MixedThe New York Journal of Books... well-written, informative and surprisingly brief ... Mancuso is at his best when exploring the sheer abundance and adaptability of plants ... Perhaps not surprisingly, Mancuso falters in articulating how Articles calling for \'diffuse and decentralized vegetable democracies\' or \'the inviolate rights of natural communities as societies based on relationships among the organisms\' might look if put into practice. Mancuso falls back, instead, on well-worn examinations of (so many) human-induced problems from climate change to the havoc caused by introducing new species into established ecosystems, along with his opinions on migration, bureaucracies, and many other topics. The result is a book that’s unfortunately more about humans than plants.
Rebecca Giggs
PanNew York Journal of BooksFathoms shows whales to be what humans have long suspected: not just enormous but enormously complex, with lives and capacities that made them masters of the seas. Until we showed up ... Giggs’ wearying personal musings, combined with far too many \'empurpling driveways\' and \'sops of faceless things,\' make for a dreary read ... Giggs’ verbosity distracts from the importance of what she’s learned ... Giggs ends Fathoms much where she began with people gathered to view yet another dead whale. Her pessimism is realistic, but her calls for hope are hollow. Fathoms’ unredeemable flaw is that it pays scant attention to the many local, national, and international efforts to save not just whales but our marine environment, some successful, some not, some with lessons yet to be learned, from the creation of marine sanctuaries and stranding rescue networks, to activism to ban plastic bags, end toxics in consumer items, or remove dams, to name a few. Readers and whales deserve a larger story than the one Fathoms gives.
Kate Greene
PositiveThe New York Journal of Books... a fascinating book that resides in the space between science journalism and memoir ... Greene hints at enormous life ruptures after her HI-SEAS adventure, including the end of her marriage and the death of her older brother, but she’s reticent to deeply explore these changes. Instead, Greene asks questions, many questions, but rarely hazards an answer, leaving her voice overshadowed by interviews and writing excepts from Mark Kelly, Mae Jemison, Michael Collins, and other lucky souls who journeyed far away and lived to tell the tale ... In the book’s more science-oriented sections, though, Greene is a deft and engaging writer with a strong command of her subject and a unique way of viewing the mountains of small details, panoramic imagination, and near-sighted vision behind space flight ... is as much about being human here on Earth as it is about humans in space. Greene’s too brief book offers readers a chance for renewed awe at NASA’s tenacity and inventiveness, and a deeper understanding of the myriad ethical issues hovering behind space flight’s future.
Frans de Waal
MixedThe New York Journal of BooksEmotions, of course, can’t be the only explanation for the remarkable complexity primates and other mammals, and even fish and birds, demonstrate in their daily lives. Unfortunately, de Waal often gives brief (if not dismissive) attention to alternative explanations for animal behavior. This limits Mama’s Last Hug’s value to lay readers seeking a comprehensive introduction to the complex and sometimes murky issues surrounding human and animal cognition, emotion, and feelings ... It’s impossible, though, to read Mama’s Last Hug and not see a door opening to a wider view of humans, our primate relatives, and so many other creatures. Perhaps Mama’s Last Hug’s greatest strength is that any reader willing to walk through that door will find some answers to what it means to be human but even more questions to spark ongoing discoveries.
Susan Hand Shetterly
PositiveThe New York Journal of BooksThis is a big story to tell, so perhaps it’s understandable that Shetterly only tells half of it. We don’t hear the voices of Maine residents who want the jobs that large-scale harvesting promises. Shetterly lets the voices of those calling for sustainable management ring clear on what they’ve learned from research or running a business ... Yet Shetterly says little about what these remarkable people have learned of themselves or of human nature from their passionate engagement with kelp and coast and home ... Yet despite this, Seaweed Chronicles is a book about hope taking the form of a love of place fortified with scientific knowledge and human stubbornness. Readers new to the complexities of ecosystem management and restoration will find Seaweed Chronicles an excellent introduction to the topic. Likewise, nature and science enthusiasts seeking to understand an often overlooked part of marine life will find much to learn here. So will any reader seeking reassurance that yes, the world is still filled with creative, knowledgeable, and passionate people testing the ideas that may give the places we call home a chance to recover and replenish.
