Birdbooker Report 61-62

tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books

The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and enjoyment. Below the fold is this week's issue of The Birdbooker Report which lists ecology, environment, natural history and bird books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.

New and Recent Titles:

1. Heckenberger, Michael J. The Ecology of Power: Culture, Place, and Personhood in the Southern Amazon, A.D. 1000-2000. 2005. Routledge. Paperback: 404 pages. Price: $39.95 U.S. [Amazon: $36.54]. SUMMARY: Drawing from archaeology, ethography, and oral histories, the author details the history of the Xinguano people of southern Amazonia. These people are exceptional in this part of the world because their culture extends back through millennia.
2. Hrdy, Sarah Blaffer. Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding. 2009. Belknap/Harvard. Hardbound: 422 pages. Price: $29.95 U.S. [Amazon: $19.77]. SUMMARY: According to the author, Human beings evolved as cooperative breeders, a reproductive strategy in which mothers are assisted by "alloparents", individuals of either sex who help care for the young. Dr. Hrdy then argues that our status as cooperative breeders, rather than our brains, helps explain may aspects of our social behavior.
3. Mapes, Lynda V. Breaking Ground: The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the Unearthing of Tse-whit-zen Village. 2009. University of Washington Press. Paperback: 240 pages. Price: $29.95 U.S. [Amazon: $19.77]. SUMMARY: In 2003, construction began on a massive drydock in Port Angeles for the Washington State Department of Transportation. The site chosen turned out to be Tse-whit-zen village, the heart of the long-buried homeland of the Klallam people. Yet the state continued its project, disturbing hundreds of burials and unearthing more than 10,000 artifacts. Finally tribal members said "enough is enough" and they convinced the state to find another site.
4. Berger, Wolf H. Ocean: Reflections on a Century of Exploration. 2009. University of California Press. Hardbound: 519 pages. Price: $59.95 U.S. [Amazon: $59.95]. SUMMARY: The author's 15 essays explores topics such as beach processes and coral reefs, the great ocean currents off the East and West Coasts, the productivity of the sea, and the geologic revolution. This book places the current understanding of the world's oceans in the context of history, primarily within the past 100 years.
5. Grimmett, Richard, Tom Roberts and Tim Inskipp. Birds of Pakistan. 2008. Yale University Press. Paperback: 256 pages. Price: $40.00 U.S. [Amazon: $36.08]. SUMMARY: This is the first field guide to the birds of Pakistan. The book includes 93 color plates that depict hundreds of birds found in Pakistan, and the text offers identification, voice, habitat, range, distribution, and status information for each. The guide also provides summaries of the key characteristics of each bird family, advice on good birdwatching areas, and much more.
6. Gentile, Olivia. Life List: A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds. 2009. Bloomsbury. Hardbound: 345 pages. Price: $26.00 U.S. [Amazon: $17.16]. SUMMARY: This biography follows the life and untimely death of birder Phoebe Snetsinger (1931-1999). In 1981, she was diagnosed with cancer and given a year to live. Instead of getting treatment, she continued to bird. She went on to see over 8,000 species before her death in 1999 in a van accident in Madagascar. GrrlScientist comment: I am reviewing this book here as well as for the print media -- I'll tell you which magazine after they've approved my review! (And yes, you will find this revelation to be quite exciting).