Summer World: A Season of Bounty (P.S.) Review

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(More customer reviews)Five MESMERIZING Stars!!Award-winning naturalist Bernd Heinrich "Summer World" ("A Season of Bounty") is teeming with keen, fascinating observations on fauna and flora and the interconnections within Nature at the height of summer. He follows up his book onWinter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival (P.S.) by primarily focusing on this very special season with reflections and investigations near his own home and cabin with regard to the different species of plant and animal life. Then he branches out around the world in specific cases. Professor Heinrich begins in winter and then spring: awaiting the arrival of the blue jays, with beavers secure in lodges, & frogs in near-lifeless suspended animation. Then he takes us from "Awakening" in his neck of the woods and in general: with essays on geese, the "rowdy" convocations of the wood frog, early-arriving red-winged blackbirds and phoebes, soaring woodcocks, sneaky cowbirds, and so on, all the way to "The Last Peep" of summer.

Reading this book, one can only be impressed by the professor's powers of observation, his 'hands on' approach, and his ability to make what are often dry subjects into 'poetic descriptions'. On one hand, he can get technical and reach back 150,000 years as man emerges; or 80 million years into the Cretaceous period; or to distant solar systems to speculate on life-ready planets; or discuss the effect of the inclination of the earth, the solstices, photo-periods, and biological clocks. On the other hand, he gets into some engrossing discussions about moths; butterflies; eggs; larvae; pupae; ants; bees; birds; complex trees, the environment, evolution, and the true heralding of summer's end: photoperiod and a key type of acid. Some of the word pictures and thoughts are awesome such as some ants "bodyguarding" catepillars, Apache cicadas using the desert paloverde tree as a drinking fountain, and the almost unbelievable 17 hour non-stop, top-speed flight of some hummingbirds across the Gulf of Mexico. He is great at describing specific animals getting the next generation of a species born, prepared, and independent before fall and winter close in. This is a totally impressive nature book by a man so 'into Nature' that he actually uses an electronic thermometer to measure the body temperature of bees. This book is one huge learning experience that should intrigue lovers of nature and may cause one to look a lot closer at what is happening around the neighborhood and the world with far more understanding and empathy. My Highest Recommendation! Five NATURAL Stars! (This review is based on a Kindle download, with 41 figures.)

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