The forest unseen : a year's watch in nature

 by David George Haskell. In the tradition of many fine backyard naturalists from Thoreau onward, biologist Haskell focuses on one square meter in the Tennessee forest near his home for a year of intense ecological study. He considers the subtle changes to his mandala (a term chosen for its representation of a universe within a small space) with careful attention, resisting the urge to focus on dramatic turns and instead patiently seeking out plants like the hepatica, noting its bud, flower, and fruit. Lured down to the ground in search of the most infinitesimal alterations, he observes caterpillars and katydids, earthworms and ants. Playful similes assert themselves: Hickories are sports cars; Maples are all-wheel-drive passenger cars. He sees triumph against great odds in the production of syrup and the evolution of taste buds in an insect's failure to thrive in a bed made of the New York Times. (Pulped balsam fir is the culprit.) With appreciation for both the forest and scientific study, Haskell demonstrates that this is how we learn, with patience and respect for all the earth has to teach. --Booklist (Check Catalog)