Monday June 23 - A Naturalist and Other Beasts by George Schaller


National Book Award winner Schaller (vice president & science director, Wildlife Conservation Soc.; The Serengeti Lion) has been a field biologist since the 1950s, and his research has taken him to some of the most remote and exotic places imaginable—e.g., the Serengeti, a savanna stretching across Tanzania and Kenya; Pakistan; Mongolia; and India. This collection of 19 of his essays focuses on animals. Some of his subjects will be well known to the reader—e.g., the tiger, jaguar, mountain gorilla—while others, such as the saola, capybara, and chiru, will be a new experience. Each relatively short essay includes an introduction by the author and describes his fieldwork and the place each animal inhabits in the greater biological web. The highlight is his recounting of personal experiences and his inclusion of numerous photos of himself, his family, and the animals in his research. Schaller makes powerful arguments for the need to continue conservation efforts. His writing will appeal to both general audiences and life scientists. Recommended for academic libraries, particularly those with natural history collections, and for all public libraries.—Marianne Stowell Bracke, Purdue Univ. Libs., West Lafayette, IN