Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature

This new edition of the classic "Natural Acts" contains all the best essays from the original edition and has added a bunch of Quammen's more recent essays from National Geographic, Harpers and others. His statement that science is not about seeking the right answers, but asking the right questions, was the guiding principle of my 30 years of teaching science to 8th graders. Quammen is the best kind of science writer. He's curious, fun and fascinated by the natural world. He explains it in all it's complex forms with honest and thoughtful prose.

I read a number of these essays when first published in Outside and other periodicals. That did not detract from reading them once more and enjoying the author's thought-provoking, insightful and often humorous take on a far-ranging variety of natural subjects, a few I admit which wouldn't have warranted my attention had they not bee included in the book.The fact some of the essays date back to 1981 and the most recent to 2005 does not make the information outdated either. Quammen has revised and updated to bring everything up to date with current scientific knowledge.The first section of the book deals with some of nature's more unsavory beasties--mosquitoes, black widow spiders among them. From there he veers to character studies of a number of interesting personalities, including Jack Horner, the Montana paleontologist, and Eugene Marais, a fascinating multi-careered South African.He even adds a few of his own adventures--kayaking down river through the Grand Canyon, joining in a jungle trek across the Congo--and a tribute to a dog that came into his life through marriage.It's a rich and rewarding collection worthy of anyone's time.

Really well-written. Very interesting! Only reason not 5 stars is because I wanted it to be more animal centric and not so human centric. Still, great read and worth the money.

I very much enjoyed this book. It is a collection of the author's short story works over a number of years. Unlike some of the other reviewers I had not previously seen any of the articles from outside magazine and thus it was all new to me. The author has an excellent and good natured writing style that keeps your attention but doesn't require effort like a science text book. If you like science writing, enjoy science history, and some field work and adventure thrown in you will enjoy this book. My one complaint: please leave out the global warming/climate change propaganda which shows up for a sentence or two in some of the essays.

I have all of David's books which are compilations of his articles in the magazine "Outside" magazine from 1980-1995. I never imagined I would enjoy reading the work of a science writer. Science has never had such a writer. I savor the articles and only read one a day. What a joy! Buy any of his books with articles from "Outside" and you'll buy all the others.

David Quammen is an unparalleled writer of natural history. This collection of essays is both informative and engaging and one savors each with the intent not to squander the pleasure of accompanying him on his explorations. His respect and wonder for the natural world is always founded on solid science; nature herself is up to the task of being awesome, and Quammen never stoops to cheap wows or sentiments. I will re-read this book.

Awesome author. Can't put this book down.

As to be expected from the author, articulate and inspirational writing of topics less traveled. You won't be dissapointed. As an ecology trained reader, there was much to learn, different perspectives and novel ideas.

Such a fun read.

Thoroughly entertaining and informative.