ravens and such! popular science

by myth

Posted to What Are You Reading? on 2003-03-26 05:25:00

okay, i know this isn’t “literature” per se, but Bernd Heinrich’s books about animal behavior are fascinating. he’s spent alot of time studying ravens, which are figures in almost every pagan pantheon, and in many works of fiction (“thus quoth the raven, Nevermore.” – E.A.Poe), poetry, etc, for the simple reason that they are enigmatic and very smart, and for eons accompanied humans wherever they went.

i strongly recommend “Ravens in Winter” and “The Mind of the Raven.” fascinating, intelligent animals that put human folly in perspective.
http://www.powells.com/search/DTSearch/search?kw=bernd+heinrich&pokey=skeptopotamus&Search.x=39&Search.y=12

while i’m on the subject, call it “popular science,” i’ll make one other recommendation, James Gleick’s “Chaos.” one of the most revelatory books you could ever read about the natural world. some of it won’t make sense to the average lay reader because it delves into abstruse science, but all in all it’s an amazing read and will give you a new lens through which to view the natural world in all its seeming complexity. and as the blurb says, “After reading Chaos, you will never look at the world in quite the same way again.” it’s true.
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=7-0140092501-6

btw, i’m not affiliated in any way with powell’s, i merely offer an alternative to amazon.com.