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etjada (USA: VA) (2010/10/23):
This review is from: FOREST AND THE SEA (Paperback)
This is an exploration of ecology written before the topic was politicized, by a scientist with wide experience in field and laboratory observation. Though some particulars are dated - publication antecedes the theory of continental drift, Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, etc. - his observations run from the planetary to the particular and present a rich context for thought about the environment. For example, can we even discuss species as distinct from the environment? The atmosphere of our planet is as much a creation of life as it is a necessary support system. Every community creates feedback, every individual is a producer as well as a product. Bates traces the similarities between living systems in deserts, oceans, rainforests and ponds, and wonders if we are even able to see the real forest, let alone the trees. Other creatures receive sensory input at different wavelengths, from different organs, with different brains than we hominids - how can we possibly infer what motivates a mosquito? Bates' title reflects his awareness that a rain forest and a shallow sea can be mapped onto each other. Most life occurs near the surface, on coral reefs and in the forest canopy. We tend to see the reef as teeming with life and the forest as empty because of our viewpoint - our terrestrial bipedalism puts us on the surface of the sea and the bottom of the woods. Climbing to a platform in the tree tops is much like snorkeling among angel fish and urchins, one finds a teeming world. Finally, Bates discusses our place in nature, that dying of old age is hardly natural at all, that we have grasped longevity without embracing birth control and the implications of our industrial/agricultural impact on our own and the planet's future. I would add that there is a bit of charm in his old-fashioned manner, a tendency to wander into anecdotes and asides, always cogent, but producing a mental picture of a learned old coot offering a summation of his long and varied career. Good stuff!(Cecil Bothwell on amazon.com)
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