3 comments about The Humboldt Current: Nineteenth-Century Exploration and the Roots of American Environmentalism.

1. In an era of specialized science, when most practitioners of the field attempt to understand the mechanisms underlying natural phenomena down to the last detail, it may be difficult to have a grasp of the big picture and embrace a holistic approach to nature and the universe as Alexander von Humboldt did in his time. Indeed one major premise of Aaron Sachs' book is that with increasing specialization that the progression of science entailed went the likes of Humboldt, his contemporaries, and the scientists, explorers, and adventurers who he inspired. Yet there still are scientists who can not only manage to provide a holistic framework to their specialties, but also look beyond their area of focus and appreciate other areas of interest to almost the same level of dedication. Thus we have Jane Goodall, Oliver Sacks, Jared Diamond, and the late Stephen Jay Gould and Carl Sagan, to name a few. The spirit of Humboldt lives in the mind of the Renaissance man and woman who are willing to share and communicate their interests to a larger audience, most of whom may not have the time, background, and resources to have similar pursuits.
   
   Because Sachs writes well, the book is hardly the dense material you would expect from work about 19th century exploration and the roots of the American environmentalism. From Humboldt to J.N. Reynolds, from Clarence King to John Muir and George Wallace Melville, we find that their mystical and spiritual experiences from their work and exploration alternated with the mundane struggles of getting the funding and validation of their endeavors and the respect from their peers--and merely getting on with their personal lives. The conditions under which their lives ended were far from ideal, but they never questioned or regretted their passions. The 19th century might have provided the last opportunities for what we now consider the romantic quest for adventure, but political situations were always in flux and the competition for recognition was fierce. And then the Humboldtian way of scientific inquiry was threatened by the increasing specialization of science.
   
   When Clarence King and John Muir climbed the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, there was not a single road that traversed the mountain range. The Sierras were open wilderness remote from centers of civilization. But, to this date, one can still get lost or harmed in this wilderness with lack of preparation or plain happenstance. Likewise, one can get lost, in the figurative sense, in the mystical experience from the magnificence of these mountains. The spirit of Humboldt lives in those who endeavor to appreciate the connectedness of the natural world and the universe. The book provides a human context to this type of experience that hikers, naturalists, and lovers of the natural world, scientists included, have.
   
   One of my favorite parts of the book is an excerpt from Emerson in The Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Is it not better to intimate our astonishment as we pass through this world if it be only for a moment ere we are swallowed up in the yeast of the abyss? I will lift up my hands and say Kosmos".



2. After glancing at the previous review, I decided that I must weigh in on this book. I read The Humboldt Current right after it was published. I found it effective on various levels. First, it allows us to understand Humboldt and his desire for a unified view of the natural world. Second, it takes us on a journey into early geographers and explorers in America, many of whom followed Humboldt's ideals. Third, in the conclusion, Sachs raises a host of important issues for present-day environmentalism. Readers should also know that Sachs writes in a sprightly, engaging fashion. If on occasion, his prose runs away from him, it also brightens most of the pages along the way.



3. the subject - Humboldt - is a very interesting character and is duly praised by the author; but when the latter enters into the philosophical and literature realm, it's too much! it's not what I expected- after all he and I are scientists- and the book becomes boring.

5 comments about A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier.

1. Dampier was a fascinating person, a real live buccaneer and also one of our first naturalists. Since I like buccaneers and naturalists, he works well for me. The book is fun to read and well-researched. I dug it.
   
   If you're into books about explorers, you can check out my list - imaginatively titled "Books about explorers" - for a few more recommendations.



2. One hundred years before Charles Darwin there was a pirate whose works Darwin called "a mine of information". Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe used his experiences in writing Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe. Capital James Cook depended on his observations when circumnavigating the globe and Nelson urged his officers to study his books. In the history of exploration, few have ventured farther or achieved more than William Dampier.
   
   Dampier circled the globe 3 times and sailed 200,000+ miles visiting people and places never seen by any other European. Beginning his journey in Virginia and the Caribbean, this pirate crosses the Pacific east to west, spending time in Southeast Asia. The publication of his observations influenced generations of scientists, explorers and writers. His observations and calculations surpassed Edmund Halley and sent Bligh and the Bounty in search of breadfruit. He reached Australia 80 years before Captain Cook and is responsible for over 1000 entries in the Oxford English Dictionary.
   
   Completely forgotten by historians William Dampier has handed down a profound impact throughout the ages. And yes, he was a most decided pirate!



3. This book about 17th Century Explorer William Dampier really surprised me - it was so good! I received the book as a gift and it turned out to be one of those books that I might not have chosen on my own, but I really enjoyed.
   
   The book chronicles Dampier's 3 voyages around the world, is interesting, and super easy to read. Two thumbs up for sure.



4. Ol' Cap'n Bill plundered only knowledge - couldn't keep two pieces of eight together to save his life. In fact, when he crossed the Isthmus of Panama, he was a lot more worried about keeping his charts dry than about the gold. Trouble was, nobody in his earlier days ever thought about funding a mission for pure scientific research - at least 'til Edmund Halley's voyage in about 1702 or so. And the only British vessels heading into the Pacific had to subsidize their own voyages (at the expense of the Dons, of course). So what was an insatiably curious soul to do? He stuck out his thumb, sailed everywhere -- and I mean EVERYWHERE! and if he's no longer at sea, he's now in print -- everywhere! Don't believe me? Pick up ANY book on exploration, vanished species, oceanography, evolution, British history, British colonialism -- and, of course ... pirates ... and you'll find him there, glaring huffily at anyone who'd demean him as a pirate.



5. Extraordinary story of one of the most important explorers and cartographers we've never heard of! Fascinating facts and a well written account of some of the early round-the-world navigation.

1 comments about Fly-Fishing the 41st: From Connecticut to Mongolia and Home Again: A Fisherman's Odyssey.

1. Travelogue of fly fisherman, artist, author James Prosek who circumnavigates the globe along the 41st parallel fishing and recording rare species of native trout. Prosek writes of wine, women, fishing and fellowship in a casual, loosely structured style...what more could a man want in a quick read? Johannes, his Austrian friend, figures largely in this book because he must--he is a unique character to say the least. At times, however, there is a little too much focus on those around the author, Johannes especially, and too little introspection. Kudos are due to Prosek however for his sensitive and open-minded treatment of the various cultures he is presented with in his travels; Also, for not trying to make some grand declaration of self-discovery. Prosek simply lets this book be what it ought to be.

4 comments about Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark.

1. James Holmberg has done an excellent job of providing new insight into the Clark family, in particular the relationship between William and his eldest brother by twenty years, Jonathan. ALthough the basis of the book is a set of letters that were uncovered just a few years ago, the information is a fresh look at the Clark we normally view as being part of the word "LewisandClark".
   The Journals of Lewis and Clark can tell you a lot about how he acts when he is in a business or military setting, but these intimate letters that he wrote to his brother show that William was a much deeper man that just an explorer. He truly looked up to his brother, and because they lived 200 years ago, that relationship is often lost, especially in since published Clark or Expeditionemorbelia. This is a wonderful book, and if you are trying to get a better persepective of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, this book is a must read to better understand the man that became famous.



2. This is indeed a book full of history and tidbits that add to our current historical knowledge. I think that for the non-historian, it is difficult to read all of the notes at the end of each letter (usually longer notes than the letters themselves). I would love to see this book with many of the obscure notes removed and just the very important historical facts included to help explain what is being written about. I am loving learning about Lewis and Clark, but this book was more difficult than most.



3. This is the kind of book cherished by all lovers of frontier history--historical researchers and genealogists, as well as those who simply love to read about it. Not just a book of letters, but a lusciously annotated treasure chest of biographical information, and not just on the Clarks, but on the frame of frontier history which surrounded them.

   The insights on William Clark and York are indeed interesting, but biographical sketches in the notes reveal arcane facts on Daniel Boone, General James Wilkinson, Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and many others less known but equally interesting. Mr. Holmberg sometimes indulges in speculation and tentative assertions, but the demarcation between fact and inference is always clear.

   The work is handsomely constructed, the font easy to read, the notes easy to follow. A complete bibliography is provided along with a complete index. All and all, a pleasure to peruse, a delight to own.




4. Mr. Holmberg's new forthcoming edition of letters discovered
   in an old Louisville, Kentucky estate some two decades ago
   will shed new light on many long unanswered questions regarding the life of William Clark, of Lewis and Clark Expedition fame.
   Aside from being an archivist at Kentucky's prestigious Filson
   Club which holds its own substantial William Clark collection,
   Holmberg is himself an expert Lewis and Clark enthusiast who brings passion, intelligence, clarity and understanding to interpretation of these significant letters. I have been privileged to hear the lectures of Mr. Holmberg at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lewis and Clark Training Academies, and without a doubt this book and its letters give valuable
   insight into the life of York, William Clark's slave and
   fellow expedition member, the winter at Fort Mandan, William Clark's relationship with his wife, Julia, and his ongoing honest and open, although often grossly misspelled, literary discourse with his brother Jonathan. Readers of Ambrose's UNDAUNTED COURAGE will revel in this book as it gives further insight into the character of William Clark, who often gets
   far less press coverage than the colorful figure of
   Meriwether Lewis. Every Lewis and Clark enthusiast should
   be sitting on the front porch swing awaiting the VERY MOMENT when the mailman delivers this upcoming Amazon offering. The fact that these unknown letters survived AT ALL is amazing. The added scholarship and editing added to the project by
   one so respected in the field as Jim Holmberg makes the prospect of this literary work almost too grand to imagine.

   Discovery of the letters of William Clark is as significant
   as finding an undiscovered portrait of Lincoln. We knew the
   man before the discovery, but now we will know him better!

5 comments about The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel: A Biography of the Explorer of Tibet and Its Forbidden Practices.

1. Alexandra David-Neel is reputed to be the first Western woman to reach the forbidden city of Lhasa, Tibet. She did so in 1924, a small woman in her mid-50s, disguised as a beggar and accompanied only by her adopted Tibetan son. This was the highlight of a life that lasted until 1969 when she died at age 100.
   
   As the authors point out, however, practically nothing can be said with surety about Mme. David-Neel. One biographer has even claimed that she fabricated the whole story of visiting Lhasa. Probably not -- although she fabricated a lot and was hardly of unimpeachable character. As a matter of fact, although the authors are very respectful of her, she seems a thoroughly selfish, self-centered and repellent person.
   
   David-Neel was a serious student of Buddhism and wrote many books on the subject. One of the juiciest parts of the book concerns the question of whether she participated in group Tantric sex rituals. The authors conclude she probably did.
   David-Neel's religion had nothing to do with morality, and it seems unlikely that she ever found inner peace from her Buddhist rituals as she suffered from an endless variety of mental and physical ills. Still, living to be 100 is quite an accomplishment...
   
   Alexandra David-Neel was an opera singer, a hardy and determined traveler, a student of religion, a writer, and a public figure of some note. Some of her papers are still unreleased so the final word about her character and achievements is still to be said. In the meantime this is an entertaining and well-researched biography.
   
   Smallchief



2. The best chapters of 'The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel:'
   owe much to Alexandra's own account of her journey to Lhasa. Her own books are wonderful to read, all of them , but in particular her 'My Journey to Lhasa' Beacon Press republished it as a paperback in 1993, ISBN 0-8070-5903-X
   I can guarantee you will have a most enjoyable read.



3. It is my great pleasure to let Amazon readers know about the exploits of Alexandra David-Neel, the explorer of Tibet, which the Fosters chronicle so vividly in the biography, THE SECRET LIVES OF ALEXANDRA DAVID-NEEL. This bio reads more like a novel or adventure tale due to the wonderfully-detailed scenes with such authentic touches I felt as if I were truly there, and often worried about David-Neel's ability to survive. Obviously the Fosters have done their research incredibly well and write graceful,lucid prose; I was captivated from the first sentence and actually resented having to put down the book to take care of chores. This is is one of the best biographies I have ever read. The story cries out to be told visually on the big screen.



4. Little known crossdressing Victorian Frenchwoman undertakes a dangerous journey of discovery in forbidden country disguised as a monk and lives to tell her tale to the world. Thoroughly well researched,and well crafted The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel is the biography of a remarkable woman. A woman born to the mannered and circumscribed Victorian era who chose to strike out on her own initiative to explore the spiritual secrets and she was among the first Europeans to report about it from inside to the rest of the world.
   I found it a fascinating read about a remarkable woman of whom I knew nothing, a woman who accomplished amazing things in her life. I recommend this biography by Barbara and Michael Foster to anyone interested in tales of high adventure in exploration, in the golden age of exploration and of unknown exotic lands. If the story of resolutely fearless woman pursuing her dream of exploring Forbidden Tibet whets your appetite I recommned you read this well crafted biography. I can recommend it without reservation. ZaneMason



5. Little known crossdressing Victorian Frenchwoman undertakes a dangerous journey of discovery in forbidden country disguised as a monk and lives to tell her tale to the world. Thoroughly well researched,and well crafted The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel is the biography of a remarkable woman. A woman born to the mannered and circumscribed Victorian era who chose to strike out on her own initiative to explore the spiritual secrets and she was among the first Europeans to report about it from inside to the rest of the world.
   I found it a fascinating read about a remarkable woman of whom I knew nothing, a woman who accomplished amazing things in her life. I recommend this biography by Barbara and Michael Foster to anyone interested in tales of high adventure in exploration, in the golden age of exploration and of unknown exotic lands. If the story of resolutely fearless woman pursuing her dream of exploring Forbidden Tibet whets your appetite I recommned you read this well crafted biography. I can recommend it without reservation. ZaneMason

5 comments about Lost in the Amazon: The True Story of Five Men and their Desperate Battle for Survival (Discovery books).

1. If you want an exciting read, this is the book! However, get the BOOK, not this audio reading. After reading the book and wanting it for my collection, I accidentally ordered the audio version. Figuring it might be interesting to listen to in the car, I opened it. Bad move. The narrator feels he has a talent for voices and dialects he should not attempt. One of the key figures, 'Darcy', sounds like a flamboyant gay decorator, instead of the New Englander that he is supposed to be. I find myself getting more irritated at the butchering of the voice effects and less able to concentrate on what is a very intense adventure and an excellent read for teens through adults.



2. This book chronicles the trip of 5 men through the Amazon. Though the trip was planned and charted, details like inaccurate hand-drawn maps drawn by people who had never been there, food left behind "because it was too heavy", boat accidents, money running out, and other surprises along the way changed the trip entirely. The trip that was intended as a photographic expedition turned into a spiritual excursion. The adventure carries you along though the book.



3. Just imagine the martial-arts blowhard from Napoleon Dynamite boring everybody to death with the story of how God saved him from having to walk in the rain for a few days. That's this book. The author manages to embody all the worst of hick America; he's weepy, bombastic, swaggering, ignorant and self-important all at once. It's something of a feat, I suppose, but one hardly deserving praise.
   If you want to see how much better the Brits do this sort of thing, read Benedict Allen's book Through Jaguar Eyes, a funny, understated and literate account of a much braver journey through the same part of the world.



4. As I read the book I continued to wish that the author had been eaten by a jaguar or left on the tree. DON'T believe the title. I'm guessing the author could become lost in the local Wal-Mart if he didn't have his guides. He never was lost in this "adventure".



5. If they have a worst book contest, this one will be a contender. Save your money.

5 comments about Abbey's Road.

1. 
   He's flip, he's serious, at times at the top of his entertainment (always second to the polemics) game. When Abbey's "on", as he is in parts of this book of essays, he's untouchable. His Snideness is at his most philosophical, his most opinionated, his most, uh . . . truculent, in this stimulating book. Along with Desert Solitaire (see my review), this book will not be leaving my bookshelf anytime soon.
   
   There are 3 sections: Travel (the most entertaining), Polemics & Sermons (actually more like Rants & Raves), and Personal History. The one disturbing/detracting aspect to the book is this: With all the leg-pulling, hyperbole, and outrageous pronouncements dished out, Abbey's glaring racist side can't be disguised. His calloused remarks about the Mexicans and Hispanics are passed off as snide humor, but the insensitivity is pretty unsettling. It reveals a deeper prejudice, something that a guy like Cactus Ed should be well aware off but obviously he chose to sound like a redneck anyway.
   
   So, there you have it, a pretty decent offering from a real iconoclast.
   



2. All of the material in this cassette is available elsewhere, but nowhere else can you hear the intonation, humor, and on occasions rants of Cactus Ed in his own voice. I have played this for friends who have never heard of Abbey and universally comment that they have never heard anything quite like it. Whether he's drinking with pigs in the desert, musing on planting a tree under the nuclear umbrella, or playing cat and hiker with a puma, there is wisdom and absurdity in every spoken sentence. If they ever get another copy and you beat me to it - mine has worn out - you have won a real prize.



3. This is an entertaining firsthand account of Abbey's adventures as he travels through some of the most remote and beautiful locales in the world. The first chapter, in which he travels through Australia, is by far the most entertaining, and Abbey's wit really shines here. He also makes strong arguments throughout the book about why preserving beautiful natural areas is so important. Some of the subsequent stories come off as so much fluff, in which Abbey is trying to find events of significance and/or peril in the face of a mundane trip. The events seem to me to be interesting enough without having to be dolled up.



4. This collection of previously published magazine articles is vintage Abbey, alternatively moving and funny, sacred and profane, flip and dead serious (well almost) and at all times entertaining. Divided into three categories - Travel, Polemics and Sermons, and Personal History - the subjects range from the Great Barrier Reef to technology to women to Winnebagos to hallucinogenic drugs - with many stops in between. The introduction, wherein Abbey comments on nature writing - and various nature writers - is itself worth the price of admission.



5. Do not let this book be your introduction to Edward Abbey. There is plenty of brilliance here, but an established fan will be able to appreciate that brilliance best.

5 comments about The Discovery of Slowness.

1. My encounter with this book was a bit magical. I arrived at a B&B in Vail and one of Mr. Nadolny's other books was on a table in the common area. I asked about it, and the proprietress said Mr. Nadolny had left that morning and had given her the book. I read it, loved it, and sought out his other works.
   
   My favorite review of this book describes it as "a utopia of character." Truly it is. Yes, it's a nice little biography of an interesting life, but it is so much more. Sir John Franklin realized that each individual has his or her own "speed" in perception and action. Throughout his life, he observed himself and others objectively and developed his own "systems" for the most beneficial application of his own uniquely slow processing of impression and responses. He compensated with rigorous planning, precision, and observation - and by appreciating and effectively leading those who were faster.
   
   Why is this interesting? I believe it is so because in our own times, everything moves way too fast for most of us...and those of us who might be naturally slow in the manner of Franklin suffer most from it. If Franklin were a boy today, he would likely be put on Ritalin, or diagnosed with "Sensory Integration Disorder" or some such thing, possibly placed in a "special" class at school...and his uniqueness would be deemed pathological and buried.
   
   Franklin's qualities, and his persistent but self-accepting stuggle with them, made him the best of leaders and a deeply moral man. Rereading this book, I am led to realize that my own "true inner speed" is perhaps as slow as Franklin's, and that much unhappiness comes from not operating at that speed. This is painful - we can complain about our over-stimulated, over-informed, over-hurried times, but that is futile unless one decides to retreat completely to our own Walden.
   
   Franklin found two things paralyzing: self-pity, and what he called "disapproval," meaning disgust with circumstances he could not change. So he resolved to avoid these and concentrated on his "systems." It worked...perhaps some of us can do the same. And if we are parents, we must make sure we understand and respect our children's "inner speed."
   
   In sum, read this book - and do so more than once to absorb the nuances.



2. I read "Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit" when it came out in German in 1983, and loved it. Unfortuntately, it was a borrowed copy, and I kept looking for it among my collection of German books when I often referred it to others.
   
   Now I again had an opportunity to refer to it while reading Patricia Wood's new (and first) novel Lottery, which is also about a very slow person, Perry, who gains respect and friendship after what could have been the devastation of winning the Washington State Lottery. Perry is also a sailor, and Perry, like Franklin, has learned to be an "auditor" and a listmaker, to turn slowness into his strength.



3. In recent years, polar exploration has regained much attention; particularly so the voyages of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. Relatively little, in comparison, is known about Sir John Franklin, who after several expeditions to the Polar Sea lost his life shortly after having discovered the North West Passage in 1847.

   Working from Franklin's own accounts, other historic sources and several scholarly treatises, German author Sten Nadolny in 1983 published an award-winning and (at least in Germany) highly successful novelized biography of Franklin. But "The Discovery of Slowness" (German title: "Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit") is no mere rendition of the facts of Franklin's life, fascinating though they may be. Nadolny sees Franklin as a proponent of the idea of giving to all persons and things their own time; of not being unduly rushed, nor influenced by outside factors over which one has little (if any) control: then and now, an unusual concept in a world growing faster by the day.

   Growing up in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, Nadolny's Franklin is a perpetual outsider, seemingly handicapped by his slowness, which renders him defenseless against spiteful attacks and unable to follow anything occurring at an even moderately fast pace, including speech. Early on, John thus turns his desires to the sea, which he perceives as a dark and boundless ally. He tries to run away to a nearby port, but is recaptured and sent to boarding school. There, an enlightened teacher eventually shows interest in him after having discovered that "the student F." (as he entitles a treatise based on his observations) is not simply slow but rather, takes particular care in observing things, and anything once lodged in his brain will be lodged there forever.

   To deal with the difference between his own pace and that of the world around him, Franklin adopts a number of varying techniques: A stare enabling him to bypass quick action, memorized phrases to cover the breaks he needs in longer sentences, and a mental sorting system to distinguish issues in need of immediate address from those requiring long-term care. And as he grows older, his behavioral patterns progressively shape his outlook on the world and personal philosophy.

   On his teacher's recommendation, Franklin is allowed to board his first ship at age fourteen. A few years later, he joins the Royal Navy and, rising through the ranks, witnesses the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen, the Battle of Trafalgar, and a campaign against American forces before New Orleans, during which he is wounded. Having already participated in the 1801-03 expedition to Australia led by his uncle, renowned navigator Matthew Flinders, Franklin receives his first commission for a voyage to the North as the commander of one of two ships sent to explore the Polar Sea north of Spitzbergen in 1818. However, both ships are damaged by the drifting floes of a large ice field and forced to return home.

   Unsatisfied, Franklin requests - and eventually receives - a commission for a second voyage, this time a land expedition; his first attempt to discover the North West Passage. For its sheer gripping storytelling, this 1819-22 trip is one of the highlights of Nadolny's book; particularly the return journey, which confronts Franklin's crew with sorrow, hunger and death, from both starvation and murder. (No recommended bed-time reading if you value a good night's rest.) Yet, having first suffered humiliation due to what the Admiralty considers a "failed" trip, Franklin's no-frills account of the expedition garners him unexpected fame and fortune; and eventually a commission for a further journey to the North, which due to its thoughtful preparation and the extensive cartographic material and observations it yields is considered a success, although it, again, does not result in the discovery of the North West Passage. Franklin is knighted, his fame and fortune grows - but for the moment, no further voyage to the Polar Sea is in sight.

   Somewhat reluctantly, he thus accepts the appointment as governor of Van Diemen's Land (which he will rename Tasmania, for its discoverer Abel Tasman); telling himself that a governorship - even of a penal colony - is not substantially different from commanding a ship. Like at sea, Franklin attempts to divide responsibility between himself and his "second(s) in command," taking personal charge of all matters requiring long-term care and leaving the issues requiring fast, immediate attention to his chief subordinates. Here, however, he is not dealing with loyal men who understand his philosophy: His personal secretary Maconochie is a pseudo-reformist radical; colonial secretary Montagu a crony of the local elite without any sympathy for Franklin's reformatory measures, whereas Franklin's efforts to better the fate of the convicts and aborigines reflect the humanistic qualities of a man whose empathy for all human beings and keen interest in science has developed over a lifetime spent in the company of sailors, explorers, American Indians and Inuit, through war and peace, hunger and satisfaction.

   Facing opposition from the local ruling class and the politics of royal secretary Lord Stanley, Franklin is finally recalled in 1843. Upon his friends' intervention, he is granted an audience with prime minister Sir Robert Peel, who offers him the newly-created position as royal supervisor of educational affairs; but realizing that Peel merely wants to capitalize on his apparent reluctance to take action, not implement any true reforms, Franklin declines. At last, he is granted another commission for a voyage to discover the North West Passage: his last journey, during which he (and his crew) have to realize that there is one who is more patient than even the most patient of humans - death.

   "Thou ... art passing on thine happier voyage now towards no earthly pole," reads part of a poem by Franklin's cousin Tennyson, printed on his Westminster Abbey memorial. Franklin was certainly not the only polar explorer to whom these words could be applied. As Sten Nadolny's book shows, he is as deserving of renewed attention as are his brethren in spirit; and not only because much yet remains unclear about the exact fate of his last expedition.




4. I like taking this book out for a long night stroll. Maybe it's lightly raining, of course it's dark with only street lights to light up the words on the page. It moves me through and through Lord! Child! it shorely am good it good it good! it so damn good!



5. this book is unusually thruthful and gripped me from the beginning to the very end - maybe because of the fact that I have something in common with Franklin. So convincinglty written , I'd like to have met the protagonist !

5 comments about The Remarkable Life of William Beebe: Explorer And Naturalist.

1. I read the editorial review above for this book and almost didn't read it. I have to say I disagree with it. The biography does not necessarily focus on all his Beebe's personal issues, but it is a vibrant and gripping read about a very unique man. I thought it was extremely well done.
   
   Born in the last quarter of the nineteenth century in Brooklyn, it was still a world of forests and wildlife nearby for him to explore. This love of nature, and comfort away from the trappings of civilisation stayed with him all his life. But he also had this almost supernatural ability to dissociate himself from his possible fate - or even his reality and instead go beyond that to look at what was happening around him. So his observations were extraodinary.
   
   He was the first person to be travel down to 2000ft in the ocean in a small metal capsule. The enormous pressures could have caved in the tiny craft - it did even start leaking at some stage. Yet he broadcast live from it, and managed to make some ground breaking observations about his time there and the strange animals which dwelt there - some of which have never been seen since.
   
   Gould has divided this biography into four distinct sections which followed his life, Naturalist, Ornithologist, Marine Biologist and Tropical Ecologist.
   
   this is illustrated throughout with printed pictures on each page, the only drawback is that these pictures are all of poor to fair quality - a problem of matt paper combined with size of pictures and that they are all in black and white.
   
   Beebe's life is worth reading about and I think Gould's biography is an excellent reference, readable and engaging.



2. This is one of the most remarkable and enticing biographies I've ever read. I am a professional biologist and have always wanted to be able to express my enthusiasm for my work in words than transcend the sterility of "modern" science and politics. This work does this and I could only hope to express my own work in such an elegant way. I think Carol Grant Gould has done an exceptional job. Despite the restictions imposed upon her, I am mystified how she managed to pierce the veil that clouds the achievements of many scientists behind veils of scientific and religious intolerance. A remarkable work.



3. Adventure travelers interested in both nature and action will relish biographer Carol Grant Gould's Remarkable Life Of William Beebe: Explorer And Naturalist, an armchair biography which tells of one William Beebe, who became the first to see the ocean depths in a bathysphere, trekked the Himalayas and Malaysia in the early 1900s to study ecology, and brainstormed with Roosevelt and other naturalists of his times. A remarkable life and a series of remarkable contributions comes vividly to life in this memorable, entertaining, and highly recommended biography.



4. William Beebe was at one time as famous as any naturalist can be, and justly so. Today, few have heard of him. It is no surprise that fame is fickle, and that a latter generation forgets the heroes of the former, but Beebe's is an extreme example. In _The Remarkable Life of William Beebe, Explorer and Naturalist_ (Island Press), Carol Grant Gould has given a full, big biography of one of the most amazing men who ever lived. Beebe worked in zoos. He took expeditions to identify and capture specimens from Indonesia, South America, and China. He broke records in deep sea diving in the bathysphere that was designed for him. He wrote two dozen books that were best sellers, widely appreciated by the public and by professional scientists who shared his realm of study. He was so famous that in the original play of _The Man Who Came to Dinner_, the hot-tempered protagonist receives an octopus shipped from Beebe, and audiences immediately understood the joke, as they do not, now, when they see the play in revival. If time has passed Beebe by, his influence is still substantial, and Gould has performed a useful service in bringing him back for us to wonder at.
   
   Beebe was born in Brooklyn in 1877, when his neighborhood had wild woods that he could explore. He was a prodigy. Many kids set out to collect things, but the young Beebe kept snakes, learned taxidermy to keep snake and bird specimens, bought or traded for exotic specimens, and camped and hiked to get more. School was a breeze for him, but he loved being out in the field. In a final entry in an 1893 journal, he wrote, "To be a Naturalist is better than to be a King." The exuberance which this youthful manifesto exemplifies never left him. He became Assistant Curator of Birds at the new Bronx Zoological Park, but his career of exploring for the sake of discoveries in natural history took off when he left with his wife for an official exploit to Mexico. The press and public were enthusiastic about his account of the trip, the first of his bestsellers. Sometimes being a popularizer detracted from appreciation of his scientific work, but there was plenty of both. His voyages made him fascinated with sea life, and he became an adept diver, applying the same principles of studying a broad, three dimensional swath rather than individual inhabitants. In 1930, he and his engineer were "sealed in a spherical steel coffin and thrown into the ocean." Especially on initial dives, as the readings approached 800 feet, he had to be scared; he wrote, "Only dead men have sunk below this." Eventually, he was to broadcast his observations live from such a descent, a radio event that caused a sensation.
   
   Beebe died in 1962, always grabbing as much of life and learning as he could. He was an entertaining friend, and among the visitors to these pages are Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Rebecca West, and especially Teddy Roosevelt. More important, he inspired biologists such as Rachel Carson, Ernst Mayr, and Edward O. Wilson. His emphasis on studying an ecosystem as a whole was original and vastly influential. Gould obviously admires his popular writings, many of which are quoted here, but shows that his scientific work is monumental. Calling his a remarkable life is indeed an understatement.



5. This is a wonderful book - a really engrossing story about an amazing man who was both an explorer and a scientist during the last century. If they made a movie about him, he'd probably be styled as an Indiana Jones type character, as he really did look death in the eye a few times in his lifetime - particularly during the dives he made in `the bathysphere' off Bermuda in the 1930s (the bathysphere being a sort of cast iron bubble with tiny windows, which was winched off the side of a boat, and dropped down to a depth of half a mile underwater). But in my mind's eye Beebe was more like a David Niven sort of person, because as well as having a passionate interest in exploring the natural world, he was a really gifted writer, had an enormous sense of humour, and was quite dapper and a great believer in cocktails all round in the late afternoon! And when he wasn't travelling the world, he was feted in New York society circles by people like Katherine Hepburn, Noel Coward and Rudyard Kipling. The book is really enjoyable and easy to read, and quite inspiring too - transporting you back to a bygone age. And it has LOADS of pictures, which bring it to life all the more. Lovely - good antidote to grim winter weather!

4 comments about H. W. Tilman: The Seven Mountain-Travel Books.

1. An avid collector of Himalayan subject matter, I have also been lucky enough to have wandered around the upper Langtang Valley on several occasions in the last few years. Not only is Tilmans book still accurate in many respects, but it is also highly amusing at the same time. Fact, folklore and quotations are fantastically woven into a single, almost epic tale of discovery. It is, at times, laugh-out-loud funny, and yet one might feel a certain sense of guilt at particular comic moments. Where Tilman describes one of his porters as "slow in mind and weak in leg, and not, one suspects, long down from his tree", it is an hilarious turn of phrase, but in our modern standardised and easily-scandalised society one feels the need to look over one's shoulder to make sure the PC police aren't looking.
   I would heartily recommend anyone to read the book, particularly if it is available, the Nepal Himalaya single edition, - great, great books for travelling minds (and soles..) so long as you can cope with the mountain of salt required to see some of Tilmans less emphatic points.



2. Tilman and Shipton were the first humans to enter the Nanda Devi sanctuary, a valley surrounded by some of the greatest Himalayan peaks. They were indelibly marked by the experience.



3. Not only is Tilman's book brillantly written, but his chapter on "Two Mountains and a River," which focuses on the Swiss/British expedition to Rakaposhi and the Kukuay Glacier illustrates all the problems and hardships my uncle, Hans Gyr experienced during his quest for conquering the Rakaposhi in the Karakorum. Thanks to Tilman, I know now so much more about these few trying weeks in snow and ice. I recommend this book to all who like not only mountains, but solitude and the ultimate challenge.



4. In this anthology Tilman's pioneering travels through central Asia are recounted in his wonderfully laconic voice. This is a great addition to any exploration or mountaineering collection, particularly because Tilman was the first European to visit many of the peaks and places described. The portrait of Nepal he presents I will always treasure.