The Street-Smart Naturalist: Field Notes from Seattle [Paperback]

David B. Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005

Back to the city, or back to nature? Seattle author David Williams shows us how we can get the best of both. Botany and bugs, geology and geese, and creeks and crows; living in a major city doesn't have to separate us from the natural world. Stepping away from a guidebook format, Williams presents the reader with a series of essays and maps that weave personal musings, bits of humor, natural history observations, and scientific data into a multi-textured perspective of life in the city--descriptions of his journeys as a naturalist in an urban landscape. Williams addresses questions that an observant person asks in an urban environment. What did Seattle look like before Europeans got here? How does the area's geologic past affect us? Why have some animals thrived and other languished? How are we affected by the species with whom we share the urban environment and how do we affect them? This book captures all of the distinctive flavors of the Emerald City, urban and natural.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...we can learn much about our environment by paying closer attention to bits of nature we pass by everyday." -- Seattle Audubon Society, September 2005

"Best Urban Nature Writer"--Williams has hunted up the obscure and notable quirks of the natural world within our city... -- Best of Seattle, August 3-9 2005

"Each chapter...features a topic of interest to the hiker-naturalist-historian..." -- Washington Trails

"Even if you are not familiar with Seattle...there is plenty to relate to in this book." -- The Ledger, September 8, 2005

"For anybody thinking that cities are only concrete, asphalt and grassy lawns, Williams wants you to look again." -- Capitol Hill Times, July 13, 2005

"Messing with mother nature can get you in deep doo-doo." -- The Seattle Times, July 17, 2005

"Reading THE STREET SMART NATURALIST is like suddenly acquiring X-ray vision...Every page...brought me revelations..." -- David Laskin, Author of The Children's Blizzard and Braving the Elements

"Williams' essays demonstrate...a keen eye is as useful as an unlimited travel budget in studying the world around you." -- Tom Palmer, The Ledger, Sept 8, 2005

From the Back Cover

Naturalist and Seattle native David Williams offers his original perspectives on the wonder and resilience of nature in and around the Northwest's greatest population center.

Illustrated by hand-drawn maps, Williams's writings are interesting, intelligent, and challenging at a personal level. He approaches the notion that his beloved city, as hip and urbane as it is, remains a wild place on the Northwest landscape--in the quarried rock of the historical buildings, in the branches of a pocket-sized city park, in the twists and turns of a stream that has been abused by polluters, hedged in by lawns, and buried under expressways. And yet it is a living thing, worthy of rescue. Williams looks beyond the skyline, beyond the postcard views of the Emerald City, and into its wild heart.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Westwiinds Press; 1st edition (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558688595
• ISBN-13: 978-1558688599
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,198,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic local history and science, November 15, 2005

By 

Raven (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Street-Smart Naturalist: Field Notes from Seattle (Paperback)

I am loudly and joyously singing the praises of "The Street-Smart Naturalist: Field Notes from Seattle"; this is the sort of book about Seattle's natural history that I was particularly searching for. Keeping mostly within the city limits, David Williams talks about natural boglands and bald eagles, the fossils and stones that make up Seattle's skyscrapers, naturally occuring plants and recent imports, tectonic plates and city planning, radiocarbon dating of the last earthquake by the trees displaced and drowned, local microclimates and how they affect the weather (Capitol Hill gets 11 inches more of rain per year than the University of Washington campus ten minutes away) -- Williams has it all, and recounts his anecdotes with a dry and wonderful sense of humor. He traces creeks and chases crows, catalogues billion year old granite, and tells anyone who will listen about the fine quarries and the fossil beds from whence they came. This is exactly the sort of local history that I wanted to hear, happily jumping from the geological aeons to the conservation programs of the last fifty years. Every Seattleite interested in history or nature should buy this book. Non-Seattleites interested in urban orienteering/nature-in-the-city are also likely to be fans. Go go David Williams.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful introduction to the land, March 29, 2006

By 

Lupa (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Street-Smart Naturalist: Field Notes from Seattle (Paperback)

I just moved to Seattle a couple of weeks ago and was given this book to read. Can I just say that it is by far one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of meeting?

The author explores all sorts of natural phenomena around Seattle, from the geological quirks to the water quality to the crows. I learned a LOT about the local area, as far as the natural setting goes.

The writing is superior--it's obvious he's done his research, both in books and in the field. I can't imagine how much time he put into this. And he has an excellent sense of humor that had my giggling every couple of pages.

Highly, highly, highly recommended

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful perspective on a green city, September 29, 2005

By 

S. Simsch - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Street-Smart Naturalist: Field Notes from Seattle (Paperback)

As a city-dweller I love cafes, the opera, the night-life.... but I also need the trees, the birds, and the Puget Sound. Williams' wonderful collection of notes on my hometown, Seattle, are a fun read and have helped me discover things I would have never discovered otherwise. If you live in Seattle, or even if you're coming for a visit and want an alternative to the regular tourist attractions, this book is for you. Enjoy!