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More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Chasing Kangaroos: A Continent, a Scientist, and a Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Creatureby Tim Flannery
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In his most personal book yet, Tim Flannery, the internationally acclaimed author of The Weather Makers, draws on three decades of travel, research, and field work to craft a love letter to his native land and one of its most unique and beloved inhabitants: the kangaroo. Crisscrossing the continent, Flannery shows us how the destiny of this extraordinary creature is inseparable from the environment that created it. Along the way he uses encounters with ancient aboriginal cultures and eccentric fossil hunters, farmers and scientists, kangaroo advocates and kangaroo hunters, to explore how Australia’s deserts and rainforests have shaped human responses to the continent — and how kangaroos have evolved to handle the resulting challenges. Ultimately, Chasing Kangaroos is a smart yet utterly readable synthesis of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science — and further proof of Flannery’s “offhand interdisciplinary brilliance” (Entertainment Weekly). Review:"'This paean to a remarkable animal by Flannery, author of the well-received global warming treatise The Weather Makers, is fascinating but scattershot. The kangaroo, the only large animal that hops, can travel at speeds of 15 — 40 kilometers per hour. Female kangaroos, who carry their young in pouches, have two vaginas, but don't give birth through either of them, and are always pregnant, because they mate a few hours after their young are born. There are 70-odd species of kangaroo: some drink salt water; others live in trees. But as a paleontologist, Flannery is obsessed with finding out when and where the first kangaroos lived. Much of the book is about his searches for the fossils of extinct species in remote areas of the Australian outback, where he discovered the remains of 'the grandfather of all kangaroos,' as well as the fossils of ice age giants, such as the short-faced kangaroo and a carnivorous kangaroo. The accounts of his discoveries are engaging, but he covers too much ground, switching back and forth between physical descriptions, kangaroo evolution, reminiscences of his fossil hunting travels, worries about Australia's environment and the aborigines, and his controversial extinction theories. B&w and color illus. not seen by PW. (July)' Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"Newfoundland's seabirds, lovely as they are, can't match the exoticism of the euros, quokkas, dingoes, hare wallabies, red-necked wallabies and tree kangaroos that hop through Australia. Or, apparently, their importance. 'The fate of the kangaroos is inextricably bound with the fate of my country,' writes Tim Flannery in 'Chasing Kangaroos,' his paean to the creatures who, he argues,... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) Book News Annotation:Flannery (Macquarie U., Sydney), an acclaimed Australian scientist
and global warming activist, traces the evolution of kangaroos and
his love affair with this unique animal he first encountered
motorcycling around Australia in 1975. The reissue of the
entertaining and educational 2004 book includes maps, photos, and the
kangaroo's family tree (which includes wallabies).
Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Synopsis:In his synthesis of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science, Flannery draws on three decades of research and fieldwork to craft a loving tribute to his native land and one of its most unique and beloved inhabitants: the kangaroo. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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