Research Catalog

Tracks and shadows : field biology as art

Title: Tracks and shadows : field biology as art / Harry W. Greene.
Author: Greene, Harry W., 1945-
Publication: Berkeley, California : University of California Press, 2013.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JFE 13-8528	Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description

xiii, 280 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

"Intellectually rich, intensely personal, and beautifully written, Tracks and Shadows is both an absorbing autobiography of a celebrated field biologist and a celebration of beauty in nature. Harry W. Greene, award-winning author of Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature delves into the poetry of field biology, showing how nature eases our existential quandaries. More than a memoir, the book is about the wonder of snakes, the beauty of studying and understanding natural history, and the importance of sharing the love of nature with humanity. Greene begins with his youthful curiosity about the natural world and moves to his stints as a mortician's assistant, ambulance driver, and army medic. In detailing his academic career, he describes how his work led him to believe that nature's most profound lessons lurk in hard-won details. He discusses the nuts and bolts of field research and teaching, contrasts the emotional impact of hot dry habitats with hot wet ones, imparts the basics of snake biology, and introduces the great explorers Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. He reflects on friendship and happiness, tackles notions like anthropomorphism and wilderness, and argues that organisms remain the core of biology, science plays key roles in conservation, and natural history offers an enlightened form of contentment. "--

Series Statement

A Stephen Bechtel Fund imprint in ecology and the environment

Uniform Title

Stephen Bechtel Fund imprint in ecology and the environment.

Subject

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-270) and index.

Contents

Descent with modification. Tracks and shadows ; Naturalist ; Nerd ; Field biologist ; Medic -- Conversing with serpents. Graduate school ; Hot dry places ; Hot wet places ; Giant serpents ; Venomous serpents -- Pretty in sunlight. Friends ; Loose ends ; Born-again predator ; Field biology as art.

Call Number

JFE 13-8528

ISBN

9780520232754
0520232755

LCCN

2013020395

OCLC

2013020395

Author

Greene, Harry W., 1945- author.

Title

Tracks and shadows : field biology as art / Harry W. Greene.

Publisher

Berkeley, California : University of California Press, 2013.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

A Stephen Bechtel Fund imprint in ecology and the environment

Stephen Bechtel Fund imprint in ecology and the environment.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-270) and index.

Research Call Number

JFE 13-8528

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