Quill and Quire

REVIEWS

« Back to
Book Reviews

Strange New Species: Astonishing Discoveries of Life on Earth

by Elin Kelsey

Elin Kelsey brings her experience as a natural historian and public educator to bear in this fine introduction to the search for new species of all kinds. Accessibly and engagingly organized, Strange New Species provides its readers with a brief historical perspective on the classification of species before tackling such recent discoveries as the wild Bactrian camel, the Austin blind salamander, and halophiles. Divided, in part, according to climate (rainforests, oceans, deserts, and extreme locations), the book offers interesting information on the organisms discovered and the methods of research needed to find and classify them. Profiles of a number of scientists include their childhood interests and current endeavours.

“Hot topics” boxes raise questions about bio-ethics, and the book covers some very hot topics indeed, including transgenetic creatures, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, cloning, and genetically modified plants. In a succinct work it’s difficult to cover fully the implications of such scientific experiments, but Kelsey tries to be balanced and provides information about websites for further reading. She also raises such topics as evolutionary biology, attempts to clone extinct animals, and efforts to isolate the DNA of prehistoric creatures.

Many fine colour photographs are included as illustrations. Some page spreads are slightly overwhelming, with text, colour photos, colour background, and information boxes all competing for attention and creating visual overload, which I suspect younger readers are quite comfortable with. Certainly, the layout is still better than that of many similar books. A glossary of terms and an index are included, though the latter is not as helpful as it could be. On the whole, this is a fine introduction to a fascinating and very important topic.

 

Reviewer: Marnie Parsons

Publisher: Maple Tree Press

DETAILS

Price: $29.95

Page Count: 96 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 1-897066-31-7

Released: Sept.

Issue Date: 2005-10

Categories:

Age Range: 9-14