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The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction
David Quammen's book, The Song of the Dodo, is a brilliant, stirring work, breathtaking in its scope, far-reaching in its message -- a crucial book in precarious times, which radically alters the way in which we understand the natural world and our place in that world. It's also a book full of entertainment and wonders.
In The Song of the Dodo, we follow Quammen's keen intellect through the ideas, theories, and experiments of prominent naturalists of the last two centuries. We trail after him as he travels the world, tracking the subject of island biogeography, which encompasses nothing less than the study of the origin and extinction of all species. Why is this island idea so important? Because islands are where species most commonly go extinct -- and because, as Quammen points out, we live in an age when all of Earth's landscapes are being chopped into island-like fragments by human activity.
Through his eyes, we glimpse the nature of evolution and extinction, and in so doing come to understand the monumental diversity of our planet, and the importance of preserving its wild landscapes, animals, and plants. We also meet some fascinating human characters. By the book's end we are wiser, and more deeply concerned, but Quammen leaves us with a message of excitement and hope.
In The Song of the Dodo, we follow Quammen's keen intellect through the ideas, theories, and experiments of prominent naturalists of the last two centuries. We trail after him as he travels the world, tracking the subject of island biogeography, which encompasses nothing less than the study of the origin and extinction of all species. Why is this island idea so important? Because islands are where species most commonly go extinct -- and because, as Quammen points out, we live in an age when all of Earth's landscapes are being chopped into island-like fragments by human activity.
Through his eyes, we glimpse the nature of evolution and extinction, and in so doing come to understand the monumental diversity of our planet, and the importance of preserving its wild landscapes, animals, and plants. We also meet some fascinating human characters. By the book's end we are wiser, and more deeply concerned, but Quammen leaves us with a message of excitement and hope.
702 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 1996
643 people are currently reading
16937 people want to read
About the author
David Quammen
62 books1,849 followersDavid Quammen (born February 1948) is an award-winning science, nature and travel writer whose work has appeared in publications such as National Geographic, Outside, Harper's, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times Book Review; he has also written fiction. He wrote a column called "Natural Acts" for Outside magazine for fifteen years. Quammen lives in Bozeman, Montana.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 504 reviews
November 22, 2020
How well do you understand the dynamics and consequences if insular evolution and extinction?
This is a serious, in-depth natural sciences book that (keeping in mind that ecology is a multifarious science) the predominate thrust of is ecological insularity and its consequences. For me, it pulled together and connected the dots of much I've previously learned piecemeal, and added to my understanding. The extensive detail of the book may be daunting to some, but is very informative and sobering if one reads carefully and strives to comprehend the concepts. It is not a book for those simply interested in entertainment, but it is an exceptional book for those with objective, inquiring minds if read in whole.
Herein are the What, When, Where, and Why of evolution and extinction relative to population viability that we are developing an understanding of, as evidenced in insular (i.e. restricted, whether an island or mainland habitat fragment) species. The author does try to elucidate important concepts with layman examples (e.g. mismatched socks), and there is a glossary, but there are other general terms the reader might want a dictionary close by for (e.g. words like nomothetic and idiographic). In addition, the curious reader desiring to picture unfamiliar life forms mentioned might have a wildlife field guide at hand, or use Wikipedia.
Lightening the scientific thrust of the writing, there are bits of personal reflections and travelogs.
The book also spans how we have arrived at our current understanding, with a bit of satire. Rightly so to my mind, befitting humankind's self-aggrandizing intellect, encompassing contradictory, absurd explanations. Possibly the most recognizable of these being the irreconcilability of Noah's ark with biological reality. Where there are more sensible differences in scientific theory, the author is even handed.
“. . . evolution is best understood with reference to extinction, and vice versa. In particular, the evolution of strange species on islands is a process that, once illuminated, casts light onto its dark double, which is the ultimate subject of this book: the extinction of species in a world that has been hacked into pieces.”
“. . . species extinction is central to the question of how Homo sapiens affects its own world” and to our own threatened existence. Odds are that such as rats and coyotes will fare better than humans in the environmental changes we are ignorantly creating in our insatiable greed. One reason that stands out is the habitat fragmentation caused by our infrastructure (note the relevance with insular species dynamics). We have proliferated beyond ecological balance, and with our plows, livestock, axes, poisons, industry, self-serving religious beliefs, and no more intelligence in good part than other life forms have brought about the ongoing sixth great extinction. Much as we are prone to ignore inconvenient problems, we are not exempt from such.
This isn't only about non-human evolution and extinctions, but also how our proclivities have affected fellow humans. One section about Tasmanian Aborigines, in practice corresponds to the settling (read colonizing) of North America, differing only in population size and extent of consequences. Trying to persuade natives to accept 'the blessings of Christian civilization' [or any other cultural dogma] by any means is among the subjective hypocritical tenets that are hastening our diminishment. The author aptly terms the settlers so-called benevolent interaction with the Tasmanian Aborigines as “in the truest tradition of Orwellian doublespeak.” As in North America this "serving mainly to anesthetize the collective conscience of the conquerors.”
Awareness of our most serious problems, or developing such through reading and understanding, is essential to our and our children's futures. There may still be time to mitigate the consequences, but the only hope in time is if a critical mass of humans acknowledge and confront our destructive proclivities sufficiently to bring about positive change. As things are, we are presenting the short end of the stick to our children.
This is a serious, in-depth natural sciences book that (keeping in mind that ecology is a multifarious science) the predominate thrust of is ecological insularity and its consequences. For me, it pulled together and connected the dots of much I've previously learned piecemeal, and added to my understanding. The extensive detail of the book may be daunting to some, but is very informative and sobering if one reads carefully and strives to comprehend the concepts. It is not a book for those simply interested in entertainment, but it is an exceptional book for those with objective, inquiring minds if read in whole.
Herein are the What, When, Where, and Why of evolution and extinction relative to population viability that we are developing an understanding of, as evidenced in insular (i.e. restricted, whether an island or mainland habitat fragment) species. The author does try to elucidate important concepts with layman examples (e.g. mismatched socks), and there is a glossary, but there are other general terms the reader might want a dictionary close by for (e.g. words like nomothetic and idiographic). In addition, the curious reader desiring to picture unfamiliar life forms mentioned might have a wildlife field guide at hand, or use Wikipedia.
Lightening the scientific thrust of the writing, there are bits of personal reflections and travelogs.
The book also spans how we have arrived at our current understanding, with a bit of satire. Rightly so to my mind, befitting humankind's self-aggrandizing intellect, encompassing contradictory, absurd explanations. Possibly the most recognizable of these being the irreconcilability of Noah's ark with biological reality. Where there are more sensible differences in scientific theory, the author is even handed.
“. . . evolution is best understood with reference to extinction, and vice versa. In particular, the evolution of strange species on islands is a process that, once illuminated, casts light onto its dark double, which is the ultimate subject of this book: the extinction of species in a world that has been hacked into pieces.”
“. . . species extinction is central to the question of how Homo sapiens affects its own world” and to our own threatened existence. Odds are that such as rats and coyotes will fare better than humans in the environmental changes we are ignorantly creating in our insatiable greed. One reason that stands out is the habitat fragmentation caused by our infrastructure (note the relevance with insular species dynamics). We have proliferated beyond ecological balance, and with our plows, livestock, axes, poisons, industry, self-serving religious beliefs, and no more intelligence in good part than other life forms have brought about the ongoing sixth great extinction. Much as we are prone to ignore inconvenient problems, we are not exempt from such.
This isn't only about non-human evolution and extinctions, but also how our proclivities have affected fellow humans. One section about Tasmanian Aborigines, in practice corresponds to the settling (read colonizing) of North America, differing only in population size and extent of consequences. Trying to persuade natives to accept 'the blessings of Christian civilization' [or any other cultural dogma] by any means is among the subjective hypocritical tenets that are hastening our diminishment. The author aptly terms the settlers so-called benevolent interaction with the Tasmanian Aborigines as “in the truest tradition of Orwellian doublespeak.” As in North America this "serving mainly to anesthetize the collective conscience of the conquerors.”
Awareness of our most serious problems, or developing such through reading and understanding, is essential to our and our children's futures. There may still be time to mitigate the consequences, but the only hope in time is if a critical mass of humans acknowledge and confront our destructive proclivities sufficiently to bring about positive change. As things are, we are presenting the short end of the stick to our children.
May 16, 2023
If I had not been listening to an audiobook as a complement to my read, I don't think I would have made it through. THE SONG OF THE DODO is a deeply depressing book, and so foreboding I needed days to stop ruminating. It isn't what Quammen says in this book that scared me. He goes on page after page, after section, after historical era describing the eradication of animal species, sometimes whole ecosystems. All the while, looms the shadow of society, springing up unobstructed-- thriving. But Quammen never places blame or points a finger, as though to say-- this is not a question of morality. It's more practical than that.
He walks the reader along and describes an Earth we would inherit if such obliteration of ecodiversity continues unchecked. But something else he leaves unsaid-- an answer for this problem. He sees his place as to describe-- not prescribe. Quammen doesn't want to save us from ourselves.
Rating: 🦤🦤🦤🦤.5 / 5 dodos
Recommend: Yes, but it's heavy if you like animals
Finished: December 2022
Read this if you like:
📚 Nonfiction
🔬 Contemporary science
🧪 History of science
🌿 Naturalism
🦭 Animals
🗣 Activism
He walks the reader along and describes an Earth we would inherit if such obliteration of ecodiversity continues unchecked. But something else he leaves unsaid-- an answer for this problem. He sees his place as to describe-- not prescribe. Quammen doesn't want to save us from ourselves.
Rating: 🦤🦤🦤🦤.5 / 5 dodos
Recommend: Yes, but it's heavy if you like animals
Finished: December 2022
Read this if you like:
📚 Nonfiction
🔬 Contemporary science
🧪 History of science
🌿 Naturalism
🦭 Animals
🗣 Activism
December 28, 2013
Disclaimer: I'm only about a third of the way through, I'll update this review as I go. So far:
This book is physically WEIGHTY. At first, I was pleased about this--if it's a good read give me more of it!--but as I went I grew more and more disappointed.
No, the length isn't really important, except that I feel a fine editor could have cut this into a 4-star book with ease. Quammen tells a compelling narrative of interesting, oft-overlooked biologists such as Alfred Wallace, whose story alone was worth the read.
The personal narratives and conversations are hit and miss. I didn't love the author waxing poetic about viewing a pile of giant tortoises with his native guide, but I absolutely adored his conversations with a scientist studying tenrecs. That editor could give Quammen the benefit of the doubt: leave all these colorful digressions in. However, I would humbly suggest that this story need not be punctuated with:
- a solid page of Latin names of island creatures, which the author himself bids me to forget immediately
- the titles of twenty papers on island biogeography that are on the author's desk
- a half-page about a slightly mistranslated English sign in Indonesia
I can't even imagine how those survived the editing process. But they are just symptomatic of the larger problem: decadence. Wherever Quammen could proffer 2 or 3 or 5 examples...he puts 20. A short explanation of the different locations of giant tortoise species becomes a chapter, a showy rug analogy drags on for paragraphs. Editor!
The author is great, GREAT, when in the middle of a chapter on some historical biologist, cutting through the bushy undergrowth to a brilliant scientific discovery. He does a good job summarizing scientific topics in an understandable way. He is pretty decent at throwing in relevant digressions from his personal experience to enrich the story. In fact overall I think the author did everything that an author should be expected to do.
The editor, though, needs to sack up and get out the machete.
This book is physically WEIGHTY. At first, I was pleased about this--if it's a good read give me more of it!--but as I went I grew more and more disappointed.
No, the length isn't really important, except that I feel a fine editor could have cut this into a 4-star book with ease. Quammen tells a compelling narrative of interesting, oft-overlooked biologists such as Alfred Wallace, whose story alone was worth the read.
The personal narratives and conversations are hit and miss. I didn't love the author waxing poetic about viewing a pile of giant tortoises with his native guide, but I absolutely adored his conversations with a scientist studying tenrecs. That editor could give Quammen the benefit of the doubt: leave all these colorful digressions in. However, I would humbly suggest that this story need not be punctuated with:
- a solid page of Latin names of island creatures, which the author himself bids me to forget immediately
- the titles of twenty papers on island biogeography that are on the author's desk
- a half-page about a slightly mistranslated English sign in Indonesia
I can't even imagine how those survived the editing process. But they are just symptomatic of the larger problem: decadence. Wherever Quammen could proffer 2 or 3 or 5 examples...he puts 20. A short explanation of the different locations of giant tortoise species becomes a chapter, a showy rug analogy drags on for paragraphs. Editor!
The author is great, GREAT, when in the middle of a chapter on some historical biologist, cutting through the bushy undergrowth to a brilliant scientific discovery. He does a good job summarizing scientific topics in an understandable way. He is pretty decent at throwing in relevant digressions from his personal experience to enrich the story. In fact overall I think the author did everything that an author should be expected to do.
The editor, though, needs to sack up and get out the machete.
October 27, 2018
This book gets high marks for its large scope covering many of the notable species extinctions and current vulnerable island populations and creating a convincing link between the two. This book does well when the author talks about the history of the animal species and those naturalists who did the early work like Darwin and Wallace. The author is quite knowledgeable and a truth seeker. The tone is not preachy whatsoever although there is an inconsistent approach to describing the species.
Now for the negative. The execution of the chapters felt like following a complicated möbius strip or Escher diagram from the beginning to the end. The author just went everywhere in random directions. Poor big picture consolidation in the book with at times an excessively casual style of writing but sans the humor of a Tim Cahill. Like Cahill, the author wrote articles for Outside magazine for many years and he seems quite knowledgeable about flora and fauna to be sure. So reading this weighty tome felt like reading eighty short articles poorly spliced together. There were too many random scientists and names dropped as the author traipsed through various island jungles over decades of writing and research. I think if the author told the stories in a different way, it would have made all the difference for me. I like the approach Jared Diamond, one of his contemporaries, takes. You know he is there in the story but keeping his first person distance and not accidentally making the story about him.
The sections on the Komodo Dragon and the Dodo bird were five star material but just too short, they make up less than 10% of the book. The author absolutely proved the basic premise of the book, the effects of island species vulnerability and variations, within the first 200 to 300 pages. So the next six 600 pages were at times individually interesting depending on the story told but became superfluous to advancing the thesis.
I would rate Song of the Dodo three stars overall. The information content gets five stars and the organization and writing closer to two or three stars. A lot of potential especially if you are a science buff and a worthwhile read but frustrating for the reasons I mentioned above.
Now for the negative. The execution of the chapters felt like following a complicated möbius strip or Escher diagram from the beginning to the end. The author just went everywhere in random directions. Poor big picture consolidation in the book with at times an excessively casual style of writing but sans the humor of a Tim Cahill. Like Cahill, the author wrote articles for Outside magazine for many years and he seems quite knowledgeable about flora and fauna to be sure. So reading this weighty tome felt like reading eighty short articles poorly spliced together. There were too many random scientists and names dropped as the author traipsed through various island jungles over decades of writing and research. I think if the author told the stories in a different way, it would have made all the difference for me. I like the approach Jared Diamond, one of his contemporaries, takes. You know he is there in the story but keeping his first person distance and not accidentally making the story about him.
The sections on the Komodo Dragon and the Dodo bird were five star material but just too short, they make up less than 10% of the book. The author absolutely proved the basic premise of the book, the effects of island species vulnerability and variations, within the first 200 to 300 pages. So the next six 600 pages were at times individually interesting depending on the story told but became superfluous to advancing the thesis.
I would rate Song of the Dodo three stars overall. The information content gets five stars and the organization and writing closer to two or three stars. A lot of potential especially if you are a science buff and a worthwhile read but frustrating for the reasons I mentioned above.
December 19, 2007
This is the first book I've read by Quammen, an imminently talented journalist who perfectly balances the information and writing style of the book. He follows a chronological progression of island biogeography from Darwin through Jared Diamond (who became hugely famous shortly after the release of this book). Quammen's travelogues are excellent, combining a sympathetic, open perspective that is adventurous and engaged. Late in the book, Quammen describes a climb to the nest of a Mauritius kestrel: "When I'm thirty feet up, a tree branch flicks off my glasses, which drop to the ground. I could go down and retrieve them, sure, that would be sensible, but I'd fall too far behind the cheerful maniacs...
'Do you trust this vine?' I call up to Jones. Gangly but tall, he must weigh two hundred pounds, and from this angle I can appreciate the size of his feet.
'Not greatly.'
We ratchet our way upward, slowly, on the cliff face. It isn't Half Dome but it's more perilous than the average birdwatching stroll. We rise out above the valley. As we move beyond the treetops, I give myself an explicit mental reminder: Fall from here and you don't go home. Finally, Jones and I catch up with Lewis on a narrow rock shelf, like a window ledge ten stories above Lexington Avenue...
I gaze out at the panorama--the forested canyon below us, the deer ranch beyond, and the cane plantation beyond that, all spreading westward for five miles to the crescent of beach and then the great turquoise plane of the Indian Ocean." (562-3)
It's Quammen's excitement and sensitivty that inspire the reader to continue and to care, to take notice of humanity's influence: carving nature into islands, resulting in astonishing rates of extinction and ecosystem decay. But Quammen urges us to cling to hope, not despair, because "besides being fruitless it's far less exciting than hope, however slim." (636)
'Do you trust this vine?' I call up to Jones. Gangly but tall, he must weigh two hundred pounds, and from this angle I can appreciate the size of his feet.
'Not greatly.'
We ratchet our way upward, slowly, on the cliff face. It isn't Half Dome but it's more perilous than the average birdwatching stroll. We rise out above the valley. As we move beyond the treetops, I give myself an explicit mental reminder: Fall from here and you don't go home. Finally, Jones and I catch up with Lewis on a narrow rock shelf, like a window ledge ten stories above Lexington Avenue...
I gaze out at the panorama--the forested canyon below us, the deer ranch beyond, and the cane plantation beyond that, all spreading westward for five miles to the crescent of beach and then the great turquoise plane of the Indian Ocean." (562-3)
It's Quammen's excitement and sensitivty that inspire the reader to continue and to care, to take notice of humanity's influence: carving nature into islands, resulting in astonishing rates of extinction and ecosystem decay. But Quammen urges us to cling to hope, not despair, because "besides being fruitless it's far less exciting than hope, however slim." (636)
Read
November 11, 2017No rating. I read about a fourth and then skim read about half more. His tone and attitude is so much accusatory and "chicken little" that what particles of real information that I can get about island isolation and other historic evolutionary boundaries, is lost within his sarcasm and blaming. Not for me his attitude, nor his disrespect. He writes of humans as if they were bacteria. He actually fat shames too, tourists or any one who he sees as action or appearance worthy for ridicule. (Those "beefy Australians" etc.) I did get one nugget out of this. And that is that line of demarcation between species types that runs between those two islands placed in that line near east end of the general Java area. And how one is on land (continental) bridge and one is not. So despite there being only 20 miles between them (these two islands), the history and evolution of their animal and especially mammal types are entirely different. Obviously one of the islands, the west one- it has traveled there and was once part of the continent itself. While the other never was.
It also needs an immense edit as so many of the page after page tangent asides and travelogue minutia that has absolutely nothing to do with the title focus has been included. Why? Then title it appropriately as a travelogue? It still doesn't work, IMHO. And it doesn't help that he sees ecosystems as rather "stuck in time" features; he has quite a few dated theories as belief cores on top of it.
It's truly bad when a scientist becomes so negative and sour that they write with this tone as a near constant. As if humans should all just take numbers in some lottery fashion and commit suicide by 75% and then the rest should go back to live in caves- so that no other species has a "disadvantage". Nature LAUGHS at his attitude, in truth. Because before homo and ever since homo there have always been majority species extinctions. At some points almost 80 or 90% of all living things (botany as well as biology) have evolved to other forms or had their own categories become extinct. NOTHING is ever in freeze frame. He knows this. Too much angry ire to sift through here in order to get to the observational science, IMHO. Others may surely want to sift. I do not.
It also needs an immense edit as so many of the page after page tangent asides and travelogue minutia that has absolutely nothing to do with the title focus has been included. Why? Then title it appropriately as a travelogue? It still doesn't work, IMHO. And it doesn't help that he sees ecosystems as rather "stuck in time" features; he has quite a few dated theories as belief cores on top of it.
It's truly bad when a scientist becomes so negative and sour that they write with this tone as a near constant. As if humans should all just take numbers in some lottery fashion and commit suicide by 75% and then the rest should go back to live in caves- so that no other species has a "disadvantage". Nature LAUGHS at his attitude, in truth. Because before homo and ever since homo there have always been majority species extinctions. At some points almost 80 or 90% of all living things (botany as well as biology) have evolved to other forms or had their own categories become extinct. NOTHING is ever in freeze frame. He knows this. Too much angry ire to sift through here in order to get to the observational science, IMHO. Others may surely want to sift. I do not.
August 14, 2007
One of my all-time favorite books (this was a re-read) by my favorite natural history author. Anyone who likes Stephen Jay Gould or Howard Zinn style writing will enjoy David Quammen. Not only is it beautifully written, it intertwines stories of the development of the theory of evolution with modern scientific research and travel, and serves as a call to arms to save the last great wild places.
May 26, 2022
• THE SONG OF THE DODO: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction by David Quammen, 1996.
I spent a good bit of May making my way through this 700-page book about island ecosystems.
David Quammen is a science journalist, but he could probably moonlight as a comedian / satirical storyteller, because he's got jokes. He relays natural history with some wit and wryness, and choice four-letter words... It makes for very entertaining reading, a kind of running log of biology, travel / "funny stuff that happened in the field", academic quibbles over minutiae, and a larger call for conservation.
Quammen spans the globe in these pages, taking a closer look at island geography, biology, and history from Madagascar to Hawaii, Saint Lucia to Tasmania, Komodo to Madeira.
This book could easily be 5 or 6 books, considering the amount covered here. As the title suggests, there is a lot of discussion about specific island species like the dodo 🦤 of Mauritius, single-handedly wiped out by European sailors...
The book soars when Quammen is traveling alongside scientists : finding elusive lemurs in Madagascar, on the Indonesian islands of Rinca and Komodo searching for dragons; in Tasmania, describing the history of Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples, and the (long extinct?) animals that still capture headlines - the Tasmanian tiger.
It gets a bit "in the weeds" describing the various biogeographical theories and academic in-fighting, but he makes it palpable with the humor and anecdotes.
Undoubtedly quite a lot of research and field study had happened since the book's publication in the mid-90s, so there could be some updates and supplements. In a new edition, I'd love to see more research about the biodiversity on Caribbean islands, and also discussion of cold climate / polar islands. Biodiversity isn't just for the tropics.
#QuammenClub likely continuing later this year with some of his shorter essays from The Boilerplate Rhino. Enjoying the lightheartedness of some of his earlier works. As much as I enjoyed SPILLOVER and learned from EBOLA, this earlier traveling scientific humorist is a bit of relief in hard and heavy times.
I spent a good bit of May making my way through this 700-page book about island ecosystems.
David Quammen is a science journalist, but he could probably moonlight as a comedian / satirical storyteller, because he's got jokes. He relays natural history with some wit and wryness, and choice four-letter words... It makes for very entertaining reading, a kind of running log of biology, travel / "funny stuff that happened in the field", academic quibbles over minutiae, and a larger call for conservation.
Quammen spans the globe in these pages, taking a closer look at island geography, biology, and history from Madagascar to Hawaii, Saint Lucia to Tasmania, Komodo to Madeira.
This book could easily be 5 or 6 books, considering the amount covered here. As the title suggests, there is a lot of discussion about specific island species like the dodo 🦤 of Mauritius, single-handedly wiped out by European sailors...
The book soars when Quammen is traveling alongside scientists : finding elusive lemurs in Madagascar, on the Indonesian islands of Rinca and Komodo searching for dragons; in Tasmania, describing the history of Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples, and the (long extinct?) animals that still capture headlines - the Tasmanian tiger.
It gets a bit "in the weeds" describing the various biogeographical theories and academic in-fighting, but he makes it palpable with the humor and anecdotes.
Undoubtedly quite a lot of research and field study had happened since the book's publication in the mid-90s, so there could be some updates and supplements. In a new edition, I'd love to see more research about the biodiversity on Caribbean islands, and also discussion of cold climate / polar islands. Biodiversity isn't just for the tropics.
#QuammenClub likely continuing later this year with some of his shorter essays from The Boilerplate Rhino. Enjoying the lightheartedness of some of his earlier works. As much as I enjoyed SPILLOVER and learned from EBOLA, this earlier traveling scientific humorist is a bit of relief in hard and heavy times.
January 17, 2009
A fantastic book whose only flaw is that it requires the reader to keep track of various storylines.
Let's get my only complaint out of the way. Quammen does a good job of making us feel like we are part of the investigation into island biogeography but he does so by mixing several storylines together. These are the participants, locations and the time they occur, as they occur in the first unit.
Wallace's 1856 trip from Singapore to Lambok
Quammen's recent trip to Lambok
Nicolo di Conti's trip to to the Malay Archipelago
The ark and creation
Wallace's trip (again)
Quammen in Madagascar
Lyle and Darwin in England
Quammen in Madagascar (again)
Charles Lyell's trip 1856, to the Madieras (Atlantic Ocean)
Darwin's Beagle travels 1831
Wallace in Brazil, 1848
Quammen's travels in Brazil, modern
Wallace in Malaysia, 1854
Wallace in Dobo, 1857 Aru Islands -all this in Unit 1!
The book ends with Quammen in the Aru islands around 140 years after Wallace.
Maybe breaking the stories into bite sized pieces makes them more digestible but Quammen's own trip in Malaysia takes about 50 pages and is spread out over 630 pages.
I guess that's the difference between a very interesting book on modern science and a not-so-interesting science textbook. And this book is interesting. Every little piece fits together nicely and explains the subject well.
I like the way the author followed in the tracks of the people he writes about. I certainly felt a bit of a thrill in Australia, inland of Sydney, reading Darwin's account of the Beagle voyage and seeing the same sights he did. He described how he saw convicts working the stone to make steps and around Katoomba, I saw those very steps. I had the same feeling while traveling across Canada and reading a history of Canada. I read it as I crossed the Rockies and really got a feel for how important the railway was - in a way that I didn't in history class.
The subject is the ecology of islands but it is much more than that. Almost any place on earth can be described as an island for various animal groups. National parks in Korea (and elsewhere) are islands of wilderness in an urban or agricultural sea. Caves are islands; how do cave species cross lighted ground to another cave? Mountain tops are islands separated by valleys and valleys can be islands separated by mountains. Lakes are islands and deep areas in those lakes can also be islands, separated from other deep areas by shallow areas. One species of snake described in the book lived only in riffles or fast moving water in a few rivers. Those sets of rapids were separated by slow moving water that was home to larger snakes that preyed on them. Suburban residential blocks are grassy islands that are surrounded by treacherous asphalt
Some animals can travel from island to island. Most birds, but surprisingly, not all, fit this group. Small predators like foxes or raccoondogs can also cross from one wilderness to another. Large predators or herbivores cannot. Tigers, bears and deer all have trouble crossing from safe harbor to safe harbor. .
A key part of island biogeography is determining how many species can live on an island. Typically the number of species on an island remains the same even while some species die out and new ones enter. This part of the book reminded me of my biology classes at university where I studied evolution but apparently forgot a lot until this book, much more grippingly, refreshed my memory. If you want to learn about evolution, this is the book.
The other side of new species evolving is older species going extinct. In most of history, the number of new species appearing equaled the number disappearing. Now, the extinction rate has increased 100 times and the end of the book has the required warnings and doom and gloom; "To despair of the entire situation is another reasonable alternative."
The content of this book affects Korea. There is a lot about the appropriate size of wildlife parks. Signs at Seorak Park claim there are bears in the park and Chilisan National Park has had researchers trying to find bears there. They may exist but are there enough to maintain a longterm population? As a qualified estimate from the book, a population of 50 is required to maintain a healthy population. I suppose the book could be used as justification for turning the whole DMZ into a park come reunification. Breaking it into farmland or even crossing it with highways will significantly reduce it's usefulness to large-bodied wildlife.
If you are interested in travelling to almost any island, this book will tell you about that island. Again, if you want to understand evolution, this is the book. If you are interested in the pragmatic details of wilderness conservation, this is the book.
Let's get my only complaint out of the way. Quammen does a good job of making us feel like we are part of the investigation into island biogeography but he does so by mixing several storylines together. These are the participants, locations and the time they occur, as they occur in the first unit.
Wallace's 1856 trip from Singapore to Lambok
Quammen's recent trip to Lambok
Nicolo di Conti's trip to to the Malay Archipelago
The ark and creation
Wallace's trip (again)
Quammen in Madagascar
Lyle and Darwin in England
Quammen in Madagascar (again)
Charles Lyell's trip 1856, to the Madieras (Atlantic Ocean)
Darwin's Beagle travels 1831
Wallace in Brazil, 1848
Quammen's travels in Brazil, modern
Wallace in Malaysia, 1854
Wallace in Dobo, 1857 Aru Islands -all this in Unit 1!
The book ends with Quammen in the Aru islands around 140 years after Wallace.
Maybe breaking the stories into bite sized pieces makes them more digestible but Quammen's own trip in Malaysia takes about 50 pages and is spread out over 630 pages.
I guess that's the difference between a very interesting book on modern science and a not-so-interesting science textbook. And this book is interesting. Every little piece fits together nicely and explains the subject well.
I like the way the author followed in the tracks of the people he writes about. I certainly felt a bit of a thrill in Australia, inland of Sydney, reading Darwin's account of the Beagle voyage and seeing the same sights he did. He described how he saw convicts working the stone to make steps and around Katoomba, I saw those very steps. I had the same feeling while traveling across Canada and reading a history of Canada. I read it as I crossed the Rockies and really got a feel for how important the railway was - in a way that I didn't in history class.
The subject is the ecology of islands but it is much more than that. Almost any place on earth can be described as an island for various animal groups. National parks in Korea (and elsewhere) are islands of wilderness in an urban or agricultural sea. Caves are islands; how do cave species cross lighted ground to another cave? Mountain tops are islands separated by valleys and valleys can be islands separated by mountains. Lakes are islands and deep areas in those lakes can also be islands, separated from other deep areas by shallow areas. One species of snake described in the book lived only in riffles or fast moving water in a few rivers. Those sets of rapids were separated by slow moving water that was home to larger snakes that preyed on them. Suburban residential blocks are grassy islands that are surrounded by treacherous asphalt
Some animals can travel from island to island. Most birds, but surprisingly, not all, fit this group. Small predators like foxes or raccoondogs can also cross from one wilderness to another. Large predators or herbivores cannot. Tigers, bears and deer all have trouble crossing from safe harbor to safe harbor. .
A key part of island biogeography is determining how many species can live on an island. Typically the number of species on an island remains the same even while some species die out and new ones enter. This part of the book reminded me of my biology classes at university where I studied evolution but apparently forgot a lot until this book, much more grippingly, refreshed my memory. If you want to learn about evolution, this is the book.
The other side of new species evolving is older species going extinct. In most of history, the number of new species appearing equaled the number disappearing. Now, the extinction rate has increased 100 times and the end of the book has the required warnings and doom and gloom; "To despair of the entire situation is another reasonable alternative."
The content of this book affects Korea. There is a lot about the appropriate size of wildlife parks. Signs at Seorak Park claim there are bears in the park and Chilisan National Park has had researchers trying to find bears there. They may exist but are there enough to maintain a longterm population? As a qualified estimate from the book, a population of 50 is required to maintain a healthy population. I suppose the book could be used as justification for turning the whole DMZ into a park come reunification. Breaking it into farmland or even crossing it with highways will significantly reduce it's usefulness to large-bodied wildlife.
If you are interested in travelling to almost any island, this book will tell you about that island. Again, if you want to understand evolution, this is the book. If you are interested in the pragmatic details of wilderness conservation, this is the book.
August 31, 2010
One of the great classics of science literature. If the grading system were a one to ten, I would give it a ten. Quammen gives a pretty thorough history of island evolution and extinction. It's interesting to note that island evolution and extinction now applies to the mainland because we have created "islands" in our national parks and remaining wild areas. Other "islands" are formed in places like mountain tops. Sadly, once again the science is not very optimistic about the future, but we press on in our losing battles against extinction.
November 26, 2017
This is a book about history: Animals and plants that once were and are no more, and how we should interpret that fact. When the question, “Why?” was asked, a new science was born. Quammen spends considerable effort building a context for this science. At first there were only observations, lists of features, catalogues of previously unknown species. Haphazard collections of these curiosities of nature captured the interest of Victorian naturalists. Volumes were filled. The list of new species seemed interminable. All of this was happening against a backdrop of belief in religious doctrine: Special creation, an earth whose age was reckoned in terms of thousands rather than millions of years, and of course, Noah's ark. One scholar tried to accommodate the crowd with a new ark design: “...a boxy, three-story structure resembling a Super 8 motel, beneath which appears no trace of a hull. Unquestionably it would have allowed efficient division of space into many stalls and cages, but it doesn't look seaworthy.... By the end of the seventeenth century, naturalists were aware of 500 bird species, 150 quadruped species, and about 10,000 species of invertebrates. Fifty years later, when Linnaeus began putting things in order, those numbers were still growing quickly. Linnaeus himself named and catalogued almost 6,000 species. The ark was overbooked.” (Chapter 5)
Despite their unsystematic methodologies, some began to discover patterns. As early as 1772 Johann Reinhold Forster noticed that big islands seemed to harbor more diverse species than small islands. Why? Alfred Russel Wallace wrote in the 1850's that old islands had more unique (endemic) species than newer ones. Why? Mammals on isolated islands tended toward dwarfism while reptiles tended toward gigantism (e.g. Pleistocene miniature elephants on Sicily and the modern Komodo dragon, respectively). Again, why? Looking for those answers fed the new science.
Conjecture about reasons for speciation and extinction have shifted in context and conceptual framework over time. Quammen defines, contextualizes, and illustrates a list of specific processes (his “insular menu”) that are critical to understanding the process of speciation and of extinction. For adaptive radiation he offers the story of the tenrec, an insectivore which branched into over 30 species all dwelling exclusively on Madagascar. To highlight the significance of reproductive isolation, he recounts Wallace's examination of two neighboring islands, Bali and Lombok. The wildlife of Bali was similar to the wildlife of Borneo; on nearby Lombok, a dissimilar array of families were variants of New Guinea's. The split (later named the Wallace line) ran the length of the Malay Archipelago, and the key piece of information would later be found in the geologic origins of the archipelago. To illustrate dispersal, Quammen describes the repopulation of Rakata, the barren aftermath of Krakatoa. The 30 pound ground dwelling dodo that once inhabited Madagascar is a classic case of loss of defensive adaptation. Examined separately, each of these processes appears obvious. They become complicated because in the real word they do not operate separately. In case after case, Quammen demonstrates how an obvious hypothesis morphs into a complicated historical process once the facts are examined. If there is a single lesson to be learned, it is that speciation and extinction are not simple processes.
A conceptual focus of his book is the species-area relationship. It is a reworking of the relationship between island size and species diversity noticed by Foster. It's the reason Quammen begins with island biogeography. The area of an island is easily computed. The 18th century intuitive conjecture received mathematical support in the 20th century when Philip Darlington censused amphibian and reptile species in the Antilles. His data-based generalization was that the division of area by ten divides amphibian and reptile fauna by two (Chapter 108). Frank Preston, an engineer and conservationist, summarized his observations about relative abundance of a species into another mathematical formula (the canonical distribution of commoness and rarity). Fortunately, Quammen focuses on the implication of Preston's conclusion, rather than the mathematical model: “ '...it is not possible to preserve in a State or National Park a complete replica on a small scale of the fauna and flora of a much larger area.' ” (Chapter 109) Why? The answer relies on making the distinction between a sample and an isolate. Preserves may begin as samples. They end up as isolates. Isolates reduce immigration to the value of zero, a major disruption to the immigration-extinction balance. It's a chilling conclusion if the hypothesis is correct.
A descriptive science was struggling to become a predictive science. The defining moment was the equilibrium model developed by Robert MacArthur and E.O. Wilson in the 1960's. They quantified the factors controlling extinction and immigration on an island in order to predict species impoverishment. The prediction implied a set point of equilibrium. The second leap they made was the analogy between actual islands and ecological islands – habitats separated by physical barriers: “...literal islands, surrounded by water, are only one sort of insular situation. Also to be considered are virtual islands, surrounded by other kinds of barrier.” (Chapter 122). A corollary of this model is that there is a balance between immigration and extinction (back to the isolate vs. sample distinction), and that this balance can be expressed mathematically. James Brown studied small mammals in the American Great Basin region. Again, Quammen summarizes: “Insularization, for the Great Basin mountaintop communities, entailed an inexorable decline in diversity. Does this sound ominous? Does it sound familiar? The same phenomenon would eventually be known by various labels, one of which is ecosystem decay.” (Chapter 122).
Once the connection between habitat fragmentation and insularity was made, the field of applied biogeography was launched. It's a controversial field. Eloquently supported by Wilson and Jared Diamond, the resulting models are still only hypotheses. Despite Quammen's obvious leanings, he carefully lays out the position of opponents. It's a controversy that is fraught with consequence. Misapplication of the model will be an executioner's axe for species deemed “unviable” prematurely. The crux of the matter is: Can something as complex as biodiversity ever be reduced to a workable model?
Quammen has written a truly scientific book for the unscientific layperson. He intersperses essays with the flavor of travelogue and colorful biographical sketches of key field researchers with the tough scientific hypotheses they are investigating, and succeeds in holding the reader's interest through all of some seven hundred plus pages. He addresses the emotional roots of conservation with hard science. Yes, all species are not equal. Some, like the panda, are charismatic to the general public. But there is a larger context that will affect their survival. That context includes examination of rare, highly specialized, and vulnerable species. To understand the survival of this broader category, we need to understand the real world of species dynamics. Thus, Quammen is able to link emotional with ethical and scientific concerns. That link is eloquently expressed when Quammen visits Dan Simberloff, the leading critic of the equilibrium model as proposed by Jared Diamond. Simberloff stopped visiting the Florida Keys sites of the Mangrove experiments he once conducted with E.O. Wilson. “'I was driving down to one of the field sites....I came off Seven Mile bridge, passed over the first key....from Missouri Key I would see the trees of Ohio Key. Instead of Ohio Key I didn't see anything. Then, when I got to the end of Missouri Key, I could see that the reason was, there were no trees there. The entire key, which would have been in the range of four acres, had been leveled and cleared. It was now all crushed coral. It had been turned into a trailer park....I was so...' He pauses. He starts again. 'I drove right over it into the next key, which is Bahia Honda, where the state park is. And I pulled over, and cried. I couldn't handle it. It was just so sad. And it so epitomized what was happening in the Keys....That's why I stopped working there,' he says.” (Chapter 138)
This is not an easy book. The material is an assemblage of 178 untitled chapters grouped into ten broad headings. The first hundred pages is devoted almost entirely to Wallace's contribution vs. Darwin's to the theory of natural selection. The chapters jump back and forth in time as Quammen seeks to tie together each concept with both historical antecedents and modern day field research. The most vivid chapters are anecdotal such as a dicey foray into the interior of Komodo Island after watching a feeding staged for the tourists. Quammen finds a guide to take him to Loh Sabita Valley “...where the deer are not tame, the water is not bottled, goat carcasses don't fall from the sky, and the komodos still live by their skill as hunters.” (Chapter 45). Another memorable story is the mysterious saga of bird extinction on Guam. Quammen accompanies a herpetologist on his nightly rounds. Quammen is such a vivid writer that the casual reader could be satisfied merely to be entertained by these tales. However, the attempt to understand the harder scientific implications is well worth the extra effort and a lot of effort is required due to the embedded structure of this book. I found it necessary to approach the material as if reading a textbook, taking notes at the end of each chapter in order to follow the scientific thread. (A google search reveals that several study guides to the book are available). The book is assigned reading in several college courses. Quammen's intent, however, is obviously to draw the general reader into the realm of real science. As with all such books, the reader's gain will be proportional to his effort, and in the end, well rewarded.
NOTES:
http://amongthestatelytrees.wordpress... Interesting comments from college students who read the book as part of their class.
http://www.colorado.edu/journalism/ce...
An annotated bibliography of books about environment and conservation science.
I recommend reading the paper edition of this book. Many of the islands mentioned are quite small and obscure. There are a number of helpful maps in the book which are difficult to view on an e-reader. Some supplemental maps online can be found for Aru (www.peterloud.co.uk/indonesia/aru2.gif); and the islands of Flores and Timor (http://www.pindito.com/et40d/diving_a...)
Despite their unsystematic methodologies, some began to discover patterns. As early as 1772 Johann Reinhold Forster noticed that big islands seemed to harbor more diverse species than small islands. Why? Alfred Russel Wallace wrote in the 1850's that old islands had more unique (endemic) species than newer ones. Why? Mammals on isolated islands tended toward dwarfism while reptiles tended toward gigantism (e.g. Pleistocene miniature elephants on Sicily and the modern Komodo dragon, respectively). Again, why? Looking for those answers fed the new science.
Conjecture about reasons for speciation and extinction have shifted in context and conceptual framework over time. Quammen defines, contextualizes, and illustrates a list of specific processes (his “insular menu”) that are critical to understanding the process of speciation and of extinction. For adaptive radiation he offers the story of the tenrec, an insectivore which branched into over 30 species all dwelling exclusively on Madagascar. To highlight the significance of reproductive isolation, he recounts Wallace's examination of two neighboring islands, Bali and Lombok. The wildlife of Bali was similar to the wildlife of Borneo; on nearby Lombok, a dissimilar array of families were variants of New Guinea's. The split (later named the Wallace line) ran the length of the Malay Archipelago, and the key piece of information would later be found in the geologic origins of the archipelago. To illustrate dispersal, Quammen describes the repopulation of Rakata, the barren aftermath of Krakatoa. The 30 pound ground dwelling dodo that once inhabited Madagascar is a classic case of loss of defensive adaptation. Examined separately, each of these processes appears obvious. They become complicated because in the real word they do not operate separately. In case after case, Quammen demonstrates how an obvious hypothesis morphs into a complicated historical process once the facts are examined. If there is a single lesson to be learned, it is that speciation and extinction are not simple processes.
A conceptual focus of his book is the species-area relationship. It is a reworking of the relationship between island size and species diversity noticed by Foster. It's the reason Quammen begins with island biogeography. The area of an island is easily computed. The 18th century intuitive conjecture received mathematical support in the 20th century when Philip Darlington censused amphibian and reptile species in the Antilles. His data-based generalization was that the division of area by ten divides amphibian and reptile fauna by two (Chapter 108). Frank Preston, an engineer and conservationist, summarized his observations about relative abundance of a species into another mathematical formula (the canonical distribution of commoness and rarity). Fortunately, Quammen focuses on the implication of Preston's conclusion, rather than the mathematical model: “ '...it is not possible to preserve in a State or National Park a complete replica on a small scale of the fauna and flora of a much larger area.' ” (Chapter 109) Why? The answer relies on making the distinction between a sample and an isolate. Preserves may begin as samples. They end up as isolates. Isolates reduce immigration to the value of zero, a major disruption to the immigration-extinction balance. It's a chilling conclusion if the hypothesis is correct.
A descriptive science was struggling to become a predictive science. The defining moment was the equilibrium model developed by Robert MacArthur and E.O. Wilson in the 1960's. They quantified the factors controlling extinction and immigration on an island in order to predict species impoverishment. The prediction implied a set point of equilibrium. The second leap they made was the analogy between actual islands and ecological islands – habitats separated by physical barriers: “...literal islands, surrounded by water, are only one sort of insular situation. Also to be considered are virtual islands, surrounded by other kinds of barrier.” (Chapter 122). A corollary of this model is that there is a balance between immigration and extinction (back to the isolate vs. sample distinction), and that this balance can be expressed mathematically. James Brown studied small mammals in the American Great Basin region. Again, Quammen summarizes: “Insularization, for the Great Basin mountaintop communities, entailed an inexorable decline in diversity. Does this sound ominous? Does it sound familiar? The same phenomenon would eventually be known by various labels, one of which is ecosystem decay.” (Chapter 122).
Once the connection between habitat fragmentation and insularity was made, the field of applied biogeography was launched. It's a controversial field. Eloquently supported by Wilson and Jared Diamond, the resulting models are still only hypotheses. Despite Quammen's obvious leanings, he carefully lays out the position of opponents. It's a controversy that is fraught with consequence. Misapplication of the model will be an executioner's axe for species deemed “unviable” prematurely. The crux of the matter is: Can something as complex as biodiversity ever be reduced to a workable model?
Quammen has written a truly scientific book for the unscientific layperson. He intersperses essays with the flavor of travelogue and colorful biographical sketches of key field researchers with the tough scientific hypotheses they are investigating, and succeeds in holding the reader's interest through all of some seven hundred plus pages. He addresses the emotional roots of conservation with hard science. Yes, all species are not equal. Some, like the panda, are charismatic to the general public. But there is a larger context that will affect their survival. That context includes examination of rare, highly specialized, and vulnerable species. To understand the survival of this broader category, we need to understand the real world of species dynamics. Thus, Quammen is able to link emotional with ethical and scientific concerns. That link is eloquently expressed when Quammen visits Dan Simberloff, the leading critic of the equilibrium model as proposed by Jared Diamond. Simberloff stopped visiting the Florida Keys sites of the Mangrove experiments he once conducted with E.O. Wilson. “'I was driving down to one of the field sites....I came off Seven Mile bridge, passed over the first key....from Missouri Key I would see the trees of Ohio Key. Instead of Ohio Key I didn't see anything. Then, when I got to the end of Missouri Key, I could see that the reason was, there were no trees there. The entire key, which would have been in the range of four acres, had been leveled and cleared. It was now all crushed coral. It had been turned into a trailer park....I was so...' He pauses. He starts again. 'I drove right over it into the next key, which is Bahia Honda, where the state park is. And I pulled over, and cried. I couldn't handle it. It was just so sad. And it so epitomized what was happening in the Keys....That's why I stopped working there,' he says.” (Chapter 138)
This is not an easy book. The material is an assemblage of 178 untitled chapters grouped into ten broad headings. The first hundred pages is devoted almost entirely to Wallace's contribution vs. Darwin's to the theory of natural selection. The chapters jump back and forth in time as Quammen seeks to tie together each concept with both historical antecedents and modern day field research. The most vivid chapters are anecdotal such as a dicey foray into the interior of Komodo Island after watching a feeding staged for the tourists. Quammen finds a guide to take him to Loh Sabita Valley “...where the deer are not tame, the water is not bottled, goat carcasses don't fall from the sky, and the komodos still live by their skill as hunters.” (Chapter 45). Another memorable story is the mysterious saga of bird extinction on Guam. Quammen accompanies a herpetologist on his nightly rounds. Quammen is such a vivid writer that the casual reader could be satisfied merely to be entertained by these tales. However, the attempt to understand the harder scientific implications is well worth the extra effort and a lot of effort is required due to the embedded structure of this book. I found it necessary to approach the material as if reading a textbook, taking notes at the end of each chapter in order to follow the scientific thread. (A google search reveals that several study guides to the book are available). The book is assigned reading in several college courses. Quammen's intent, however, is obviously to draw the general reader into the realm of real science. As with all such books, the reader's gain will be proportional to his effort, and in the end, well rewarded.
NOTES:
http://amongthestatelytrees.wordpress... Interesting comments from college students who read the book as part of their class.
http://www.colorado.edu/journalism/ce...
An annotated bibliography of books about environment and conservation science.
I recommend reading the paper edition of this book. Many of the islands mentioned are quite small and obscure. There are a number of helpful maps in the book which are difficult to view on an e-reader. Some supplemental maps online can be found for Aru (www.peterloud.co.uk/indonesia/aru2.gif); and the islands of Flores and Timor (http://www.pindito.com/et40d/diving_a...)
November 20, 2009
I have owned a copy of “The Song of the Dodo” for several years but at 625 pages, 178 chapters it seemed a bit daunting to dive into. There never seemed to be enough hours in the day. But after reading Quammen’s ”The Reluctant Mr. Darwin,” I felt it was time to give it a go. And go I did.
I think a good editor could have probably cut this tome down to 623 pages, which is my backhanded way of saying that "TSOTD" is a monumental book on natural history, well worth the time you need to invest into all 178 chapters. You'll never look at the natural world in the same way again.
Quammen does a skillful job of balancing scientific chapters with his worldly travels and adventures, taking us to exotic places around the globe with historical or environmental significance. But the real power in the book is his exploration into the development of ecology, basically beginning when the science found its chops, i.e. the data it had been collecting was actually put to use.
After finishing “The Song of the Dodo,” I feel that I have earned the equivalent of a PhD in island biogeography. (I wonder if I can use this on my résumé?) If I had read this book 25 years ago, I would have found my way to an ecology department at some university.
Early in the book the author describes the stack of photocopies of scientific papers “weighing eighteen pounds including the staples,” he has on his desk. By his own admission, he could have used the assemblage in the back of his truck to provide extra weight on icy roads in winter but instead, Quammen chose to read them and synthesize the information for us; presenting them in layman’s terms, explaining the jargon: minimum viable population, area-species relationships, equilibrium theory, inbreeding depression, et cetera. Lucky for us he did.
By the end of the book we have a real sense of just how endangered endangered species really are. The dodo was only one of the first to go.
Powerful book. David Quammen can write compelling science with a sense of humor.
This is a six star book, but I only have five to award.
I think a good editor could have probably cut this tome down to 623 pages, which is my backhanded way of saying that "TSOTD" is a monumental book on natural history, well worth the time you need to invest into all 178 chapters. You'll never look at the natural world in the same way again.
Quammen does a skillful job of balancing scientific chapters with his worldly travels and adventures, taking us to exotic places around the globe with historical or environmental significance. But the real power in the book is his exploration into the development of ecology, basically beginning when the science found its chops, i.e. the data it had been collecting was actually put to use.
After finishing “The Song of the Dodo,” I feel that I have earned the equivalent of a PhD in island biogeography. (I wonder if I can use this on my résumé?) If I had read this book 25 years ago, I would have found my way to an ecology department at some university.
Early in the book the author describes the stack of photocopies of scientific papers “weighing eighteen pounds including the staples,” he has on his desk. By his own admission, he could have used the assemblage in the back of his truck to provide extra weight on icy roads in winter but instead, Quammen chose to read them and synthesize the information for us; presenting them in layman’s terms, explaining the jargon: minimum viable population, area-species relationships, equilibrium theory, inbreeding depression, et cetera. Lucky for us he did.
By the end of the book we have a real sense of just how endangered endangered species really are. The dodo was only one of the first to go.
Powerful book. David Quammen can write compelling science with a sense of humor.
This is a six star book, but I only have five to award.
June 22, 2007
Wildlife biologist and author Aldrin Mallari lent me a copy of this staggering book after knowing I had read "Wild Thoughts From Wild Places." I think I learned more about biogeography from reading this book than talking to a dozen biologists. The final image of the last Dodo on earth hunkering down in the jungle is haunting. Whenever I hear a Dutch ecologist try to lecture me about how Filipinos are ruining their environment, Quammen's descriptions of how the Dutch sailors clubbed and hunted to extinction the Dodo always pop to mind. But I keep silent.
January 12, 2012
After reading 'The Flight of the Iguana' by David Quammen, I had no qualms about undertaking another amazing journey, 'The Song of the Dodo' even though I had no clue at the time what island biogeography was, and only an elementary concept of extinction. This book could actually have had many titles that would have been equally mysterious to an environmental layman like me: 'The History of Biogeography and What That Actually Is' or 'Great Men With Controversial Theories of Biodiversity, and Other Such Stuff' or 'The Inevitable Spiral Toward Species Extinction - And That Includes All Species' or even 'How We Came to Value Modern Conservation Science or Something Like That.' But I began reading Quammen's story anyway because I knew from his earlier book that he was incredibly informative in a casual, "favorite professor" sort of way. Meaning that just when your comprehension starts to fail, he speaks directly to you from his narrative, and snaps you back onto a level playing field of enlightenment. I read it because I knew Quammen would teach me something important that I would remember, and that his topics always matter. I call this a story, because it reads like one. It begins simply, and ends the same way. In between, all the historical facts, scientific theories, and personality studies come to actually mean something in today's world, and will to anyone who reads this book. And I guarantee that you will cry because you've never heard the song of the dodo, and cry, too, because Quammen helped you hear those of the indri and the cenderawasih.
September 17, 2016
My research assistantship at Loyola University was fortunate in that I was assigned for four years to one person, sometimes exclusively, sometimes with an additional assignment, who led me to intensively study matters I otherwise would probably not have explored so thoroughly. As a result I came to read the major works of both Wallace and Darwin, a good preparation for this book.
Like author Quammen, I most liked Wallace and for similar reasons. Similarly, the fact that The Song of the Dodo begins with Wallace and Darwin helped propel me along into what begins as a history of biogeography and develops into a study of current debates in the field as they practically apply to habitat and species preservation.
While Quammen skirts the hard science--and math--of biogeography, ecology and genetics, he does so with a light touch, such instruction as he offers being regularly punctuated by sometimes witty, sometimes lyrical accounts of his own travels and encounters. The mix works. One learns in the course of being entertained.
Like author Quammen, I most liked Wallace and for similar reasons. Similarly, the fact that The Song of the Dodo begins with Wallace and Darwin helped propel me along into what begins as a history of biogeography and develops into a study of current debates in the field as they practically apply to habitat and species preservation.
While Quammen skirts the hard science--and math--of biogeography, ecology and genetics, he does so with a light touch, such instruction as he offers being regularly punctuated by sometimes witty, sometimes lyrical accounts of his own travels and encounters. The mix works. One learns in the course of being entertained.
June 26, 2007
I have a liberal arts degree. My little sister is studying conservation biology. She gave me this book and it interested me so much that I want to go back to school and study science now.
September 6, 2024
Apparently in my old age all I want to read about is nature. Enlightening! and depressing. I will now use terms like allopatric speciation and adaptive radiation in my day to day and see what happens (prediction: my social life, much like the dodo, will become extinct).
September 25, 2021
Another superb book by David Quammen. One of the best books I’ve read all year.
May 5, 2012
This came highly recommended. And Island biogeography has been important in the development of ecological theory.
The first part of the book discusses Alfred Wallace; it's very well written and I enjoyed it. I began to part with the author when he spoke disparagingly about a simple first-order equation. He claimed he didn't need to understand it. I realized that he didn't. Things went downhill after that.
Two flaws. Quammen doesn't seem to grasp the significance of ecosystems. The fauna (and flora) he discusses are interacting members. They don't strive in a vacuum. Secondly, the doctrine of landscape ecology would take him a lot further than he was able to go. It just doesn't come up. He's stuck with some dated ideas.
The first part of the book discusses Alfred Wallace; it's very well written and I enjoyed it. I began to part with the author when he spoke disparagingly about a simple first-order equation. He claimed he didn't need to understand it. I realized that he didn't. Things went downhill after that.
Two flaws. Quammen doesn't seem to grasp the significance of ecosystems. The fauna (and flora) he discusses are interacting members. They don't strive in a vacuum. Secondly, the doctrine of landscape ecology would take him a lot further than he was able to go. It just doesn't come up. He's stuck with some dated ideas.
June 30, 2020
DNF, didactic & wordy. Surprisingly poor book. I've had quite a few disappointments with Quammen's writing, at book-lengths anyway. Perhaps he's better at magazine-length stuff?
May 26, 2017
I finished it! (Further thoughts coming soon)
January 15, 2021
Excellent science writing. I’m impressed with Quammen’s ability to translate complex ecological concepts and into engaging and fascinating case studies without oversimplifying the information. 4/5 because it was a tad overwritten at points and occasionally loses focus. Also, he frequently refers to venomous snakes as ‘poisonous,’ which is a mistake I feel like a science writer shouldn’t be making.
Parts of it are out of date, but I read it 25 years after it was published so I can’t fault it there.
Parts of it are out of date, but I read it 25 years after it was published so I can’t fault it there.
December 18, 2020
Possibly my best non-fiction book of the year, this entertaining-as-hell biogeography epic knocked it out of the park for me.
Quammen presents an overview of island biogeography and the application of its principles to our current worldwide ecological condition (/disaster). But there is SO much more here than that. There's tons of information, terms, history, philosophies, and ethics to sink your teeth into, but Quammen also takes you on every journey he took to gather all this great info. We visit Brazil, the Malay Archipelago, Tanzania, Madagascar, the Galapagos, and many more, and he provides all the interesting tidbits that bring those trips to life, as well as the hilarious mishaps along the way. This is the type of book that's all about getting into the weeds; I often lost sight of the overall topic in my interest in this tiny fragment we adventured in. But this didn't bother me at all; there were so many rabbit holes to get lost in!
I would highly recommend to anyone interested in conservation, biology, or nature writing. But honestly, this is a great read for anyone who loves informative non-fiction. And it has so much value in how it really brings to light the ecological situation we as humans have gotten ourselves into.
Quammen presents an overview of island biogeography and the application of its principles to our current worldwide ecological condition (/disaster). But there is SO much more here than that. There's tons of information, terms, history, philosophies, and ethics to sink your teeth into, but Quammen also takes you on every journey he took to gather all this great info. We visit Brazil, the Malay Archipelago, Tanzania, Madagascar, the Galapagos, and many more, and he provides all the interesting tidbits that bring those trips to life, as well as the hilarious mishaps along the way. This is the type of book that's all about getting into the weeds; I often lost sight of the overall topic in my interest in this tiny fragment we adventured in. But this didn't bother me at all; there were so many rabbit holes to get lost in!
I would highly recommend to anyone interested in conservation, biology, or nature writing. But honestly, this is a great read for anyone who loves informative non-fiction. And it has so much value in how it really brings to light the ecological situation we as humans have gotten ourselves into.
October 11, 2021
Tijdens vakantie grotendeels herlezen. De eerste keer heb ik het gelezen in 1998 en toen was het een top leeservaring. Ook nu weer (en nog...) blijkt het een groots boek, met een zeer geslaagde combinatie van uitleg over de evolutietheorie en dan met name over soortvorming en uitsterven; tevens een wetenschapshistorisch boek over de totstandkoming van de wetenschap van de evolutie, om te beginnen de historische strijd tussen Darwin en Wallace. En ten slotte een enerverend reisboek, waarbij hij de wereld rondreist naar alle plekken waar soortvorming en uitsterven zichtbaar is en waar wetenschappers geploeterd hebben om de wetenschappelijke waarheid aan het licht te brengen.
January 1, 2024
Extremely informative, surprisingly funny. Awe-inspiring, alarming, and depressing in turns, though the turns of the latter two get longer as the book progresses. A bit outdated both in time, data, and cultural sensitivities, but still a worthwhile read.
June 4, 2010
This book is one of my favorites and another one that feels more like a journey that I didn't want to end. It asks questions about the distribution of various animal species and uses island biogeography to understand extinction patterns. Follows the history of Wallace and Darwin and other early scientists and the use of islands to find the origin of species from other species. Visits the island of Komodo and tells the age old tale of the last of the Dodos, which was documented in a journal as having been eaten. Some other interesting facts were:
-older, larger continental island have more biodiversity than younger, smaller or volcanic islands (pretty clear)
-isolation, speciation and dispersal are all parts of island biogeography
-Wallace lost his entire collection from 4 years in the Amazon in a boat fire on his way home, and funded his trip by sending samples back to England to be sold, which gave him an eye for intraspecific variation.
-ecosystem decay-an ecosystem cut into a smaller piece will become increasingly diminished and will lose its biological richness WITHOUT growing smaller. Discusses the SLOSS argument and, most amusing for myself, he pokes fun at the immaturity of the two scientists going back and forth on this argument, one of whom happens to be my ex-Biometry teacher and he described him perfectly and really hit the nail on the head. LOL!
-Giant tortoises on islands in the Indian Ocean, 150,000 left on Aldabra, heavily hunted on other islands
-speciation-a split-one species is now two, phyletic evolution-one species changes over time until it is a new species.
BTW, for some shameless self-promotion, if you like reading about animals, check out my blog on wildlife at http://backyardzoologist.wordpress.com/ ...although I don't pretend to be nearly as good a writer as David Quammen
-older, larger continental island have more biodiversity than younger, smaller or volcanic islands (pretty clear)
-isolation, speciation and dispersal are all parts of island biogeography
-Wallace lost his entire collection from 4 years in the Amazon in a boat fire on his way home, and funded his trip by sending samples back to England to be sold, which gave him an eye for intraspecific variation.
-ecosystem decay-an ecosystem cut into a smaller piece will become increasingly diminished and will lose its biological richness WITHOUT growing smaller. Discusses the SLOSS argument and, most amusing for myself, he pokes fun at the immaturity of the two scientists going back and forth on this argument, one of whom happens to be my ex-Biometry teacher and he described him perfectly and really hit the nail on the head. LOL!
-Giant tortoises on islands in the Indian Ocean, 150,000 left on Aldabra, heavily hunted on other islands
-speciation-a split-one species is now two, phyletic evolution-one species changes over time until it is a new species.
BTW, for some shameless self-promotion, if you like reading about animals, check out my blog on wildlife at http://backyardzoologist.wordpress.com/ ...although I don't pretend to be nearly as good a writer as David Quammen
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2012
A great book about ecology and travel
This is unquestionably the finest book I've read that explains biogeography and population ecology in clear, concise English for the average intelligent person interested in the natural world who lacks a background in science. Quammen deserves highest praise for devoting much time to learn relevant science and then disseminating this knowledge to his readers. Much to my amazement, Quammen fully understands the implications of MacArthur's and Wilson's theory of island biogeography, encompassing such diverse subjects as determining the appropriate size of wildlife refuges to studying cycles of mass extinction in the marine invertebrate fossil record. He gives compelling descriptions of Alfred R. Wallace, Robert H. MacArthur, and E. O. Wilson as scientists and people, pointing out the importance of Wallace's and MacArthur's work towards our understanding of biogeography and indeed, of biological diversity. To his credit, Quammen mentions other signficiant players, such as Ernst Mayr, Daniel Simberloff, Jared Diamond, and of course, Charles Darwin himself. Mixed successfully with biography and scientific research are lyrical passages about the many islands Quammen visited in pursuit of Wallace's footsteps and ongoing important ecological research. Anyone wishing to catch more than a glimpse of great science and how it pertains directly to preserving endangered species should read this magnificient book.
(Reposted from my 2001 Amazon review.)
This is unquestionably the finest book I've read that explains biogeography and population ecology in clear, concise English for the average intelligent person interested in the natural world who lacks a background in science. Quammen deserves highest praise for devoting much time to learn relevant science and then disseminating this knowledge to his readers. Much to my amazement, Quammen fully understands the implications of MacArthur's and Wilson's theory of island biogeography, encompassing such diverse subjects as determining the appropriate size of wildlife refuges to studying cycles of mass extinction in the marine invertebrate fossil record. He gives compelling descriptions of Alfred R. Wallace, Robert H. MacArthur, and E. O. Wilson as scientists and people, pointing out the importance of Wallace's and MacArthur's work towards our understanding of biogeography and indeed, of biological diversity. To his credit, Quammen mentions other signficiant players, such as Ernst Mayr, Daniel Simberloff, Jared Diamond, and of course, Charles Darwin himself. Mixed successfully with biography and scientific research are lyrical passages about the many islands Quammen visited in pursuit of Wallace's footsteps and ongoing important ecological research. Anyone wishing to catch more than a glimpse of great science and how it pertains directly to preserving endangered species should read this magnificient book.
(Reposted from my 2001 Amazon review.)
January 28, 2016
This is a great natural history book. David Quammen begins by writing about Darwin, but then, to give credit where credit is due, he turns to his hero, Alfred Russel Wallace, who explored islands in the South Pacific. From his collections on the islands and in South America, Wallace began developing the concept of natural selection. Eventually, he, with Darwin, introduce this idea to the world From there, other ecological scientists expanded on the theory; people such as E.O Wilson, Jared Diamond, Thomas Lovejoy, Michael Gilbin and Michael Soule began developing theories on conservation biology, viable populations, landscape corridors, evolutionary genetics. Ideas that may stop the mass extinction of species. Quammen describes these scientists, explains their theories, travels the world to explain where and how the theories were developed This book contains complicated scientific ideas, but Quammen writes in a way that managed to keep me from clouding over (most of the time). His love of the outdoors and all creatures shines through in his writing. This and his humor kept me engrossed through all 640 pages. The book was published 20 years ago, but it is not the kind of book to become outdated. Much ecological research has probably happened since the book was written. I'm anxious to read similar books to see what current scientists are saying. Have things improved? Is life succeeding? Or will global warming negate any inroads made towards the conservation of species? I think I'll read more books by David Quammen too.
July 14, 2008
This is the best natural history book I have ever read. Many sections read like a mystery novel, and yet it is still, according to Hutch (Whitman evolutionary biology professor), totally on-the-mark accurate. David Quammen's writing got me so fascinated with island biogeography that I did an independent study of it sophomore year. Eli and I are planning to visit Mauritius next year, the home of the dodo, as part of our big trip. Mauritius has a natural history museum devoted to the dodo and I insisted that we spend a full week on this tiny island nation because I don't want to risk having the museum be closed during our visit. We're also going to Madagascar in large part because of my interest in island biogeography. I doubt I would have thought to visit if I hadn't read The Song of the Dodo. Now, I just need to find a way to Borneo . . .
December 30, 2016
I didn’t enjoy this book very much. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s poorly written, I just personally don’t have enough of an interest in island biogeography to enjoy reading 700 pages of it. I ended up deciding to slog through this book instead of just putting it down. There are definitely a few interesting insights on species extinction but overall I found this a bit dense and drawn-out unless you have a very specific interest on the topic.
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