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Friday, Apr. 29, 2012 - Scientable Review of Books.
Welcome to the Scientable Review of Books! I promised you I would create a site with reviews of out-of-print, public domain science and natural history books, and here is the first entry in what I hope will be a useful resource for you. There are many thoroughly delightful and useful books from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that are forgotten by all but a few bibliophiles. There are dedicated people who spend time digitizing and uploading these books to sites like Project Gutenberg and they will have my eternal gratitude for making these fascinating out-of-print books available to the world.
To me what has been lacking is a way to find these books when you do not know a title or author. Sometimes a keyword will net you a prize, but other times the title may elude you. I find many potentially interesting books simply by browsing the new uploads section of Project Gutenberg every week, but they are usually by authors I have never heard of and works I know nothing about. There are some reviews online for PG and other public domain books, but they are often just a simple “I liked this book”.
My goal is to find science-related books that I think you will like and provide a review with pictures and quotations and something about the life and times of the writer. Some reviews may be quite long for works that fit into the historical context of the time and are by more widely known writers such as Darwin and Huxley; but what I am aiming for is to find those books that almost everyone has forgotten about and bring them back to you. The writers of all these books have passed on, but we can still listen to their words and imagine what they might have been like to talk to in person. They may offer us fresh insights into the natural world and let us see through their eyes how wonderful and beautiful something even as tiny and seemingly insignificant as a diatom can be.
In the weeks to come, I hope to bring you many books that I have found to be worth a look and some that you may not be able to put down once you come under their spell. At the same time, I will be constructing an archive of the reviews that will be searchable by keyword as well as author and title. My ultimate goal is to create a database that places an author and their works in the historical context of their times and which has links to additional material on the web as I find it. Then, if you are interested in a particular period, say the Victorian in England, you will be able to find a list of writers that published during that time together with reviews of their work, biographies and historical references.
I welcome feedback from visitors to my site and suggestions for improving the content, organization and structure. Please let me know especially if you find any errors in fact as I want the information here to be as accurate as can be.
The first book I would like to tell you about is one published in 1870 by an English Cleric named William Houghton who was born in 1828 and lived until 1895. He was Rector of a parish with the colorful name of Preston-on-the-Wild Moors. Houghton is best known for his beautifully illustrated guide to British fishes, but I found this delightful little book on Project Gutenberg one day and think it deserves to be better known as a children's book. He says: "In this little book my desire has been, not so much to impart knowledge to young people, as to induce them to acquire it for themselves. I have endeavoured to show that Country Walks may be full of interest and instruction to all who care to make good use of their eyes."
There are ten walks--in the months of April, May, June, July and October. The writer talks to his children, Willy, Jack and May, showing them various birds, flowers, insects and other things as they walk. He tells them how to find certain nests, the botanical names of the flowers they see, the habits of moles and stickleback fishes, stories told by country folk and much, much more. And, the book is illustrated with many black and white drawings and color paintings. If you like to go on walks in the country or hiking on trails and like to know something about the plants and animals you find along the way, then take a walk with Rev. Houghton and let him show you the world of nature through nineteenth century eyes. Then when you walk outdoors with your children, you can tell them about all the natural wonders they see. Enjoy!
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New photos...
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Land crabs at the beach--part of the clean-up crew.
Read more in NatureWalks.
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