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Amazon.com
In a wonderful weave of science, metaphor, and prose, David Quammen, author of The Flight of the Iguana, applies the lessons of island biogeography - the study of the distribution of species on islands and islandlike patches of landscape - to modern ecosystem decay, offering us insight into the origin and extinction of species, our relationship to nature, and the future of our world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Quammen (Natural Acts) has successfully mixed genres in this highly impressive and thoroughly enjoyable work. The scientific journalism is first-rate, with the extremely technical field of island biogeography made fully accessible. We learn how the discipline developed and how it has changed conservation biology. And we learn just how critical this field is in the face of massive habitat destruction. The book is also a splendid example of natural history writing, for which Quammen traveled extensively. The Channel Islands off California and the Madagascan lemurs are captivatingly portrayed. Equally impressive are the character studies of the scientists who have been at the forefront of island biogeography. From his extended historical analysis of the journeys and insights of 19th-century biologist Alfred Russell Wallace to his field and laboratory interviews with many of the men and women who have followed in Wallace's intellectual wake, Quammen delightfully adds the human dimension to his discussion of science and natural history. Using a canvas as large as the world, he masterfully melds anecdotes about swimming elephants, collecting fresh feces from arboreal primates in Brazil and searching for the greater bird of paradise on the tiny island of Aru into an irreverent masterpiece. That a book on so technical a subject could be so enlightening, humorous and engaging is an extraordinary achievement. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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First Sentence:
LET'S START indoors. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
archipelago speciation, finch specimens, insular evolution, greater bamboo lemur, ecosystem decay, golden bamboo lemur, phyletic evolution, bamboo lemurs, population viability analysis, island biology, greater bird, founder principle, island biogeography, brown tree snake, adaptive radiation, dispersal ability, giant tortoises, giant bamboo, elephant birds Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Guinea, Charles Darwin, New Zealand, Alfred Wallace, Montes Claros, Angel de la Guarda, Dan Simberloff, Jared Diamond, Pat Wright, Barro Colorado, Indian Ocean, Tom Lovejoy, South America, Rio Negro, Arthur River, Bass Strait, Carl Jones, Ernst Mayr, San Diego, Gulf of California, Ted Case, Charles Lyell, North America, United St