Natural Acts : A Sidelong View of Science and Nature [Paperback]

David Quammen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996

A revised and expanded edition of Quammen’s first book of nonfiction, including the best of his recent work.

“Lively writing about science and nature depends less on the offering of good answers, I think, than on the offering of good questions,” said David Quammen in the original introduction to Natural Acts. For more than two decades, he has stuck to that credo. In this updated version of his first essay collection, Quammen’s lively curiosity leads him from New Mexico to Romania, from the Congo to the Amazon, asking questions about mosquitoes (what are their redeeming merits?), dinosaurs (how did they change the life of a dyslexic Vietnam vet?), and cloning (can it save endangered species?). This expanded edition returns to print Quammen’s best-loved “Natural Acts” columns, which first appeared in Outside magazine in the early 1980s, and includes recent pieces such as “Planet of Weeds,” an influential Harper’s cover story. The new Natural Acts is an eye-opening journey that will please both Quammen fans and newcomers to his work.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

David Quammen is a naturalist, writer, and literary scholar who can turn from William Faulkner to theories of demographic stochasticity on a dime--or a comma. Natural Acts, a collection of Quammen's columns by the same name from Outside magazine, highlights his many interests. In its pages, he touches on Malthusian population dynamics, the mating habits of butterflies and snakes, Tycho Brahe's quest for the stars, magnolia trees, whales, and deserts--to name just a few of the matters that pass beneath his bemused gaze. This is humanely wrought science writing at its best. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly

Quammen's collection of accessible science writing, much of which was originally published in Outside magazine, looks at subjects ranging from sex among the aphids to boredom among the crows.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (P) (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380717387
• ISBN-13: 978-0380717385
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,899,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be 6 Stars.......... Simply Great, January 11, 2001

By 

Salil Punalekar (Dublin, California, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Natural Acts (Hardcover)

Having read many science and nature writers, this was my first experience reading Quammen. I was thrilled. Quammen is a fabulous writer. This book is a collection of Quammen's essays on topics ranging from Sea Cucumber to cockroaches to crows to amimal rights to deserts to rivers to turtles and much more. I doubt if you'll find such a rich, diverse and eclectic collection of natural writings anywhere else. Must read and own.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, for what it is, July 7, 2000

By 

Wood - See all my reviews

This review is from: Natural Acts (Hardcover)

Quammen's first work in book form is merely a collection of his various magazine articles. You may be slightly annoyed when reading the book in a couple days because some subjects are repeated. But when you realize they appeared 2 or 3 yrs apart in a magazine, its easily excusable. Especially when the writing is so superb, timely (actually ahead of its time, since much of it was written 20+ years ago), interesting and educational. Some of the more dire environmental predictions havent exactly come true (YET), but that does not diminish the urgency of our ecological nightmare.

Read this book as a primer, then read Quammen's "Song of the Dodo," to gain some true knowledge.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good subway reading, February 11, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Natural Acts : A Sidelong View of Science and Nature (Paperback)

As one whose lack of knowledge in all things scientific is appalling, I picked up this book for one reason only: to be entertained. That happened without my stopping to think about it, but I actually learned a few things along the way-- things which may never serve any purpose in my professional life but which have come in handy in conversation lapses at parties. For instance, what is the one malady shared by sea cucumbers and humans-- and which animal is better equipped to deal with it? In World War II, why did the U.S. send thousands of bats plummeting to their deaths? Which animal has the most free time? And how about those timid octopi? Why so shy? This was such an enjoyable book. I didn't have to run for the dictionary once, I laughed out loud on occasion, and my friends think I know the strangest facts.