A Bat Man in the Tropics: Chasing El Duende (Organisms and Environments, 7)
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
The euphoria of discovery is the only motivation many scientists need for studying nature and its secrets. Yet euphoria is rarely expressed in scientific publications. This book, a personal account of more than thirty years of fieldwork by one of the world's leading bat biologists, wonderfully conveys the thrill of scientific discovery. Theodore Fleming's work to document the lives and ecological importance of plant-visiting bats has taken him to the tropical forests of Panama, Costa Rica, and Australia, and to the lush Sonoran Desert of northwest Mexico and Arizona. This book tells the story of his fascinating career and recounts his many adventures in the field.
Fleming weaves autobiographical reflections together with information on the natural history and ecology of bats and describes many other animals and plants he has encountered. His book details the stresses and rewards of life in scientific field camps, gives portraits of prominent biologists such as Dan Janzen and Peter Raven, and traces the development of modern tropical biology. A witness to the destruction and development of many of the forests he has visited throughout his career, Fleming makes a passionate plea for the conservation of these wild places.
From the Inside Flap
"In each generation, a few gifted scientists arise--a Sagan, a Gamow, a Wilson--who have the ability to command the respect from their scientific peers, while persuasively explaining science to a lay audience. Professor Fleming joins that elite group with A Batman in the Tropics. His eloquent plea for the preservation of the world's most misunderstood, and yet biologically important, creatures is a conservation classic. This is the book on bats for professional biologists, ecologists, conservationists, and armchair adventurers."--Paul Alan Cox, Director of the National Tropical Botanical Garden
"Ted Fleming's career as a tropical field biologist spans a time of unprecedented change. His experiences are not only fascinating; they highlight our interdependency with nature, human impact on the health of our planet, and the urgent need for wise stewardship."--Merlin Tuttle, founder and president of Bat Conservation International
"An intriguing first-hand account of what it is really like to be a talented field biologist, and what it takes to discover basic facts about behavioral ecology in the natural world."--Donald R. Griffin, author of Animal Minds: Beyond Cognition to Consciousness
A Bat Man in the Tropics: Chasing El Duende (Organisms and Environments, 7)
A Bat Man in the Tropics: Chasing El Duende (Organisms and Environments, 7),Theodore Fleming,University of California Press,0520236068,Animals,Bats,Life Sciences - Biology - General,Mammals,Nature,Nature/Ecology,Personal Memoirs,Tropics,Biography: general,Science / Biology,Wild animals
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