A Plague of Frogs : The Horrifying True Story [Hardcover]

William Souder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2000

In the summer of 1995, a group of Minnesota children came upon a pond populated by frogs with nine legs, missing legs, a row of limbs fanning out from their backsides, and eyes in the wrong places. Since then, deformed frogs have been turning up in lakes around the world. Written by the only journalist granted access to secret hot spots where these deformed frogs are tested, and brainstorming sessions among the researchers, this compelling, fast-paced narrative is the first to offer a complete picture of what is quite possibly a global catastrophe in the making.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In 1995, Minnesota schoolchildren at play in a field discovered a strange thing: a pond full of frogs with five legs, nine legs, sometimes no legs, frogs with misplaced eyes and misshapen bodies. Their discovery might well have been overlooked had not Environmental Protection Agency researchers Gary Ankley and Joe Tietge taken an interest in the matter, linking the Minnesota frogs to other amphibian and fish populations that had been exhibiting monstrous patterns of mutation. William Souder, a science journalist, takes us into the workings of EPA labs and government hearing rooms as he traces the story, which quickly became politicized: some scientists sought the origins of the "frog plague" in viruses, others in fungi, others in chemicals; still others maintained that frogs and other amphibians are subject to large-scale mutations for seemingly no cause at all, and a large literature supports their view. Looking at the bigger picture of global warming and environmental change, Souder suggests that multiple causes may be responsible for the Minnesota frogs' misfortune--and for the decline of frog populations around the world. His vigorous, anecdotal narrative is a fine report on scientific detective work and on the politics of environmental science in an increasingly fractious time. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly

The world's frogs are disappearing, and frog deformities are proliferating--a potential warning sign of a looming, environmentally triggered human health disaster. That's the message of this shocking and important report from journalist Souder, who broke this story in the Washington Post after a group of Minnesota schoolchildren found abnormal frogs with horribly deformed, extra or missing limbs in a farm pond in 1995. While outbreaks of amphibian limb deformities have been recorded for more than two centuries, the current crop of abnormalities is particularly widespread and numerous--affecting up to 50% of some frog species, with reports pouring in from California and Vermont to Canada and Japan, and involving leg, mouth, bone and other deformities in frogs, toads and salamanders. Although the cause of this nightmare remains a mystery, Souder, who visited research labs, interviewed biologists and hunted frogs across the country, ranks pesticides as the prime suspect. Many scientists, he explains, believe that substances that mimic hormones in the environment--pesticides, solvents, dioxin, plastics, natural compounds--are wreaking developmental havoc in wildlife and humans. Souder's labyrinthine investigation also impartially reviews rival theories blaming frog deformities on parasites, disease, predation, traumatic amputation, acid rain, climate change, ultraviolet exposure resulting from a hole in the ozone layer, or some combination of these factors. Because frogs are considered a sentinel species--a kind of biological early-warning system of environmental imbalance--Souder's intriguing scientific detective story, though inconclusive, deserves a wide readership, and his low-keyed, cautious approach adds to its impact. Agent, Elyse Cheney of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates; 3-city author tour. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1 edition (March 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786863609
• ISBN-13: 978-0786863600
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,519,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Amphibians

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly intelligent survey by a gifted writer, April 3, 2000

By 

Alexander P. Simack (Avoca, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Plague of Frogs : The Horrifying True Story (Hardcover)

Mr. Souder has the rare ability to bring abstruse science to life without bias or over-simplification. He is also a keen observer of the human species and its political interactions.

This is indeed "the horrifying true story," one I wish would go away; yet the author's presentation is dispassionate, thorough, and as non-alarmist as possible for a subject this spooky.

The book offers a good overview of current environmental science research in addition to its difficult detective story: what's responsible for these massive levels of gross deformities in frogs?

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down!, September 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Plague of Frogs : The Horrifying True Story (Hardcover)

I must disagree with the reviewer who referred to William Souder's "A Plague of Frogs: The Horrifying True Story" as a `silly' book. This book was at once horrifying, fascinating, spellbinding, and thought-provoking. It also appears to be well-researched: Souder followed the story for more than three years and he references more than one hundred texts and technical papers at the end of the book. This is no 'silly' book. I cannot agree with the same reviewer who described the book as `biased journalism.' In my opinion, Souder presents an intriguing but balanced look at the problem and the efforts of scientists to understand it. Anyone with even a slight interest in our environment should read this book. You won't be able to put it down!

When I saw the cover of the book, with its photograph of a deformed frog, I remembered seeing newscasts in the mid-90s about the discovery of large numbers of frogs with deformed legs. Missing legs, missing toes, extra legs, extra feet, underdeveloped legs and other anomalies were being discovered in frightening quantities. There were frogs with as many as nine legs. There were frogs whose feet were webbed to their torsos such that they could not extend their back legs and jump normally. I was at once intrigued and repulsed by the descriptions and photographs of some of these specimens. What DID cause these deformed frogs? I could not remember seeing a follow-up newscast with the resolution of the mystery of this outbreak or `plague.' I was hooked.

After buying the book, I raced through it. Souder's style was similar to that of any good mystery writer - gradually relaying the story as it unfolded during the months and years that he followed it. But here, the story is true and the detectives are scientists. What I found most horrifying is that despite all of our knowledge and technology, this mystery defied solution. Surely with all of our advances in science we could solve this problem. Right?

But the mystery persisted for months and YEARS. Souder teases the reader as the story unfolds. I kept waiting for the `answer' to be found. In the process, Souder revealed the debate and conflict among the various scientists - each of whom had areas of specialty and expertise that were possible `suspects' in the mystery. Were the deformities caused by parasites? How about man-made chemicals? Was this part of a naturally occurring cycle of occasional genetic bloopers? Or was something very amiss in the frog's environment?

Souder's book reveals the sometimes petty squabbles between scientists and researchers, who, despite their intelligence, are just as human as you or I. He also shows us the lack of organization, overabundance of red tape and bureaucracy, and the lack of funding for solving this mystery. I don't want to give away the `answer,' so I'll just say that the ending was not what I expected. I'd still read the book again ... and probably will.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hiroshima of The Frogs, January 4, 2001

By 

Ginger Snapper (New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Plague of Frogs : The Horrifying True Story (Hardcover)

This book is another in a series of books written about the subject of frog deformities. This book sheds an urgency on the problem in a dramatically written narrative, that hopefully will inform and concern most readers. While many people make light of the fact that the world has a frog problem, no one can dispute that global changes are affecting these animals at an increasing rate. Even if the problem is a "natural" one as some reviewers suggest, people should still be concerned that the world is rapidly loosing animals that have managed to survive for millions of years- certainly we should be doing something to change this; whatever the cause. I applaud the author for trying to get readers to see the problem as a global one, and a serious one. I would urge people to read this book, and come away from it prepared to do battle with the naysayers that have little concern for the future of frogs, the planet, and human life.