The subtitle of Heying's memoir of her field studies in Madagascar is slightly misleading. Instead of attempting a general overview of the wildlife of the island (as in Peter Tyson's The Eighth Continent), Heying offers a detailed account of her work and adventures primarily on Nosy Mangabe, a smaller island off the northwest coast of Madagascar. This tiny island, while devoid of carnivores, birds, most of Madagascar's famous lemurs, and even ants, abounds in frogs in particular the mantella, a colorful and toxic frog with interesting breeding behavior that Heying studied for insights into evolutionary biology. Heying relates her own "evolution," from her initial frustration and dismay over the slow pace and poverty of the island to a growing resourcefulness, respect, and fondness for the people who live there. Much of her actual research involved sitting perfectly still for hours, watching tagged (and even tattooed!) frogs go about their business. She does an excellent job of conveying both the rigors of field research in a remote location and the intellectual joy of "basic research" the kind of science that does not necessarily lead to direct benefits for humankind. While this is not a crucial title, many readers who liked Margaret Lowman's Life in the Treetops will also enjoy Heying's blend of science and travels far off the "beaten path." Beth Clewis Crim, Prince William P.L., VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Antipode is defined as the opposite side of the world. Heying grew up in Santa Cruz, California, and the nearest landmass on the other side of the globe is Madagascar. A field biologist by training, the author made four trips to Madagascar between 1993 and 1999 to study the island's poisonous frogs. Heying recounts the adventure of studying little-known animals in a non-Western country. The insularity of Madagascar makes it a wonderful place to research evolution and endemic animals, but can also create problems for the still fairly rare foreigners that come to study these animals. Mixing stories of terrestrial leeches, lemur bites, and the petty bureaucracy of obtaining visas and permits with the wonder of observing maternal behavior in Mantella frogs or of watching an aye aye lemur at night, Heying conveys the difficulties--and the marvels that more than balance them--that keep naturalists coming back to learn the secrets of little-known areas. In her quiet, meditative prose, the author helps us to understand the lure of field research. Nancy Bent
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Review
"An honest, brave, and compassionate portrayal...A sharply observed portrait of an extraordinary land." -- Peter Tyson, author of The Eighth Continent: Life, Death, and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar
"Insights into the creature world come only through painstaking research, [made] clear in [Heying's] vivid chronicle of Malagasy fieldwork, " -- Natural History Magazine
Review
"An honest, brave, and compassionate portrayal...A sharply observed portrait of an extraordinary land." --Peter Tyson, author of The Eighth Continent: Life, Death, and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar
Product Description
s a field biologist, Heather Heying has been to some of the most remote, creature-filled places on the globe. But nothing she had previously experienced quite prepared her for the three seasons she spent in Madagascar studying poisonous frogs. An anciet island, it is also a scientists paradisealmost all of the wildlife there is endemic. However, Madagascars society is almost as unique as its nature. Language and cultural barriers, combined with bureaucratic red tape, can make it a scientists worst nightmare. Through anecdotes that are in turn hilarious, insightful, and beautiful, Heather recounts her adventuresfrom run-ins with naked sailors and unusually hostile lemurs to tropical hurricanes and greedy tourist entrepreneurs. As she carefully navigates a path through many obstacles, she not only reaches a gradual understanding of her place as a female Westerner in a foreign society, but reaffirms her intense love for and desire to save the stunning wildlife that surrounds her there.
About the Author
Heather E. Heying was born in Santa Monica, California, and received her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Michigan. She currently resides in Olympia, Washington, where she is on the faculty at the Evergreen State College
