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David Quammen

The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction Paperback – April 14, 1997

by David Quammen (Author)

4.6 473 ratings

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David Quammen's book, The Song of the Dodo, is a brilliant, stirring work, breathtaking in its scope, far-reaching in its message -- a crucial book in precarious times, which radically alters the way in which we understand the natural world and our place in that world. It's also a book full of entertainment and wonders.
In The Song of the Dodo, we follow Quammen's keen intellect through the ideas, theories, and experiments of prominent naturalists of the last two centuries. We trail after him as he travels the world, tracking the subject of island biogeography, which encompasses nothing less than the study of the origin and extinction of all species. Why is this island idea so important? Because islands are where species most commonly go extinct -- and because, as Quammen points out, we live in an age when all of Earth's landscapes are being chopped into island-like fragments by human activity.
Through his eyes, we glimpse the nature of evolution and extinction, and in so doing come to understand the monumental diversity of our planet, and the importance of preserving its wild landscapes, animals, and plants. We also meet some fascinating human characters. By the book's end we are wiser, and more deeply concerned, but Quammen leaves us with a message of excitement and hope.

Print length

704 pages
Language

English
Publication date

April 14, 1997
Dimensions

6.13 x 1.76 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

0684827123
ISBN-13

978-0684827124
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4.6 out of 5

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LastRanger

Schrödinger's Cat

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2012

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This book was not exactly what I was expecting. That's what I get for not doing my book/author research in the first place. Science writer and travel journalist David Quammen has written a rather long book on conservation biology. Using Island Biogeography as a jumping-off place, the author outlines its varied concepts like: archipelago speciation, equilibrium theory, land-bridge islands and the founder principle. He also explains how these concepts tie in with dry land "islands" such as national parks and isolated patches of forest or other environments. Utilizing science journals, interviews with working scientist and the hands-on approach of traveling to far-flung biological hot spots like the Amazon rain forest, islands like Madagascar, Komodo and Tasmania, Quamman puts it all together in his version of the "Inconvenient Truth". I really enjoyed the first part of the book as it spotlighted islands and how life somehow managed to gain a foothold on them. The biographical segment on naturalist Alfred R. Wallace made for fascinating reading but it was here I ran into my first problem with Quammen. As most people know Wallace was a contemporary of Charles Darwin and both were credited with coming up with the concept of Natural Selection. Was Darwin completely honest in his dealing with Wallace? The controversy rages to this day with scientist and historians falling into one of two camps--Darwin was honest and did the right thing when he found out about Wallace's theories or Darwin was dishonest and tried to hide and/or even stealing segments of Wallace's theory.
There is no real evidence available one way or the other. While Quammen claims to be neutral on the subject it soon became clear to me that he fell squarely into the second camp. I found many of his comments to be inappropriate and even a little offensive. Darwin was no saint, nor was he a devil and the same holds true for Wallace. They were just human and as such were subject to the same mistakes and failings that we all are. The other turning point in the book was the sudden switch from Island Biogeography to Social Science with a long segment on the cultural history of the Tasmanian Aborigines. While that was interesting in its own right, for me it was the subject for another book and not the one I was currently reading. In the latter half of the book I grew weary of the endless run of interview after interview on how various working biologist felt about the Equilibrium Theory or how the SLOSS Theory applied to their particular field of study. For me this book was a big disappointment. The final decision to buy or not to buy is, of course, yours. Any review is just the reviewers opinion so it a good idea to read several of them, both pro and con, then take the plunge (think of the famous feline alluded to in my review title). As for my recommendation? If, after you've done your home work, you're still undecided you may want to borrow the book from your local library. If you read it and don't like it, then nothing's lost but your time. If you do like it and want to add it to your collection then go for it (if I had followed my own advise I would have saved the price of this book).
I had no technical problems with this Kindle edition.
LastRanger

19 people found this helpful

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Satisfied consumer

The book has interesting information, very well researched by the author

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2023

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Enjoyed the information, especially as I had read another book by this same author previously.
The used book I received had a musty ordor, so it ended up being disposed of afterwards, which is just what one gets sometimes when buying second hand.

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Jane K from Athens, GA

A true classic and still an extremely important read

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2018

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This is surely one of the most important books on the environment to come out of the latter part of the 20th Century. It is highly readable for anyone who is really interested in how we have come to the environmental place we're at today, particularly in regard to species extinction. If you are familiar with Quammen's works then you know that he is a very gifted writer and explainer. In Song of the Dodo, he teaches by combining history, environmental science, personal experience and anecdotes--not to mention his wonderfully impish "gossip columnist" quality when he describes personalities and academic battles over major biological questions. That said, he is always respectul of the scientists he interviews and of their work and goes to great lengths to really understand it so that he can give his readers the most accurate version possible of the material he covers. Quammen traveled extensively to research and write this tome, visiting many islands and archipelagos that were, and I assume still are, used as models for how extinction happens on continents when we break up the natural landscape, leaving only patches of it that become like islands for the wildlife living on those patches. There is just so very much in this book! You will read both heartening and heartbreaking stories of attempts to save species on the brink of extinction. So much of this book seems deeply personal for Quammen and for the people he engages with. It is long--about 600 pages--but I swear I learned more than 600 pages worth in reading it. Toward the end of the book I could feel that little shift in my mind, that feeling of having broadened and deepened my understanding of something very important. I am excited to move next to Quammen's new book, The Tangled Tree. I would also recommend a new book to read in conjunction with Song of the Dodo, and that is The Human Planet: How We Created the Anthropocene.

20 people found this helpful

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Kit M

A book covering a wide-range or related topics

Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2014

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Quammen is truly becoming one of my favorite authors. As a naturalist, the topics he writes about are interesting to me, but that's only a fraction of his charm. He also has a very anecdotal and "friendly" writing style that I find very engaging. How can I not be charmed by a man who concludes his chapter on biogeographic logarithms with, "Hello, are you still with me? Sorry about all that." He knows his audience.

It took me a long time to read this book not because it wasn't interesting, but because it covered a wide-range of related topics. It was as if several good books had been rolled into one.

The book focuses on biogeography. Quammen talks about the great people who've contributed to the field (beginning with Darwin and Wallace, of course,) and also talks about island extinctions (as they have been much more numerous than continental extinctions).

I found the stories about Darwin and Wallace fascinating. The chapters on rare, extinct, and (unfortunately) introduced species were the best part of the book for me. He also talks about recent studies and debates like SLOSS. Then Quammen ends the book with his own trip to Aru after years of carrying around a copy of Wallace's The Malay Archipelago.

My one criticism is in regards to the Kindle edition due to the page numbers and percentage. When I finished the book, it said I was only 60% done even though the chapters before the glossary end around page 600 out of 695. That's not 60% Kindle.

I recommend this book to anyone with interest in islands, habitat carrying capacity, and the history of natural sciences. It's a sober topic and an eye-opening read, but Quammen throws in some of his charm and wit as needed and expected.

9 people found this helpful

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Adrian

A Wonderful and Immersive Read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2020

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David Quamenn is a great writer and undoubtedly this is the best book written on the subject of Island Biogeography / Natural World in the last 30 years. Read it and become immersed in the history, theories and personalities of Island ecology and evolution starting with Darwin's contemporary Alfred Wallace.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Excellent Read!

Reviewed in Canada on December 14, 2021

Verified Purchase

Excellent read on Conservation Biology around our planet!

One person found this helpful

Phil

Part travel journal, part biography, part natural history

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2019

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This is a very informative book encompassing the full breadth of the topic of island biogeography, including the stories of some of the main protagonists in the history of ecological science. There are interesting accounts of case studies and species relevant to the topic.

However, I found the book's structure to be erratic, which made it difficult for me to assimilate. The form of the writing dips and dives spontaneously between scientific explanation, biography, journal, and anecdote, feeling like there is a lack of overall direction.

Finally, as other reviewers have noted, this is an incredibly long book for the amount of digestible content. The research and investigation that has gone into the book is impressive, however I admit that I resorted to skim-reading when I found myself down many of the countless tangents and dead-end subjects, which became all to familiar.

One person found this helpful

Cliente Amazon

Buen artículo

Reviewed in Spain on May 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

Todo correcto

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Tommaso Vesentini

How evolution theory developed and why

Reviewed in Italy on May 31, 2018

Verified Purchase

Quammen pursuits a story with a vast amount of reading, interviews, historical documents and its trademark, original, enjoyable style. This book is an opening to island biogeography. It seems not too much, but there is a lot of adventurous characters that made it possible to understand why species evolve and how. One was the guy who understood it just a bit before Darwin did.

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