Book Review of The Naturalist by Darrin Lunde

When Being a Passionate Preservationist Meant Shooting Lots of Stuff

Naturalists are hunters for science who collect biological specimens for display and skins for study. These early collectors made natural history available to the general populace and played a major role in turning the study into a serious scientific pursuit. In this well-researched book, author Darrin Lunde focuses on Theodore Roosevelt’s passion as a naturalist and his influence on early environmentalism in the United States. The biography concentrates on the years from Roosevelt’s birth to his great African safari after he left the White House, and describes the events and people in his life that turned him into an avid outdoorsman.

Roosevelt came to his love early. Although a sickly child, he grew up in a time of Victorian beliefs that a weak constitution can be overcome by manly pursuits. So with the blessing of his parents little Teddy spent many happy hours rambling through the outdoors, slaughtering animals to skin and stuff. (He became an expert taxidermist.) Roosevelt was a serious student of the natural world, even studying science in Harvard. His decision to enter politics was an economic one; natural scientists made a poor living. Throughout his life Roosevelt surrounded himself with scientists, cultivating their friendships, and later inviting many to the White House.

Nowadays, naturalists are readily identified as preservationists, but not in Roosevelt’s era. He shot hundreds of animals for collections, many whose numbers were already in decline. The rationale being it’s better to kill a good specimen before they’re all gone so people will know what they once looked like. Readers will be surprised to learn how many of his contributions are in collections of the American Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian.

How times have changed. One of the things I liked about this book is that it doesn’t sugarcoat. There is a weird horror in reading the number of animals killed during Roosevelt’s hunting trips and safaris, and yet he and others like him laid the foundation for both the National Park system and conservation movement. Perhaps Roosevelt’s greatest accomplishment was conveying his enthusiasm for the natural world to the general populace through his writings and collection of species for exhibit.

Another interesting aspect is how the notion of preservationist has changed over the years. Roosevelt had no qualms about hunting, even endangered species. He believed predation was a natural part of life. One of the reasons he gave for supporting nature preserves in the first place was so enough big game would be left for his son to shoot when he came of age. “Laws should so far as possible provide for the continued existence of the game in sufficient numbers to allow a reasonable amount of hunting on fair terms to any hardy and vigorous man.”

The book was enjoyable, giving a real flavor for not only the work of early naturalists, but life in the Victorian Age as well. (Victorians also believe nicotine helped asthma and I snickered over Lunde’s appalling description of wheezy little Teddy as a child smoking stogies in bed.) I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Theodore Roosevelt, the Victorian Age, or natural history.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a review. 

Book Review: The Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts by Maja Sӓfstrӧm

While I don’t regularly read children’s books, every now and then I have to let out the inner child.

The Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts includes a splendid array of animals from barnyard to ocean to the wild. Sӓfstrӧm chose her subjects simply because they happen to be personal favorites, so the collection has no particular order. It lends the book a quirky charm when you find sea horses next to pandas. Sӓfstrӧm is also the illustrator. The print is handwritten and not typed, but easy to read. The minimalist black and white drawings are both whimsical and sweet.  The simple lines are clean and fresh and clearly display a Scandinavian minimalist approach (The author is from Stockholm.)

Each illustration accompanies several fun facts. For instance, if a snail doesn’t like the weather it can go into its shell and hibernate for up to three years. (Big deal. So can I) Many of her animal choices are obvious favorites for other people as well. Who doesn’t love a cute, cuddly koala or a regal tiger? I do take issue with the cockroaches though. In my mind the only good one is a dead one. I didn’t need to know that they can live for days with their heads cut off, but kids generally appreciate an icky yuck factor.

I suggest the book for an approximate age range of 4-8 years. The younger ones will enjoy having it read to them, while older ones will manage nicely on their own.  I was also pleased with the construction. The book is a sturdy hardcover . The pages have a good weight and a nice feel to the paper. They’re sure to withstand repetitive use by many little hands. The Illustrated Compendium will be a practical addition to any child’s library and can easily be being passed from older siblings to younger and still maintain its shape.  This makes it suitable for a public or school library, as well. A warning to parents: if you want the book kept close to its original condition, hide the crayons. Certain children will find the line drawings irresistible and be tempted to add a dash of color to the black and white. Not that I’ve ever done something like that in my misspent youth.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a review.

Book Review: This is Your Brain on Sports by Wertheim and Sommers

I’m not into sports. I don’t root for any teams and have no interest in the Olympics, World Cup, Superbowl, or anything that requires sweaty people to vie for a trophy. The quirky aspects of both fans and athletes has always been a mystery to me, but thanks to Wertheim and Sommers I have a better understanding of people who sit in a stadium with giant cheese wedge hats on their heads. The nature of sports turns out to be not much different from other forces that shape human behavior. Athletes and fans aren’t so crazy after all, and after reading this engaging book I realize I’m actually more like them then I care to admit.

The book examines sports from many aspects; behavioral psychology, marketing, economics, with a dash of evolutionary biology thrown in. Part of the fun is the often lighthearted approach seasoning the science. Why are quarterbacks always so darn good looking? Blame part of the reason on the halo effect which endows qualities of attractiveness to those in positions of authority or command.

A fascinating section on underdogs explains fan loyalty with teams in the bottom of the rankings. According to studies, the struggle to rise to the top is enough to engage support. As Wertheim and Sommers note, the role of the underdog seems natural. Losers are more human, poor schlubs striving to overcome obstacles like the rest of us. We relate better to them than those with godlike physical talents and attributes. People also frame the performance of a longshot more favorably; the humble, scrappy losers are endowed with more character than those prideful adversaries who stomped all over them. You don’t have to be a sports fan to understand.

This book isn’t a sugarcoated treatise on the benefits of sports. Negative aspects of competition are given an evenhanded investigation. A section on violence explains the link to arousal, and the authors draw interesting parallels between sport's violence,  the ability to negotiate a business deal, and ad agencies using arousal to cajole consumers to buy. Apparently sex not only sells, but also, according to research, doesn't detract from an athlete's abilities. Remaining celibate before the big game to improve performance is a myth. 

What I particularly enjoyed about This is your Brain on Sports is that it’s written for the fan and nonfan alike. The book is both entertaining and thoughtful. Even when the authors go deep into the science, explanations are easy for the layman to follow. Everyone will come away with a little better understanding of not just sports, but human behavior as well.  Sure, sports fans are a little crazy, but apparently so are the rest of us. Now, hand me my giant cheese wedge hat.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a review.

Book Review - Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body by Jo Marchant

Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body

 by Jo Marchant

The connection between mind and body during illness has long been at the center of a hot debate between the scientific and lay community, especially in Western medicine. Opinions tend to the extremes. Medical convention usually downplays the effect of the mind on healing. On the other end, New-Age nature babies babble about auras and essences. (Commune with the Earth Mother, and while you’re at it gambol through the woods and hug a squirrel.) In a balanced scientific approach, Marchant, a geneticist and medical writer, offers a thoughtful examination of the evidence in an attempt to answer the question: can aspects of the mind be harnessed to cure the body?

Placebos and Stress

Marchant investigates medical conditions with mental components. Placebos, for example, are a staple of medical testing, purposely concocted to have no effect on patients, yet they can. Placebos don’t change anything a person is not consciously aware of, such as cholesterol levels. However, Marchant notes in certain instances they are able to significantly alter pain, and can work better than, or as well as, prescription medications.  So much so, that even when people know they’re given a placebo, they still receive a beneficial effect. Still, they’re rarely studied. One reason is that placebos effects are often elusive and change depending on the type of placebo, shape, size or color, even the gender and culture of the patient. Marchant notes, “just because the benefits mediated by placebos are mostly subjective, that doesn’t mean they have no potential value for medicine.”  

Another area Marchant examines in detail is stress. Over time, stress can have devastating physical consequences, since it actually has the ability to rewire the brain. She delves into case studies involving the benefits of continuous care and supportive interaction. One program called Comfort Talk, reduced the need to sedate children needing MRIs—lessening the need for more medication. What struck me most in much of the reporting in this book was how it often takes only a very small change in treatment, requiring little money or effort, to greatly improve the benefit for the patient. A large part of Comfort Talk, for instance, is simply eliminating scary language.

Brains are weird.

Yes, they are. Marchant has written a fascinating book. Cure is neither dry nor dull, and filled with personal stories of patients and researchers, some amusing, some rather heartbreaking. Marchant ends with a strong plea for more scientific research to fully understand the role of the mind in health, but funding sources remain elusive. More than three quarters of clinical trials are paid for by pharmaceutical companies who have no interest in findings that won’t lead to the development of new drug treatments. Here’s hoping at least a few CEOs will read this book and put profit aside for the betterment of all.

  

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a review.

Book Review: Brooklyn on Fire by Lawrence H. Levy

Brooklyn on Fire

I enjoy a book with a plucky heroine, even more so in historical novels than contemporary ones. Spunk is easy to come by in the modern world where nobody blinks at a woman with a nontraditional career. Not so much in 1890 when society relegated all females to second-class status with only a minuscule chance of escaping the dictates of rigid class structure. The heroine, Mary Handley, is a nice fictional addition. Sacked from the police force for her less than condescending attitude, Mary works in a bookstore and sets up a consulting private detective business on the side. Readers should note Brooklyn on Fire is the second book in the Mary Handley series, but works as a stand-alone story. I didn’t read book one and had no trouble following the plot. Levy makes enough references to Mary’s earlier exploits so that her family and relationship with the Brooklyn Police Department are easily understood in context.

In Brooklyn on Fire, a woman hires Mary to look into the possible murder of her uncle that happened years ago. When her client is later found dead, Mary follows a twisted trail of clues in the search for justice. She tangles with the Brooklyn political machine, upper class New York society, the local police, and her own family. Mary’s investigations eventually lead down the murky path of government corruption and into an interesting subplot that involves securing a water supply for Brooklyn.

The pages of Brooklyn on Fire are strewn with details of historical events and real people from the 1890s. Levy has a flair for describing rough-and-tumble life at the end of the nineteenth century. He mixes fiction and history in an entertaining way in order to depict the power struggles between the men who ran Brooklyn before it became part of New York City. The metropolitan area was a dangerous place, especially for a woman who pokes her nose into criminal activities. Luckily, our determined heroine also knows ju-jitsu.

Quibbles and Bits

Let’s face it, Mary’s romance with a Vanderbilt is a stretch. No matter how plucky the heroine, it’s not likely the two could ever have had even a short-lived relationship, let alone travel together in the Victorian Era as they do in the book. Also, in a novel with a large cast of characters, both Mary’s brother and another man are named Sean. Two people with the same name in a book always bugs me. These criticisms are minor, and any reader with an interest in historical fiction should check out Mary Handley’s adventures.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for a review. 

Book Review of Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing by Jamie Holmes

Let’s ring in the New Year with a little nonsense, more precisely confusion and ambiguity. Modern life is full of conflicting advice and unanswered questions which leave people with vaguely unsettled feelings. What happens when we’re uncertain? How do we make the best decision when faced with a problem with multiple solutions? Jamie Holmes has written an insightful book that tries to answer the question do you embrace ambiguity or be like me—hunch in a corner and sob quietly?

People fear uncertainty. The need to resolve anxious feelings is deeply rooted and multifaceted. It can also be dangerous, especially during periods of social, political or economic confusion. The desire for fixed solutions is so great voices in the margins are shunted aside. “Fear and uncertainty...intensify people’s appetites for absolutes.” Donald Trump gleefully mouthing a platform of wide-eyed hysteria that all Muslims are bad gels nicely with a study Holmes cites on prejudice. Prejudiced people cling to the past with rigid thinking, refuse to consider all sides, and “latch on to what is familiar, safe, simple, definite.”

Embrace failure

Uncertainty is unpleasant, but in the classroom under the right conditions, uncertainty is a very good thing. People who are sure of themselves, rigid, and uncompromising, are neither innovative nor creative. Those qualities come from not knowing an outcome and trying alternatives. Having your child fail and not immediately jumping to the rescue is difficult for a parent, but “the best way to help students innovate is ”to move beyond standard grading measures and reward students for their willingness to experiment, tolerate failure, and take calculated risks.” Feelings of certainty should not be thought of as failure, but rather desirable and the key to innovative thinking.

According to Holmes, the positive aspects can also be applied to the business word. Successful innovation often comes after a string of failures. A satisfied person doesn’t look to the future and wonder what if? That edgy feeling keeps you on your toes. While businesses routinely examine failures, Holmes produces examples from companies such as Ducati, Zara, and Piggly Wiggly that successes should be put under the same scrutiny. “Embracing uncertainty after success means…always question the roles played by unforeseen factors.” Knowing your success is more than luck is as important as having the reasons for failure.

Heavy on the social sciences, easy on the noggin

Although heavy on the social sciences, this is a very readable book. Holmes breaks down complex issues into easily digestible pieces and offers several entertaining thought experiments to determine your level of rigid thinking. I scored in the mid-range so for my New Year’s resolution, I’ll stop sobbing, get out of that corner, and embrace a little more nonsense.  On that point, I’m not ambiguous, but certain.

Call me when the force really awakens. Review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Meh.

Sorry, that’s the best I can muster. Star Wars: The Force Awakens isn’t an awful movie, but it’s not a great one either.  Read on, and I promise no spoilers.

Haven’t I seen this somewhere before?

A teenager on a desert world with a hard life who doesn’t fit in. An robot with a secret agenda. A reluctant hero. A masked villain with a mysterious past. A super weapon. No I’m not describing the original Star Wars. All those same elements are in this movie along with many other similarities. Star Wars was an iconic moment in cinematic history. Any new movie in the genre should be a homage to the original, not slavishly derivative.

The surprises are disappointments. Kylo Ren’s real identity is revealed halfway through the movie. Enough hints were dropped so that if you had been paying attention, his relationship to other characters was obvious. The news arrives not with a gasp, but with a yawn. While we’re on the subject of Kylo Ren, there hasn’t been a more irritating villain since Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker.  Whiny and grating, there is nothing scary about him. Darth Vader was chilling from the first moment he appeared on screen. He never told you what he was going to do to you. He simply snapped your neck like a dry twig when you didn’t answer his questions. The worst thing he said? “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” It’s still creepy.

Kylo Ren stomps around the movie like a petulant schoolchild. Why aren’t I popular? Why don’t the cool kids like me? The rebellion has nothing to fear from him. Every time he throws another hissy fit (and he throws several) I imagine the storm troopers rolling their eyes beneath the masks and thinking, Oh crap, not again. Doesn’t he ever zip it? Eventually, they’ll rise up and kill him. Not because they fear for their lives, but simply because they’ve grown tired of his whimpering petulance. Ah well, what can one expect when Kylo Ren’s master, Supreme Leader Snoke, isn’t any more threatening? He comes across as a cranky CEO rather than an archetype of evil.

BB-8 was supposed to be the new R2-D2. Not even close. A good part of R2-D2’s charm was his relationship with C3PO.  He nagged, C3PO protested. They argued, they made up. They were a metallic odd couple. The range of whistles and clicks had a funny, weird friendship dynamic missing from the movie. BB-8 is a cute little robot, but has no one to talk to except the occasional human. There’s nothing memorable about him.

Apparently, love doesn’t conquer all

The end of the first trilogy left you with warm feelings about Han and Leia. Two people who needed each other found each other.  Sure, the road ahead wasn’t easy. There were still dangers lurking, remnants of the Empire who wouldn’t play nice, but they had each other. They would face the trials together and triumph.

Nice to know we were all wrong. Han and Leia are now grumpy Grammy and Gramps. There is no passion. This is no romance. They seem more like brother and sister. Kirk and Spock had more sexual chemistry in Abrams’ Star Trek movies than these two. Ford and Fisher are actors. Couldn’t they at least have acted as if they once had a spark?

How to improve the series

I’m so tired of all the heroes with daddy issues. This film, like so many other blockbusters, embraces father/son conflict, hoping to pull on the heartstrings. It doesn’t. All it gets from me is a Not again. Don’t they have any new ideas? The mantra in bloated budget movies seems to be if it worked the first five hundred times, it’s good enough. The big boys in Hollywood need to cut back on their cappuccino budget and find money to add a few female screenwriters.  Women would nip that daddy issue nonsense in the bud and come up with something more creative to add drama and engage an audience. Better yet, use women writers who have children. They know a thing or two about dealing with whiny toddlers and they most certainly would never write one as a villain.

Why are the powers-that-be in Hollywood so afraid of a little warmth and romance? It won’t turn an action film into a bodice-ripping chick flick, but rather humanizes the characters. There can and should be a happily ever after for well-loved heroes and heroines in movies that are meant to be fun. It makes us all feel a little better knowing that love can conquer all—even if it’s only on the movie screen. Don’t take that away from us.

Pluses. Really?

Yes there were a few. In particular, the new cast additions were excellent. Rey made a plucky heroine. Finn’s transition from storm trooper to reluctant hero added a nicely done twist. Poe Dameron’s pilot had a gritty appeal as a seasoned warrior. The story should have focused completely on them and their fight against the First Order. Dump Kylo Ren and Snoke. Add a new villain, and the movie would have been ten times better.

More to come. 

Maybe the second movie will improve. With a young cast this good there’s hope, but I won’t hold my breath. The first time I saw Star Wars, I was left with a triumphant feeling, and a desire to immediately watch the movie again. Not this time, I’m afraid.  It was an okay movie with an okay plot that generated nothing more than a vaguely dissatisfied feeling. With all the money thrown into this project, the end result really should have been memorable. It's not.