Wilcox writes in a lively style, but the book is likely of greatest interest to those already drawn to the subject.
How the creatures that embody some of mankind's deepest fears use toxic substances to defend themselves against predators and to prey on the creatures they eat—and why this is important to us today.
“There are two kinds of venom scientists,” writes molecular biologist Wilcox: microbiologists interested in studying the molecular complexities of toxic compounds and their pharmaceutical potential and those who are attracted to the adventurous pursuit of the animals who secrete them. The author places herself in both camps. “I…got into the study of venoms because of my love for the animals,” she writes. “But the more I learned about the intricate complexities of the chemical cocktails these animals produce, the more intrigued I was by the venoms themselves and the more I was drawn to the most dangerous of species.” Our preoccupation with these creatures is deep-seated, as demonstrated by the limestone pillars of a 10,000-year-old Turkish temple that are decorated with a host of venomous creatures, including spiders, snakes, and scorpions. Furthermore, writes the author, “fear of many of them is innate in humans, found even in the youngest babes,” and tens of thousands of people are killed each year despite the existence of anti-venoms—especially in poorer areas where access to treatment facilities is limited. Wilcox describes the debilitating pain she experienced after being stung by a poisonous sea urchin while shepherding schoolchildren on a field trip to study marine life. She admits that the frisson of danger is one of the appeals of studying these creatures in their natural environments. More significantly, she believes that there are “medical marvels…awaiting discovery in the deadliest of venoms,” including possible treatments for diseases such as HIV and cancer. The author concludes with a compelling message on the need for venomous animals, which are part of the biochemical riches with which our planet has been endowed.
Wilcox writes in a lively style, but the book is likely of greatest interest to those already drawn to the subject.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-28337-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
Ackerman writes with a light but assured touch, her prose rich in fact but economical in delivering it. Fans of birds in all...
Science writer Ackerman (Ah-Choo!: The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold, 2010, etc.) looks at the new science surrounding avian intelligence.
The takeaway: calling someone a birdbrain is a compliment. And in any event, as Ackerman observes early on, “intelligence is a slippery concept, even in our own species, tricky to define and tricky to measure.” Is a bird that uses a rock to break open a clamshell the mental equivalent of a tool-using primate? Perhaps that’s the wrong question, for birds are so unlike humans that “it’s difficult for us to fully appreciate their mental capabilities,” given that they’re really just small, feathered dinosaurs who inhabit a wholly different world from our once-arboreal and now terrestrial one. Crows and other corvids have gotten all the good publicity related to bird intelligence in recent years, but Ackerman, who does allow that some birds are brighter than others, points favorably to the much-despised pigeon as an animal that “can remember hundreds of different objects for long periods of time, discriminate between different painting styles, and figure out where it’s going, even when displaced from familiar territory by hundreds of miles.” Not bad for a critter best known for bespattering statues in public parks. Ackerman travels far afield to places such as Barbados and New Caledonia to study such matters as memory, communication, and decision-making, the last largely based on visual cues—though, as she notes, birds also draw ably on other senses, including smell, which in turn opens up insight onto “a weird evolutionary paradox that scientists have puzzled over for more than a decade”—a matter of the geometry of, yes, the bird brain.
Ackerman writes with a light but assured touch, her prose rich in fact but economical in delivering it. Fans of birds in all their diversity will want to read this one.Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59420-521-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Penguin Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
An authoritative, engaging study of plant life, accessible to younger readers as well as adults.
A neurobiologist reveals the interconnectedness of the natural world through stories of plant migration.
In this slim but well-packed book, Mancuso (Plant Science/Univ. of Florence; The Revolutionary Genius of Plants: A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior, 2018, etc.) presents an illuminating and surprisingly lively study of plant life. He smoothly balances expansive historical exploration with recent scientific research through stories of how various plant species are capable of migrating to locations throughout the world by means of air, water, and even via animals. They often continue to thrive in spite of dire obstacles and environments. One example is the response of plants following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Three decades later, the abandoned “Exclusion Zone” is now entirely covered by an enormous assortment of thriving plants. Mancuso also tracks the journeys of several species that might be regarded as invasive. “Why…do we insist on labeling as ‘invasive’ all those plants that, with great success, have managed to occupy new territories?” asks the author. “On a closer look, the invasive plants of today are the native flora of the future, just as the invasive species of the past are a fundamental part of our ecosystem today.” Throughout, Mancuso persuasively articulates why an understanding and appreciation of how nature is interconnected is vital to the future of our planet. “In nature everything is connected,” he writes. “This simple law that humans don’t seem to understand has a corollary: the extinction of a species, besides being a calamity in and of itself, has unforeseeable consequences for the system to which the species belongs.” The book is not without flaws. The loosely imagined watercolor renderings are vague and fail to effectively complement Mancuso’s richly descriptive prose or satisfy readers’ curiosity. Even without actual photos and maps, it would have been beneficial to readers to include more finely detailed plant and map renderings.
An authoritative, engaging study of plant life, accessible to younger readers as well as adults.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63542-991-6
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Other Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
