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Natural History, May, 2001

The Biodiversity Crisis: Losing What Counts, edited by Michael J. Novacek, $19.95; Earth: Inside and Out, edited by Edmond A. Mathez, $19.95; and Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge, edited by Steven Soter and Neil de Grasse Tyson, $24.95 (New Press/American Museum of Natural History, 2001)

Three books of essays related to the Museum's halls cover such topics as mass global extinctions and how to preserve wildlands (the Hall of Biodiversity), the evolution of continents and mountain ranges (the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth), and cosmological discoveries and hypotheses (the Rose Center for Earth and Space and the Cullman Hall of the Universe).

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Racing the Antelope: What Animals Can Teach Us About Running and Life, by Bernd Heinrich (HarperCollins, 2001; $23)

"For millions of years, our ultimate form of locomotion was running," writes zoologist Heinrich, who examines animal physiology and behavior and applies these insights to his own long-distance running.

Evolution's Workshop: God and Science on the Galapagos Islands, by Edward J. Larson (Basic Books/Perseus, 2001; $27.50)

"An archipelago of aridities, without inhabitant, history, or hope of either in all time to come," wrote Herman Melville after a visit to the Galapagos in 1841. In Larson's intriguing scientific history, the islands are seen instead as a "field laboratory for the study of evolution in action, their harsh environment an opportunity rather than a curse."

Kids: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Raise Our Children, by Meredith F. Small (Doubleday, 2001; $24.95)

Anthropologist Small follows the various strands of nature and nurture that determine the fate of our children. Treating us to wide-ranging and informative research about kids in the larger context of human evolution and culture, she also offers astute and lively observations of her own daughter.

Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions, by Charles Gallenkamp (Viking, 2001; $29.95)

This biography of the real-life inspiration for the fictional Indiana Jones shows how a "passionate single-minded man converted his mad dream of unlocking the secrets of central Asia into a triumphant scientific quest," says Museum paleontologist Michael J. Novacek.

The Energy of Nature, by E. C. Pielou (University of Chicago Press, 2001; $25)

A mathematical ecologist takes a systematic look at the myriad ways in which energy and its transfer affect the earth and its inhabitants.

The Dragon Seekers: How an Extraordinary Circle of Fossilists Discovered the Dinosaurs and Paved the Way for Darwin, by Christopher McGowan (Perseus Publishing, 2001; $26)

The word "dinosaur" was coined by anatomist Richard Owen in 1842. This and other paleontological "firsts" are chronicled in an engaging book by the senior curator of paleobiology at the Royal Ontario Museum.

The books mentioned are usually available in the Museum Shop, (212) 769-5150, or via the Museum's Web site, www.amnh.org.

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Natural History, May, 2001

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