Customer Reviews

Diversity Of Life: The Illustrated Guide To Five Kingdoms

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I purchased a copy of this book because I've been buying nearly all of Lynn Margulis's books in preparation for teaching a course. The description here was minimal, and I wanted to warn other potential buyers -- this is basically a coloring book. The weird thing is that the concepts and vocabulary are at a first-year college or advanced high school level. I can't imagine just who is supposed to use this book, sixth grade geniuses with crayons, or easily amused college freshmen? I suppose if you have a really bright grade school class you might want to give this book a try, but in my judgement it's not at the right level for anyone, anywhere.

DIVERSITY has surprising success in being all things (well almost all) to all people. It's about equally divided between fact-packed technical writing, full of Latin names, and line drawings of them. The intro is convincingly authoritative. And TEN pages of further resources are provided.

At first, I thought this is not a book for me, a novice, But Latin names are coupled with common ones. The fifty-page glossary is nicely written in everyday language. And the line drawings are tantalising. I am invited to color the drawings!

The cover shows the beauty of color and design that the authors contemplate. Spiral binding lies flat for coloring. I wonder what medium works best. Colored pencils? How would the paper take to water color or acryllic? The authors urge me to photocopy the drawings. I might enlarge one, use good art paper and create something worth framing!

There's no clue as to what colors are right. Shall I create my own color scheme, or go to the zoo or a swamp for real-life colors? I think fantasy will be more fun.

DIVERSITY does assume some knowledge of biology. I'd call it an expansion of knowledge for those who like knowledge for its own sake, and certainly a well-organized reference book. It could also work as a student-friendly text for a sophisticated high school or beginning college level classroom.

Just learning that there are five kingdoms staggered me because I studied biology before 1960, when there were just two. The animal Kigdom is now "animalia" and the vegetable kingdom is now "plantae." Modern biologists distinguish bacteria and fungi as numbers three and four. The fifth is really unnerving: something called Protoctista -- very close to the medical words that start out Procto --.

This adds up to more diversity of life than I've ever thought about.

On page 21 I find the first creative drawing/learning project: two cows in a field. One has its digestive tract outlined, with magnified drawings of six kinds of bacteria that populate its gut. Further along I find a pretty little drawing of the notorious E. coli. schematically resident in a fisherman's stomach. What wonderful colors shall I choose?

I think I shall use DIVERSITY as my Field Guide to the Minuscule as I color with my grandchildren. And somewhere I will find out what a Proctoct-- really is.

If you had read the book's description be fore buying, you migh have expected a coloring book. You were probably looking for Margulis' book: Five Kingdoms: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth.

Book description QUOTE:

It is written for science students, teachers, and anyone else who is curious about the extraordinary variety of living things that inhabit this planet. It opens with an introduction to the classification systems, distinctions between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, an introduction to life cycles, Earth history, and an explanation of how to best use this coloring book.

This book, beautifully illustrated, is just what I was looking for.I am
a PhD in Sciences and it was truly helpful for my work. I just loved it. Thanks a lot.
Eugenia