Customer Reviews

Summer World: A Season of Bounty

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Five MESMERIZING Stars!! Award-winning naturalist Bernd Heinrich "Summer World" ("A Season of Bounty") is teeming with keen, fascinating observations on fauna and flora and the interconnections within Nature at the height of summer. He follows up his book on Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival (P.S.) by primarily focusing on this very special season with reflections and investigations near his own home and cabin with regard to the different species of plant and animal life. Then he branches out around the world in specific cases. Professor Heinrich begins in winter and then spring: awaiting the arrival of the blue jays, with beavers secure in lodges, & frogs in near-lifeless suspended animation. Then he takes us from "Awakening" in his neck of the woods and in general: with essays on geese, the "rowdy" convocations of the wood frog, early-arriving red-winged blackbirds and phoebes, soaring woodcocks, sneaky cowbirds, and so on, all the way to "The Last Peep" of summer.

Reading this book, one can only be impressed by the professor's powers of observation, his 'hands on' approach, and his ability to make what are often dry subjects into 'poetic descriptions'. On one hand, he can get technical and reach back 150,000 years as man emerges; or 80 million years into the Cretaceous period; or to distant solar systems to speculate on life-ready planets; or discuss the effect of the inclination of the earth, the solstices, photo-periods, and biological clocks. On the other hand, he gets into some engrossing discussions about moths; butterflies; eggs; larvae; pupae; ants; bees; birds; complex trees, the environment, evolution, and the true heralding of summer's end: photoperiod and a key type of acid. Some of the word pictures and thoughts are awesome such as some ants "bodyguarding" catepillars, Apache cicadas using the desert paloverde tree as a drinking fountain, and the almost unbelievable 17 hour non-stop, top-speed flight of some hummingbirds across the Gulf of Mexico. He is great at describing specific animals getting the next generation of a species born, prepared, and independent before fall and winter close in. This is a totally impressive nature book by a man so 'into Nature' that he actually uses an electronic thermometer to measure the body temperature of bees. This book is one huge learning experience that should intrigue lovers of nature and may cause one to look a lot closer at what is happening around the neighborhood and the world with far more understanding and empathy. My Highest Recommendation! Five NATURAL Stars! (This review is based on a Kindle download, with 41 figures.)

The book goes like a true story of parts of nature.

Wood frogs: Their rituals(awake for only few months a year and still thriving) seem weird. The author doesnt just stop at this observation. He goes about setting up little experiments to prove or dispute the possible explanations.

Bald-Faced Hornet Nests: Hornet paper, a Talisman to ward off all evil predators from a vireo's nest.

The Blues: Why ants dont eat blue butterflies?

Mud Daubers and Behavior: Can you imagine being born in an encasement with food provided?

Artful Diners: Rolled leaf caterpillars and dried leaves with still a bit of green at a spot

The sketches and pictures add to the magic.

SUMMER WORLD is a 230-page walk in the Maine and Vermont woods with professor and naturalist Bernd Heinrich.

It's a stroll, really, with lingering stops to observe the warm-weather behavior of birds, insects, and plants -- and the sky, considering the sun's impact on seasonal life. Heinrich's voice is gentle, his sense of wonder and curiosity prompting a pursuit of species and field experiments that take the reader beyond the informative What to the intriguing Why in nature. I did sometimes find myself wanting more definitive science to complement his hypotheses and wonderings ... and wanting a more diverse range of species, including some mammals.

Heinrich's short, self-contained chapters beg to be read outdoors, several at a sitting and paired with a beverage. The illustrations are lovely even in my advance-reading copy, and I couldn't resist visiting a bookstore to see the published volume. What a surprise to find that the whole book (text and illustrations) is printed in a nature-ish soft-green ink! (Take a look at the "First Pages" via Amazon's Look Inside feature.) A center insert contains full-color drawings and photographs on glossy paper, and an index and bibliography (for most chapters) support further exploration by the reader.

This engaging look at nature in Vermont and Maine during the summer will have even couch potatoes searching their neighbor for fauna and flora as Bernd Heinrich makes it fun to investigate the birds, bees, and beasts including humans. He and Crackle the grackle tackle local science with passion though I would avoid visiting the nearby wasp nest with a weapon of mass destruction the toilet paper hole-stuffer. The author entreats readers to sing on a tree dais with birds, watch caterpillars dine on fast food while marveling how human are aviary-like migratory either by being snowbirds living in the south in winter or by creating an indoor climate. Obviously Mr. Heinrich is concerned with the impact on the ecosystem of not just global warming and hoping to get some activation by getting people up and out with an enjoyable entertaining trip outside. This is fun as fans of all ages will dance in their backyard with the stars of nature in this super insightful look at the SUMMER WORLD of northern New England.

Harriet Klausner

SUMMER WORLD: A SEASON OF BOUNTY is for any lending library strong in natural history in general and New England wildlife in particular. It observes the interactions of animals and plants with nature, discussing the relationships between habitat and global warming and considering different growth patterns of animals, birds, plants and insects. The author's own line drawings compliment a gentle consideration perfect for general-interest libraries.

Heinrich has an inquisitive mind and a deep appreciation of nature. He satisfies his curiosity through observation, and simple experiments which could have been performed centuries earlier. At the same time, he is well aware of the scientific literature, and his researches are informed by current scientific concepts, including all the nuances of evolutionary theory. While the reader learns much, he/she also becomes aware that many obvious questions are still unanswered.

Experiments with college students help explain why predators with limited learning capability focus on very specific prey: prey is much easier to find if you know what you are looking for, whether through learning or inheritance.

Losing flowers through premature budding is not lethal, but the timing of leafing is critical; timing results from an interplay of several factors and is not completely understood. Sugar maples transplanted from the north to Georgia will not break bud there, because the lack of sufficient cold "tells" the tree that winter has not passed. It would conserve energy for all trees to be evergreens: the principal problem is the weight of accumulated snow and ice, sufficient to break limbs. A few trees can roll up their leaves to help prevent this.

Beetles can scent a dying tree, because live trees can mount an effective chemical defense.

Some predators rely on their ability to deal with higher ambient heat levels than their prey, who are enervated. This may have played an important role in the evolution of homo sapiens.

And so on.

Dr. Heinrich has done it again. He has educated me with his extensive knowledge of the natural world while entertaining me at the same time. I am always intrigued by what piques his curiosity. His attention to detail and insatiable appetite for learning more about the earth and the creatures that inhabit it never fail to amaze me. I have every book he has written and I do hope there will be more and more to come.

An entertaining, yet educational account of Maine summers from a naturalist's point of view. This book stimulates one to review nature with a more appreciative and discerning eye. Waratah Communications.

I learned a lot from this book about the adaptive abilities of trees, ants, caterpillars and spiders over time. Who knew all this was going on! Learning about the Welwitschia plant which lives in the desert, stays hydrated and has two lifelong leaves that may grow for more than 1,000 years was just one of the gifts from reading Heinrich's book.

I am inspired to become more attentive to the bugs, birds and plants when walking in the woods or meadow or just relaxing in my yard and to think about the lives they lead and to watch and learn.

The book contains a lot of interesting facts about the natural world. I work as a park naturalist and have found a lot of material on the book that will be useful in summer programs.