Inside the Dzanga Sangha Rain Forest follows a team of scientists, artists, and filmmakers as they search for the elusive lowland gorilla, rare birds, leopards, a universe of insects, not to mention the powerful elephants for whom the forest is named. The team is guided by local BaAka people through elephant dung, swarms of sweat bees, and unexpected swamps as they explore and record everything they can about the rain forest. Readers learn about the rain forest, from the layers of forest canopy and the lives of the BaAka to practical skills, such as what to do if approached by a gorilla, and how to eat a termite. At the end of the expedition, the team sends back 6,000 pounds of specimens and materials and an incomparable first-hand account of life in the rain forest in order to create a unique walk-through exhibit, complete with sounds and smells.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
A Real-Life Scientific Adventure
Welcome to the expedition. It's hot, humid, green, and shadowy. Less than 1% of the sun's light ever reaches you. Hyraxes and colobus monkeys chatter in the canopy above, little sweat bees crawl over your face. In the evening you hear a BaAka mother serenading her child. And yesterday you tasted your first termite--not back, actually, with its faint almond flavor.
A you-are-there look at both the methods of contemporary science and the ancient, interconnected life of the rain forest. Richly illustrated with photographs and scientific sketches. From the American Museum of Natural History's expedition members' first-hand accounts.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
From the preface
There was never any question; it had to be a rain forest. Although tropical rain forests cover only 7 percent of the earth's land surface, they are home to half of the known plant and animal species in the world. As the centerpiece of the American Museum of Natural History's new Hall of Biodiversity, no environment could better illustrate the rich variety and interdependence of plant and animal life.
Museum scientists and designers envisioned an exhibit that would show the wonders of a rain forest along with the ever-growing threats to its existence. By re-creating a lifelike, life-size section of forest, the Museum would give visitors a sense of what it was like to walk beneath the towering, vine-tangled trees. They would hear the calls of birds and chattering of monkeys. And, thanks to a continuously running film, they'd be able to see many rain forest animals as they moved and traveled through the forest.
It would take hundreds of people over 2 years to plan and design the exhibit.
It would take 20 scientists, artists, and filmmakers 6 weeks in a tropical rain forest to research and collect the necessary materials.
It would take another 18 months to build and mount the exhibit.
This is the story of how many people, working together, created a rain forest inside a museum.
Excerpted from Inside the Dzanga-Sangha Rain Forest, Copyright(c) 1998 by Workman Publishing Company, Inc., and the American Museum of Natural History. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Inside the Dzanga-Sangha Rain Forest,
By Amanda (Kirkland, WA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Inside the Dzanga-Sangha Rain Forest : Exploring the Heart of Central Africa (Paperback)
Inside the Dzanga-Sangha Rain Forest is a spectacular book that follows a team of twenty scientists, artists, photographers, and filmmakers, into the heart of Africa in their search to find the essence of the rain forest. Guided by the BaAka people, a local tribe, the team spends two months filming and recording the beauty of Africa. They trudge through elephant dung, swarms of "sweat" bees, and thigh-deep flood plains, or bai as it is called in the national language of Sango, to collect items for a unique walk-through rain forest exhibit in New York City. In summary, this book takes readers on a vicarious trip through the rain forest so they can experience its beauty, meet its inhabitants, and learn practical survival skills such as gathering honey, eating termites, and playing basketball BaAka style. Regardless of age, you will find fun and adventure between the covers of Inside the Dzanga-Sangha Rain Forest!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exceptional and Exciting: A Rain Forest Experience,
By A Customer
This review is from: Inside the Dzanga-Sangha Rain Forest : Exploring the Heart of Central Africa (Paperback)
You may not have recently toured the rain forests of Central Africa, but you can enjoy the lush photographs and readable text about this facinating corner of the world, the Dzangu-Sangha Rain Forest. I am a lover of African lore and found this book to use in my class. My students and I have eaten it up. We marveled at the marvelous pictures and were fascinated by the facts and information we found in the text. We all loved the information about driver ants that can be used to close up wounds that formerly required stitiches. The BaAka people and their customs are carefully documented with care and with dignity. Three sections of ninth graders who have been studying Afrian literature and folklore adored this book. To boot, my own kids, ages 5-13, have poured over the book during family reading hour. I recommended our high school library acquire a copy for student use. It is incredibly readable and suitable for a large audience. It is not to be missed.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
