A couple of misses

 I started, but didn't finish, a couple of non-fiction books this month.

An Intimate History of Humanity by Theodore Zeldin (1994) had been on my TBR list for awhile and I'm not sure where I originally heard about it. The author is a well respected historian and thinker.  His intent is to tell the history of man as it affected by culture over time, using stories of individuals or a group. It was dated and didn't capture my attention and I returned it to the library after a couple of chapters.

Because Internet - Understanding the Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch (2019) was one I had gotten picked for me by the librarian.  McCulloch is a linguist who examined the impact of the internet on our communication styles.  She suggests that internet communications, i.e., Facebook, messaging, Instagram, etc. for the first time captures our unfiltered speech.  Previous to the internet, only live recordings of people speaking revealed idiosyncrasies of language.  Once that point was made, the book lagged and I decided to return it too.  

Tropical Nature - Adrian Forsyth and Ken Miyata

 Subtitle- Life and Death in the rain forests of Central and South America 

I've been working on a DNA case that is related to the author of this book so I read it to see if I could get any clues. What an odd twist to research!

On page 31 I found a reference to a Marston Bates author of The Forest and the Sea.  

On page 73 there was a reference to Calaway Dodson, an orchid biologist who was the director of the Marie Selby botanical garden, a place I've visited a couple of times.

On page 132 there was reference to Henry Bates a British naturalist of the 1800s.

Finally, chapter 12 discussed the Mount Auburn Cemetery as a birder's mecca,  a factoid I found unusual. 

The book itself was a engaging introduction to the forest but did'nt convince me to put it on my traveling list.

Published: 1984   Read: February 2021:    Genre: Science