The Snoring Bird: My Family's Journey Through a Century of Biology [Paperback]

Although Gerd Heinrich, a devoted naturalist, specialized in wasps, Bernd Heinrich tried to distance himself from his old-fashioned father, becoming a hybrid: a modern, experimental biologist with a naturalist's sensibilities.

In this extraordinary memoir, the award-winning author shares the ways in which his relationship with his father, combined with his unique childhood, molded him into the scientist, and man, he is today. From Gerd's days as a soldier in Europe and the family's daring escape from the Red Army in 1945 to the rustic Maine farm they came to call home, Heinrich relates it all in his trademark style, making science accessible and awe-inspiring.

A remarkable story....beautifully written story of a mans efforts to reconstruct posthumously the life of his father......scientist and naturalist of the first rank and a nature writer of uncommon talent......amazing saga, full of twists and turns...his magnum opus...vividly descriptive...he has produced his best book ever......I couldnt leave its pages...it has joined the small collection of my most favorite book......extraordinary...a memoir of fun, daringness and intellectual curiosity, the heartwarming evolution of a modern biologist....by one of the premier naturalists of our time...a splendid book, truly compelling, and bound to endure.Heinrichs stunning family saga...his magnum opus...vividly descriptive...he has produced his best book ever......You will not want to put it down...an engrossing and powerful narrative of human achievement...One of the finest living examples of that strange hybrid: the science writer.Heinrich, who combines his keen scientific eye with the soul of a poet, enthralls.The Snoring Bird...show[s] readers why the work of an observant field biologist still matters.Arguably todays finest naturalist author...our latter-day Thoreau.Some of Heinrichs most lyrical writing...the future scientist as a footloose nature boy....brilliant...thel£Í