The Song of the Dodo, David Quammen
The Song of the Dodo, David Quammen
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The Song of the Dodo
Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions

Author: David Quammen

Narrator: Jacques Roy

Unabridged: 24 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/06/2019


Synopsis

“Compulsively readable—a masterpiece, maybe the masterpiece of science journalism.” —Bill McKibben, Audubon

A brilliant, stirring work, breathtaking in its scope and far-reaching in its message, The Song of the Dodo is a crucial book in precarious times. Through personal observation, scientific theory, and history, David Quammen examines the mysteries of evolution and extinction and radically alters our understanding of the natural world and our place within it.

In this landmark of science writing, we learn how the isolation of islands makes them natural laboratories of evolutionary extravagance, as seen in the dragons of Komodo, the elephant birds of Madagascar, the giant tortoises of the Galapagos. But the dark message of island studies is that isolated ecosystems, whether natural or human-made, are also hotbeds of extinction. And as the world’s landscapes, from Tasmania to the Amazon to Yellowstone, are carved into pieces by human activity, the implications of this knowledge are more urgent than ever.

An unforgettable scientific adventure, a fascinating account of an eight-year journey of discovery, and a wake-up call for our time, David Quammen’s The Song of the Dodo is an exquisitely written book that takes the reader on a globe-circling tour of wild places and extraordinary ideas.

About David Quammen

David Quammen’s books include BreathlessThe Tangled TreeThe Song of the DodoThe Reluctant Mr. Darwin, and Spillover. He has written for The New YorkerHarper’s Magazine, The AtlanticNational Geographic, and Outside, among other magazines, and is a three-time winner of the National Magazine Award. Quammen shares a home in Bozeman, Montana, with his wife, Betsy Gaines Quammen, author of American Zion, and with three Russian wolfhounds, a cross-eyed cat, and a rescue python. Visit him at DavidQuammen.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by L.G. on November 21, 2020

How well do you understand the dynamics and consequences if insular evolution and extinction? This is a serious, in-depth natural sciences book that (keeping in mind that ecology is a multifarious science) the predominate thrust of is ecological insularity and its consequences. For me, it pulled toge......more

Goodreads review by Dona's on May 16, 2023

If I had not been listening to an audiobook as a complement to my read, I don't think I would have made it through. THE SONG OF THE DODO is a deeply depressing book, and so foreboding I needed days to stop ruminating. It isn't what Quammen says in this book that scared me. He goes on page after page......more

Goodreads review by Sylvia on December 28, 2013

Disclaimer: I'm only about a third of the way through, I'll update this review as I go. So far: This book is physically WEIGHTY. At first, I was pleased about this--if it's a good read give me more of it!--but as I went I grew more and more disappointed. No, the length isn't really important, except t......more

Goodreads review by Reid on December 19, 2007

This is the first book I've read by Quammen, an imminently talented journalist who perfectly balances the information and writing style of the book. He follows a chronological progression of island biogeography from Darwin through Jared Diamond (who became hugely famous shortly after the release of......more

Goodreads review by Jen on August 14, 2007

One of my all-time favorite books (this was a re-read) by my favorite natural history author. Anyone who likes Stephen Jay Gould or Howard Zinn style writing will enjoy David Quammen. Not only is it beautifully written, it intertwines stories of the development of the theory of evolution with modern......more