I just finished ‘’Below the Edge of Darkness’’ by Edith Widder PhD. This memoir of a marine biologist studying bioluminescence in the deep open ocean is not only a great adventure story. It is also a luminous description of not just the beauty of bioluminescence in this ecosystem, but a of the hard-won discovery of the supreme importance of bioluminescence for communication, camouflage, and many other ecological functions down there.
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“Can Life Prevail?” by finnish ecologist Pentti Linkola.
The book starts with descriptions of Linkola’s travels through the wilderness of Finland, and how he saw the advancement of industrial civilization ravage it throughout the years. He then analyzes the role of man in the planet, the importance of protecting biodiversity and the necessity of technological regression in order to guarantee the continued existence of life on Earth.
The book ends with his ideal scheme for a perfectly sustainable human society. This part is considered very controversial or extremist.
Although I myself have quite a few objections regarding the final chapters of the book I found it a very good read, Linkola’s perspective was interesting and his sincere love for nature, life and biodiversity was palpable and sincerely touching.
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Any time this question comes up I will always recommend Tropical Nature is a collection of topics that explore the rainforests of Central and South America by Adrian Forsyth & Ken Miyata.
There are so many good nature books that it’s difficult to know where to start in recommendations. Are you more interested in evolutionary history type nature writing, in memoir type, in travel/adventure type, in ecosystem information type, etc, etc, etc?
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I have been very much enjoying Marc Hamer’s prose. In particular, How to Catch a Mole helped me think through a great deal about the human relationship with nature and the way in which society treats what I might call nature-people, those who work, invisibly to urban centers, in order to keep nature “tame.”
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I have just finished Falcon by Helen MacDonald. Interesting to read about the cultural views of and influence of falcons in human civilisations/history!
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I have gotten great reading recommendations from the previous related threads about nature based fiction, natural histories, famous nature-writing authors, etc. I’d say this one is about recently published nature writing of any kind that the reader enjoyed enough to recommend.
Birdsong in a Time of Silence by Steven Lovatt
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I’m about halfway through The Glitter in the Green: In Search of Hummingbirds by Jon Dunn and really enjoying it. It inspired me to go back and look at my list and discover that I’ve seen almost ninety species of this amazing family of birds.
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I recently read Objectivity, which was a very good book.
It is a book written by Lorraine Duston.
The story revolves around an atlas of illustrations of living organisms to show how objectivity has been achieved in the history of science.
It gave me a good chance to think about the records I post on iNaturalist, other photos, metadata, etc.
I recommend it.
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Also include ‘’listened to any good audio books recently ?’’ Listening to ‘’Fuzz: when nature breaks the Law’’ by Mary Roach really made the commute fly by. Explores ways to handle human-wildlife conflict, from
Grizzly Bears eating people, to House Mice in your grain stores, from ‘’danger trees’’ dropping a limb and crushing people to monkeys holding your phone hostage for the sandwich, she is both thought provoking and funny. I see she has written a bunch of books that I will have to check out.
I can recommend Chris Packham’s autobiography Fingers in the Sparkle Jar. He is now something of a tv celebrity on wildlife matters here in Britain. The book is largely about his difficult childhood with Asperger Syndrome and him taking refuge in studying wildlife.
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Just a few days ago, I finished “The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds” by Julie Zickefoose. In addition to stories of her taking in orphaned birds and rehabilitating injured birds, she has some beautiful illustrations.
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Does guides count? because I am reading guide of butterfly by K.kunte , and will try to read about snakes
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I’m currently reading A World on the Wing, The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds by Scott Weidensaul. It is absolutely fascinating!
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Recently finished Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Connections between nature and humans.
Just started Silent Earth by Dave Goulding. Averting the insect apocalypse.
Also read Lab Girl by Hope Jahren. She has a new book, The Story of More. It’s has two versions, one is for adolescent readers. I’m waiting for the library to find the “adult” version.
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I am reading “what it’s like to be a bird” by Tim Birkhead.
It talks about the abilities of birds and talks about birds senses
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I just read “I contain multitudes. The microbe within us and a grander view of life” by Ed Yong, great book, well written, opens eyes to the world of bacteria, how they affect animals, many very interesting examples of symbiosis. I highly recommend.
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Hope Jahren: The Story of More
How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here
Hope has done her research and explains very well. Quite amazing and definitely a wake up call.
There’s two versions, the other is geared for children. Highly recommend for schools to look into.
. Hard facts for everyone, especially felt bad about being an arrogant American. I have been doing a lot to try to keep my own habits clean. I live a small life, minimizing vehicular travel by combining all errands and grocery shop monthly. We live in farm country and it took Covid to get the locals to actually have roadside stands. That’s been a blessing. Trash is well sorted and taken to the transfer station for recycling and disposal. Food scraps go out back, everyone eats. I will continue to look for other things I can do.
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So glad you got to read the Story of More. I was feeling kind of guilty because I checked out our library right after you recommended it and found not one but 2 copies on the shelf ! It is a very good read, but sadly mostly about Human Nature destroying Mother Nature. Her attempts to instill hope for the future failed in my case.