A modern-day naturalist and evolutionary geneticist, John C. Avise
helped launch one of the major scientific revolutions of the late
twentieth century. In this lively memoir, he describes how he
merged his youthful passion for natural history with the reasoned
study of genetic science. His pioneering work, using molecular
genetic techniques to examine ecological and evolutionary
questions, stimulated an integration of these seemingly disparate
realms.
Like earlier naturalists such as William Bartram and Charles
Darwin, Avise is an ardent observer and interpreter of nature.
However, the tools of his trade are not only binoculars and field
diaries, but also the sophisticated instruments and investigative
methods of molecular biology. Whether digging for gophers in a
Georgia field, seining blind fish from pitch-black caves in Mexico,
or deciphering the intriguing inheritance patterns of mitochondrial
DNA in a modern genetics laboratory, Avise and his students have
consistently revealed a captivating diversity to life that is not
always evident to the naked eye. They have provided fresh insights
into, for example, the evolutionary mysteries of the nine-banded
armadillo, a species in which each litter is composed of
genetically identical quadruplets; the green turtles of Ascension
Island, who travel 2,800 miles to lay their eggs; and the horseshoe
crab, a "living fossil" that looks just like its ancestors of 150
million years ago. Suffused throughout this work is also a deep,
heartfelt concern about nature's increasingly imperiled status.
Writing in the tradition of E. O. Wilson and Margaret D. Lowman,
Avise recounts his scientific adventures with many animals in the
wild and reflectsmore widely on the artistry of scientific
discovery and the allure of the natural world. His story conveys as
much about the making of a scientist as it does about the inner
workings of science and nature.
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