Maria Mudd-Ruth
Auteur de Rare Bird: Pursuing the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet
A propos de l'auteur
Maria Mudd Ruth has been researching, watching, photographing, and blogging about clouds for many years. She is the author of more than a dozen books on natural history topics, including the critically acclaimed Rare Bird: Pursuing the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet. You can learn more about her afficher plus at www.mariaruthbooks.net. afficher moins
Crédit image: Uncredited photo at author's website
Œuvres de Maria Mudd-Ruth
The Ultimate Ocean Book: A Unique Introduction to the World Under Water in Fabulous, Full-Color Pop-Ups (Pop-up… (1995) 35 exemplaires
The Ultimate Oceanbook 1 exemplaire
Schmetterlinge. Mit Riesen- Pop-up. (Ab 9 J.). 1 exemplaire
Ultimate Ocean Book (pop) 1 exemplaire
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Date de naissance
- 20th Century
- Sexe
- female
- Nationalité
- USA
- Lieux de résidence
- Washington, D.C., USA
Olympia, Washington, USA - Professions
- researcher and writer for the National Geographic Society
editor for Traveler magazine
Book Writer
Membres
Critiques
Listes
Prix et récompenses
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 18
- Membres
- 278
- Popularité
- #83,543
- Évaluation
- 4.2
- Critiques
- 6
- ISBN
- 21
- Langues
- 1
Rare Bird is a rare treat. I am not a birder. Never been, never will be. I have never heard of a murrelet before, let alone a marbled one. I do not have any passion towards birds, just a general interest in animals. But one thing that I am is a scientist. Despite the fact that I do not have any passion for birds or birding in particular, I found Rare Bird fascinating. The mystery of its nesting site, which took two centuries to figure out (in the scientific sense, meaning with proof and documentation and some understanding of how), the mystery of its nesting and fledging behavior, the lives of all the naturalists, birders, rangers, scientists, and the conservation and recovery efforts of the red wood forests as an ecosystem as well as the marbled murrelets as a species along the west coast were all discussed in detail and with vivid passion. The author has a lot of passion not only for the birds and their habitat, but also the efforts the scientists put into research. To some, this may seem like too much effort into understanding one little thing in all of life, but that us how science in general works. We spend out lives trying to learn everything about one thing (this is not always advantageous for knowledge, but rather a way that somewhat works for someone to do so much work, specialize, so that they can actually make a career out of their studies.)
The book can be divided into three: the mystery of the murrelet's nesting site (it is a very strange waterbird, indeed!), the mystery of how chicks are fed and eventually fly off the nest, and the conservation and recovery efforts, all with the scandals, court struggles, and politics of loggers vs. bird/forest. Ruth does a very good job of presenting both sides. She has one very interesting interview with a representative of the logging company, one that I hope all campers, nature lovers, anti-loggers read. The story in general is an ode to how anyone can contribute to research as a naturalist.
As a scientist, Ruth's constant surprise at the scientific method, its difficulties, and its triumphs was fascinating. She has a genuine interest in how science is done, and does a very good job of explaining the science in lay terms (I know, because all this bird stuff is completely new to me.) At some point, Ruth cites a sentence from a scientific paper to illustrate the difficulty of reading these papers for the lay audience, and I had to laugh, because I did not find this sentence difficult at all. But I know if she had not done a good job explaining the surveying methods, for example, I would have been lost.
Recommended for those who love long-lasting, beautiful wood furniture, lumberjacks, fluffy chicks, and carrots.
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