In a Patch of Fireeed A Biologist's Life in the Field [Paperback]

Why would a grown man chase hornets with a thermometer, paint whirligig beetles bright red, or track elephants through the night to fill trash bags with their prodigious droppings? Some might sayto advance science. Bernd Heinrich saysbecause its fun.

Heinrich, author of the much acclaimedBumblebee Economics, has been playing in the wilds of one continent or another all his life. In the process, he has become one of the worlds foremost physiological ecologists. WithIn a Patch of Fireweed, he will undoubtedly become one of our foremost writers of popular science.

Part autobiography, part case study in the ways of field biology,In a Patch of Fireweedis an endlessly fascinating account of a scientists life and work. For the author, it is an opportunity to report not just his results but the curiosity, humor, error, passion, and competitiveness that feed into the process of discovery. For the reader, it is simply a delight, a rare chance to share the perceptions of an unusual mind fully in tune with the inner workings of nature. Before his years of research in the woodlands and deserts of North America, the New Guinea highlands, and the plains of East Africa, Heinrich had a sense of the wild that few people in this century can know. He tells the whole story, from his refugee childhood hidden in a German forest, eating mice fried in boar fat, to his ongoing research in the woods surrounding his cabin in Maine.

In this autobiographical reflection&[Heinrich] is intent on explaining why he became an insect physiologist and ecologist. In the process, he gives us a winning portrait of a fine scientific mind at work& There is a fine balance here between intellection and practical experience, speculation and discovery. This is a book that sends you right outdoors.Heinrichs stated purpose is to tell about the natural links forged between ones life and a life in science. He succeeds magnificently. His prose reflects Thoreaus empathylC$