Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America - Softcover

Scientific American In 17 chapters, each a brief essay on tropical nature observed, these two young field biologists have made a model of contemporary natural history, cheerfully speculative, concerned as much with large pattern as with diversity, chemically informed, thoroughly ecological and Darwinian to the core. Philadelphia Inquirer ...one of the best natural-history books in recent years. Lyrical, richly detailed and delightful to read. Smithsonian It invites an appreciation of biology as few other books do and does so with extraordinary grace and humor. Newsweek Tropical Nature...seeks to provoke curiosity about the forests -- not just provide facts about them -- and succeeds splendidly....Tropical Nature evokes the magic and wonder of a world completely contained within itself. Ernst Mayr Combines excellent science, often based on original observations, with a warm sympathy for creatures big and small. A worthy successor to the writings of the great naturalists of the American tropics. I know of no better introduction to tropical biology. E. O. Wilson Tropical Nature is superior by virtue of its freshness and authority. It is an account of the extraordinary richness of the tropical forests by two gifted young biologists who have recently experienced it and are experts on their subject. They write with the crispness of journalists sending dispatches from the field.

A look at the natural history of tropical rain forests in South America, covers insects, birds, animals, and plants