In a Patch of Fireweed: A Biologist's Life in the Field (Hardcover)

by Bernd Heinrich (Author) "I remember the fresh green grass waving in the slight breeze under a brilliant blue sky, and in this grass stood a small bush with..." (more)
Key Phrases: mantle bees, thoracic temperature, flight mill, Adam Smith, New York, University of Maine (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
In this autobiographical reflection...[Heinrich] is intent on explaining why he became an insect physiologist and ecologist. In the process, he gives us a winning portrait of a fine scientific mind at work...There is a fine balance here between intellection and practical experience, speculation and discovery. This is a book that sends you right outdoors.
--Barry Lopez (New York Times Book Review )

Heinrich's stated purpose is to 'tell about the natural links forged between one's life and a life in science.' He succeeds magnificently. His prose reflects Thoreau's empathy with nature and the contemporary naturalist's technical knowledge...This meticulously observed book will please scientists, but it will also delight non-scientist readers who wonder what, in this increasingly polymerized world, is truly human and truly natural.
--John Wilkes (San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle )

In this charming volume, Heinrich combines biographical details with his economic-ecological approach to flora and fauna--embellishing the whole with precisionist pencil drawings...To be read and savored for the writing, the drawings, and the science. (Kirkus Reviews )

[Heinrich's] memoir explains, with great charm, how he came to devote his life to such projects as measuring the temperature of wasps and swindling gullible beetles with phony dungballs...[He is] delightful company. (Atlantic Monthly )

Product Description

Why would a grown man chase hornets with a thermometer, paint whirligig beetles bright red, or track elephants through the night to fill trash bags with their prodigious droppings? Some might say--to advance science. Heinrich says--because it's fun.

Bernd Heinrich, author of the much acclaimed Bumblebee Economics, has been playing in the wilds of one continent or another all his life. In the process, he has become one of the world's foremost physiological ecologists. With In a Patch of Fireweed, he will undoubtedly become one of our foremost writers of popular science.

Part autobiography, part case study in the ways of field biology, In a Patch of Fireweed is an endlessly fascinating account of a scientist's life and work. For the author, it is an opportunity to report not just his results but the curiosity, humor, error, passion, and competitiveness that feed into the process of discovery. For the reader, it is simply a delight, a rare chance to share the perceptions of an unusual mind fully in tune with the inner workings of nature. Before his years of research in the woodlands and deserts of North America, the New Guinea highlands, and the plains of East Africa, Heinrich had a sense of the wild that few people in this century can know. He tells the whole story, from his refugee childhood hidden in a German forest, eating mice fried in boar fat, to his ongoing research in the woods surrounding his cabin in Maine.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (April 16, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674445481
• ISBN-13: 978-0674445482
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,602,516 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heinrich turns nature's complexities into exciting reading, August 30, 2000

By	A fellow traveler (East Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In a Patch of Fireweed: A Biologist's Life in the Field (Paperback)

I was required to read excerpts from this book for a course I was taking, but found myself reading (even re-reading) the text for pleasure. Though the material may be, at times, a little too technical for the average reader, Heinrich, nonetheless brings the complexities of the natural realm to his readers in such a manner that draws the reader into the excitement of his own research and discoveries. The text is scientific, yet humorous whenever possible, and always insightful. Heinrich is a brilliant biologist with no less skill as a writer.

4.0 out of 5 stars As always a great read, February 19, 2009

By	Colm R. Saunders - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: In a Patch of Fireweed: A Biologist's Life in the Field (Paperback)

As with all of Mr. Heinrichs other pieces of work, this book is very reaable, enjoyable and deserves a place on the shelf of any naturalist

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, January 18, 2009

By	David A. Bowman "Dave" (Provdence College, RI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: In a Patch of Fireweed: A Biologist's Life in the Field (Paperback)

As with all Bernd Heinrich's books it was a pleasure to read. Any one interested in nature observation should read this. It is not written on a "biology major" level and that is what is great about it. It will help you to look at nature a little different to see why some things are the way they are.