A Fragile Eden [Hardcover]

Rosemary Wise (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 1998

This text transports readers to a band of ancient and remote islands located 1000 miles off the coast of Africa. These islands, the Seychelles, ahve been geologically isolated for more than 70 million years. They include the only islands in the world that are formed of granite. In their long isolation, the native flora of these 32 granitic islands remained untouched until the late 18th century. Since then, however, inroads have been made in their natural environment by human settlement, by the introduction of cinnamon and its rapid spread over many of the islands and by present-day tourism. Slowly these fragile plants have been overrun and many are now endangered. Most of the plants first described 100 years ago are still found today, but many are becoming increasingly rare. Some cling to existence with only a few specimens to be found, often in remote locations. In 1985 the Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Seychelles studied the vegetarian on several of the islands. Rosemary Wise, the department's artist, was asked to accompany the expedition. She became alarmed that the rapidly disappearing species might go unrecorded and made it her mission for the next 10 years to

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This beautiful book provides exquisite watercolor botanical paintings of all the endemic flowering plants of the granitic group of Seychelles Islands, which are located in equatorial waters 1000 miles east of Africa. Many beautiful, unique plants have evolved over the islands' 70 million years of isolation, but since they were settled in the late 18th century, tree cutting and invasive foreign species have endangered many of them. Wise, artist for Oxford University's Department of Plant Sciences, visited the Seychelles and made it a labor of love over ten years to paint these threatened species; she also provides the text, with detailed botanical descriptions, locations, Creole names, and interesting facts about their medicinal uses and history. The large full-color plates are printed on acid-free paper. Highly recommended for botanical and general collections.?Marit MacArthur, Auraria Lib., Denver
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Academics wanting to make their mark in the book market need good advice. Robin Derricourt provides just this in "An Author's Guide to Scholarly Publishing.... [The author] is full of humour as he pinpoints where each submission fails or succeeds.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (April 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691048177
• ISBN-13: 978-0691048178
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 9.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,459,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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