50 animali che hanno cambiato la storia

I would have gone 1.5 stars if I could have. I really, really, really wanted to like this book. There were some gems of information here & there, but I found the inconsistent writing tone & style of the author to be distracting, and the poor overall organization extremely frustrating. Each animal is Leggi tutto

This is a charmingly written series of little essays, packed with insightful comments. For example, were you aware that human predation of elephant ivory is selecting for the evolution of elephants with no tusks? That a hundred or so years ago only about 1% of African elephants were tusk-less, but t Leggi tutto

This is a fun little book, but there is nothing especially profound in it. The author did a small bit of research on each of the fifty subjects in this book -- enough research to write approximately two pages on each animal and its impact on humanity. Though the book doesn't seem to be aimed at chil Leggi tutto

This book is essentially a collection of encyclopedia entries, which is what I wanted it to be. I liked the selection, especially that it included animals like the mosquito, honeybee, and cochineal, who have arguably had greater affect on human history than any of the large mammals. Where this book

I liked it. The entries are all 2, 4, or 6 pages long, except for humans who rate 8 pages. All the other entries are in alphabetical order by Latin name, except for humans, who are put in last, so he starts with the mosquito (Anopheles gambiae) and ends with the Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopsi Leggi tutto

I thought this book had a very fun concept, which was the main reason I had for picking it up. I was a bit disappointed at the facts about each animal; to me it felt very basic and I didn't gain much new knowledge. Still, I thought it was quite fun to reflect upon the impact of animals in our histor Leggi tutto

An informative and interesting collection of essays on fifty mammals, reptiles, fish, fowl, and insects that had profound impacts upon civilization. Good for browsing. Attractively designed with lots of color illustration.

I was a fun one and kept my attention by not spending too much time one one subject. I am a bit of a scattered brain so the lack of organization of information was actually kind if nice 😅 However, there were some animals that did not seem to fit with the categories, nor did some need to be in the boo Leggi tutto