Sometimes, when the world and news cycle seem really fragmented, I take great solace in diving deep on a particular topic. While this can be done on the internet, for me the most satisfying method is to sit down with a book and just let myself sink into the minutia. If you’re craving that same feeling, here are three books that dive deep into elements of the natural world.
Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui
Beginning with the unlikely survival of an Icelandic man who survived six hours in freezing winter waters after his boat capsized and who became an accidental celebrity for his feat, Tsui examines the human relationship with water and swimming. Broken into five sections, Tsui looks at how and why humans swim for survival, well-being, community, competition, and “flow,” reaching back into human history, evolution and mythology to explain our human history with water. Along the way she weaves in her own experiences visiting the beach in New York and swimming in the Bay Area. I confess I’ve always loved swimming and reading about swimming (such as in Leanne Shapton’s Swimming Studies), but I think most people will enjoy this dip in the water.
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World by Patrik Svensson
I have not given a lot of thought to eels in my lifetime, aside from watching the eel scene in the movie The Princess Bride, or that time eel pies were discussed on The Great British Baking Show. It turns out eels are fairly mysterious creatures: no one knows how they mate or give birth, for example, or why they swim to saltwater at the end of their lives, and for much of human history we didn’t know if they were fish or something else. Svensson, who grew up fishing for eels with his father in Sweden, digs into history, modern marine biology, and literature to chart our enduring fascination with the eel, in a narrative which ultimately “also serves as a mediation on consciousness, faith, time, light and darkness, and life and death” according to Kirkus Reviews.
Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl by Jonathan C. Slaght
Back on dry land, wildlife biologist Slaght takes us to remote reaches of forested eastern Russia where he spent five years studying Blakiston’s fish owl, an elusive, endangered owl that little was known about. Blakiston’s fish owls are the largest owls on Earth, yet remarkably hard to find; much of his work was done in the winter, when the owls’ tracks can be seen on snowy riverbanks where they go to fish. Working with a crew of local research assistants during brutally cold winters, Slaght sought to gather enough data on the rare bird to create a conservation plan. Drawing on his own field research and his personal journey, with elements of adventure writing woven in, this book about one type of owl also sheds light on the grind and glory of conservation fieldwork.
~ posted by Andrea G.
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