Synopses & Reviews
How can cicadas survive—and thrive—at temperatures pushing 115°F? Do hummingbirds know what they're up against before they migrate over the Gulf of Mexico? Why do some trees stop growing taller even when three months of warm weather remain? With awe and unmatched expertise, Bernd Heinrich's Summer World never stops exploring the beautifully complex interactions of animals and plants with nature, giving extraordinary depth to the relationships between habitat and the warming of the earth.
Review
“This lovely book, meticulously etched and based on impassioned but exacting scientific research, illustrate why Bernd Heinrich is generally regarded as the most truly Thoreauvian of modern natural history writers.” Edward O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ON HUMAN NATURE
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“It is possible there is a better guide to the world around us than Bernd Heinrich, but Ive not come across him. This is the book that will get you out the door into the season!” Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy
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“One of our greatest living naturalists...Heinrich, author of 15 marvelous, mind-altering books…is a national treasure.” Los Angeles Times
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“Bernd Heinrichs books open my eyes and help me see the wonder of the natural world. . . . I love the fascinating details of his drawings, the lyricism of his observations, the way he unveils not only the physical workings of nature but the stories and dramas within it.” Amy Tan, bestselling author of The Bonesetter's Daughter and The Joy Luck Club
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“When warm spring days turn blustery, its useful to have a book writhing with the magic of summer. Bernd Heinrich delivers…in ‘Summer World.” Seattle Times
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“Bernd Heinrichthe object of my admirationhas been . . . writing about [nature] with brio, for decades. Perhaps his most attractive quality . . . . is his ability to find something intellectually stimulating whenever he steps out the door. . . . The man is irrepressible.” New York Times Book Review
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“This is hands-and-knees science at its most engaging...as the great greening occurs all around us, we can only hope to see half as much as Heinrich does.” Anthony Doerr, Boston Globe
Synopsis
With snow melting and spring approaching, the animal kingdom awakens. In Summer World, Bernd Heinrich brings students an up-close and personal view of that awakening and rebirth. Almost all life on the surface of the earth derives its energy from the sun, either directly through photosynthesis or indirectly by consuming plants, making summer the time when nature is most active-feeding, fighting, mating, and nesting. From frogs, wasps, and caterpillars to hummingbirds and woodpeckers, Heinrich
explores these animals' adaptations for surviving and procreating during the short window of summer, and he delights in the seemingly infinite feats of animal inventiveness he discovers there.
--Amy Tan, bestselling author of The Bonesetter's Daughter and The Joy Luck Club
About the Author
The author of numerous bestselling and award-winning books, Bernd Heinrich is a professor of biology at the University of Vermont. He divides his time between Vermont and the forests of western Maine.