has been evolving with us for longer than Homo sapiens has walked the earth, and is not restricted to only our branch of the evolutionary tree. It's got me thinking about how societies shape expectations of acceptable behavior -- and why.
Defintely worth the read, and I'm sure it will leave a permanent stamp on my thinking. ...more
Lately I've been thinking about how much I enjoy medical histories/thrillers/memoirs, and why don't I read them more often? So when I spied this at thLately I've been thinking about how much I enjoy medical histories/thrillers/memoirs, and why don't I read them more often? So when I spied this at the library when I took the kids to stock up on books for summer, of course it went on the pile.
And I did really enjoy this. Even as I was disturbed by it and its implications for free will and perceived reality. We are our brains, and if we cannot say or know when something is wrong with them, then how can we as individuals or as a society fix them? The implications are staggering and can go on forever -- should Lipska been allowed to make such profound decisions for herself when she was clearly not herself? But if she wasn't herself, who was she? And if she couldn't decide, who could?
And what would be the chances for survival and recovery for someone who wasn't a neuroscientist, living near D.C. with doctors and medical physicists in her family? And how should we treat people who cannot process reality in the same way that we can?
The questions that this book brings up are challenging and so very interesting. A fascinating story, well-told, even if I would have appreciated the timeline conveyed a little more clearly. ...more
Believe it or not, this was another "bedtime story," -- I read it aloud to my twelve-year-old. Deeply grateful that I have a degree in environmental mBelieve it or not, this was another "bedtime story," -- I read it aloud to my twelve-year-old. Deeply grateful that I have a degree in environmental microbiology -- so I knew how to pronounce most of the words.
This book was both kind of amazing and also sometimes frustrating. The amazing part is that for a "popular science" book, I have never seen a better portrayal of how science actually happens. The grants, the collaborations, the conferences, working with outside agencies, sharing knowledge and expertise, the establishment of new protocols and paradigms. All that was conveyed by making this a personal narrative -- changing the focus from "here is a bunch of cool science stuff" to "here is how we discovered a bunch of cool science stuff." Though sometimes that got a little too personal for me -- I don't really need to hear about the restaurants you used to hang out and drink in. But I suppose that could be interesting and humanize to other readers.
The science though, is really cool. The idea that there could be microorganisms "living" or at least viable in rocks hundreds or thousands of meters below the surface -- that those microbes could be responsible for some of the geologic processes that we previously thought of as abiotic. Well, it's a notion I'd barely been made acquainted with by my advisor's work on caves when I was in grad school -- but I'd never thought of it much deeper than that. Parts of this book were so exciting to me that they inspired some light internet stalking, some new grad school fantasies and a few geology scientists I now follow on twitter.
The book does get into the nitty-gritty of science, which some reviewers have found to be too tedious or challenging. I am tempted to just say, well, my twelve-year-old enjoyed it. But again, it was being read to him by someone with a degree in environmental microbiology, and we occasionally yelled into the next room to ask materials science questions of my husband. So prepare to be challenged.
My seven-year-old asked me to check out this book for him at the library. Mostly I thought we'd end up looking at the pictures together, but then I goMy seven-year-old asked me to check out this book for him at the library. Mostly I thought we'd end up looking at the pictures together, but then I got sucked into reading it. For someone with a degree in environmental microbiology, there was such a lot here that I didn't know!
I ended up taking this book with us on a road trip, and at some point Solomon asked to look at it, then ended up reading to us from the backseat. It was amazing how well he did with the pronunciations, and how interested he was in it.
A lovely book, the pictures are not the half of it! I learned so much. About viruses, evolution, molecular biology... Highly recommended. ...more
I'd been thinking about getting this for a while, as I'd loved some of Grunbaum's blog posts. I hesitated, though, knowing it was the kind of thing I I'd been thinking about getting this for a while, as I'd loved some of Grunbaum's blog posts. I hesitated, though, knowing it was the kind of thing I wanted to share with Jefferson, and I wasn't sure it would be appropriate. So when I was at the bookstore, I made sure to flip through the sex session, and it looked okay. I mean, sure, plenty of talk about penises, maybe a tiny bit of language, but, um, 10-year-olds should know that animals have sex? And sometimes have weird genitalia? Whatever. I bought it.
Sure enough, we read about half of it cuddling on the couch together, giggling, then both caught up on what the other had read with us. We both agreed it was funniest when the narrator was having discussions with evolution, rather than just describing something. And, of course, the entries Jefferson chose to read to my parents when they visited were all from the sex section. Of course.
Often I wanted more actual science information about an animal, but this is a humor book, and I suppose I know how to google.
My impatience with this book was rarely the book's fault, but more often just friction coming from the fact that this is an evolution story for the laMy impatience with this book was rarely the book's fault, but more often just friction coming from the fact that this is an evolution story for the lay reader, and I've already heard all the basic outlines so many times before. I'd bought this so many years ago, when the information would have been fresher, and I might have liked it better then. But, that's what it is.
There were some magical descriptive moments, and I appreciated some of the discussions on how scientific controversies were/are resolved. But a lot of familiar information plus some odd asides made large chunks of the book a slog.
Not sure exactly who I would recommend this to. In general, I think most readers would be better off reading a more recently written book. ...more
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