Kirjahaku

'Good biologist though [Janovy] is, he's an even better nature writer, with a special affinity for the mysterious and the mystic' - Noel Perrin. 'John Janovy has produced his best book...He gives us a superb example of nature writing and of life in the Great Plains, perhaps surpassing such admired works in the genre as Aldo Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac" and William Warner's "Beautiful Swimmers". Janovy takes us on a journey of intellectual serendipity, deriving extraordinary thoughts from ordinary circumstances' - Washington Post. 'This 'human need for wilderness' is the trail winding through Back in Keith County ...[to] the streams of John Janovy's 'inner cowboy country.' The fourteen essays are a very human mix of biology, sentiment, wandering observation and personal philosophy' - Smithsonian.'Janovy's earlier "Keith County Journal" met with astonishing success, and some reviewers compared the author to Henry David Thoreau. "Back in Keith County" returns to the part of Nebraska that Mr. Janovy knows and loves...The book shows the area's wildlife - tiger beetles, toads, swallows, owls and a variety of fish - to be as special as its people...The author also reflects on the intangible aspects of life. ..The rich ramblings of these 179 pages are fascinating' - Kansas City Star. John Janovy Jr. is Varner Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and director of the Cedar Point Biological Station. He is the author of "Keith County Journal" and "On Becoming a Biologist", also available as a "Bison Book".

To learn from nature, not about nature, was the imperative that took John Janovy Jr. and his students into the sandhills, marshes, grasslands, canyons, lakes, and streams of Keith County in western Nebraska. The biologist explores the web of interrelationships among land, animals, and human beings. Even termites, snails, and barn swallows earn respect and assume significance in the overall scheme of things. Janovy, reminiscent of Henry David Thoreau in his acute powers of observation and search for wisdom, has written a new foreword for this Bison Books edition.

"We share a common bond with even the most bizarre beetle of the Peruvian rain forest," asserts John Janovy Jr. "A belief in that common bond might, in fact, be the most fundamental characteristic of a biologist." And biologists see the worth of a plant or an animal not in monetary terms but in its contribution to our understanding of life. The famous naturalist brings a humanist's vision to this superbly written book. On Becoming a Biologist is grounded in reality, cognizant of practical matters (education and jobs) as well as the ideals that inform the profession—a reverence for life and a responsibility to humankind and its future. Janovy draws on his experiences as a graduate and postdoctoral student, on his rewarding relationships with teachers, and on his fieldwork as a naturalist. This edition includes new information throughout the book regarding pertinent events, issues, and changes in technology.