- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: FSG Adult; Reprint edition (May 26 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0865476683
- ISBN-13: 978-0865476684
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 13.8 x 2.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 295 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,680,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Approximately 30,000 species of animals and plants go extinct every year. Weidensaul's narrative concerns those rare occurrences when a supposedly extinct animal makes a surprise reappearance, and the much more frequent occasions when scientists or civilians only think they've sighted a vanished creature. His suspenseful naturalist detective stories take readers all over the globe to Madagascar, Indonesia, Peru, Costa Rica in search of these lost species. In the swamplands of Louisiana, the author and his guide brave swarming mosquitoes and deadly vipers to check out reports of an ivory-billed woodpecker. Weidensaul (Living on the Wind) recounts famous success stories, like the recovery of the coelacanth, a fish believed to be extinct for about 80 million years until fishermen landed one off the coast of South Africa in 1938, as well as various wild goose chases and his own obsessive search for the South American cone-billed tanager. Along the way, he shows how humans and nature have unwittingly conspired to condemn animals to oblivion, such as the dozens of Great Lakes fish species lost to overfishing and the inadvertent introduction of parasitic lampreys from canals built in the 19th century. For the most part, though, Weidensaul's gracefully written book strikes a hopeful note, reveling in the exhilaration of the searches themselves: the greatest gift these lost creatures give this too-fast, too-small, too-modern world [is] an opportunity for hope. Illus. and maps not seen b.
- an opportunity for hope. Illus. and maps not seen by
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- an opportunity for hope. Illus. and maps not seen by
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Every so often a species thought to be extinct is rediscovered and officially brought back from the dead. Weidensaul, author of the lyrical Living on the Wind (1999), opens with his search for a lost bird in the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, a search for a tiny gray warbler whose song was not even known to science. Other hunts for supposedly extinct animals follow: for the Australian night parrot, rediscovered as a flattened roadkill in 1990; for the Indian forest owlet, museum specimens of which were found to have fraudulent location data; for the possible cloning of extinct species such as the mammoth; and even for proof of cryptozoological species like the Loch Ness monster. He offers a wonderfully succinct treatise on the causes of extinction, the use of such protective laws as the Endangered Species Act, the politics of state versus federal agencies, and the role of captive breeding in endangered species conservation. Weidensaul is a graceful writer who works an amazing amount of scientific theory into his narrative. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The overnight rain had stopped, leaving the forest heavy with moisture and the trail slick with mud. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The overnight rain had stopped, leaving the forest heavy with moisture and the trail slick with mud. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Becoming Unextinct,
By doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ghost with Trembling Wings: Science, Wishful Thinking and the Search for Lost Species (Hardcover)
This is a very unique book about mankind's relationship with endangered and extinct species, from both a naturalist and ethical perspective. As more and more species become extinct through the actions of humans, sightings of supposedly extinct creatures remain common. Is this because those animals really aren't extinct, with small populations still surviving in remote locations; or is it just wishful thinking? Weidensaul finds some of both in this book. Some regions of the world are still so remote that they are yielding new species (even some large mammals like in Southeast Asia) and revealing survivors of animals that were thought to be extinct. On the other hand, people may think they see romantic and mythical creatures out of subconscious longing for a world that is still mysterious and dangerous, and maybe even evolutionary guilt for destroying species forever. A related issue to that subconscious longing is the creatures of cyrptozoology, which explains the never-ending reports of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Weidensaul dwells both on the ethical issues behind such wishful thinking, and also on the real science of bringing species back from the brink. He examines the ethics of using genetic engineering and cloning to save endangered species - and recreating extinct species, a new craze of questionable value. Weidensaul also takes us on entertaining searches for supposedly extinct creatures that have a reasonable chance of still existing, like the cone-billed tanager in Brazil or the strange thylacine in Tasmania. The only problem here is Weidensaul's lack of closure on many of the ethical issues that he raises, but this book is still a rewarding look into mankind's always complicated relationship with nature.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An engrossing, addictive book about species survival,
By
This review is from: The Ghost with Trembling Wings: Science, Wishful Thinking and the Search for Lost Species (Hardcover)
Scott Weidensaul has written a fascinating, page-turning exploration of the complexities of species survival and extinction. From the first chapter, a narrative account of his personal search for the probably extinct Semper's Warbler on St. Lucia, to the last chapter where he may, or may not, have found the never before seen female cone-billed tanager, this book never let go of my imagination. Most of the sought-after species in this book are never found, but a few, such as the coelacanth and the almost-aurochs, are. The author looks for big cats rumored to be living in the English countryside, and tells of the accidental rediscovery of the Australian night parrot. He provides one of the few intelligent treatises on the Loch Ness Monster and other cryptobiological "species." Even though most possibly extinct animals are never found, it's the hunt for them that excites both the author and the reader. The often suspenseful narrative is peppered with history and sharp observations as well as varied opinions. The language is rich with visual and engaging details, the kind that makes you feel as though you've entered into the "land of the lost." Trust me, you won't fall asleep reading this book. This is lay science as it should be, full of mysteries and questions, both accessible and intelligent. The author's good humor and pithy insights lend a friendly tone to his science. For example, when he is fighting insects - in his ears, eyes, and under his watch band - during a frantic search for a specific flock of birds, he writes, "There is a reason lost species are lost in the first place. Sometimes the reasons are weighty and formidable, like civil unrest, impenetrable mountains, or bandit warlords who use visitors for target practice. Sometimes they are more prosaic, like bad roads and worse information. And sometimes the reason is sweat bees - too many sweat bees." This witty, conversational tone makes The Ghost With Trembling Wings as fun to read as it is instructional.I highly recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in conservation, evolution, field biology, and environmentalism; however, you don't need to know a thing about the preceding fields to enjoy The Ghost With Trembling Wings. All you need is a healthy curiosity and the time to indulge it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some things I knew, most I didn't,
By
This review is from: The Ghost with Trembling Wings: Science, Wishful Thinking and the Search for Lost Species (Hardcover)
I read quite a bit and this book is definitely one of the reasons why. It is a great read. I could not get enough about the thievery going on at museums in the past to fill collections... nor about the "Tully Monster" hoax put on by a close scientific colleague. I was sad through parts of it, laughing out loud in others, I just couldn't put it down.And finally, it was real interesting to read some good info on all the talk about cloning this and that, from Mammoths to Thylacines. Scott Weidensaul is an excellent science writer and I highly recommend this book. I am going to classify it in my library as real cryptozoology, and that is not a bad word in my home.
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