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Your favorite nature books

Mariah

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Mar 20, 2005
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I'm starting a nonfiction book discussion group at my library. I want to use books such as Diane Ackerman's A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES that describe nature as science has revealed it to us, with accuracy and beautiful language. I've also chosen LIVES OF A CELL by Lewis Thomas, UNCLE TUNGSTEN:A CHEMICAL BOYHOOD by Oliver Sacks, and others.

Any suggestions any of you could give, I'd appreciate.
 
Natural History of the Senses is an excellent book.

A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson is great.

Where Bigfoot Walks, Robert Michael Pyle (more a book about the Pacific Northwest and the state of the forests than about the sasquatch - so worth a look).

The Tribe of Tiger, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (about cats)

Shark Trouble, Peter Benchley (non-fiction)

Monsters of the Sea, Richard Ellis (not cryptozoology)
 
I'm not quite sure if it's what you're looking for but...

I really liked The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson, which is about life on earth, how diverse it is, how we can study that, the ways and places it's in danger, how diversity develops, etc. There's are some great chapters about cichlids, about krakatoa, and one about Hawaii and it's destinctive flora and fauna. There's much more, but those were what stood out for me.

Also his autobiography, Naturalist, which describes him growing up, how he developed his interest in nature, and a lot of his discoveries. It makes the natural world seem fun and increadibly exciting.
 
Annie Dillard's (Pulitzer Prize winning) Pilgrim at Tinker Creek has lots of great first-person natural history in it. I strongly recommend it. In it she mentions some work done by the French entomologist Jean Henri Fabre, so I checked out some of his books. That man loved insects and it shows in his work. He's well worth reading. At least some of his books are available free on Project Gutenberg (do a search over for "Fabre" or Social Life in the Insect World).

You might also be interested in A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold.

Richard Dawkins', The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution is also a fun book, but may be too long for a discussion group setting.
 
Anything by Joseph Wood Krutch, "The Desert Year" for example.

"Curious Naturalists" by Niko Tinbergen.
 
To Boojum's list I might add Henry Beston's Outermost House.

I would also suggest any of the series of books by Euell Gibbons, which aside from their useful information on stuff you didn't think you could eat but can, are full of observations and anecdotes about a pretty interesting life.
 
"The Trees in My Forest" by Bernd Heinrich
isbn 0-06-017446-3

The author (a professor at University of Vermont) bought a tract of forest land and uses it as a living classroom. Lots of Thoreau quotes, so you get the general flavor.

The flexibility of a birch, the tallness of a pine, the toughness of an oak, all reside in that marvelous substance we call wood. It makes a tree a tree and it has virtually limitless uses. Yet, when I walk in my forest of wood, I hardly see [what] this substance is at all. To really see wood, I need a microscope, a chemistry lab, and a good reference source. - pg 69
 
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