Footsteps in the Jungle: Adventures in the Scientific Exploration of American Tropics [Hardcover]

Jonathan Maslow (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1566631378 | ISBN-13: 978-1566631372 | Publication Date: October 1, 1996 | Edition: 1St Edition

Jonathan Maslow here portrays thirteen scientists whom he calls “the luckiest men and women of all time”—the explorers who first mapped the tropical regions of the Americas and discovered the glorious biological orgy that is nature in the tropics. They were the first to color the chorus of tropical birds; the first to know the swiftness of the jaguar; the first to learn the loves of the orchid family and to collect the daunting variety of moths and butterflies and beetles; the first to run the rivers of the Amazon, to climb the Andes, and to dive the coral reefs of the Caribbean; and the first to unearth the ruins of America’s pre-Columbian civilizations. “They were and are,” Mr. Maslow writes, "the Indiana Joneses of science, plunging ahead often recklessly on the path to discovery—and emerging with fabulous tales of scientific adventure...an antidote to the dismal late-twentieth-century image of bloodless scientists separated from nature." From Alexander von Humboldt to Daniel Janzen, Mr. Maslow invites you to tag along into the field as he follows the explorers on their voyages and expeditions, offering a companion guide to their discoveries and a context for their imaginative quests.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Maslow (Torrid Zone) offers a collection of 13 superficial biographical sketches of individuals who have brought the American tropics alive for the rest of us. The personalities are surely fascinating?individuals like Charles Waterton, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russell Wallace, William Beebe, Archie Carr and Margaret Mee. The profiles fall flat, however, in part because each chapter is so abbreviated that little depth is achieved and in part because each contains almost random snippets taken from the writing of its subject. The biggest shortcoming is best exemplified in a line Maslow writes in his sketch of Henry Walter Bates: "we never make much headway on the question of what possesses a man to break all ties with home, country, and family, and bury himself for years in the jungle of a foreign continent." No such insights are provided for any of Maslow's subjects. He fails to comment on, perhaps even to notice, the most striking fact of all: in the fewer than 200 years since Alexander von Humboldt first began exploring the tropics, ecologist Daniel Janzen is struggling to re-create tropical forests ravaged in Costa Rica for short-term economic gain. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Nature author Maslow (Sacred Horses: The Memoirs of a Turkmen Cowboy, LJ 5/1/94) recounts the adventures of 13 scientist-explorers in the American tropics, from Alexander von Humboldt at the end of the 18th century to today's Alexander Skutch and Daniel Janzen. From the coral reefs off Haiti to the Amazonian jungles and the Argentine pampas, Maslow vividly describes the experiences, drives, and foibles of each naturalist, creating in the reader a saududes, or "possession by a place." His book is also a plea for the conservation of tropical areas, a cause championed by many explorers, especially recent ones. Maslow liberally sprinkles the text with quotes from the explorers' own accounts, which should entice readers to track down the original. Highly recommended for high school, undergraduate, and public library collections.?Bruce D. Neville, Univ. of Texas at El Paso Lib.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 319 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee; 1St Edition edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566631378
• ISBN-13: 978-1566631372
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,672,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.