A Natural History of the Chicago Region (Center for American Places - Center Books on American Places) [Paperback]

Joel Greenberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0226306496 | ISBN-13: 978-0226306490

In A Natural History of the Chicago Region, Joel Greenberg takes readers on a journey that begins in 1673 with Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet—the first Europeans known to have visited the Chicago region—and that we're still on today. This is a fascinating story, told with humor and passion, of forests battling prairies for dominance; of grasslands plowed, wetlands drained, and species driven to extinction in the settlement of the Midwest; and of caring conservationists fighting to preserve and restore the native plants and animals. Intermingling historical anecdotes and episodes straight from the words of early settlers and naturalists with current scientific information, Greenberg places the natural history of the region in a human context, showing how it affects our everyday existence in even the most urbanized landscape of Chicago.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Joel Greenberg plays the role of scientist in A Natural History of the Chicago Region, exhaustively and objectively listing what was here. Sometimes with a heavy heart, and sometimes with humor, he explains who changed it, who destroyed it, who preserved it, and what we should do about it now. . . . It sticks with you when you look at the ground, or at the water in the lake (and in your glass), and at the plants and trees all around. When you go fishing, when you go hiking, when you go to work. Because you know what''s ''supposed'' to be wherever you look."

(Lake )

"Joel Greenberg is something of a regional treasure himself, a man with a restless mind who can walk us out into the woods confident in his ability to share some great insight about why this or that patch of wilderness is important today."

(Examiner ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

If you had canoed in July of 1673 with Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet-the first Europeans known to have visited the Chicago region-you would have passed through a landscape harboring a biological richness in some ways unsurpassed anywhere else on the planet. Poised on the fertile borderlands where hardwood forests met tallgrass prairies, and rivers and streams meandered through expansive wetlands and into vast lakes, the area teemed with wildlife. And if you were a nineteenth-century visitor in what is now-and was then-the heart of downtown Chicago, you might have been overtaken by a group of men with guns and knives hunting an errant bear who had wandered into the city from the prairie to the west. While Chicago may be known today as a city of "wild life," from Al Capone to the Playboy headquarters, Joel Greenberg dazzles readers with the story of Chicago's true and enduring wildlife.

In the sweeping A Natural History of the Chicago Region, Greenberg takes you on a journey that begins with European explorers and settlers and hasn't ended yet. Along the way he introduces you to the physical forces that have shaped the area from southeastern Wisconsin to northern Indiana and Berrien County in Michigan; the various habitat types present in the region and how European settlement has affected them; and the insects, reptiles and amphibians, birds, fish, and mammals found in them, then amidst the settlers and now amidst the skyscrapers. In all, Greenberg chronicles the development of 19 counties in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin across centuries of ecological, technological, and social transformations.

This is a fascinating story told with humor and passion, of forests battling prairies for dominance; of storms battering towns and lakes; of prairies plowed, wetlands drained, and species driven extinct in the settlement of the Midwest; and of caring conservationists fighting to preserve and restore the native plants and animals. Drawing on historical sources as well as current scientific information, Greenberg places the natural history of the region in a human context, showing how it affects our everyday existence in even the most urbanized landscapes.

Encyclopedic, compelling, and compassionate, A Natural History of the Chicago Region is the definitive chronicle of the natural life of a major urban area and has much to offer historians as well as any fan of natural history, from birders, hikers, and paddlers to restorationists and ecologists. You will be captivated by everything from the spotted touch-me-not to the coyotes found in the city's most exclusive neighborhoods.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226306496
• ISBN-13: 978-0226306490
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #881,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Masterpiece, January 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Natural History of the Chicago Region (Center for American Places - Center Books on American Places) (Hardcover)

What makes this book unique and so valuable is that it pulls together a wide diversity of material into a unified whole. To access equivalent information one would have to consult hundreds of separate sources (indeed, the bibliography includes approximately 500 entries.) Greenberg paints a complete picture of the natural history of the greater Chicago area, from southwestern Michigan around the lake into southeastern Wisconsin, with a wide-ranging view of the geology, ecosystems, flora, and fauna. I have been a resident of this area for 50 years and always had a keen interest in nature, but reading this book I realized how little I actually knew about my surroundings. I was saddened at many points while reading of what has been destroyed here in the past 300 years. Greenberg's accounts of this violence are neither shrill nor hand-wringing, and he injects hope for what can yet be saved and how. This wonderful book has a place on the shelves of all nature lovers in the greater Chicago area, and is an absolute must for all public and school libraries!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Eye Opening Triumph!, September 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A Natural History of the Chicago Region (Center for American Places - Center Books on American Places) (Hardcover)

If I could select one regional work that should be required reading for all high school seniors of the region, this would be it. Greenberg's ability to tell this incredible story simultaneously on both the historical and natural levels, while maintaining continuity, is by itself, fascinating. How one region of such incredibly diverse land and seascapes, flora, fauna and natural beauty could be ravaged, wasted and in some cases recovered makes riveting reading. The wetlands of the Kankakee and Calumet may have been as diverse and abundant with wildlife as any areas this continent has ever seen. His descriptions of these areas, as well as descriptions of the great prairies and the dunes and the battles that were fought to save them need to be taught as we teach any core discipline. Having spent most of life in the Chicago region, I am amazed at how little most of us know of our own natural past. As both a historical essay and a reference volume, A Natural History of the Chicago Region is a remarkable work and just great reading.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great traveling through history, September 4, 2002

By 

sandra fabyan (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Natural History of the Chicago Region (Center for American Places - Center Books on American Places) (Hardcover)

As a professional in a technical area I appreciated the technical details that occur throughout the book. I am, however a novice on most of the subject matter so its validity is beyond my capabilities to evaluate. However, as a novice I found the book not only interesting, captivating (which is highly unusual for a technical subject), and stimulating. It has stimulated my interested into the broad range of not only natural history but the natural habitat that surrounds me today. I am not from the Chicago region but some of the topics were still on target for my area, Ohio. I wish someone would write a book for this area too. The book has made me want to go into the great outdoors and appreciate it a bit more. I would think that the book would make an excellent introductory text at a college on the subject of natural history. Mr. Greenberg seems to find a way of connecting the historical and current activities in such a smooth and sometimes humorous way that I believe it would be a text even students would enjoy.

Professor of Computer Science
Sandra M. Fabyan