Threads from the Web of Life: Stories in Natural History [Hardcover]

Stephen Daubert (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0826515096 | ISBN-13: 978-0826515094 | Publication Date: February 10, 2006

A Selection of the Discovery Channel Book Club

In sixteen stories Steve Daubert pulls the reader into the mystery and immediacy of ecological processes spanning a range from microscopic to tectonic, from microscopic to cosmic forces. Each tale brings the reader into the moment to witness an episode of survival in the wild first-hand. The material is presented on a level of intimacy and detail not usually encountered in other styles of natural history writing.

These creative non-fiction stories provide not just a bird's eye view (though that's true for the owls, warblers, condors, and hummingbirds in the book), but a wasp's eye view, a mouse's, a sea turtle's, a squid's. Sometimes the focus is as small as the detritus on the forest floor, or a single beat of the wing of a gull. Other stories range across evolutionary time. From whales and dinosaurs to creatures invisible to the naked eye, author and illustrator bring to life the dynamic interplay of living, evolving creatures and the natural forces that have shaped their worlds.

The book includes chapter notes that document the scientific basis for each story and describe the controversies still surrounding some of them -- a splendid resource for families to read and share.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Daubert illustrates 16 ecological processes with lively narratives in which he envisions how it might feel to be at the center of the action: for example, traveling with a green sea turtle from its feeding grounds in Brazil to its nesting beaches 2,000 kilometers away on Ascension Island in the eastern Atlantic; riding whirling air currents with migrating American white pelicans; or fleeing from a predator swordfish with a school of neon flying squid. Some of the tales cover evolutionary events taking place over millions of years, such as the account of the tarweed plant that five million years ago made an ocean voyage from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Hawaiian archipelago, where it metamorphosed into the silver sword plant. Each of these happenings is a thread in the intricate web of life, and Daubert, a molecular scientist at the University of California, Davis, demonstrates that these threads are easily broken by humans, as when overkill by commercial whalers depletes a food source for creatures that feed on whale carcasses. His natural history tales are instructive and entertaining, and each is followed by an annotation explaining the science behind it. Illus. not seen by PW. (Feb.)
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Review

Each of these happenings is a thread in the intricate web of life, and Daubert, a molecular scientist at the University of California, Davis, demonstrates that these threads are easily broken by humans . . . instructive and entertaining . . .
--Publishers Weekly

Threads from the Web of Life takes readers on a journey around the globe as the author describes unique and unusual ecological processes. It is ideal for casual reading as well as a source of selections to read aloud (!) or to link literature with the study of natural history.
--NSTA [National Science Teachers Association] Recommends

Highly recommended . . . The stories are as much enjoyable as they are informative.
--Science Books & Films

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press (February 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826515096
• ISBN-13: 978-0826515094
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,181,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bug's eye view of the world, February 18, 2006

By 

Margaret M. Doherty "Gigi Doherty" (Pasadena, Ca) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Threads from the Web of Life: Stories in Natural History (Hardcover)

This marvelous book makes me wish I had spent more time at ground level just watching and enjoying the littlest things in life. Mr. Daubert uses magic to bring nature to us. I will certainly use this is my classroom and it will be my "gift of the year' for every party I attend. It's simply a treat!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!!, January 23, 2006

By 

Jim S. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Threads from the Web of Life: Stories in Natural History (Hardcover)

This book is a unique mix of science & story telling. Really fun to read...plus you learn something about the world we live in.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nature made vivid, August 20, 2010

By 

Victor Wolfram "retired musician" (Walnut Creek, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Threads from the Web of Life: Stories in Natural History (Hardcover)

"Threads from the Web of Life" (subtitled Stories in Natural History) is a wondrous experience in reading. Author Stephen Daubert`s text (with illustrations by Chris Daubert) is enriched by the science notes and reference list that follow each story.

Daubert says his tales "flow from what has been observed, to illustrate what we would predict." He does a superb job of both observation and prediction.
I happened to open the book on page 49 where "The Secret of the Cenotes" begins with this sentence: Despite the rain forest setting, the days can be hot and dry here in the Yucatan. This six page story carries readers into an oasis and its history. If you could have been with the hadrosaurs. . . Daubert tells what they saw sixty-five million years ago, what came next, and what effects the changing environment had on evolution.
One of the most fascinating stories (tho it is hard to choose) may explain what truly WAS seen by those reporting an Unidentified Flying Object event. "Luminous objects. . . pure white lights. . .flying in formation." This five and a half page story and the Science Notes that follow it establish a foundation for skepticism whenever rumors are spread.
The ocean, the forest, the sky: each serve as background for beings and happenings. Day and night, all seasons, many eras : in every one Daubert finds something to tell us. In his final story he honors his readers by saying "you will continue to wonder about it all. . . . . you are part of the picture."

[Personal note: A friend told me that she swam in one of the pools in the Yucatan whose formation is described in "The Secret of the Cenotes." ]