I fell in love with Field Notes on Science & Nature the moment I saw the cover (and some other stunning pictures) in a Wired Science post.
The book is a series of partly autobiographical essays, concentrating on the art of scientific observation and note-taking, and profusely illustrated with real drawings and notebook pages. Contributors include:
- Edward O. Wilson (foreword, on observing ants)
- Michael R. Canfield (introduction)
- George B. Schaller (sketching lionesses’ hunting patterns and pandas’ peregrinations)
- Bernd Heinrich (note-taking from his childhood onwards, and how observing a discarded leaf led to understanding a clever caterpillar trick)
- Kenn Kaufman (“one and a half cheers for list-keeping” and praise for a local bird checklist from the Wichita Audubon Society)
- Roger Kitching (some fascinating stories of fieldwork in Borneo, from his journal)
- Anna K. Behrensmeyer (lots of practical advice, with examples, on how to use a field notebook)
- Karen L. Kramer (helpful comments on anthropological observation)
- Jonathan Kingdon (the road to science from art school)
- Jenny Keller (a tutorial on scientific drawing, including how to draw a shell)
- James L. Reveal (a brief article on botanical notes)
- Piotr Naskrecki (computerised note-taking)
- John D. Perrine and James L. Patton (field notes as letters to the future)
- Erick Greene (a final collection of “how to” suggestions)
This wonderful book has certainly inspired me to take better notes. And to keep my eyes more open, because there’s a lot we still don’t know about the plants and animals around us. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in doing or teaching science, and indeed to anyone interested in the natural world.
Field Notes on Science & Nature by Michael R. Canfield (ed): 4 stars
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